A boy asked his mailman for junk mail so he could practice reading. He didn't get his exact request.
At first, I was like, "Oh, god, this is sad." Then I was like, "Yessss! Humanity for the win!"
Utah postman Ron Lynch was making his routine deliveries one day when he saw a boy rifling through a container full of junk mail.
12-year-old Mathew Flores was collecting and reading discarded pieces of spam's more wasteful predecessor.
Photo by Judith E. Bell/Flickr.
As someone who drops the widely-seen-as-worthless stuff into mailboxes for a living, Lynch was intrigued.
Why would anyone, let alone a 12-year-old kid, want junk mail? Save, perhaps, for the watchful Internet bargain hunter.
Photo (altered) via Pretzelpaws/Wikipedia.
When Lynch asked Flores what he was doing, the boy's response was both heartbreaking and galvanizing.
The Deseret News reported that Flores told Lynch he reads junk mail "because he doesn't have books of his own and that bus fares made it difficult to get to the library."
So Lynch put a call out for his network to show a little love for the young and hungry reader.
He was surprised to see the post spread beyond his personal circles. "It's gone crazy from there," Lynch said to Deseret News. "I've heard from the U.K., Australia, from India."
The response was overwhelming. Books arrived by the stacks on the child's doorstep.
So many, in fact, that he thought it was a mistake. It wasn't. Flores is now the proud owner of a library that should keep him reading for years to come.
"They said these books are for you. I thought they were mistaken, but they were for me." — Mathew Flores
The story is inspiring, to be sure. But let's remember that Flores is not alone.
The U.S. is the richest country on the planet, but it's still failing kids like Flores when it comes to providing a path for the future. Today, 45% of American children live in low-income families (22% live below the federal poverty line).
Parents and their kids wait for new shoes and school supplies during a charity event in Skid Row, Los Angeles. Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images.
And when you consider that educational opportunity for children is directly affected by the economic health of the communities in which they live, well, you don't need me to explain why that's a problem.
Lynch deserves a big hand. But let's not forget: We shouldn't be leaving children's futures to chance.
This boy wanted to read so badly, he was asking his mailman for junk mail. Now he has more books than he can count. https://t.co/SkKmnelpaG
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 27, 2015
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."