A reporter asked people to describe the taste of Dr Pepper. He got some really creative answers.
An innocent tweet by sports reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques erupted into a great discussion where people tried to describe the indescribable. “There’s an unnamed media member in here who has never had a Dr. Pepper and asked what it tastes like,” he tweeted. “I have no idea how to describe it — how would y’all do…
An innocent tweet by sports reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques erupted into a great discussion where people tried to describe the indescribable. “There’s an unnamed media member in here who has never had a Dr. Pepper and asked what it tastes like,” he tweeted.
“I have no idea how to describe it — how would y’all do it?” he asked.
Marcel Louis-Jacques covers the Miami Dolphins for ESPN and appears on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, and more.
The question feels like a Zen koan such as “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” or “What do you call the world?”
There's an unnamed media member in here who has never had a Dr. Pepper and asked what it tastes like.
I have no idea how to describe it — how would y'all do it?— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) September 24, 2021
The taste of Dr Pepper is hard to describe because there’s nothing quite like it. It has a hint of cherry. Maybe a little licorice. There’s definitely some allspice in there. It’s tough to describe because it’s a combination of 23 different flavors.
It’s believed that the actual 23 flavors are a trade secret and the recipe is kept as two halves in safe deposit boxes in two separate Dallas banks.
It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas and was introduced nationally in the United States at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as a new kind of soda pop. Dr Pepper has been around for over 130 years and the flavor has yet to be duplicated. Mr. Pibb comes close, but it doesn’t quite have the same magic.
There are a lot of creative responses to the tweet with people doing their best to put flavor into words.
It's a Pepper spiced cola. You get an initial sugary/sweet taste with a pepper finish.
(Yes, I am a Dr.Pepper lifer)— Alfredo Arteaga (@Alf_Arteaga) September 24, 2021
The nectar of the gods.— Bruce Nolan (@BruceExclusive) September 24, 2021
it tastes like cigarettes and spice— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) September 24, 2021
Pepsi with a hint of prune juice— Burner Burnside (@BurnerBurnside) September 24, 2021
Like a coke or Pepsi with an infusion of the crispest Cherry you have had— MANIAC (@ZachSheldon) September 24, 2021
You know how Root Beer tastes different than cola? It's like that, but even differenter— Nick Van Wagenen (@MKEnick) September 24, 2021
If Cherry coke and Root beer had a lovechild— JawnOlerud (@JawnOlerud) September 24, 2021
Only one answer, barbecue water — Matt Webster (@Lets_go_webster) September 24, 2021
"The 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper are cola, cherry, licorice, amaretto, almond, vanilla, blackberry, apricot, caramel, pepper, anise, sarsaparilla, ginger, molasses, lemon, plum, orange, nutmeg, cardamon, all spice, coriander juniper, birch and prickly ash." — Jarret (@ADarkenedShroud) September 24, 2021
Evidently, there are a lot of people who can't stand the taste of Dr Pepper. It's kinda like black licorice or cilantro. You love it or you hate it.
I know this may get be blocked ?? but good for that person - it tastes awful ?— Michelle ?❤️? (@malden104) September 24, 2021
Agree with you 100%. Hands down the nastiest soda I've ever tasted in my life ??— Renaissance Man (@Billsfandiehard) September 24, 2021
If you’ve ever killed a palmetto bug…there’s a smell they have. Dr. Pepper tastes like that smell. It’s disgusting.— J Christensen-Sharpe (@Snowbird_Killer) September 24, 2021
My grandma describes it as tasting like the smell of ants when you smash them — Jeremy Sanders (@jeremy_lonavi) September 24, 2021
So, in the end, what does Dr Pepper taste like? The best answer should be: Dr Pepper. Much like how an orange has an orange flavor or a cherry has a cherry flavor. Dr pepper has a Dr Pepper flavor.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.
Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
"If we put a circle next to their name, they got seated in Siberia." Jennifer Garner just confirmed what a lot of us suspected about restaurant seating.
On the Dish Podcast with broadcaster Nick Grimshaw and Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett, released March 4, Garner finally laid it out. “You put the beautiful people at certain tables,” she said. “You put celebrities at certain tables. And if somebody even mildly famous walked in…”
The system had a name for the people who didn’t meet the standard. When Garner and her colleagues wrote down reservation names, some of them got a circle next to them. “If we put a circle next to them, they got seated in Siberia,” she said.
Hartnett confirmed this wasn’t unique to Garner’s restaurant. In high-end dining establishments, she said, the word “Siberia” is industry shorthand for the section where less desirable customers are quietly deposited — away from the windows, away from the room’s natural center of gravity, and away from the diners the restaurant actually wants other people to see.
One of Garner’s clearest memories involves Steve Martin, who was a regular and had a very specific preference: table five. If someone was already sitting at table five when Martin arrived, Garner had to move them. Mid-meal, mid-date, mid-whatever they were doing.
“I would have to go to those people and say, ‘I am moving you to the bar, and I’m going to buy you some calamari and that’s going to be on me,'” she said, describing the awkwardness of being a 22-year-old telling a couple on a date that they were being relocated because someone more famous had shown up.
Garner called the whole practice “merchandizing” the restaurant — treating the dining room the way a retailer treats a window display, positioning the most appealing elements where they’d be seen.
Grimshaw’s response, on hearing the Siberia detail for the first time: “I’m going to rethink every restaurant I’ve ever been in.”
The phenomenon isn’t just anecdotal. A 2016 Channel 4 documentary investigation called Tricks of the Restaurant Trade sent groups of models into three upscale London restaurants. In each case, the models were seated at prime front-of-house tables. When co-presenter Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes visible tumors on the face and skin, attempted the same exercise, he was seated in a corner at the first restaurant, initially ignored at the second, and turned away entirely at the third.
Research has also found an appearance premium for the servers themselves. One study found that attractive servers earn roughly $1,261 more per year in tips than unattractive ones.
Garner, for her part, said her hostess days were more psychologically taxing than almost anything that came after. “I’ve had more nightmares about my days as a hostess than I have had actor’s nightmares,” she said. “And I’ve had a lot of actor’s nightmares.”
“Red is for who you lost yesterday,” he said. “Yellow is to celebrate your birthday as bright as the sun today. And green is what you are about to prosper in the world.”
Then: “You are about to be the best actor in the world.”
Jada started crying.
She shared the video on Instagram on March 30, 2026 under her handle @jadajonesss, and the caption explained something Phae’l hadn’t known when he chose those colors. Red was the color associated with her partner Chris’s mother, who had recently passed away. Red was even in her username. The family wore red to her funeral, which took place on Jada’s birthday.
A woman blows out her birthday candles. Photo credit: Canva
He hadn’t known any of that. He was a stranger who had listened to a few minutes of conversation and offered something back that happened to land exactly where she needed it. Past, present, and future, bound up in three candles at a restaurant table.
“What I thought was just a free birthday dessert,” the on-screen text in her video reads, “turned out to be a moment I will never forget.”
Jada said she couldn’t stop crying, kept thanking him, and hugged him before she left.
For more delightful content, follow @jadajonesss on Instagram.
Not a week goes by where we aren’t treated to a story of a fare-paying airline passenger being asked to change seats with a parent who’s trying to sit next to their kids. People take sides. Outrage builds. The parents are labeled entitled and thoughtless, while the people who refuse to yield the seats they paid for sometimes get harassed for their perceived unkindness.
Meanwhile, it’s the kids who are stuck in the middle, seated away from their parents and surrounded by strangers for hours at a time. One recent story with this familiar start took a surprisingly heartwarming, if frustrating, turn.
Man pays extra for aisle seat before mom asks him to switch
A social media user took to a Delta discussion subreddit to share his story, aptly titled “What would you have done?”
The 30-year-old man describes how he had paid extra for an aisle seat due to his size. When he sat down, however, he was surprised to find a small boy seated next to him in the middle seat.
A man on a Delta flight was surprised to find a young boy sitting next to him without a parent. Photo Credit: Canva Photos
At first, he was excited. Kids don’t take up much room and he wouldn’t have to share the armrest. In air travel terms, that’s a win.
Then, a tap on the shoulder. “His mom was a few rows back also in a middle seat,” the man wrote. “She asked me to swap seats with her so she could sit next to her son.”
The poster says he politely declined, and no one could blame him. However, that left everyone involved in a pretty uncomfortable position. The cost of the man keeping the aisle seat he paid for was having an unaccompanied boy (around 5-8 years old, he says) sitting next to him for the duration of the four hour flight.
Kind stranger steps up—even if he wasn’t happy about it
The man says he didn’t raise a stink when the mom then asked if he could show the boy how to use the seatback display with movies and games.
And help him order snacks.
“I basically ended up having to babysit the kid for 4 straight hours, endlessly begging me to play games with him on the screen and constantly begging for more snacks , food etc. and then he just slept on my shoulder the last 60-90 minutes ish.”
“I tried to be the nice guy so I never said anything, just made my flight experience horrible honestly … We got that boy 4 rounds of snacks and played every single game on the screen.”
He adds that the mom thanked him for his kindness at the end of the flight.
Commenters give kudos for kindness
Though the OP was frustrated with having to grin-and-bear the experience, plenty of commenters chimed into applaud him for doing exactly that:
“thank you for being kind to the boy”
“You were truly a good sport!”
“You are a good man. As a parent I appreciate how you handled it. It’s easy to judge the mom but you never know the circumstances that lead to them being on that flight and separated.”
It no doubt meant the world to the boy to have a friendly face next to him, with his mom seated several rows away. It’s unfortunate that the man’s own flight wasn’t as relaxing as he had planned, but he earned himself major good karma points by stepping up and making the young boy comfortable throughout the duration of the flight.
Why is this still happening in 2026?
While some commenters opined that the mom was at fault for the mix-up and even may have somehow “arranged it” to get a free babysitter, the idea is laughable.
No parent wants their 5-year-old sitting next to a random man they’ve never met. And, like any human, parents sometimes have to book last minute or find themselves with surprise seating arrangements courtesy of an airline blunder.
The more important question is why minor children continue to be seated away from their parents on many flights.
The U.S Department of Transportation has recommended and encouraged all airlines to adopt better policies in this area. The DOT urges airlines “to guarantee that young children are seated adjacent to an accompanying adult without charging any additional fee.”
However, according to the agency’s own dashboard, only about half of the major U.S. carriers offer such a guarantee. Delta is one notable name that still allows young children to be placed in seats away from their guardians. That’s why the DOT has proposed to make the “strong suggestion” into a formal law that would carry penalties for airlines that don’t comply.
It’s important to remember that people, kids or otherwise, don’t necessarily end up getting stuck in middle seats by themselves because of laziness. Airlines do a lot of sleight-of-hand in how they categorize seats. “Basic Economy,” the most affordable option, sometimes means middle-seat only. The new proposal, if enacted, would put an end to the confusion.
The proposal, though, is still just that: a proposal. It will need Congressional approval to be enacted into law.
In the meantime, we can only count on two things: families planning ahead as best they can, and a little kindness and empathy from passengers like the man who shared this story. As frustrated and annoyed as he was by the whole ordeal, he did the right thing, and deserves a little kudos for so admirably stepping up to the plate.
A true hero was crowned prom king in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. Kirk Moore, principal of Pauls Valley High School, was recognized by his students for his heroism in stopping a suspected school shooter just a few weeks prior.
On April 7, 20-year-old Victor Hawkins, a former student, entered the school with a gun and intended to carry out a mass shooting inspired by the Columbine school shooting, according to court documents reviewed by KOCO-TV. However, he was stopped by Moore, who courageously tackled Hawkins and held him down in a feat of strength while wrestling the weapon from his hands.
In the process, shots were fired, and Moore was hit in the leg. He was treated at a local hospital and released two days later.
In a statement released shortly after the shooting, Moore expressed gratitude to his community and supporters.
“Words alone cannot begin to express my gratitude for the outpouring of love and support I have received from the Pauls Valley community,” he said. “I am forever grateful for the support I am receiving from those close to me, as well as new friends who have wished me well in their prayers. This support is the reason I am healthy and recovering today.”
He added, “Like so many educators around the country, we prepare for these events through training and careful assessment of the threats. I am grateful that my instincts and training, as well as God’s hand, were available to me.”
Pauls Valley Police Chief Don May also acknowledged Moore’s courage.
“It doesn’t surprise me the actions that he took, but it is amazing, the actions that he took,” May said, according to NBC News. “There’s not a doubt in my mind that he saved kids’ lives.”
To help cover his medical expenses and rehabilitation, a GoFundMe campaign was started for Moore.
Principal Moore crowned prom king
In a video shared on TikTok, Moore receives a hero’s welcome after being announced as prom king. The DJ tells the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, our king…Kirk Moore!”
Principal Kirk Moore, the high school principal who tackled a gunman in an Oklahoma school’s lobby and stopped a potential mass shooting was crowned prom king by the students, who voted to honor him for his heroic actions. #Oklahoma#schoolshooting#highschool#principal#prom
The DJ plays “Hero,” Nickelback’s fitting hit, as Moore enters the frame, and his students go wild with cheers and applause. He high-fives them as he walks by, and a crown is placed on his head.
His students are ecstatic, jumping up and down and screaming for him. Moore appears emotional and hugs the prom queen as they pose for photos together.
Writer and illustrator Aubrey Hirsch jokingly asked her followers on X (formerly Twitter) what’s a “universal thing that most men like?” because she was writing a comic and “just realized I don’t actually know any men in real life.” The tweet inspired an avalanche of funny responses.
Hirsch is the author of “Why We Never Talk About Sugar,” a collection of short stories, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vox, American Short Fiction and TIME Magazine.
The interesting thing about the responses is that they weren’t the typical stereotypes about men. She didn’t get a ton of people talking about sex, sports or toxic masculinity. Instead, there were a lot of folks that mentioned very specific male behaviors as if they were talking about a bizarre species they discovered in the wild.
What’s a universal thing that most men like? I’m making a comic but I just realized I don’t actually know any men in real life.
There were, undeniably, two things that got the most comments on her post. First, men enjoy watching construction sites. Evidently, the phenomenon is so popular in Italy that there is a specific word for this type of person in Italian.
When asked why men enjoy watching construction sites so much, a poster on Reddit had the perfect response. “I just find it really satisfying and interesting to see the process behind things being built,” he wrote.
The other beloved male activity is throwing heavy objects into bodies of water. Preferably, as large a rock as possible, and as deep a body of water as possible, and getting to throw from the highest vantage point possible.
Gotta say, as a man, I have seen dudes do this and I have done it plenty of times myself.
A few more that rang true
Here are some more fun ones:
If a guy walks under a low hanging sign he will jump up and try to tap the bottom of the sign as he passes.
Guys like being asked to open jars.
Power tools. Give a guy a new drill and he'll wander around looking for stuff that needs holes.
— Alan Morgan BLUECHECKMARK (@lettersndigits) March 21, 2022
(When we do this 99% of the time we’re pretending that the sign is 10 feet high and that we have the ability to dunk a basketball. There are two types of men, those that can dunk and mere mortals.)
Memorizing favorite lines from their favorite movies, then reciting them with their friends (or even strangers) who’ve also memorized them, doing entire scenes. Extra points for using accents. A true source of unparalleled amusement & male bonding.
This one is near and dear to my heart. I can’t tell you the number of hours I have spent with my friends just throwing lines from “The Big Lebowski” back and forth.
“Nice marmot.”
“The Dude abides.”
“Say what you want about the tenets of national socialism, Dude. At least it’s an ethos.”
What makes an airline the “best in the world”? Stellar service, on-time departures, plentiful routes, comfortable seating, reasonable ticket prices, solid safety ratings, good loyalty benefits, etc., right? Those are all things customers look for in an airline, and many of them have given Singapore Airlines the title of “most awarded airline.” In 2023, it was named the World’s Best Airline by Skytrax World Airline Awards for the fifth time, more than any other airline in the 24-year history of the awards.
Now, there’s another reason Singapore Airlines is being praised by both flyers and non-flyers alike. After the company announced a record net profit for 2023/2024, a source told CNN in May of 2024 that the airline was giving all of its employees a bonus equivalent to almost eight months of salary. Though details of the bonus were not shared by the company, a similar bonus was awarded to Singapore Airlines employees in 2022/2023, which was also a record-breaking year for the airline. According to an airline spokesperson who spoke to Business Insider, the bonus is due to “a long-standing annual profit-sharing bonus formula that has been agreed with our staff unions.”
Singapore Airlines workers are getting a bonus worth 8 months' salary.
Emirates staff are getting a bonus worth 4 months' salary.
Why is Singapore Airlines giving employees an eight-month bonus?
Profit-sharing plans provide an added incentive for employees to boost performance, which benefits both employees and employers as long as those at the top are not determined to hoard all of a company’s profits. Singapore Airlines’ profit-sharing bonus may be part of its overall compensation package as opposed to a discretionary bonus, but even so, it’s a largely unprecedented amount for any company to pay as a bonus, and people have weighed in with their thoughts.
“Smart, this is what keeps employees happy and willing to continue going the extra mile. They are about to have even better coming year now.”
“It’s not just that it’s a bonus….it’s the percentage. 8 months of salary is amazing leadership. Wish corporate America would not be so greedy with their record profits.”
“Paying the staff a bonus, not just the executives, that’s good leadership.”
“Congrats to Singapore Airlines! Setting a great example of rewarding employees for their dedication and hard work.”
As part of the explanation for its profit of 2.68 billion Singapore dollars ($1.99 billion USD), the airline shared, “The demand for air travel remained buoyant throughout FY2023/24” with a boost by several major Asian countries fully reopening their borders after the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline shared that it carried 36.4 million passengers, a whopping 37.6% increase over the prior year.
Clearly, a lot of people choose Singapore Airlines, but why? What actually makes it the best (currently second best after Qatar Airways in the most recent Skytrax rankings) in the world?
World's best cabin crew, 2024.
1. 🇸🇬 Singapore Airlines 2. 🇯🇵 ANA All Nippon 3. 🇮🇩 Garuda Indonesia 4. 🇹🇼 EVA Air 5. 🇭🇰 Cathay Pacific 6. 🇨🇳 Hainan Airlines 7. 🇯🇵 Japan Airlines 8. 🇹🇭 Thai Airways 9. 🇶🇦 Qatar Airways 10. 🇲🇾 Malaysia Airlines
For one, they dominate the awards for First Class travel, which is nice but doesn’t really affect the average traveler who flies economy. However, even Singapore’s economy experience is also miles above most other airlines. Singapore Airlines cabins are known for being well designed, impeccably clean and comparatively comfortable, and the crew has a reputation for being friendly, attentive, and helpful. (In fact, Singapore Airlines was honored with the World’s Best Cabin Crew award by Skytrax in 2024.) People who fly Singapore Airlines frequently tout the experience as feeling like it’s in an entirely different class than domestic airlines in the U.S., even when flying economy. The seats, the food, the service both on the ground and in the air—all of it adds up to excellence.
When you provide customers the things they value, keep your employees satisfied and happy with fair profit-sharing incentives, and also operate in a cost-efficient way, it’s not surprising when you rank highly for awards across the board. That recognition then leads to more customers seeking you out, further increasing your revenue, and ultimately leading you to record profits, which then get shared with employees who work that much harder to ensure that this positive cycle continues.
The cycle continues
And it certainly has endured. According to Channel News Asia, on May 15, 2025, Singapore Airlines posted a headline profit of $2.8 billion for the current financial year (boosted by a one-off accounting gain from the merger of its Vistara subsidiary with Air India), which means their dedicated staff will be getting a nearly eight month bonus for the third year in a row.
Amazing how when you put customers and employees first, everyone wins.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani shared a heartfelt moment with a very special baseball fan before the game against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, April 18, at Coors Field. Ohtani met Momoyo Nakamoto Kelley, a 100-year-old survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945.
Through the help of her grandson Patrick Faust, Kelley had the chance to meet the Japanese baseball superstar down on the field. After finishing his warmups, Ohtani knelt before her, and the two shook hands. Ohtani also signed a baseball for her.
“I’m so lucky,” she told MLB.com. “I [went] home and called my brother in Japan…it’s a dream come true. I watch every game they play.”
Shohei Ohtani meets with a 100-year-old Japanese woman who survived the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Amazing moment at Coors Field. pic.twitter.com/IACJ6XGDoy
She was 19 when the bombing occurred, according to Yahoo Sports. Kelley told MLB.com about the day the bomb hit, describing it as “like the sky was on fire.”
Kelley’s son-in-law added that she survived the bombing because she had been “upwind” from the explosion. After surviving, Kelley and her husband, whom she met on an Air Force base in Japan, emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s.
Ever since she moved to the U.S., she’s been a baseball fan, explaining that her earliest baseball memories are from the ’50s watching Joe DiMaggio. She currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was visiting family in Denver, Colorado, when the meeting came together.
“Just the idea that 100 is such a big number,” Faust told MLB.com. “I don’t think there are many people [still alive from] when the atom bomb was dropped. She’s had a terrible experience, a big one. So we wanted to [do something] special. She watches all the Dodgers games and all the Rockies games.”
And she has a soft spot for her fellow Japanese players.
“Within the past few years, especially, with all the Japanese players in the game, she’s been really into it,” Faust added.
Kelley also got to meet Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was born in Okinawa, Japan. She also met Tomoyuki Sugano, a Japanese player for the Rockies.
Kelley garners emotional responses
The meetings garnered emotional responses from those who met Kelley.
Sugano told MLB.com through his interpreter Yuto Sakurai, “Honestly, you don’t get these kinds of opportunities often. So I’m really happy I got to meet her and was given this type of opportunity. She said she’s really passionate and really likes watching baseball and is a fan of my former team [the Yomiuri Giants].”
Broadcaster Stephen Nelson also met Kelley and was moved to tears.
“I think…” Nelson started telling MLB.com before he became overwhelmed with emotion, a tear falling from his eye. “Forgive me. It’s humbling.”
“Just being ‘Yonsei’ [a great-grandchild of a Japanese immigrant], you’re standing on a lot of shoulders,” Nelson added. “For her to experience what she went through and endure that, and come here to make a better life for herself and future generations … we can’t even fathom that, right?”
He finished by adding, “And that’s why I think it’s important to hear their stories and to pass their stories along to future generations, so people don’t forget. It’s important for us to document them and honor them. I wish I had better words [to convey it].”
It’s not surprising that the whimsy of a young girl seeing a rainbow for the first time garnered a lot of likes on social media. And, of course, the dad who showed her the rainbow was overjoyed by her sweet reaction. But it was also the beautiful outpouring of love from people he had never met that shocked and moved him.
In an Instagram Reel, Daniel Hong, a professional fitness instructor, can barely contain his own excitement as he realizes that the sun has peeked through a gorgeous cloudy sky in the Pacific Northwest. With the chyron reading, “I caught my daughter’s favorite thing in the whole world,” we zoom in on Daniel. He exclaims, “There’s a rainbow outside! I’m picking up my daughter Olivia from daycare. I’ve gotta show her!”
We see four-year-old Olivia (dressed in a T-shirt with a pastel-colored version of a rainbow) begin to run toward the front door. Daniel instructs her, delight dripping from his voice. “Go out the door and to the right. Right! Right! Which way is right? There you go!” We then jump cut to Daniel carrying Olivia, who is all smiles. “There it is, there it is!” he tells her. “Do you see it? It’s over there in the clouds!” Olivia gasps. “I do! Take a picture!”
The camera does just that, capturing the beautiful wavelengths of light as they stretch over white school buses.
Daniel and his wife Aly, with whom he also shares a one-year-old baby named Camryn, have always known Olivia loved rainbows. He told Upworthy just why this moment was extra special:
“This was her first (conscious) experience of a rainbow! She’d been drawing rainbows on her own since she was two, and this was such a great moment to see a huge one IRL. She loves art, singing, and dancing.”
How rainbows work
As far as whether or not she understood why rainbows form, Daniel said she’s more interested in the wonder of it than the “why” just yet.
“We’ve tried to explain to her how rainbows form in simple terms haha: ‘When it rains and the sun shines, the sky paints a rainbow?’ But she’s more like, ‘Yeah, it’s just magic,’ lol.”
He was equally impressed by the community of rainbow-lovers who took the time to share their stories.
“I was overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of comments and hundreds of DMs from those who’ve sent us their personal pictures and shared memories of rainbows and their significance to them. A magical moment with their own parents, kids, and even remembering loved ones who’ve passed.”
One comment in particular struck him.
“My favorite comment is from a mother who shared how she and her son would chase rainbows together too. He has since passed away, but she mentioned in her comment how my video was yet another reminder that the memories of our loved ones live on forever through the joy we can never forget being shared together.”
So much love
Under the original Reel, which has well over half a million likes and over 5,000 comments, Daniel publicly shared his appreciation for so many people reaching out:
“I’m so shocked by the number of you guys who’ve seen this video of me and my daughter and have sent us pictures of rainbows you’ve captured, telling us how much joy this 30-second video has brought you, but more importantly, the feeling of whimsy and hope this gave you.
When we all fully participate in life passionately, and be present…we just never know the powerful impact of a seemingly simple moment. Please keep the positivity, joy, and magic strong and alive in your own lives. And please share it with others. Our world needs your joy. – In love always, The Hongs”
Olivia is delighted by a rainbow. Photo credit: Instagram
One Instagrammer believed that this act of joy will be paid forward, writing, “She’s always gonna remember how her daddy used to run to rainbows with her. Then she’ll do the same with her kids, and on that way you’ll live on forever through the rainbows of your children’s children’s children.”
