He was secretly homeless. When his town found out, they made him a miracle.
When a small town’s quirky ticket-taker fell on hard times, his neighbors were there to catch him.
Everyone’s gotta find some way to pass the time at work. But the way Eric Glover does it … is kind of hard to describe.
Eric is a ticket-taker at a movie theater in Morristown, New Jersey, where he has worked for years. And he’s well known in the community for his unique approach to his job: He makes “tick-tick-tick” noises to imitate a ticket machine, gestures wildly when he’s tearing off the stub, and tries to make every ticket-holder smile.
You kind of just have to see it for yourself:
It may not seem like a huge claim to fame, but Eric is well known in Morristown for his quirkiness and undeniable ability to spread positivity.
Morristown loves him for it. The local bar, where he has worked as a bouncer, once gave him a 2003 Cadillac DeVille for his birthday. He even has a Facebook fan page— "dedicated to the coolest guy ever" — which is how you know you’ve really made it.
A couple of weeks ago, though, a community member found out that Eric had a big secret.
His work hours had been cut, and he had been living out of his car. "I’ve been homeless now for going on ten months," Eric said in this video.
When they found out about this, Morristownians kicked into high gear.
A community member set up a GoFundMe page for Eric, and 10 days after the page was created, contributors had exceeded the original fundraising goal of $50,000 — by more than $15,000. Some people even commented on the page to offer up personal support.
Screenshot via Eric's GoFundMe page.
"I have a spare room if he needs a place to stay," one commenter wrote. "No one should be on the streets, especially this time of year."
Another community member said:
“I donated because on my first date with my wife, Eric took my ticket, and made me smile. Then, hundreds of times, thru out my life, he did it over and over. ... For one single man, to rise up every day, despite his own troubles, and give a smile to the world every day he goes into it ... that is a gift. It is a gift this man has given to thousands.”
It can be easy to feel like the world is huge, cold, and impersonal.
But every single day, communities across the globe are showing us that people still believe in the importance of lending a hand to their neighbors.
We saw it in the Ohio pizza shop that hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless. We saw it in the community that replaced an elderly woman’s stolen bike. And we saw it in the town that fundraised to rebuild a mosque that had burned down.
Now, we’re seeing that kindness again in Morristown.