The 95-degree heat was blistering in Rockwall, Texas, earlier this month. But Justin Korva didn't let it deter him.
The Taco Casa restaurant employee was on his typical walk to work when Andy Mitchell, a local businessman, spotted him alongside the road. Mitchell asked the 20-year-old if he needed a ride.
It was a carpool experience he'll never forget.
"Meet my friend Justin!" Mitchell later wrote in a Facebook photo caption. "He told me he walks three miles to work and home every day."
Meet my friend justin! I picked this boy up this am and gave him a ride to work at taco casa. He told me he walks 3...
Posted by Andy Mitchell on Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Yep, that's right. Without the funds to buy a vehicle, Korva walked three miles in the Texas heat — each way — in order to earn a paycheck.
Mitchell's photo quickly began making waves in the Rockwall community.
In just a few days, hundreds of likes, shares, and interest in helping Korva filled the post's comment section.
Image via Facebook/Andy Mitchell.
That's when folks jumped in to act.
"I felt compelled to do something,” says Danny Rawls, general sales manager at Toyota of Rockwall.
Rawls learned that his friend, restaurant owner Samee Dowlatshahi, had set out a donation box for Korva at his local Italian bistro, CBS News reported. According to The Independent, that box had garnered a whopping $5,500 in just two days, from patrons looking to help Korva get a car.
Rawls chatted with his boss at the dealership to see if they could get the price down on a vehicle for Korva using the funds raised at Dowlatshahi's restaurant. His boss liked the idea.
On June 23, the team at the dealership and other community members surprised Korva outside Taco Casa with a 2004 Toyota Camry.
"Justin, you can't imagine all the people who wanted to help you," Mitchell said at the surprise event. "So, instead of walking to work, buddy, you're driving this car from now on."
Photo courtesy of Toyota of Rockwall.
The folks in Rockwall had raised enough money for the car, insurance for a year, two years' worth of oil changes, and a $500 gas card.
Photo courtesy of Toyota of Rockwall.
"Are you serious?" an emotional Korva asked, giving away hugs and wiping away tears.
Photo courtesy of Toyota of Rockwall.
It may seem like a grand gesture. But the motive behind the gift was a pretty simple act of kindness, if you ask Jason Kirksey.
“Sometimes when you see a need, you try and fill that need," says Kirksey, internet sales director at the dealership.
There are millions of Justins out there this very moment, fighting uphill battles to make ends meet.
We may not all have the power to give away cars, but we all have the power to chip in and make a difference when it counts.
After all, finding the simple ways you can help can counter the false idea that the bad outweighs the good out there.
“The world is not that bad — if you look around and you find the good things to focus on," says Kirksey, applauding his community in Rockwall. "If you focus on the good things, the bad things seem not so bad.”
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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."