The strangers who met via a mistake text are celebrating their sixth Thanksgiving together
In 2016, Wanda Dench texted her 24-year-old grandson to tell him that Thanksgiving dinner would be at her house at 3:00 p.m. She received a text back that said, “Who is this?” Dench responded, “Your grandma,” but the recipient of the text was not, in fact, Dench’s grandson. It was a 17-year-old high schooler named…
In 2016, Wanda Dench texted her 24-year-old grandson to tell him that Thanksgiving dinner would be at her house at 3:00 p.m. She received a text back that said, “Who is this?”
Dench responded, “Your grandma,” but the recipient of the text was not, in fact, Dench’s grandson. It was a 17-year-old high schooler named Jamal Hinton. After the two exchanged selfies and established that Dench had the wrong number, Hinton joked, “Can I still get a plate tho?”
“Of course you can,” Dench wrote back. “That’s what grandmas do…feed everyone.”
Amazingly, Hinton took her up on the offer, and so began the wholesome Thanksgiving story the internet can’t get enough of.
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Every year since, Dench and Hinton have gathered to enjoy Thanksgiving together. Hinton has documented their holiday gatherings on social media, and this year’s Twitter announcement that the tradition is continuing for a sixth year garnered a million likes in one day. The post includes a screenshot of Dench’s text to Hinton—from “Grandma Wanda”—that reads: “It would bring me great joy if you, Mikaela and your family would come to my house on Thanksgiving day to share good food and great conversation. Your friend always, Wanda.” It also included a photo of Wanda and her husband Lonnie with Jamal and his girlfriend Mikaela from two Thanksgivings ago.
Sadly, this year’s dinner, like last year’s, will be missing one. Lonnie passed away from COVID-19 in April 2020, so last year’s Thanksgiving photo included his picture in a frame.
There’s something so simple and pure about the way these strangers met by accident and created a lovely tradition out of it.
Dench shared with ABC News that she grew up in a military family. “We moved around a lot so I was always going to new places. And so strangers were not strangers to me,” she said. “Family is more than blood. It’s the people you want to be with.”
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Hinton told the New York Post in 2019 that the two text one another regularly and get together every couple of months, and they both love seeing people’s joy when they hear about their unexpected friendship.
“We are both really passionate and love talking about our story and how many people have reached out to us and told us how it affects them,” he said. “We are both very happy and grateful that we could be the centerpiece to such an amazing story and bring joy and faith in so many different people.”
Hinton said people frequently tell him that the story restores their faith in humanity.
“It makes me feel good knowing something I was a part of affected so many people in a good way,” he said.
With so much grief and division and general ickiness in the world, it’s refreshing to see two human beings connect like this. And it’s even more heartening to see that they’ve nurtured their friendship over the years, through life changes and loss. This is what life should be like—thank you, Wanda and Jamal, for the beautiful annual reminder of what we can be.
In a small village in Pwani, a district on Tanzania’s coast, a massive dance party is coming to a close. For the past two hours, locals have paraded through the village streets, singing and beating ngombe drums; now, in a large clearing, a woman named Sheilla motions for everyone to sit facing a large projector screen. A film premiere is about to begin.
It’s an unusual way to kick off a film about gender bias, inequality, early marriage, and other barriers that prevent girls from accessing education in Tanzania. But in Pwani and beyond, local organizations supported by Malala Fund and funded by Pura are finding creative, culturally relevant ways like this one to capture people’s interest.
The film ends and Sheilla, the Communications and Partnership Lead for Media for Development and Advocacy (MEDEA), stands in front of the crowd once again, asking the audience to reflect: What did you think about the film? How did it relate to your own experience? What can we learn?
Sheilla explains that, once the community sees the film, “It brings out conversations within themselves, reflective conversations.” The resonance and immediate action create a ripple effect of change.
MEDEA Screening Audience in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
Across Tanzania, gender-based violence often forces adolescent girls out of the classroom. This and other barriers — including child marriage, poverty, conflict, and discrimination — prevent girls from completing their education around the world.
Sheilla and her team are using film and radio programs to address the challenges girls face in their communities. MEDEA’s ultimate goal is to affirm education as a fundamental right for everyone, and to ensure that every member of a community understands how girls’ education contributes to a stronger whole and how to be an ally for their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, friends, nieces, and girlfriends.
Sheilla’s story is one of many that inspired Heart on Fire, a new fragrance from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection that blends the warm, earthy spices of Tanzania with a playful, joyful twist. Here’s how Pura is using scent as a tool to connect the world and inspire action.
A partnership focused on local impact, on a global mission
Pura, a fragrance company that recognizes education as both freedom and a human right, has partnered with Malala Fund since 2022. In order to defend every girl’s right to access and complete 12 years of education, Malala Fund partners with local organizations in countries where the educational barriers are the greatest. They invest in locally-led solutions because they know that those who are closest to the problems are best equipped to solve and build durable solutions, like MEDEA, which works with communities to challenge discrimination against girls and change beliefs about their education.
But local initiatives can thrive and scale more powerfully with global support, which is why Pura is using their own superpower, the power of scent, to connect people around the world with the women and girls in these local communities.
The Pura x Malala Fund Collection incorporates ingredients naturally found in Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil: countries where Malala Fund operates to address systemic education barriers. Eight percent of net revenue from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection will be donated to Malala Fund directly, but beyond financial support, the Collection is also a love letter to each unique community, blending notes like lemon, jasmine, cedarwood, and clove to transport people, ignite their senses, and help them draw inspiration and hope from the global movement for girls’ education. Through scent, people can connect to the courage, joy, and tenacity of girls and local leaders, all while uniting in a shared commitment to education: the belief that supporting girls’ rights in one community benefits all of us, everywhere.
You’ve already met Sheilla. Now see how Naiara and Mama Habiba are building unique solutions to ensure every girl can learn freely and dare to dream.
Naiara Leite is reimagining what’s possible in Brazil
Julia with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
In Brazil, where pear trees and coconut plantations cover the Northeastern Coast, girls like ten-year-old Julia experience a different kind of educational barrier than girls in Tanzania. Too often, racial discrimination contributes to high dropout rates among Black, quilombola and Indigenous girls in the country.
“In the logic of Brazilian society, Black people don’t need to study,” says Naiara Leite, Executive Coordinator of Odara, a women-led organization and Malala Fund partner. Bahia, the state where Odara is based, was once one of the largest slave-receiving territories in the Americas, and because of that history, deeply-ingrained, anti-Black prejudice is still widespread. “Our role and the image constructed around us is one of manual labor,” Naiara says.
But education can change that. In 2020, with assistance from a Malala Fund grant, Odara launched its first initiative for improving school completion rates among Black, quilombola, and Indigenous girls: “Ayomidê Odara”. The young girls mentored under the program, including Julia, are known as the Ayomidês. And like the Pura x Malala Fund Collection’s Brazil: Breath of Courage scent, the Ayomidês are fierce, determined, and bursting with energy.
Ayomidês with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
Ayomidês take part in weekly educational sessions where they explore subjects like education and ethnic-racial relations. The girls are encouraged to find their own voices by producing Instagram lives, social media videos, and by participating in public panels. Already, the Ayomidês are rewriting the narrative on what’s possible for Afro-Brazilian girls to achieve. One of the earliest Ayomidês, a young woman named Debora, is now a communications intern. Another former Ayomidê, Francine, works at UNICEF, helping train the next generation of adolescent leaders. And Julia has already set her sights on becoming a math teacher or a model.
“These are generations of Black women who did not have access to a school,” Naiara says. “These are generations of Black women robbed daily of their dreams. And we’re telling them that they could be the generation in their family to write a new story.”
Mama Habiba is reframing the conversation in Nigeria
Centre for Girls' Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
In Mama Habiba’s home country of Nigeria, the scents of starfruit, ylang ylang and pineapple, all incorporated into the Pura x Malala Collection’s “Nigeria: Hope for Tomorrow,” can be found throughout the vibrant markets. Like these native scents, Mama Habiba says that the Nigerian girls are also bright and passionate, but too often they are forced to leave school long before their potential fully blooms.
“Some of these schools are very far, and there is an issue of quality, too,” Mama Habiba says. “Most parents find out when their children are in school, the girls are not learning. So why allow them to continue?”
When girls drop out of secondary school, marriage is often the alternative. In Nigeria, one in three girls is married before the age of 18. When this happens, girls are unable to fulfill their potential, and their families and communities lose out on the social, health and economic benefits.
Completing secondary school delays marriage, and according to UNESCO, educated girls become women who raise healthier children, lift their families out of poverty and contribute to more peaceful, resilient communities.
Centre for Girls’ Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
To encourage young girls to stay in school, the Centre for Girls’ Education, a nonprofit in Nigeria founded by Mama Habiba and supported by Malala Fund and Pura, has pioneered an initiative that’s similar to the Ayomidê workshops in Brazil: safe spaces. Here, girls meet regularly to learn literacy, numeracy, and other issues like reproductive health. These safe spaces also provide an opportunity for the girls to role-play and learn to advocate for themselves, develop their self-image, and practice conversations with others about their values, education being one of them. In safe spaces, Mama Habiba says, girls start to understand “who she is, and that she is a girl who has value. She has the right to negotiate with her parents on what she really feels or wants.”
“When girls are educated, they can unlock so many opportunities,” Mama Habiba says. “It will help the economy of the country. It will boost so many opportunities for the country. If they are given the opportunity, I think the sky is not the limit. It is the starting point for every girl.”
From parades, film screenings to safe spaces and educational programs, girls and local leaders are working hard to strengthen the quality, safety and accessibility of education and overcome systemic challenges. They are encouraging courageous behavior and reminding us all that education is freedom.
Experience the Pura x Malala Fund Collection here, and connect with the stories of real girls leading change across the globe.
Shawn Michaels stopped a performance in front of 13,000 to help a fan in need. – Photo credit: Mandy Coombes – Flickr: WWE – Birmingham 210695 (19), CC BY-SA 2.0 & David Seto, CC BY 2.0,
Professional wrestling in the 1990s was really something else. Dominated at the time by the WWF (now WWE), stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, and The Undertaker were larger than life and some of the most popular public sports figures in the world well before The Rock and John Cena hit…
Professional wrestling in the 1990s was really something else. Dominated at the time by the WWF (now WWE), stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, and The Undertaker were larger than life and some of the most popular public sports figures in the world well before The Rock and John Cena hit the scene.
And then there was Shawn “The Heartbreak Kid” Michaels, who was perhaps the biggest star of all during his heyday. Known for his extraordinarily cocky and vain character, Michaels was a terrific performer both in the ring and on the mic, making him a beloved fan favorite.
In one iconic moment from a 1997 match, Shawn Michaels stopped and left the ring mid-match when he noticed a security scuffle taking place just a few feet away.
The 1997 King of the Ring Pay Per View event featured Shawn Michaels taking on Stone Cold Steve Austin, pitting two of the sport’s biggest stars against each other for what would become a legendary showdown.
Just a minute or so into the match, Steve Austin stops to stare outside the ring at some kind of disturbance. Michaels quickly clocks what’s going on and slides out of the ring. He saunters over to a group of security personnel who seem to be roughly grabbing at and restraining a young boy. Michaels gently shoves them aside and offers comfort to the boy, who it becomes clear has Down syndrome.
It would have been the perfect heartwarming moment…if Steve Austin hadn’t run over and immediately started “punching” Michaels in the head! The performers resume their match in the ring for another minute before Michaels again exits and finds the boy. He waves off the security guards and gently escorts the boy down the aisle and safely away from the ring, effectively breaking character in front of the crowd of 13,000 stunned onlookers.
Once they’re a safe distance from the ring, Michaels hands the boy over to some other officials and a woman who comes running after him, and then returns to the match.
As a show of respect, Steve Austin holds the ropes open for his opponent to return to the regularly scheduled match, which went on to be an all-time classic.
Shawn Michaels breaks out of his heel character to help a child with Down Syndrome who tried jumping into the ring and was grabbed by security. Respect to HBK ? pic.twitter.com/AcXNM3O8Uh
In professional wrestling, there’s a concept called “kayfabe“— it means that at no point are the performers or the production to ever, ever indicate that what’s taking place isn’t real.
We all know that professional wrestling like WWE is staged and mostly scripted. While the athletic stunts are impressive (and the falls really do hurt), the wrestlers in the ring aren’t really fighting each other. It’s all a giant soap opera, with dramatic storylines written that build anticipation for the big showdown.
What’s so unique about pro wrestling is that this illusion is never broken—especially not in the 90s. Performers like Shawn Michaels were never to break character in interviews or fan interactions, and absolutely never during a live match, let alone one of the main events of a Pay Per View performance!
Think kayfabe is silly? Tell that to the wrestlers. In 1975, a trio of wrestlers were involved in a horrific plane crash. One of the wrestler’s, Mr. Wrestling, survived and made it to the hospital, where he proceeded to lie to the doctors:
“While lying in a hospital bed, and with no way of knowing if his compatriots were alive or dead, Mr. Wrestling provided his true name…and then lied about his job to preserve the illusion of wrestling. He knew that if word got out that a good guy, the owner of the company’s brother and three bad guys were all on the same plane, it could ruin that illusion forever,” according to Uproxx.
A wrestler named Junkyard Dog once became “blinded” during a match and wore dark glasses and a walking cane in public for months afterward, even claiming that he could not see his newborn son. One story goes that the “blind” Junkyard Dog was once sitting ringside at a match when a fan jumped the barrier with a gun close by, and JYD was legitimately torn about whether to stop the man and break kayfabe (luckily, police officers intervened first, but can you believe he really had to give this decision serious weight?!).
Junkyard Dog took kayfabe extremely seriously. Giphy
Kayfabe also means that, no matter what’s going on around the production, the show must go on. In 1999, a wrestler named Owen Hart died in the ring after some acrobatics equipment sadly malfunctioned. The others wrestlers were ordered to continue performing the rest of the show with Hart’s blood still drying on the mat.
For Michaels, and Austin to a lesser extend, to break that illusion of reality in order to help a fan showed a tremendous amount of compassion.
The match has over 12 million views on YouTube, striking a cord with viewers both for the performance and for the amazing display of integrity and warmth by Shawn Michaels. Commenters shared their admiration in droves:
“Shawn Michael protects the special kid like a caring father. Respect.”
“Shawn Michaels taking the time to make sure that young man got out of the ring side safely is one of the best things Ive ever seen in wrestling. A legend in the ring and out.”
“The way Shawn loving blanketed the boy with love to keep him out of the ring and content at the same time was so angelic”
“How great of shawn was it to break character and go help that disabled olympian kid. What a great guy.”
“Stone Cold holding the ropes for Shawn Michaels out of respect for what just happened is the greatest breaking kayfabe moment in the history of the WWE. … Stone Cold acknowledged what just happened and how much he had respect for what Michaels just did.”
Police and security personnel often have extremely poor training on dealing with people with disabilities, which can lead to unnecessary violence. When the young man at this WWF event hopped the railing, he unknowingly put himself in a lot of danger. Shawn Michaels stopping the live performance, breaking character, and helping the boy out with warmth and compassion may have prevented a tragic outcome.
This article originally appeared [time-difference] ago. It has been updated.
Let’s take a look at that growing stack of books in your room. You know the one: the pile that seems to grow faster than you can read it. It might look like neglect, but it actually says something about your curiosity and hopefulness. Did you know there’s a Japanese word for this? It might…
Let’s take a look at that growing stack of books in your room. You know the one: the pile that seems to grow faster than you can read it. It might look like neglect, but it actually says something about your curiosity and hopefulness. Did you know there’s a Japanese word for this? It might just change how you see your book pile from now on.
Enter the world of “tsundoku” (積ん読). This Japanese term describes buying books you intend to read but end up stacking around your home. Unopened, unread and collecting dust—not mistreated, just waiting for the right time.
The history behind the “Tsundoku Sensei”
The word “tsundoku” comes from Japan’s Meiji era, a time when books and reading were becoming more popular. It combines “tsunde-oku,” which means to pile things up and leave them, with “dokusho,” which means “reading books.” The result is a word that perfectly captures an experience every book lover knows well.
The earliest use of the word dates to a Japanese satirical text from 1879, notes bibliographer Mori Senzo. It described a teacher whose shelves were packed with unread books. The word was a gentle joke, carrying no malice—a connotation that remains today. Professor Andrew Gerstle adds that “tsundoku” still carries no stigma in Japan.
Tsundoku vs. Bibliomania: A meaningful distinction
Both “tsundoku” and “bibliomania” involve collecting books, but the reasons behind them are different.
“Bibliomania” describes an excessive obsession with collecting books, often for their rarity, beauty, or the pleasure of owning them rather than for reading. A bibliomaniac focuses on obtaining desirable volumes—such as first editions or illustrated works—valuing the collection itself above the books’ contents.
“Tsundoku,” on the other hand, is about wanting to read the books you buy, even if you haven’t gotten to them yet. Maybe you picked up a book because a friend recommended it or because something new caught your eye. The stack grows not out of obsession but out of the hope that you’ll read them all someday.
That difference matters. A “tsundoku” pile isn’t just a collection; it’s a sign of your curiosity and your goals. It shows not only who you are but who you want to be.
Your brain on “tsundoku“
So why do we keep buying books when we have a pile of them we haven’t read yet? The answer has a lot to do with how our brains work.
Buying a new book triggers a dopamine release, the same neurochemical associated with anticipation. The pleasure hits the moment your credit card is swiped. Reading can wait, but “later” often never comes.
Your unread books are like little promises to yourself. They represent the “aspirational self.” Each one is a version of you who has finally read Anna Karenina, finished The Secret Lives of Color, or learned something new from The Trauma of Everyday Life. That future self feels close, just waiting for you to catch up. So the pile grows, full of hope and possibility.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to learn more, even if your curiosity sometimes outpaces your reading speed. The desire for new ideas is a good thing.
The “antilibrary” concept
Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco practiced a more extreme version of this habit. His personal library contained more than 30,000 books, most of which he hadn’t read. Eco celebrated it. He referred to his collection of unread books as an “antilibrary”—a clear reminder of all the knowledge he had yet to discover.
Every unread book on your shelf is a little promise to yourself. Photo credit: Canva
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, expanded on Eco’s idea of an antilibrary. He argued that you should maximize your library’s space by keeping books on topics you know little about. “Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary,” he says.
An antilibrary is a “memento sciendi”—a representation of all you have yet to learn. Rather than a failure, a shelf of unread books signals intellectual humility: “I know what I don’t know and want to learn more.”
“Tsundoku” meets the modern world
“Tsundoku” is now found far from Japan. The idea lives on in gaming culture, where players build libraries of unplayed games on platforms like Steam—sometimes dubbed “Steamdoku.” As cartoonist Ronnie Filyaw put it, “Tsundoku is collecting books you won’t read. Steamdoku is your Steam library.”
Then there’s BookTok, TikTok’s beloved part of the Internet dedicated to all things literary. On BookTok, reading is a shared social experience. Creators turn the act of collecting books into engaging content, often filming their towering “to-be-read” (TBR) piles. Here, an unread stack becomes a form of individual expression and a way to connect with fellow book lovers.
This digital domain has had a remarkable impact on the publishing world. NPD BookScan reports that a group of writers rule BookTok and have enjoyed lucrative rewards: 80 authors with large BookTok followings saw their collective sales more than double in one year, rising from nine million copies in 2020 to 20 million in 2021.
The irony, of course, is that the gap between books bought and books read may be wider than ever. Despite the boom in book buying, reading is on the decline. A survey from the National Endowment for the Arts found that only 48.5% of American adults read at least one book in 2022. That’s a noticeable drop from 52.7% in 2017 and 54.6% in 2012. The numbers for fiction are even more stark, with just 37.6% of adults reading a novel in 2022—the lowest rate in the survey’s 30-year history.
“Tsundoku” lives in the space between wanting to read and actually finding the time to do it. Life gets busy, but the desire to read and keep learning is always there. Your bookshelf is waiting, ready for you to choose a book and begin.
Embracing “tsundoku” as an act of optimism
Remember, every unread book on your shelf is a promise to your future self. Each perfect, unbent spine represents an inquisitiveness that hasn’t found its moment yet.
At its core, “tsundoku” is about optimism. Every new book you buy shows you believe there will be time for new ideas. The world is full of stories, and there’s always more to learn.
So the next time someone questions your growing stack of books, remember: there’s a name for your habit. Book lovers in Japan have used it for over a century. You’re not alone in believing that, one day, those books will be read.
And if some books stay unread? That’s okay. The pile is still proof of your curiosity and your commitment to keep growing. “Tsundoku” is a sign of hope and the drive to learn, not a sign of failure.
Gym class may be the easiest class for some kids in school, but for others, it’s the roughest. For the not-athletically-inclined, P.E. can feel like torture, both physically and psychologically. Oliver Foit was one of the kids for whom gym class was fine. But he recognized that wasn’t the case for all. He shared a…
Gym class may be the easiest class for some kids in school, but for others, it’s the roughest. For the not-athletically-inclined, P.E. can feel like torture, both physically and psychologically.
Oliver Foit was one of the kids for whom gym class was fine. But he recognized that wasn’t the case for all. He shared a story about a gym class experience when he was 14 that he said changed the way he treated people for the rest of his life.
“I remember I was in gym class and my teacher had chosen me to be one of the captains to pick teams for basketball,” he shared in an Instagram video. “And I remember I was getting ready to make my pick, and I was standing up in front of everyone. And before I did, I saw this girl that was sitting in the back of the class, and she usually got picked last. She was a little bit heavier set, wasn’t really super coordinated, wasn’t really into sports, which is fine. I called her name, and I remember she looked up and was like, ‘Me?’”
Foit said his friend, the other captain, leaned over to him and asked, “Why’d you pick her?” Foit responded, “Why not?”
The girl came up and stood right behind Foit. He told her to stand next to him since she was on his team.
“She stood next to me, and I remember my friend was getting ready to pick whoever he was going to pick. And I remember she whispered something in my ear that I’ll never forget. She leaned over and said, ‘Are you sure?’ And it kind of hit me. I looked over at her, and I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
It was a rogue decision. Competition means picking the best athletes first, right? Everyone knows that. But this wasn’t an NBA coach choosing players for a professional sports team—it was P.E. class.
From that moment on, Foit picked the kids who normally didn’t get picked to join his team. It paid off.
“That gym class was one of the most fun gym classes I’ve ever had in my life,” Foit said. “Because I remember it wasn’t about trying to prove something or having your friends competing or anything like that. It was seriously about just having fun and including people…it was so fun. And I didn’t shoot one time, I was just passing the ball the whole time, and it was so fun.”
That was his freshman year. Fast forward to graduation. After the ceremony, the girl from gym class four years earlier approached him and grabbed his arm.
“She looked at me, and she said, ‘Oliver, I still remember when you picked me first when we played basketball in ninth grade.’ And I was like, ‘Really? I remember that too.’ And she’s like, ‘That was the only time I was picked first for anything in school.’ And that hit me really hard.”
Years later, that act of kindness still meant something to her. Foit said he shared the story in the hope that it might inspire people to be kind and more aware of those around them.
“It takes so little to be kind to someone, but it makes such a big impact on them,” he said. “Include people. That’s what the world’s about. It’s about including people and being kind to them.”
The story did inspire people, both from the perspective of someone who experienced the impact of being kind and from those on the receiving end of that kindness. Here’s what people are saying in the comments:
“Being a good person is more rewarding and enriching than anyone could imagine. It is life changing for the person doing the deed as much as it is for the person it done for.”
“You are so awesome. I was that girl in high school. I wish I knew someone like you then.”
“In school, I was always picked last and bullied for just existing. After I broke out of that shell and gained confidence, I made it a point to make those still in their shells feel welcome & included. Thinking back, it’s amazing how sometimes it only takes one person to crack that shell.”
“I was a skinny, sickly version of that girl. I remember kids arguing over who had to take me for PE. More than once, I was part of a 2-for-1 deal after all the other kids were picked. I’m 60, and I haven’t forgotten. Bless you, Oliver. ❤️”
“As a girl who also was always picked last in school… thank you. I have no doubt that small gesture impacted and changed her in ways you’ll never know. ❤️”
But as much as anything: I’m really sorry to hear how bad gym class was for so many of y’all.
We hear so much about how education has gotten worse and staid but, really, sounds like it was bad in all sorts of ways already.
“From every ‘last picked in gym class’ kid, thank you. I guarantee you that she still thinks about this moment to this day. I know I would.”
“This made me cry. I was always picked last. That would’ve changed my life if I was her.”
“At my 30th reunion last summer, a woman walked up to me and hugged me tight. She said to her husband who I hadn’t yet met, that I was nice to her in high school. I was taken back for a moment bc she was this girl in the back of gym who was probably never chosen. I smiled and responded with ‘Of course. We were friends. You were so easy to love.’ We both cried. I hope your feed finds as many people as possible.”
Even Katie Couric responded: “Okay Oliver. I love you. You’re so right. Pick the person who might get picked last. Go talk to the person at the dance who is alone and looks uncomfortable. Ask the new kid to sit at your table for lunch. Simple, seemingly small acts of kindness make a huge difference. You are going to be a successful human. ❤️”
It was a simple but beautiful reminder of the power of a kind act. (And perhaps an indication that we should stop picking teams this way in gym class?)
People are allowed to dislike whatever they want, but sometimes that comes with questions. Tyreak, who runs the Instagram account Tyreak Told You, has a peculiar beef that often leaves people laughing and scratching their heads. The New Yorker spends some of his free time disliking the universe, but the planets within our solar system…
People are allowed to dislike whatever they want, but sometimes that comes with questions. Tyreak, who runs the Instagram account Tyreak Told You, has a peculiar beef that often leaves people laughing and scratching their heads. The New Yorker spends some of his free time disliking the universe, but the planets within our solar system take the brunt of his disdain.
It’s unclear why he doesn’t like the planets, but he makes it his mission to roast them. No planet’s feelings are spared when Tyreak gets fired up about whatever new information he has just learned about them. His research into space and the deadpan delivery of his annoyance with the planets have people learning while laughing.
Some planets in his crosshairs take a little more heat than others. Parents may want to preview any video before showing it to their child to take note of any profanity. In his amusing takedown of Jupiter, he uses colorful language while trying to figure out what happens to the planets Jupiter eats. Yes, scientists have discovered that the large planet may be expanding after consuming smaller planets. That news just didn’t sit right with the space critic.
“Can you believe that Jupiter just gave me another reason to not like it? Look at this,” Tyreak says. “Jupiter may have grown by swallowing baby planets reveals a new study. I told y’all Jupiter was morbidly obese. Jupiter just overeats. Jupiter never gets full. You can’t satisfy Jupiter. Jupiter just eats everything around it. That’s why it’s so big. That’s why it looks like that. These are stretch marks.”
He goes on to talk about the 95 moons orbiting Jupiter before asking whether the planet poops. A logical question after finding out it eats other planets. But don’t worry, other unsuspecting planets aren’t escaping his amusingly nonsensical ire for their existence.
In another video, he petitions to exile Mercury from the solar system because it’s dead.
“We shouldn’t have dead planets just rotting away in our solar system. Isn’t that like some type of health code violation?” Tyreak asks. “You have dead planets just chilling out in the solar system? Like, what does it smell like? Do you think Mercury smells worse than Saturn? Cause Saturn has a bunch of ammonia crystals, so that whole planet probably smells like pee.”
He calls Saturn a “giant UTI” before moving on to explain Mercury’s distance from the Sun, the reason it may be shrinking, and information about its core.
Commenters can’t get enough of his series about why he dislikes the planets and the universe as a whole.
One person writes, “I love this series. It’s giving Tyreak DeGrasse Tyson.”
Another person adds, “My dude got beef with the Galaxy.”
“So Mercury is a planet but Pluto isn’t?? Feels racist somehow,” someone jokes.
One person conjures a horrifying image of Jupiter, saying, “I bet you Jupiter’s mouth is that red super hurricane! It just sucks those planets in. Horrifying!”
Jupiter is a honey badger, and honey badgers don’t care, says this person: “Jupiter is out here behaving like a Honey Badger.”
Someone else is proving that Tyreak is educating viewers one annoyed planet video at a time: “I haven’t been this invested in science since Miss Frizzle and Bill NYE.”
“Please never stop doing these. They bring me so much joy and laughter, for real,” one person swears. Another says the videos belong on TV: “This is PBS Science documentary worthy commentary.”
A trend has emerged on social media that has older generations questioning what is happening. Someone will go to a college campus and ask students to name a celebrity icon. The celebrity is usually from a culturally classic movie, TV show, or a musician who crosses generational lines.
In every instance, very few students, if any, get it right. From Whitney Houston to John Ritter, Gen Z struggles to name the person they’re seeing.
A man who goes by the name Adivunsolicited on Instagram has a theory about why Gen Z doesn’t know pop culture from before they were born. He believes this is something unique to the younger generation. Many people from older generations recognize musicians and actors from their parents’ generation and earlier.
The man shows a viral clip of college students being shown a photo of Whitney Houston. None of the students guessed the correct celebrity. Guesses swung wildly from Alicia Keys to Prince, but none came close to naming the iconic singer.
“Imagine not knowing one of the vocal trinity, Whitney Houston,” the man says. “Ask a Millennial to name a band from the ’60s, you’ll probably hear The Beatles, Marvin Gaye or Aretha Franklin without hesitation. Ask us to name classic films, we might say The Godfather or Star Wars. Classic TV? Living Single, Friends, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Now ask a Gen Z, a lot of them draw a blank.”
Adivunsolicited says it’s not because they’re less intelligent. Instead, it has to do with exposure. Millennials and older generations were often forced to listen to or watch whatever was on television or the radio. Gen Z, on the other hand, has everything curated for them by personalized algorithms that learn their tastes.
“Millennials grew up with limited choices, and we’re the last generation to truly understand the way the world operated in analog before the switch to digital, Wi-Fi, and algorithms,” he explains. “You had the radio. You had cable TV with a few channels and maybe MTV, that’s it. Everyone consumed culture from the same handful of places. If a song from the ’70s played on the radio, you heard it. If a classic movie aired on television, you watched it. Cultural exposure was shared and centralized. Gen Z, they grew up in the algorithm era.”
This younger generation experiences culture differently. YouTube recommendations, TikTok, and Instagram feeds are all curated to their personal tastes.
“Hyper-personalization and hyper-isolation,” Adivunsolicited says. “If the algorithm doesn’t surface Prince or Madonna, it may never organically encounter them. If no one around them references Back to the Future, it doesn’t naturally enter their world. Millennials absorbed older culture almost by accident. Gen Z has to seek it out intentionally.”
The man, who is also a musician, takes a moment to call out Gen X. He points out that Gen X would be the ones to expose their children—Gen Z—to older pop culture. While much of how Millennials absorbed pop culture came from limited entertainment choices, parents also played a role in introducing it to them. Judging by the responses given when students were asked to guess celebrities, that parental guidance on pop culture seems to have been missing.
Commenters agree with the take. One person jokes, “They’re not woken up at 7 am on a Saturday morning to clean and listen to Anita Baker and it shows.”
Another writes, “This made me sooo sad to see the video of them not knowing the great Whitney Houston but this is a really good point that they don’t know what they don’t know because of what they’ve grown up with.”
Someone else points out a missed connection: “Because we were growing up interacting with our families of all ages not always by choice either, grandparent and parents were in the same rooms watching their shows and listening to their music and observing and learning about history and expanding our general knowledge.. this generation does not have to do this. They can go on to their own devices and have lost the communal element.”
“The parents aren’t passing things down,” another person laments. “This is our culture. They don’t have MTV or BET and aren’t just going to know. It’s up to parents to pass down culture.”
Comedian Kevin Nealon and the late, great Robin Williams first became friends in 1979 in Los Angeles. But according to Nealon, as kind and lovely as Williams was, it took a little bit of maneuvering on his part to make it happen. In fact, Nealon claims he had to outright lie to lock the friendship in.
He recently took to X and Threads to recount a heartwarming memory of pretending he knew anything about cars just to spend a little time with the brilliant comic.
X user @ISScottDavenport shared this Ellis Rosen cartoon. Photo credit: Scott DavenPort, X
“Robin Williams had done his set and left the comedy club. Soon after, he walks back in annoyed.
I said, what’s going on?
He said his car wouldn’t start.
I go, maybe I can help. I know absolutely nothing about cars. He doesn’t know that. I just wanted to make him think I was helping him.
So we go outside. He’s got a Range Rover.
We open the hood. He’s leaning in, swearing.
I’m looking around. Nodding. Like I’m a mechanic.
I have no idea what any of it is.
After a minute, I say, ‘Yeah… I don’t have my tools with me. You might need a mechanic.’
The simplicity and honesty in this one post have so many fans of both comedians truly engaged. Some share their own funny takes. “A technical comedian is an oxymoron,” jokes one X user. Another writes, “The classic mechanic technique: nod seriously and suggest a mechanic.”
Another commenter notes how wholesome Nealon’s story is: “‘I don’t have my tools with me’ is the perfect punch line for a guy who knows nothing about cars. You gave a legend a ride home and a great story to tell. That’s a win-win.”
This person shared their own story of seeing Williams when he dropped in as a surprise guest at the San Francisco Punch Line: “I saw him do a surprise, unannounced set at Punch Line SF, right after Brett Butler. He was a whirling dervish across the tiny stage, blessing us in the front seats with his frenetic sweat. It was amazing, and I’ll never forget it.”
One Threads user shared how much they love stories like these, writing, “I could listen to people recount stories about Robin Williams for hours and hours. That’d be such a great podcast (or something). Just actors sharing stories about their good friend, Robin.”
In past social media posts, Nealon has heaped praise and love on his old friend.
On Instagram, he shared a painting he made of Williams, relaying how their friendship began and blossomed over decades:
“My caricature painting of the brilliant Robin Williams. This was the Robin I first met in 1979 in a Los Angeles comedy club. (Before ‘Mork and Mindy.’) No one was quicker or funnier! I was absolutely floored by his wit, movement, improv skills, characters, and voices. Pure genius on the level of Jonathan Winters. As much as I laughed, I also found myself depressed because I knew I could never be that funny.
He was Amadeus Mozart, and I would be Antonio Salieri at best. But, I eventually realized that Robin couldn’t be everywhere at once (but almost), so I would probably, at least, get some work. It was always a thrill for me whenever Robin hosted SNL when I was a cast member. Absolutely brilliant! So missed!”
When you’re one of the best, it’s easy to get caught up in continuing to prove you’re the best. Displaying your dominance in a sport can be exhilarating as crowds cheer you on. But for one wrestler, fostering a love for the sport is more important. Tamara Humphries is a wrestler at the University of…
When you’re one of the best, it’s easy to get caught up in continuing to prove you’re the best. Displaying your dominance in a sport can be exhilarating as crowds cheer you on. But for one wrestler, fostering a love for the sport is more important.
Tamara Humphries is a wrestler at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown who goes by the name Firefly. In a recent video, the college wrestler is intently watching as a referee seemingly explains different starting positions to another wrestler. The newcomer looks visibly terrified as she struggles to figure out how to position her body before the match starts.
Instead of letting things play out and using her own knowledge to her advantage, Humphries intervened. She taps the referee on the shoulder and signals that he doesn’t need to help. That’s when a sweet display of sportsmanship is shown. The championship wrestler starts from the position the other wrestler seems to be most comfortable with. Humphries also uses much less force while wrestling the girl to the mat.
For some viewers, the more experienced wrestler took it easy on her competitor. Others saw the wrestling match differently and praised the wrestler for her acknowledgement of the girl’s fear while still giving her a match. Humphries isn’t a stranger to the fear she saw on the other wrestler’s face, which may have played into why her response was to be kind.
The Pittsburgh native didn’t start wrestling until 10th grade. At the time, her inner-city school didn’t have a girls’ wrestling team, so she had to wrestle with the boys. In an old video uploaded to YouTube, Humphries shares how she was terrified the night before her very first match.
“Listen, before my first match, I’m literally freaking out in my bed, terrified. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ cause when I was on the team, there was no sanctioned girls wrestling at this moment,” the wrestler reveals in the year-old clip. “So I’m like, okay…I have to wrestle a boy. I’m looking up on YouTube, freaking boy versus girl wrestling, and it’s a bunch of girls getting actually demolished by guys. I’m like ‘oh my gosh, I’m cooked.’”
Before joining the boys’ wrestling team, she was a cheerleader and ran track. Wrestling was a complete change that she had to take on alone. With girls’ and women’s wrestling starting to catch on, Humphries wants to do her part to make new wrestlers feel welcome.
In the text overlay of a recent video, she writes, “Shout out to this super brave girl. This sport is terrifying! Never be afraid to start something new. We all start somewhere.”
Viewers of the kind video heap praise on the young college athlete.
One person writes, “U definitely took it easy on her and that was a very noble thing to do. Ive seen other clips of yours and know just how savage you can be when you need to be. You were a great ambassador to the sport for her. Many others would have smelled blood in the water and worked her over.”
Another says, “This actually made me tear up. Wow. You are a GIRLS GIRL! You gave her a story, one day she’ll tell others, the reason she kept competing is because of this moment. It could’ve gone BAD, but you changed the trajectory. Well done.”
This commenter adds on to the praise, saying, “I luv this. You showed her grace. Maybe someone did that for you. But it’s possible she can move forward and become better instead of giving up because of this one defining moment. And for you to have that wisdom is why you’re going to move mountains.”
“Awesome sportsmanship, one of my teammates got clip farmed by a national qualifier this season and it was her first match ever,” another says.
A coach views the act as a moment to praise both athletes, writing, “You’re great. You know that. You don’t need to show the world all the time. That’s admirable! Can we take a second to praise her? She was clearly scared and nervous. You can see it in her face. But she still went out there and competed. That’s more than most can say. Congrats to both of you from a dusty, old coach.”
One commenter gushes, “Oh my god she’s trying so hard. This is the most touching thing I’ve seen in so long. You go girls!”
Humphries reminds people in her caption that women’s wrestling is still new, and praises anyone trying it out: “I love running into people who just started to show them the sport isn’t so bad, with women’s wrestling on the rise, it’s nothing new. Never be afraid to start something new!! You guys are killing it.”
Mom Michelle celebrates her 60th birthday on a surprise party bus and takes it to visit her mom Jackie, who has dementia and lives in assisted living. – Photo credit: TikTok/@daniix3dee (with permission)
There is only one way to celebrate turning 60—on a party bus. That’s what Danielle DeBernardi and her sister were thinking when they booked one for their mom, Michelle. After the family gathered to celebrate the milestone birthday at a friend’s home, Danielle and her sister had one more surprise waiting outside—a party bus full…
There is only one way to celebrate turning 60—on a party bus. That’s what Danielle DeBernardi and her sister were thinking when they booked one for their mom, Michelle.
After the family gathered to celebrate the milestone birthday at a friend’s home, Danielle and her sister had one more surprise waiting outside—a party bus full of family and friends.
In a series of touching videos, Danielle documented Michelle’s epic 60th birthday, which ended with a tear-jerking visit to a nursing home to see Jackie (a.k.a. Juju), the family matriarch battling dementia.
Mom asked if the party bus could go see My grandma in a nursing rehab facility. She has dementia and Alzheimer’s. She was dead asleep when we showed up at 10pm with 10ppl standing in her room ready to party 😂 #motherdaughter#birthdaygirl#queen#nursinghome#partybus
The party bus pulls up as Michelle and her husband wait outside, and when she sees it, Michelle looks shocked. “Is this us?” she asks her daughter, before quipping, “Is there a dancing man in there?”
When the doors open and she steps on, all 10 of her closest people inside yell, “Surprise!” Michelle appears overwhelmed with emotion and starts hugging each person on the bus.
They take Michelle to dinner, and then Michelle has a special request: to go visit Juju.
The ladies are living it up on the bus. They can be seen singing and dancing to songs like Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.”
Once they arrive at the nursing home, it’s all about Juju. Michelle can be seen sitting on her mom’s bed. Then she hops in with her, feeding her Häagen-Dazs ice cream and laughing together.
“POV: you get your mom a party bus for her 60th birthday and you ask her where she wants to go, and she says she wants to go see her mom at the nursing facility so you pull up in a party bus with 10 people at 10:00 at night and all go inside to see juju,” Danielle captioned the video.
It’s a moment Danielle and the family will never forget.
“Having four generations together in that nursing home room for my mom’s 60th birthday meant more than words can fully express,” Danielle tells Upworthy.
She continues, “Seeing my mom, her mother, myself and my daughter all in one place was such a powerful reminder of love, family, and the moments that truly matter. It was simple, but incredibly meaningful—a memory I’ll carry in my heart forever.”
