Quiver Full of Good in the World

[unsafetydancer]

So last weekend I went to my first ever Pride here in Glasgow. Was actually impressed at how few religious nutjobs there were to be seen and even more impressed by the teenagers who had made a wall around them with handmade signs that said stuff like "god is TOTALLY gay" or "god is a woman".

Also the crossing next to my road is fucked, the button on the side I'm at doesn't work. I watched a guy earlier charge across in front of cars and then press the (working!) button on the opposite side to let a lady with a pram across. Not all heroes wear capes.

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"A boy held his crying classmate’s hand on the first day of school. A photo of the moment has gone viral."

Spoiler

It was her son’s first day of second grade, and April Crites worried that he would feel overwhelmed.

Conner, 8, was waiting for the doors to open at his school in Wichita on Aug. 14 when he started to cry. His autism sometimes makes him overstimulated, Crites said, and he had gotten away from his personal aide.

While Conner stood alone in a corner crying, his classmate Christian Moore happened to glance over at him.

“Instead of overlooking him like most kids would have, he (Christian) just reached over, grabbed his hand and made my son’s day better,” Crites, 29, said Tuesday in an interview.

Christian’s mom, Courtney, happened to snap a photo of the spontaneous act of kindness. Her son walked Conner inside Minneha Core Knowledge Magnet Elementary School, she wrote in a now-viral Facebook post.

“It is an honor to raise such a loving, compassionate child!” Moore wrote. “He’s a kid with a Big heart, the first day of school started off right.”

When Conner came home that afternoon, Crites said, he told her that he had a great first day. He liked his new friends and his teacher, she said, and he didn’t mention that he had gotten upset at the start of the day. Crites said she didn’t even know about her son’s interaction with Christian until she saw the photo a few days later.

The boys had been in classes together before this year, Crites said, but they didn’t know each other well. Now, she said, they’re inseparable.

Conner and Christian sit together at lunch and play together at recess. Christian went to the Crites’ house last weekend, and the pair played for an hour and a half without an argument — a feat that Crites said is unusual for her son. Conner has been asking his mom when Christian can come spend the night.

The Crites family has been touched by the attention the photo has received, Crites said. Conner gets excited when his classmates tell him they saw his picture on TV. Crites said her husband, who rarely cries, shed a few tears when he saw the photo.

The lesson, Crites said, is to remember that everyone is struggling with something that may be invisible to those around them.

“You could choose to see someone who’s having a really bad day and say something horrible to them and make their day even worse,” Crites said. “Or you could choose the opposite and better route and say something nice, hand someone a tissue who’s crying and make their day better.”

 

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"This woman took 97 rescue dogs into her Bahamas home to protect them from Hurricane Dorian"

Spoiler

As residents across the Bahamas braced for Hurricane Dorian, the strongest storm in the island nation’s history, one woman’s preparations stood out: She opened her home to 97 dogs.

“79 of them are inside my master bedroom,” the woman, Chella Phillips, posted on Facebook on Sunday afternoon. “It has been insane since last night."

Phillips took steps to make the inside of her home more pleasant for the animals, putting on music “in all directions of the house” and blasting air conditioning, she wrote on Facebook. Neighbors and strangers donated dog crates, which were helpful for “the scared ones and the sick ones,” Phillips wrote.

Phillips could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

As the dogs settled into her house, Phillips barricaded the outside, according to her Facebook post. Dorian, a slow-moving Category 5 storm, has killed at least five people in the Bahamas and injured 21, in addition to leveling homes, tearing off roofs, submerging airports and destroying cars.

Phillips runs a refuge for homeless and abandoned dogs, “The Voiceless Dogs of Nassau, Bahamas.” The day she opened her home to the nearly 100 animals also marked the refuge’s fourth anniversary: Voiceless Dogs has helped about 1,000 dogs since its opening, Phillips wrote on Facebook.

Her post about the dogs she rescued before Dorian hit quickly went viral, with more than 67,000 likes and hundreds of comments. In a second post a few hours later, Phillips updated her followers, saying that all of the dogs were making friends.

“Everyone here gets along and welcome the newcomers with tail wags cause they know they are their brothers and sisters in suffering on the streets,” Phillips wrote. “Each of my babies deserve to have loving homes.”

Dorian lingered in the Bahamas for much of the weekend. Phillips told news outlet WFTS on Monday that she lost power and water came into her home at one point, but that all inhabitants — human and canine — were doing okay.

She posted another update to Facebook a few hours later, noting she and her brother had passed “a stressful night” trying to combat serious flooding. All her TVs were “fried” from the lightning, Phillips wrote, which meant “no more cartoons for the sick dogs.”

Her brother slept just an hour, and Phillips went without sleep, she wrote. She stayed awake all night to dry the house and care for the “terrified” animals.

Phillips wrote she is grateful for “the outpouring support and heartfelt prayers from so many people that don’t even know us” in the wake of her viral post. But she wishes she could do more: She’s concerned for all the dogs she couldn’t take into her home.

“I pray for the other islands who have unimaginable damages and I don’t see how any dogs or any living being could have survived outside,” Phillips wrote. “My heart goes out to them."

Phillips’s online fundraiser for her refuge, which she launched in August and was unrelated to Hurricane Dorian, had raised roughly $63,000 as of Tuesday morning, far surpassing her original goal of $20,000.

Meanwhile, Facebook users from across the nation and the globe flocked to Phillips’s posts to offer supportive comments.

“Praying for you and the furballs and the rest of the Bahamas caught in this nightmare,” one woman wrote.

“The world is behind you and your efforts,” wrote another.

 

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"He was bullied for his homemade University of Tennessee T-shirt. The school just made it an official design"

Spoiler

(CNN)A Florida student obsessed with the University of Tennessee wanted to represent the Volunteers during his elementary school's "College Colors Day," but didn't own any of their apparel -- so he took the matter into his own hands.

Laura Snyder, his teacher at Altamonte Elementary School in Altamonte Springs, says he drew a "U.T.", the university's logo, on paper and pinned it to an orange t-shirt.

"When the day finally arrived, he was SO EXCITED to show me his shirt," Snyder wrote Wednesday on Facebook. "I was impressed that he took it one step further to make his own label."

But by lunch time, the spirited Vols fan was in tears.

"Some girls at the lunch table next to his (who didn't even participate in college colors day) had made fun of his sign that he had attached to his shirt. He was DEVASTATED," said Snyder.

In hopes of raising his spirits, Snyder said she planned on buying him an official University of Tennessee T-shirt, and asked friends if they had contacts with the school who could "make it a little extra special for him."

By Thursday, her Facebook post had gone viral among Vols fans, with lots of people leaving supportive comments. And it wasn't long before the University of Tennessee reached out wanting to send the student a care package full of swag and apparel.

"You all have taken this above and beyond what I had ever imagined," wrote Snyder.

Synder updated the Facebook post on Friday to let everyone know how excited the student was to receive the care package.

"My student was so amazed at all the goodies in the box," she said. "He proudly put on the jersey and one of the many hats in the box. All who saw had either goosebumps or tears while we explained that he had inspired and touched the lives of so many people."

What's more, University of Tennessee said it was turning his "U.T." design into an official T-shirt.

"Share in a Florida elementary student's Volunteer pride by wearing his design on your shirt too!," the university's official campus store said on Twitter.

According to the university, a portion of the proceeds from every shirt sold will go to an anti-bullying foundation.

"When I told him that his design was being made into a real shirt and people wanted to wear it, his jaw dropped," said Snyder. "He had a big smile on his face, walked taller, and I could tell his confidence grew today!"

Although Snyder kept the student's photo and name private, she shared a note written by his mother on Facebook.

"I am overwhelmed by the love I feel from this extended community and the pride I feel for my son and for being a VFL. Every comment, item sent, and action taken on behalf of my son will never be forgotten and hopefully will serve as inspiration for him throughout his life," his mom said.

Demand for the student's T-shirt was so high on Saturday that it crashed University of Tennessee's online shop.

Randy Boyd, interim university president, even chimed in, tweeting that he was "touched" by the student's story and "loved his imagination behind designing his own shirt."

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"A Virginia University Offers Free Semester to Students in Bahamas Displaced by Hurricane"

Spoiler

More than 800 miles separate the University of the Bahamas and Hampton University in Virginia. But some students at the former, whose north campus was devastated by Hurricane Dorian, will be able to continue their education at no cost at the latter for a semester.

The offer by Hampton came about because of a special connection between the two universities.

After the deadly storm hit the Bahamas this week, William Harvey, the president of Hampton, called to check on his friend Rodney Smith, a former chief administrator at Hampton and now president of the University of the Bahamas. Dr. Smith assured Dr. Harvey that he and his family were fine, but that the university’s north campus was “devastated.”

The next morning, Dr. Harvey said, he called back and offered to provide students from the north campus with free room, board and tuition for the current semester.

Hampton University, a historically black institution in Hampton, Va., announced the agreement on Thursday. Within one day, Dr. Harvey said, 22 students had expressed interest. The students who participate will have the option to stay on afterward, but at the regular costs.

“I think this agreement is something that can be helpful to a great number of students and families, and is part of something I’ve tried to do my entire career — helping people to achieve and meet their goals,” Dr. Harvey said in the statement.

It is unclear how many students from the Bahamas will attend Hampton University, which already has more than 4,300 students enrolled this fall. But Hampton has prepared the space and the funds, Dr. Harvey said.

According to Hampton University’s website, total tuition costs and room and board fees add up to more than $20,000 for one semester.

The University of the Bahamas, which has several campuses and satellite locations throughout the Bahamian archipelago, including on the hardest-hit islands Grand Bahama and Abaco, was forced to close for more than a week because of the hurricane. The university did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails requesting comment on Friday.

In letters to the University of the Bahamas community about the destruction of the north campus, which is on Grand Bahama, Dr. Smith said that one administrative building was gutted and another was severely compromised.

“We will all unite and we will rebuild,” he said.

A former Hampton student with ties to the Bahamas praised the arrangement between the two universities.

“Hampton has been the educational choice for many Bahamians over its long history,” Lawrence Rigby, a former university class president, said in a statement. “I am grateful to President Harvey and university leadership on this demonstration of kindness and humanity to my home in our time of need.”

“Young Bahamians from Abaco and Grand Bahama who are looking for the tools to rebuild their lives and our home will find them at Hampton,” Mr. Rigby added.

This isn’t the first time that Hampton University has stepped in to help another institution of higher learning after a natural disaster.

It did something similar with displaced students in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Dr. Harvey said.

Many other universities have aided students after hurricanes ravaged their homes.

After Hurricane Harvey devastated Texas in August 2017, Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H., provided free tuition and room and board for displaced students in Houston. And the following month, when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Fla., and St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Fla., provided free room and board for affected students in Puerto Rico. Tulane University in New Orleans offered free tuition.

One of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, Hurricane Dorian killed dozens and left thousands homeless in the Bahamas. The archipelago faced winds as high as 180 miles per hour while surging seawater flooded neighborhoods, submerged vehicles and shredded homes. The University of the Bahamas reopened its facilities in New Providence, the most populous island in the country, on Thursday and classes there resumed on Friday, according to the university’s website. The other sites remained closed.

In one of his letters, Dr. Smith assured colleagues and students in Grand Bahama: “Please know that we are working as fast as we can to help you.”

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

When the best tweet goes viral 

 

Edited September 10, 2019 by laPapessaGiovanna

[fraurosena]

Sometimes the simple things make such a difference. So inspiring!

 

[fraurosena]

 

[Audrey2]

6 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

 

Thank you for posting this! with all of the bad things we hear about high school football players and basketball players and to a lesser extent baseball players it warms me from my heart to the tips of my toes to see these two wonderful young men step in and help someone. I sure hope there are bright things in their futures for these two young men.

[fraurosena]

 

[fraurosena]

@HarryPotterFan, is that you? 

 

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[fraurosena]

Hey @47of74, Iowa has some pretty cool places!

 

[fraurosena]

It starts when they're young.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"The lone employee at an Alabama Waffle House was swamped. So customers jumped behind the counter to help."

Spoiler

Ethan Crispo was hungry after a friend’s birthday party, and he stopped at his local Waffle House restaurant in Birmingham, Ala., to get a midnight snack.

When he walked in around 12:30 a.m. Nov. 3., about 30 customers were inside.

“I sat down at my table and I was like, ‘I’m not getting my waffle,’ ” said Crispo, 24, who observed there was just one employee in the restaurant to cook the food, serve it and wash the dishes.

“The look on his face was maybe fear, maybe shock, maybe bewilderment,” Crispo said of the worker, whose name tag said “Ben.”

“There was literally no one else working but him,” Crispo said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Crispo saw the employee talking to a customer in a blue shirt seated at the counter. Then, he said, the employee handed the man an apron and the customer started doing dishes.

“It was a transition so smooth I initially assumed it was a staff member returning to their shift,” Crispo wrote in an email he gave The Post. “It wasn’t. It was a kind stranger. A man who answered the call. Bussed tables, did dishes, stacked plates.”

Crispo initially sent the email to AL.com, the news outlet that first wrote the story. In it, he said the customer and the employee worked “feverishly” to tend to the other patrons.

When the server walked over to Crispo’s table, Crispo asked what was going on and the server told him two other employees had been there to help him, but they left — so diners jumped in to help.

Soon after, Crispo said, a customer in a dress got up, walked behind the counter and started making coffee.

“She figured out how to do the coffee maker. She was in a sequined dress and heels,” Crispo said. “She tried to take an order or two but then she went to busing tables. It was bizarre to see someone doing that in a sequined dress and heels.”

Another customer in a red shirt also pitched in to help for a few minutes, said Crispo, adding that he left without getting their names.

Waffle House did not answer an email from The Post on Sunday. But Pat Warner, the restaurant’s director of PR and external affairs, told AL.com there had been a miscommunication in scheduling workers that night at the restaurant on Highway 280. Several employees left when their shift was over, and their replacement workers did not show up, he said.

Warner added that security camera footage showed customers washing dishes and clearing tables while the employee took orders and made food.

“We really appreciate their efforts … though we do prefer our associates to be behind the counter,” Warner told AL.com. “The key to our concept is, we’re there to serve you, not the other way around.”

Crispo, who is from Birmingham and goes to that Waffle House about once a month, said he asked the employee, Ben, why he didn’t just leave. He told Crispo: “It’s not the right thing to do.”

Crispo said he did end up getting his food that night, a double waffle, no syrup.

“It was surprisingly fantastic,” Crispo said. “Ben did an incredible job.”

And, he said, so did the customers who pitched in.

“Humanity isn’t good,” he wrote in the email. “It’s great.”

 

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[fraurosena]

 

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