Ash Beckham gives a great TED Talk about the often contradictory, dual identities we all have.
There are times in life that we’re called out to choose a side, to definitively declare that we are One Thing or The Other, without any room for nuance or discussion. But the world we live in isn’t so black and white.
Ash Beckham was accompanying her niece to a special autograph session with Anna and Elsa from “Frozen”…
This is Ash, eloquently describing the decor at the event. GIF via TEDxBoulder.
…when one of the staffers mistakenly referred to Ash as a man — right as they reached the front of line.
GIFs from “Frozen.”
In that moment, Ash was faced with a decision.
Should she speak up as an advocate and say, “Hey, man, I’m actually a woman?” at the risk of ruining her niece’s special day?
Should she just stay silent, be an aunt, and let her niece meet her animated idols without causing a scene?
Why does it have to be one and not the other?
Why are those the only two options? In her everyday life, she’s both an ally and an aunt, among many other things. Why should she be forced to choose only one side of herself?
In this talk from TEDxBoulder, Ash discusses dualism — the idea that people are complicated and often hold contradicting identities.
Dualism is the state of having two parts in simultaneous existence, of seeing more complexity than “with us” or “against us.” It’s a refreshing perspective for our increasingly polarized world. Humans are multifaceted beings, full of contradictions and complications. But society is constantly telling us that we have to pick a side.
As Ash herself says about five minutes into her talk:
“Are you unequivocally and without question anti-war, pro-choice, anti-death penalty, pro-gun regulation, proponent of open borders, and pro-union? Or are you absolutely and uncompromisingly pro-war, pro-life, pro-death penalty, a believer that the Second Amendment is absolute, anti-immigrant, and pro-business?
a bunc
GIF set via TEDxBoulder.
Of course, owning our own duality also means letting others do the same.
If we accept that we all contain multitudes, then we should be able to approach one another with empathy, understanding, and respect. Someone who holds one belief in opposition to your own is not necessarily evil and doesn’t necessarily disagree with you on every single thing. In fact, you might find some surprising common ground.
Just as Ash was able to simultaneously embrace the roles of aunt and advocate, the staffer who mis-gendered her should be allowed his own set of internal complications. Which is more likely: that he was coming from a place of malicious intent or that he was simply mistaken, out of ignorance or accident.
In the end, Ash decided not to speak up because she didn’t want to make a scene during her niece’s happy moment.
But deciding not to speak up doesn’t make her any less of an activist or ally — it just makes her human.
As for the staffer, it didn’t take long for him to realize his error, and he even apologized without interrupting the autograph session.
And of course, Ash’s niece got to meet Anna and Elsa and make one of the happiest memories of her young life, all thanks to her aunt.
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.
A high school teacher’s TikTok sparked a serious conversation about screen time, low expectations, and the surprising role BookTok is playing in the literacy crisis.
Studies show that kids are spending a lot less time reading these days. In 2020, 42% of nine-year-old students said they read for fun almost daily, down from 53% in 2012. Fourteen percent of 13-year-olds read for fun daily, down from 27% in 2012. Among 17-year-olds, 19% reported reading for fun in the last year data was collected, down from 31% in 1984.
It’s safe to say that modern technology is a big reason why kids aren’t reading as much. A recent report found that teenagers spend an average of eight hours and thirty-nine minutes per day on screens, compared to five and a half hours for pre-teen children. So, it’s no wonder they don’t have any time left to crack open a book. In December 2024, Ms. C, a high school teacher on TikTok who goes by the name @stillateacher, brought the topic up with her class and learned they stopped reading for fun at the end of middle school.
Why are kids stopping?
“So, even those who are like avid readers of the Percy Jackson series in fourth and fifth grade fall off,” the teacher says. “Honestly, there are many reasons to stop reading recreationally, like increased pressure inside and outside of school, a desire to spend more time socializing, and, of course, the phones.”
But the teacher says there’s an obvious reason “right in front of our faces”: the adults. “Adults have lowered the bar for how much you should read as a teenager so far that the bar cannot be found,” she continued. “There are many educators who have the mindset that you shouldn’t teach whole books because kids just won’t read them.”
“I’ve taught at schools where teaching novels is actually discouraged,” she continued. “And I have conversations with teachers in other content areas who say that they themselves never read books, that they don’t think it’s important for students’ long-term success. All this said, it is not entirely surprising that high schoolers don’t wanna read.”
How does reading benefit kids?
Kids laying down in the grass reading. Photo credit: Canva
The significant decrease in the number of children who read for fun means that many will miss out on the incredible benefits of regularly curling up for a good book. Studies show that children who read for pleasure enjoy improved cognitive performance, language development, and academic achievement. Reading is also linked to fewer mental health problems, less screen time, and more sleep. Findings suggest that kids get the optimal benefits of reading when they do it for around 12 hours a week.
“You forgot empathy,” one commenter added. “People who read are better at empathizing because they have been able to put themselves in the shoes of others and learn about different perspectives, people, cultures, experiences.”
And @stillateacher has seen these incredible benefits first-hand. “But I’m telling you, the handful of kids I teach who do read are built different. Kids who read have stronger critical thinking skills, more success across all academic areas, and, honestly, just a stronger sense of self. Because reading helps you figure out who you are as a person,” the teacher said.
The case for BookTok
The decline in young people’s reading is a serious problem that must be addressed. So, it’s terrific that the teacher used her platform on TikTok to bring it to the public’s attention. Interestingly enough, she says that TikTok is one of the few platforms encouraging kids to read.
“And honestly, thank goodness for BookTok because I think it is one of the only drivers of adolescent reading that still exists,” she concluded her post. “Isn’t that sad? Like, the schools aren’t doing it, TikTok’s doing it. We gotta start a movement here.”
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
Certain professions have an inside look at the economy because they’re on the ground floor and see things change firsthand. For example, the advertising business knows that a recession is coming six months ahead of time, and realtors often get a good idea of how the economy is changing before the shock hits everyone else.
Delivery drivers are another group of people who can get a good idea of how the average person is doing. They have more packages to deliver when the economy is doing well and fewer when things take a turn for the worse. That’s why a TikTok by UPS driver Dontay McCauley (@dontaymccauley) has so many views. After delivering Christmas packages, he thinks things are going well for most people at the end of 2024.
“I thought everybody was broke. I thought we were trending towards a recession, and y’all been complaining all year about finances, and y’all say that until Christmas,” the UPS driver said in a video with over 100,000 views.
“I see y’all actually do got money. And y’all making us pay, for every house got, like, 3, 4 packages. I’m loaded up,” McCauley continued. “Every day I’m going out with 400 packages on this truck, and y’all killing us, man, give us a break. But I thought you ain’t have no money, though?”
Was the U.S. economy good or bad in 2024?
The post received many comments; some said they are having difficulty getting by this year, while others say they are doing pretty well these days. It’s another example of the lukewarm way that people have viewed the U.S. economy since the COVID-19 pandemic subsided.
“Broke as in it costing me a whole helluva lot more to live than it should. I will always have money for Christmas one way or another,” Lisa Marie wrote. “We’re using After Pay. I did LOL,” Juanita added.
“I have been saying this ALL YEAR. Every restaurant, every tourist attraction, special event, and retail store is PACKED most of the time in my small ‘poor’ city,” SteelersGirl wrote. “I said this to my husband a few weeks ago. Everywhere I go, people are buying stuff. Car dealership was packed last week, too. The economy seems ok,” Wiat What wrote.
Another delivery driver chimed in, and she shared McCauley’s sentiment. “USPS here. I have been saying this for the last year,” ChicagoGirl wrote.
Did Americans spend more in 2024 on Christmas?
The confused delivery driver who says that people are saying one thing but spending in another tracks a pre-election poll. Pre-election surveys taken in late 2024 consistently found that a majority of Americans viewed the economy negatively, even as consumer spending remained strong.
Regardless of how individuals feel about the economy, the numbers don’t lie. 2024 was a strong holiday season for retailers. Visa says that spending is up this holiday season 4.8% over 2023. “This holiday shopping season, we’re seeing increasing consumer confidence as people sought out in-store experiences – and went online – to purchase gifts and celebrate the holidays with friends and family,” Wayne Best, chief economist at Visa, said in a statement. This spending growth demonstrates the adaptability of both consumers and retailers and the overall strength of the economy.”
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.
Generally speaking, humans want to be happy. At the very least, we want to live with a certain baseline of happiness, even knowing life comes with inevitable ups and downs. An entire self-help industry exists because of this desire, and there’s no shortage of advice on how to be happier.
But what if the key to happiness was actually knowing how to make yourself unhappy? That’s the idea behind CGP Grey’s video explaining “7 Tactics to Maximize Misery” (an adaptation of How to Be Miserable by Dr. Randy J. Paterson).
By detailing the habits that make us unhappy, it becomes quite clear why we might be struggling with happiness and what we might want to change. The main video includes a video footnote, in case it’s not abundantly clear that the tactics for misery are not meant to be taken as literal advice, but quite the opposite:
“You, like me, might find the advice on happiness kind of tiresome,” Grey says. “Almost irritating. So it might be more useful to think about how to achieve the opposite, and thus, to see how the actions we might take work against us…My dear viewers, do not take the main video as literal advice.”
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into the seven ways we can make ourselves miserable:
1. Stay still
“Remain indoors as much as possible, preferably in the same room,” Grey suggests. “Be the human equivalent of a pile of laundry…Don’t let a beautiful day tempt you for a walk. Avoid anything even vaguely exercisial.”
He explains that stillness will keep reward chemicals out of your brain and lead to health problems, which will help you stay in the cycle of stillness and misery. And to be even more miserable, make your bedroom your “all room,” doing all of your not-doing-anything-physical in one small space.
2. Screw with your sleep
“A regular sleep cycle is a fragile thing and takes at least three days to establish,” says Grey. “Be sure then to vary your bedtime by several hours twice a week, at least. Even better: vary your wake time. Sleep in late, preferably very late, some but not all days. And tell yourself you are making up for sleep to feel like you’re doing something healthy, even though you feel terrible when you wake up early and when you wake up late.”
Basically, you want to make sure you befriend irregular sleep and insomnia, never waking up or going to bed at the same time.
You should try to go to bed at the same time every night, even on the days when you do not have to work. Your body loves to have a routine so it knows when to rest and when to be active. When you sleep well, you wake up with a lot of energy to chase your dreams. A tired mind…
“Boredom could drive you to motion, so let the screen entertain you,” suggests Grey. “Tiredness can push you to sleep, so let the screen keep you awake, sort of, as long as possible. Always fall asleep with a screen in your hand and put your eyes back on it as soon as you wake.”
Grey explains that you have allies on this front:
“Behind the screen are teams of the smartest people and brightest bots competing to hold your attention on them as long as possible. Let them reach you to pull you back if you turn away.”
4. Use your screen to stoke your negative emotions
Grey suggests using your feed to fuel your “anger or anxiety about things over which you have no control or influence.”
By focusing on the bad and only contributing in meaningless, token ways, especially about things we actually care about, we can further fuel our resentment and despair, says Grey.
To sum up: “Be well informed while doing nothing.”
Many of us are familiar with the concept of SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Responsible (or Realistic), and Time-Bounded. Grey suggests setting VAPID goals instead: Vague, Amorphous, Pie-in-the-Sky, Irrelevant, and Delayed.
“Make the target unclear and the path unclear,” he says. “If motivation strikes, aim ridiculously high to guarantee failure. ‘I will clean the whole house today’ is much better than ‘I will do the laundry in this pile.’ Cleaning a whole house is impossible. There’s always more to do, so you will always fail.”
Definitely focus on a goal that comes after your current goal.
“With VAPID goals, you will turn the productive part of your brain from a dangerous source of self-improvement that rewards every small step into a consistent nag that berates you for your failure to have already accomplished your goal every step of the way,” Grey says.
6. Pursue happiness directly
“Imagine happiness as a place where happy people are happy all the time,” Grey says. “This turns happiness into an unreachable feeling of constant bliss that no one has.”
Grey explains that happiness is like a bird that you can’t catch but will land on your ship if you’re not looking. So your best bet is to focus on improving your ship to get it to warmer waters, where the bird will most likely be.
“So be sure never to do that,” he advises. “Aim toward the mirage of happiness rather than improving the ship upon which you sail.”
Is Your Pursuit of Happiness Making You Sad? | John Tsilimparis MFT, Psychology Today
Here’s how the “bliss trap” can hold you back.
Key points
– We live in a culture that treats "joy" as a moral obligation.
“Navigation deeper into the sea of sadness is quite easy, for there is a dark magnetic field that points the compass of your impulses in the right direction once you get started,” Grey says. “You will want to stay indoors, you will want to not exercise. You will want to sleep in, you will want to do what you know will make you sadder after you’ve done it.”
Following your feelings and impulses instead of focusing on the long term is a surefire way to increase unhappiness.
Reaction
If you felt personally attacked by this video, you’re not alone. As one commenter wrote, “My dude literally explained my life without missing the tiniest detail.” That was the point, but not the whole point. It wasn’t meant to just be a mirror, but to help people realize that happiness isn’t just a to-do list. It’s also a don’t-do list that many of us are very much doing.
This satirical approach to self-help may not be everyone’s cup of tea, of course. But some commenters found it much more effective than traditional “how to be happy” content:
“This was the hardest hitting wake up call in my life. Thank you.”
“I watch this frequently. The reverse psychology works a lot better for me than some random guy saying ‘You can do it.’”
“I’m dealing with depression, and this video both made me laugh, and helped a lot. Sincerely, thank you.”
“This is a perfect what-not-to-do tutorial that actually helps so much more than all the other ones telling you how to achieve happiness.”
“Why this video is so helpful: Instead of being one of those sappy, cheesy, motivational videos, this one shows you exactly what you’re doing wrong and sends an ‘Unless you want to amplify it, do the opposite’ message.”
“This video is just brilliant. He absconded good morals with playful satire, and once you are lured into the video expecting a laugh or two; you realize the flaw of such actions, and how easy it can be to break the cycle of misery. This video was more motivational for me than any video that puts forth a clear label of life-changing tips. I started the video laughing, and finished realizing how essential and simple it can be to take short strides towards fulfillment. Thank you so much for this, CGP Grey.”
There has been a growing discussion over the last couple of years, mostly initiated by Millennial parents, that their Baby Boomer parents aren’t there for their children. It’s believed that the absentee Boomer grandparent phenomenon stems from the generation’s financial success. In retirement, Boomers have more options to travel and pursue their interests than earlier generations did, which often chose to spend more time with family.
A common excuse among some grandparents is that they “did their time” as parents and don’t want to spend their golden years raising the next generation. Others will blame their children for refusing to foster a relationship between grandparents and grandchildren.
However, TikTok user Helen Devoted Granny, a grandmother in Devon, England, is going viral for being brutally honest: “I think it’s always the grandparents’ responsibility.”
Helen’s TikTok page expresses the joy of being a devoted grandparent while questioning those who aren’t there for their grandchildren.
Who is responsible for the grandparent-grandchild relationship?
“I think it’s always the grandparents’ responsibility,” Helen said in a video. “And as a devoted granny, I’ll explain why I think it’s the grandparents responsibility to always reach out, to be the one saying, ‘Well, can we help with this? Can we come and visit? Can we take them there? Is there anything you’d like me to do? Do you need some support this week? Do you need some support next week? These are my days off.’ Blah, blah, blah.”
She added, “That’s what I do. I’m a devoted granny, and I feel very strongly about this. And I don’t think kids should be the ones. Your children shouldn’t be the ones who need to facilitate that relationship. It’s up to the grandparents to do that.”
Helen also has some strong words for grandparents who don’t want to raise kids anymore because they believe that “it’s their time” now.
“I think if grandparents are coming back with things like, ‘Well, it’s our time now, it’s our time now.’ No, it’s not,” Helen said. “It’s your time to help your kids because it’s really difficult when your children are small. The help that you give them is so needed, and it’s so appreciated that, honestly, it’s your time to be with your grandchildren and to help in every way you can.”
The folks in the comments overwhelmingly agreed
Commenters applauded Helen, many of whom were upset that their parents never put any effort into building a relationship with their children.
“I recently read the following: ‘Active grandparents never want to stop being parents, while uninvolved grandparents never really wanted to be parents in the first place.’ This statement struck a chord,” Azucar wrote.
“I agree. No support or effort = no relationship,” Naarah added.
Kermy said that it’s all about priorities, which are easy to see: “If Grandparents can work out how to order expensive gadgets online, buy new cars and book holidays, they are more than capable of picking up the phone and contacting the grandkids themselves.”
Helen’s TikTok is a clear example of a truth in life: when people care about something, they take initiative. They don’t wait for other people to give them permission. In the end, no matter what side you take in the discussion, her message is clear: relationships don’t build themselves. When it comes to family, those who show up and take initiative are always going to be the ones who matter most.
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.”
