The Internet can be a mean place. In case you hadn’t heard.
Whether it’s people shouting at each other on Twitter, or pro-Trump/anti-Trump “debates” on Facebook, or attention-craving “models” on Instagram, it is probably not a healthy place for anybody to spend too much time.
But every once in a while, something pops up that breaks through the fog, and reminds you that the world can actually be a pretty cool place.
So, I have brought you a nice little collection of some of my favorite moments of late.
Don’t thank me – it’s the least I can do, after the doom and gloom of my Nightmare November Scenario. (Ya gotta admit, I did got a lot of things right…)
Here… it’s my little box of inspiration for you.
Have you ever been to New Orleans?
If not, you might want to try and get there, when this thing is all over.
The first time I went there, it didn’t take long to fall in love.
Especially if you like music, food, and humanity – the city oozes all of those.
As Paul Simon sang about the Crescent City, “there’s music in the street both night and day.”
Literally. Not just in the bars – on every corner, there’s a set of great musicians, masters of their craft, playing with joyous abandon.
Jackson Square is one of the spots to catch these masters.
Sometimes, as in the video above, they’re joined by someone who’s moved by the spirit. Even if they’re not old enough to know what they’re doing.
* * *
You think this world is too full of worry and strife?
Think we’re fighting battles, everywhere we turn?
Red State vs Blue State, maskers vs anti-maskers, liberals vs conservatives, BLM protesters vs MAGA militia?
You think it’s hopeless, sometimes?
Yeah… who could blame you?
Then you see this:
I dunno…. Maybe there is hope for us.
* * *
Then there’s this example of grace under pressure:
“Don’t run away from a bear,” everybody says…
“They don’t attack if you stand still,” everybody says…
Sure.
You stand still while the bear is poking you in the leg.
Just try it.
* * *
In January 2017, 21-year-old Abby Conner died.
Abby was on vacation with her family in Mexico, when she drowned.
In their grief, the Conner’s donated her organs.
Her heart ended up in the chest of a 21-year-old man, Loumonth Jack, Jr, in Louisiana.
Months later, Abby’s dad, Bill Conner, rode his bike from the family home in Wisconsin to the hospital that performed the transplant, in Ft. Lauderdale FL.
Mr. Conner rode to honor his daughter.
He rode to raise awareness for organ donors.
He rode 2,600 miles.
When he got to the hospital, Loumonth Jack, Jr was there to greet him.
He was waiting there with a present, for the father of them woman whose heart he now carried.
A stethoscope.
It’s ok to cry.
Speaking of crying, watch as this young ballplayer pulls out the baseball bat that his dad surprised him with for his birthday.
Pretty sweet, huh?
As the dad says, “Don’t cry, son… You’re gonna make me cry.”
But that’s not the best part of the video.
Stay til the end….
Sometimes life itself is better than the movie.
* * *
Every now and then, it occurs to me, the world might be a better place if we just let the kids run it.
Still not feeling it yet?
OK…. one more for ya.
You, observant readers that you are, have probably noticed that several of these videos came courtesy of Rex Chapman.
Yes – it’s the same Rex Chapman who starred for Kentucky (staying there as home-town hero after being named “Mister Basketball” in the state as a high school icon).
Rex went on to have a solid, 12-year career in the NBA, playing the “smart, scrappy,” shooting guard for Charlotte (as a first round draft pick), Washington, Miami, and Phoenix.
(Kentucky.com)
But injuries dogged him, his whole career, and they left him hooked on Vicodin and Oxycontin.
After retirement in 2000, he spiraled down, betting on horses, and taking more painkillers.
His marriage ended (with four children) and he became estranged from people he loved.
Finally, in 2014, he slipped out of an Apple Store in Scottsdale AZ, without paying for merchandise, which he sold to pay off drug and gambling debts.
Apple employees recognized him, and he was arrested.
It was rock bottom.
After three tries, rehab finally took.
Counseling helped. So did finding the right medication.
He was lucky enough (and good enough) to keep a job broadcasting Kentucky basketball games, and some games on TNT.
But Twitter, inadvertently, created his second career.
He entered social media as part of his TV job, but he couldn’t help himself.
Now, instead of horses and painkillers, he traffics in four things:
- The aforementioned uplifting, feel-good videos
“This is the Twitter content I’m here for” has become one of his tag lines. - “Block or charge” videos
Here, he offers up bizarre real-life collisions that mimic basketball clashes, asking us trying to determine which way the call should go. - Videos extolling the virtue of dogs, in particular.
He punctuates their heroic/loyal antics with, “Dogs, bruh”, which has morphed into “Dads, bruh,” or “Moms, bruh“, as the case calls for it. - Gently pointing out the absurdities of the Trump administration, or Trump’s followers
It’s enough to get him almost a million followers on Twitter. (Even after subtracting the disappointed Trump fans who tell him to “stick to funny videos, Rex.”)
Now Rex is back in Lexington, sober, healthy, and loving life.
He’s re-established ties with those he’s lost.
But he’s confused when people refer to him as a “social media influencer.”
“I’m not even sure what that means! Me, an influencer,” he says with his characteristic aplomb. “Man, I hope not!”
He tosses off his “influence” as, “just bringing people together, man… one stupid video at a time.”
He might be the most inspirational story of all.
Daddy Gibs 