This video went viral back in 2020, but it has recently resurfaced on Reddit: Made Me Smile. And rightfully so. What this father says to his son is so heartwarming that it deserves a second round of publicity. It’s a masterclass on unconditional love.
Daniel Diaz was filming a makeup tutorial when his father walks in (at about 13 minutes into the tutorial). The lights are off and Daniel is trying to hide his fully made up face, complete with false eyelashes and nails.
My Dad Walked In On Me While I Was Doing My Makeup !!😳 | Came Out To My Dad !🏳️🌈 || Daniel Lemus www.youtube.com
“What are you doing?” The father asks his son.
“I’m recording a video,” Daniel replies shyly.
Though Daniel is nervously laughing, his father takes a more sincere tone.
In a gentle voice, his father starts: “Papa, I’m going to tell you something. Whatever you want to do, papa…”
“Don’t make me cry!” Daniel protests.
“Whatever you want to do,” the father continues, “you’ll be okay. I’ll be okay with you.”
Going in for a hug, he says, “I’m with you. I love you.” Kisses and more “I love yous” can be heard. Offering some fatherly advice, Daniel’s dad adds, “if this makes you happy, do it. But do it good.” After dad leaves the room, Daniel turns the lights on and tells the audience, “My dad’s seen me!” which, given the context, takes on a whole new meaning. Daniel might have meant “oh yes, my dad just saw what I was doing,” but underlying that statement, there seems to be a different message: my dad sees ME. The real me. And he loves me. Acceptance can come from the simplest of gestures, but it makes a world of difference to a young teen trying to form an authentic identity for themselves, especially one that isn’t as commonly accepted by society. The video received an overwhelming amount of positive comments: “I’m so happy for him. This is so uncommon in Hispanic households.” “The way he speaks to you so softly. You have a KING in your house.” “Yo this one hit different. Your dad is the kind of dad the world needs.“ “Your papá broke every hispanic dad stereotype.” “‘Do it, but do it good. I’m always with you.’ That’s the part that really got me. This dad is such a role model to young people looking to have children in the future.” "’You'll be ok.’ There's so much love in that, the reassurance, the assurance that dad will be ok right alongside.” “That was the part that got me. He doesn’t care if his son is wearing make up or playing football. He wants him be the best he can be at whatever he loves! That is a Dad right there.” “THIS is how you parent! Unconditional love.” This story goes to show how big of an impact a supportive parent can have. It not only affects the individual, it changes the community as well. All while breaking stereotypes along the way. Daniel and his dad are showing what’s possible, when we let compassion lead the way.
Going in for a hug, he says, “I’m with you. I love you.” Kisses and more “I love yous” can be heard.
Offering some fatherly advice, Daniel’s dad adds, “if this makes you happy, do it. But do it good.”
After dad leaves the room, Daniel turns the lights on and tells the audience, “My dad’s seen me!” which, given the context, takes on a whole new meaning. Daniel might have meant “oh yes, my dad just saw what I was doing,” but underlying that statement, there seems to be a different message: my dad sees ME. The real me. And he loves me.
Acceptance can come from the simplest of gestures, but it makes a world of difference to a young teen trying to form an authentic identity for themselves, especially one that isn’t as commonly accepted by society.
“I’m so happy for him. This is so uncommon in Hispanic households.”
“The way he speaks to you so softly. You have a KING in your house.”
“Yo this one hit different. Your dad is the kind of dad the world needs.“
“Your papá broke every hispanic dad stereotype.”
“‘Do it, but do it good. I’m always with you.’ That’s the part that really got me. This dad is such a role model to young people looking to have children in the future.”
"’You'll be ok.’ There's so much love in that, the reassurance, the assurance that dad will be ok right alongside.”
“That was the part that got me. He doesn’t care if his son is wearing make up or playing football. He wants him be the best he can be at whatever he loves! That is a Dad right there.”
“THIS is how you parent! Unconditional love.”
This story goes to show how big of an impact a supportive parent can have. It not only affects the individual, it changes the community as well. All while breaking stereotypes along the way. Daniel and his dad are showing what’s possible, when we let compassion lead the way.
Looking for a reason to smile? Here are 10 of them.
I know, y'all. This week has been rough. We've got the omicron thing coming around the corner, schools telling parents that today is apparently School Shooting Day on TikTok (but don't panic, even though we don't really know how to gauge if there's any real risk) and this on top of normal holiday season stress. It's … well, it's a lot.
All the more reason we need to look for small joys and reasons to smile today. It's easy to get bogged down in cynicism and negativity, but such things don't serve anyone, and if we're going to make it through these unprecedented times (oh, how I miss precedented times!) we need to maintain some hopeful energy.
While these 10 things won't solve the world's problems, they can help you smile, laugh and delight your way through the weekend.
You can just see the instant of recognition, right? And then that tail wag. And that sweet squeaking. Puppy love at its best.
Dallen Harrell noticed he was delivering a lot of baby items to a particular house and decided to leave a message on Jessica Kitchel's doorbell camera. He said he was a new dad himself and wished the family luck with their newborn.
“I just hope everything is going good,” he tells the camera. “God bless, Happy Holidays.”
Kitchel was so touched she shared his message on her Instagram, which resulted in a flood of goodwill and all-around awesomeness. Kitchel's friends and family are buying out Harrell's baby registry and a diaper company is supplying both families with diapers for six months—proof that a little human connection and kindness can go a long way. Read the full story here.
I honestly don't know why this video made me grin from ear to ear, but it did. It's like perfectly coordinated chaos. Where are they coming from? Where are they going? Are they on their way to a guinea pig party? Who knows, but so fun.
A rap battle about why The Lord of the Rings is the best trilogy of them all on Stephen Colbert? Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Method Man, Killer Mike and Anna Kendrick all together in one video? Yes, please.
Jorts the dumb orange cat and Jean the smart torty.
Once upon a time there were two cats, Jean and Jorts, who lived in a workplace with a bunch of humans. Jean was smart and Jorts was kind of a dolt, and the drama created around this fact resulted in the most hilarious coworker shenanigans ever told on Reddit. Jorts locks Jean in closets and Pam smears margarine on Jorts, and seriously, you just have to read this one in full. Trust me. Find it here.
Poor snowman vs. perseverant doggy. Not sure who to root for here, but this is hilarious.
Some of us are missing Ted Lasso's wholesome wisdom, and this Christmas claymation short voiced by the original cast is helping fill that void.
After a tornado destroyed the town of Mayfield, Kentucky last weekend, Jim Finch decided to do what he could do: "feed the people." Humans helping humans. Love to see it. Read the story here.
Mary Katherine Backstrom loves humanity and loves Christmas, and her story about sharing that spirit with random people at the Wawa was a delightful viral sensation. Watch and you'll see why. Her laughter is contagious and the story is hilarious.
You simply have to watch this video in its entirety. It's like you can hear exactly what each bird is thinking. Totally different personalities. I laughed out loud like five times.
I hope that made you laugh a little or a lot and brought some much-needed delight to your day. Hang in there and share the joy, friends!
When Deidra Mayberry was a child, she struggled with reading. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed, she did her best to hide it. And she was pretty good at hiding it. As her family moved around a lot, due to her parents' military career, she adapted and kept hiding it — making it all the way through school without anyone really noticing.
After graduating from high school, she started looking for support to improve her reading skills.
"I was turned away because I was over the age of 17, and other private options like one-on-one tutoring were financially out of reach for me."
Deidra promised that one day she'd do something to fix it. After struggling for years, and eventually finding support, she started a nonprofit to help other adults facing their own challenges with literacy. Now she's striving to help the almost 43,000,000 adults who still are struggling. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), 21 percent of adults in the United States (about 43 million) fall into the illiterate/functionally illiterate category.
For Deidra, college was the first time she experienced and understood what functional illiteracy was. Someone who is illiterate is unable to read or write at all, but someone who is functionally illiterate has some reading skills — they're just not strong enough to manage daily living and employment tasks.
She was able to graduate by taking extra summer semesters, spending long nights studying, changing her major when it got too hard, and getting help from her dad.
"I was so proud that I actually made it through college and graduated," Deidra says. "But once I started to apply for jobs, reality kicked in fast. I never truly fixed my literacy problems. Instead, I found ways to work around them in order to spare myself the embarrassment and shame that I already felt daily."
"I relied heavily on movies to teach me and give me exposure to things in life that would help me relate to others," she says. "This caused me to live a life of fear, limitations, and hopelessness."
"I felt unworthy because I knew I had this big secret — and thought if people knew, they would see that I had no value."
Deidra continued to live like this for years until she had a lightbulb moment.
"I was working so hard to hide my literacy struggle in order to make it work, but I asked myself, 'What if I worked just as hard to fix it?'"
She found the courage to tell a friend, who began tutoring her. "The hope, courage, and confidence she helped me find was the beautiful moment of empowerment that reminded me to create and provide a resource for people just like me."
That's exactly what she did. On March 12, 2020, she and another friend decided to start a nonprofit to help other adults that were functionally illiterate. And even though COVID-19 shut down businesses and sent people into lockdown the very next day, she didn't let it stop her.
"I just believed God was with me and the time was still now because people have been waiting for this," she says.
She launched Reading to New Heights, an organization that teaches adults the fundamentals of reading with one-on-one, confidential and virtual tutoring sessions with certified educators.
"The curriculum that our educators teach from allows our adult learners to revisit the fundamentals of reading and comprehension as if they are learning them for the first time," Deidra says. "Basic reading foundations such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, spelling, vocabulary and comprehension are exactly what adults struggling with illiteracy need in order to build competent literacy skills and fill the gaps that illiteracy causes in education."
And most importantly, these services are provided at no cost, so that anyone who needs them has access.
"Though illiteracy and functional illiteracy can affect anyone, people in low-income and underserved communities of color are more likely to be limited in education, income, and workplace advancement opportunities because of it."
"Illiteracy and functional illiteracy can be directly linked to higher prison populations, lower household incomes, and inaccessibility to quality healthcare," Deidra explains. "By committing to developing the fundamentals of reading, our adult learners overcome both the psychological and environmental limitations of illiteracy."
Since they launched, the nonprofit has been featured on Fox 4 News, which gave them the exposure they needed to grow from three adult program participants to 20 — and they hope to continue growing. They have also been accepted into an Incubator Program with the United Way, which is designed to support them while they build their business.
Deidra is one of Tory Burch's Empowered Women this year. The donation she receives as a nominee is being awarded to her new and growing nonprofit.
"It's kind of ironic, the very thing I was ashamed of and thought I had to hide for years was the one thing that, once I shared it, not only freed me but gave me hope and provided a way to help others," Deidra says. "I love that my story has been about helping others find the courage to share and take the first step to start their literacy journey."
To learn more about Tory Burch and Upworthy's Empowered Women program visit https://www.toryburch.com/empoweredwomen. Do you know an inspiring woman like Deidra? Nominate her today!
Sirga the Lion and Valentine Gruener on Instagram.
Little lioness Sirga was discovered when she was only a few days old. Born in a rehabilitation camp, her mother couldn't defend her cubs and all her siblings were killed by other lions.
To make matters worse, Sirga’s mother refused to feed her.
But then Sirga found Valentine Gruener, co-founder of the Modisa Wildlife Project. In an interview with NBC News, Gruener revealed he chose the name “Sirga” after a 1993 french film “L’enfant lion.”
The name couldn’t have been more perfect. For Sirga was clearly destined to become a star.
Sirga doesn‘t understand the concept of social distancing. Luckily, she doesn‘t have to. ##tiktokwildlifeday
Sirga and Gruener’s most viral video shows the gentle giant giving the biggest, sweetest, most exuberant greeting to her caretaker. You know when big dogs don't realize how massive they are? Yeah, it’s like that.
“Sirga doesn’t understand the concept of social distancing,“ the video’s caption reads.
This video currently has close to 195,000 likes, and received a massive amount of positive reactions:
"She’s soooo happy to see you and love up on you."
"So beautiful!!! Love your relationship with such a powerful and amazing girl."
"I want a big cat hug!"
Since rising to social media stardom, Gruener and Sirga have racked up quite a few amazing TikToks. Below are some of the highlights:
The teeth in the back of a lions jaw act like scissors, they’ll cut through flesh and bones with ease. Sirga knows when to be gentle though 😉 ##wildlife
Sirga cleans off her canines with a small stick, although Gruener admits that it's more for entertainment than it is hygiene.
Reply to @otterlyvirgo lion claws are shaped like hooks. Deadly weapons with which they pull down large prey like antelope or buffalo
Those are certainly some impressive murder mittens.
Hey @GoPro can you send new gear?😬🥲 ##wildlife
Sirga does her own hunting on the reserve, which is six times larger than Central Park in New York City.
The poor guy had no clue 😅 ##wildlife
But hey, you win some, you lose some.
Happy Birthday big girl! We‘ve come a long way 👣🐾 ##animalsoftiktok ##lioness
It's pretty endearing to see their bond grow over 10 years.
Reply to @anactualpinecone Probably the most asked question about Sirga and me. Here you go!
Reply to @sean_n17 let me know if you have any questions regarding Sirga in the comments! Cheers, Val
No, the trained professional is the only person who interacts with the lovable, yet all the same predatory animal.
By hand-raising Sirga I made a commitment to care for her as long as she lives. The risks of her being killed (or she being a threat to people/livestock) in the wild is just too big. ##lionsoftiktok
Basically, the risks of being in the wild far outweigh the potential benefits.
Reply to @ericsaltzman42 a lot going on at the moment so we haven‘t found the time to post on TikTok! Thank you if you‘re still here 😉🙌
Again, this is a safety measure. Mainly against poachers and in case Sirga gets out.
Happy to answer your questions. Feel free to leave your question about Sirga, me or my life in the comments. ##sirgathelioness
Answer: around $500 a month. That's a whole lotta meat.
Reply to @hetpatel4620 happy to answer your questions! ##sirgathelioness
Yes! Though the fence has been a boundary. Sirga would at first shy away from her initial lion visitor, but then they ended up sleeping side by side. Sadly the lion visitors have since passed away (or, even more tragic, were possibly poached). But the plan is for Sirga to eventually have her own lion partner at Modisa.
Predators are not pets! Sirga has 2000ha of wild Kalahari where she lives and hunts. If you have any questions drop them in comments!
Repeat after me: "Predators are not pets."
Actually Gruener brings up a point here that applies to most pets: that you should be committed to the animals full life span if you're going to take care of one.
Gruener also shared that he hopes their story promotes awareness for wildlife and nature conservation, rather than using big pets for fleeting entertainment.
Gruener and Sirga are helping to spread information about the importance of protecting precious wildlife. If you’re looking to help support them, and get the lion’s share of premium content, you can join their Patreon membership here.
May we all find someone who looks at us the way these two look at each other.
Jorts the dumb orange cat, Jean the smart Torty, and their overly concerned coworker Pam have people rolling.
If you thought cats were quirky, wait until you hear about the humans who have cats in their workplace.
In the popular AITA subreddit, in which people share personal stories and ask other users "Am I the Asshole?" it's common to find bizarre scenarios in which people behave in head-scratching ways. But a recent AITA inquiry takes the prize for the most hilarious, strange and thoroughly entertaining saga of workplace weirdness ever shared.
The initial story shared by Reddit user u/throwawayorangecat is funny enough, but the follow-up is even better.
Redditor u/throwawayorange cat, who works at in an undisclosed profession that involves providing "service to clients in very sad/stressful points in their lives" wrote:
"We have two workplace cats in one area of our worksites. They add value to the worksite, we all love the cats and the worksite cat presence is not the issue. One of the cats (Jean) is a tortoiseshell cat we have had for years. The other cat (Jorts) is a large orange cat and a recent addition.
Jorts is just… kind of a simple guy. For example, Jorts can’t open a door even when it’s ajar— he shoves it whether he is going in or out, so often he closes the door he is trying to go through. This means he is often trapped inside the place he was trying to exit and meows until he is rescued.
My colleague Pam (not her real name) has been spending a lot of time trying to teach Jorts things. The doors thing is the main example — it’s a real issue because the cats are fed in a closet and Jorts keeps pushing the door closed. Jean can actually open all the other interior doors since they are a lever type knob, but she can’t open this particular door if she is trapped INSIDE the closet.
Tortie Jean is very nice to poor orange Jorts, and she is kept busy letting him out of rooms he has trapped himself in, so this seems easy to resolve. I put down a door stop.
Pam then said I was depriving Jorts of the 'chance to learn' and kept removing the doorstop. She set up a series of special learning activities for Jorts, and tried to put these tasks on the whiteboard of daily team tasks (I erased them). She thinks we need to teach him how to clean himself better and how to get out of minor barriers like when he gets a cup stuck on his head, etc. I love Jorts but he’s just dumb af and we can’t change that.
Don’t get me wrong— watching her try to teach Jorts how to walk through a door is hilarious, but Jean got locked in the closet twice last week. Yesterday I installed a cat cutout thing in the door and Pam started getting really huffy. I made a gentle joke about 'you can’t expect Jean’s tortoiseshell smarts from orange cat Jorts' which made Pam FURIOUS. She started crying and left the hallway, then sent an email to the group (including volunteers) and went home early.
In her email Pam said I was 'perpetuating ethnic stereotypes by saying orange cats are dumb' and is demanding a racial sensitivity training before she will return. I don’t think it’s relevant but just in case, Pam is a white person in a mostly minority staff (and no she is not ginger/does not have red hair).
TL;DR: AITA for ‘enforcing an ethnic stereotype’ by joking that orange cats are often dumb?"
The responses to the original post were decidedly in the "No, you're not the a-hole" camp, with comments ranging from "Um, you can't be racist against an animal," to "Why is Pam spending so much of her work time trying to train a cat?" Others chimed in with their own experiences with dumb orange male cats.
Then came the update—oh, the glorious update—that took the whole thing to a whole other buttery level.
"Thanks for responding to my query which had truly upset me. I work to have a good relationship with my team and the situation had gotten weird so gradually that I lost perspective.
I just met with HR, she had already met with Pam. HR was concerned about Pam’s comparing ethnic stereotypes with giving a cat a doorstop and they addressed that which went well. HR will follow up to make sure Pam understands. (The replies to my query were helpful to me for this discussion.)
HR also addressed Pam assigning other staff Jorts-related tutoring, as it is not appropriate for Pam to assign others work. This also went well.
We both think Pam had a hard time with the transition from volunteer to staff, and may have 'new kid' sensitivity projected to Jorts. Pam got emotional about her perception that I favor Jean over Jorts and gave specific examples. Some of these things are fair. Jorts deserves respect as a member of our team.
There are 3 buildings in our workplace. Jean and Jorts are limited to one. HR told me there were 5 holdouts about vaccines, and restricting unvaccinated people from entering the building (to protect Jean and Jorts) was enough to win over 4 of them. That’s CRAZY, but great.
More importantly: the cats’ presence greatly enhances our work with our clients, and Jorts’ friendly nature has been so great. Both cats truly are doing important work. Truly Jorts deserves to be treated with respect.
We all deserve to be treated with dignity at work, so I will apologize to Jorts about some things that were insensitive or disrespectful.
a. Jean has a nice cat bed with her name on it, while Jorts has chosen an old boot tray in my office with a towel in it. Recently a visitor put wet boots in the boot tray and Pam saw Jorts sleeping on the wet boots. I bought a bed for Jorts today and a name tag has been ordered.
b. I will apologize to Jorts and remove the sign saying 'DAYS SINCE JORTS HAD A TRASH CAN MISHAP: 0' Jorts likes to fish dirty paper cups out and he often falls into the bin or gets a cup stuck on his head, etc. (He is able to get out of the bin by tipping it over so it isn’t a safety issue.)
c. Jean’s 'staff bio' has a photo of Jean, while Jorts’ bio has a photo of a sweet potato. I did not actually know either cat had a staff bio, but we will use a photo of Jorts instead of a sweet potato.
HR also suggested changing Pam’s duties so she is 'in charge' of the cats. This I refused, the cats are my staff, not Pam’s. I think Pam was well-intended but actually not meeting the needs of either Jean or Jorts so they remain under my supervision. (Pam is also not to put cups on Jorts’ head or intentionally put him into frustrating situations given his unique needs.)
Lastly, and this made us both laugh so hard we can’t deal with it in person and will be said via email: Pam admits that she has been putting margarine on Jorts in an attempt to teach him to groom himself better. This may explain the diarrhea problem Jean developed (which required a vet visit).
Pam is NOT to apply margarine to any of her coworkers. Jean has shown she is willing to be in charge of helping Jorts stay clean. If this task becomes onerous for Jean, we can have a groomer help. I am crying laughing typing this.
added: I’m so glad this brought joy. Fan mail can be directed to jortsandjean @ gmail dot com.
or follow the Jorts and Jean joke account on twitter @JortsTheCat"
The tale of Jean and Jorts launched a flurry of responses from the hilarious creatives of the internet, from memes to poetry.
People even started getting literary with the Jorts jokes, from a parody of a William Carlos Williams poem:
To a "Pride and Prejudice" comparison:
To a well-known "Lord of the Rings" quote:
Who knew that workplace cats could provide such ongoing entertainment for countless pandemic-weary humans? Thank you, "Pam" for being such a quirky coworker and giving us all a reason to cheer for Jorts, the dumb orange cat.