i’m so in love with this. i can’t even. ah. my favourite feeling in the world is putting your head beneath the water and entering an entirely different place, so peaceful, so quiet. what i miss more than anything when i’m living away from the ocean is being able to duck under and leave all my worries on the surface.
Straight up one of my favorite things to do in the world. Especially back in the PI
Omg I’m tearing up in SAC. Must. Not. Cry. >.Touching hearts.
As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant.
It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big “F” at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.
Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners… he is a joy to be around..”
His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.”
His third grade teacher wrote, “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken.”
Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.”
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper That he got from a grocery bag Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.. But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.” After the children left, she cried for at least an hour.
On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her “teacher’s pets..”
A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling* her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.
Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer…. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.
The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.
Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.
They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you Mrs. Thompson for* believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
(For you that don’t know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)
Warm someone’s heart today… pass this along. I love this story so very much, I cry every time I read it. Just try to make a difference in someone’s life today? tomorrow? Just “do it”.
Random acts of kindness, I think they call it?
“Believe in Angels, then return the favor.”
Penguin falls down resulting in best sound ever [x]
oh my god
NOOOOOOO
OH MY GOD. Be right back….. DYING!
i feel bad for laughing but omg
I worked at American Apparel for two years. During the time that I worked there, the company implemented a company-wide recruitment policy where any person applying for a position must be photographed (1 headshot, 1 body shot) The actual resumes were thrown in the garbage. These photos were then sent to a company email address where someone would either give a thumbs up or down to the photographs. Staff were encouraged to recruit instore and on the street and were given a $100 bonus for every person they got approved.
Before this was implemented, all existing staff were photographed (again, 1 headshot and 1 body shot) Anyone deemed to be physically unworthy was let go from the company. Of course this wasn’t legal, however right before they started this process every employee had to sign a waiver form, that was pretty much a lot of legal gibberish, on the spot. I wanted to have a lawyer take a look at the form however I was told I had to sign it on the spot or I would be let go.
There was also a company intranet website which all employees where to check on a regular basis. This was Dov’s main line of communication to all staff. The site would have pictures of girls from the stores where he would rip them apart for having too thin eyebrows, for having “ugly make-up” or bad tattoos and piercings. They were basically publicly shamed for not looking the way he wanted to. He would also post memos saying things like “HIRE MORE ASIANS”
Most of the girls that I worked with were super young, I was the oldest in the store at 20. We even secretly employed one girl’s little sister who was only 13. A lot of the time when the guys from head office would come in they would take pictures of the girls in the store. Some of the girls wanted extra attention so they would pose pretty raunchy for them, mostly they just side boob and stuff but sometimes it got kind of weird. Also, every city with an American Apparel also has a company hotel room. Personally, I never went with them, but when the head office guys came to town they would take a few girls from the store with them for the night. I heard stories about tons of weird crap going on those nights and I know for a fact many of those girls were under 18.
I worked at AA for a year and I can verify all of this. I was a merchandiser that was let go for not being up to physical standards (but the official reason was time and attendance, when I was pulling 12 hour days 4 times a week). They had an “auditor” from corporate come into town to “audit.” She had an hour long meeting with us telling us that we needed to dress sexier and wear more heels and tights (but if we had a run in our tights we could be fired/written up). Since I was a merchandiser, there was no way I was going to be wearing heels on 12-foot ladders, lugging around mannequins all day. They told me to dye my hair and get rid of my piercings, I said no, they let go of me a few days before Christmas.
for speech class i found, interviewed, and presented a young lady that had been fired from american apparel while working under dov charney several years ago. she was fired for refusing oral sex with another woman in front of him.
she also claimed that people at her job were fired when they appeared to have gained weight.
similarly, photographer terry richardson (you may know him for his portraits of almost any celebrity you can name, like lady gaga, kanye west, the chili peppers). a model said during her shoot, he randomly whipped out his penis and started touching himself in front of her.
AA has been questioned for the ages of their models, many of which are nameless and go undisclosed. i was told that the process of selecting models for american apparel ads mainly consist of charney picking up women, bringing them home, and having them pose in garments while photographing them in his own home. there’s no proof for or against whether he asks for permission. fun stuff.
I will never step foot in this fucking store. Ever.
I am INSANELY glad I don’t own anything from that disgusting store now…
WELLP AA JUST LOST A LOYAL CUSTOMER……
I thought AA was going out of business?
now i get it why everybody is reblogging my picture…. and omg this is awful
oh
Crazy.
I’m such a sappy sucker for things like this!
This should be on every street corner.
Also, I think the world would be a much better place if people weren’t afraid to say nice things to each other. To people in our lives, to people we meet, to people we see. There’s nothing wrong with paying someone a compliment or telling someone how you feel completely out of the blue without desiring anything in return.
You never know, that compliment could brighten someone’s day in more ways than you can imagine.
COMPLIMENT, PEOPLE! COMPLIMENT!
“Diamonds/Adorn” - Travis Garland
I. Am. In. Love.
damn hell yeah! travis garland is sick!
