Dem
51
GOP
49
Following the item above about Taylor Dudley, this is our second navy veteran item of the day. In this case, the veteran is Warren Marion, who concluded his service many years ago. Unfortunately for him, as he reached his golden years, he did not have enough money to retire on. So, he took a job as a Walmart greeter, working a full-time schedule through the age of 82.
Enter, stage right, one Rory McCarty. McCarty shops often at Walmart, primarily for supplies for his work as an exterminator. And so, he came to know Marion, and eventually learned about his age and his veteran status. McCarty did not much care for the notion that someone, particularly someone who had served in the military, was still grinding away in his eighties.
Fortunately, McCarty is famous. Well, Internet famous. Whenever he encounters a particularly unusual critter in his work, he takes video and posts it to his TikTok. And he's gained a sizable following; more than a quarter-million people. So, he took advantage of that to post a GoFundMe on Marion's behalf. And, nearly overnight, the donations had topped $100,000 (now they are north of $150,000). A couple of weeks ago, Marion arrived for work to find a retirement party and a six-figure cashier's check awaiting him. It would seem that, now that he has money and no need to work, he will sail the seven seas once again (albeit in a cruise ship this time).
We pass this along because there is much criticism of social media in general, and of TikTok in particular (since it is owned by a Chinese company, which may be beholden to the Chinese government). Some of that criticism even comes from us. But we must concede that, in the right hands, social media can also do a great deal of good. If only we could have that, without the conspiracy propagating and the bigotry enabling and the privacy violating.
And on that note, have a good weekend, all! (Z)
The Beatles song titles that appear in the first item, in order of appearance, are: "Let It Be," "Because," "Yesterday," "Any Time at All," "Help," "Something," "The End," "Tomorrow Never Knows," "It Won't Be Long," "Wait," "Getting Better," "Come Together," "Rain," "The Word," "Chains," "For No One," and "Long, Long, Long."