People are traveling over an hour to visit a 9-year-old's free compliment stand

Think back to when you were 9. If you were like many American kids, you probably spent your summer days playing sports or goofing off with friends. There’s a good chance you didn’t have the heartwarming pastime of Ethan Wargo, a 9-year-old from Sycamore, Illinois who created his own "compliment stand" to offer passersby a confidence boost.

As reporter Steve Hartman explains in his "On the Road" segment for CBS Evening News, it’s sort of like a "refreshment stand for your self-esteem." And Ethan came up with this sweet-natured concept after reading an installment of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man graphic novel series where a character sets up a "free insults" stand. He decided to do the inverse, so he got rolling with the idea in mid-July 2025. "I was just thinking of it, and I was like, 'Hey, I feel like there’s something in there that can be used," he told The Washington Post.

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Ethan wrote out his own "free compliments" sign and set up next to his twin sister, Claire, who sold her artwork. “I didn’t want people to pay to be happy,” he said. “Paying for something like that is very silly.” While he didn’t encounter too many people at first, traffic did pick up after his dad, Brandon Wargo, posted about the novel endeavor on social media. Neighbors started swinging by, and as word spread, some people even traveled roughly an hour to receive their own flattery.

Customized compliments

By the time of the Post’s story in early August, Ethan estimated he’d doled out compliments to 60 people, customizing his responses by asking them to introduce themselves and share what they’d been up to that day. The CBS Evening News video shows the 9-year-old dishing out kind words about strangers’ bicycles, vests, bracelets—anything he happens to notice. "I was really kind of caught off-guard by just how strong of a reaction people had to it," his mother, Jessica Wargo, says in the clip.

Ethan tells Hartman that it can "sometimes" be hard to find worthy compliments, sparking some playful banter about what praise he might give his interviewer. (He eventually settles on, "I think…I like your shoes. I think they’re really nice." Hartman laughs and responds, "That’s just where you were looking at the moment.") While it’s unclear how long Ethan has kept the stand up and running, his project seems to have touched everyone who’s come across it. “It makes people feel good,” he told The Washington Post. “It also makes me feel good.”

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"One of the most adorable things"

The YouTube comments offer a touch of those feel-good vibes. "What a great kid—and wonderful idea!" one person wrote. "Ethan obviously is a kind, empathetic young man. We need many more Ethans in the world!" Another added, "I am feeling so uplifted by what Ethan is doing, that I feel like taking a trip to Sycamore, IL from Memphis, just to get that special feeling. God bless that wonderful boy. His parents must be overflowing with pride." Summarizing the general reaction, someone noted, "That's got to be one of the most adorable things I've seen in a long while."

The compliment stand is a killer idea, and you also can't go wrong with the classic staple of offering "free hugs"—like the example of the women who attended various Pride parades and gave "free mom hugs" to kids who were rejected by their parents. Beautiful stuff.