Some stories are so heartwarming they deserve to be told again and again. Years after it first went viral, a mother’s account of an unexpectedly kind encounter at a skate park continues to resonate, reminding us all to look past stereotypes and celebrate simple acts of decency.
The story was originally shared in a public post on X by Jeanean Thomas (@JeaneanThomas), a firefighter and mother, who wanted to thank a teenage boy she never got to meet in person. She began by describing the apprehension she and her young daughter felt upon arriving at a local skate park.
"My daughter has been wanting to skateboard for months. I had to convince her that skateboarding wasn't just for boys. So when we walked up to the skate park and saw that it was full of teenage boys who were smoking and swearing she immediately wanted to turn around and go home," Thomas wrote.
Despite her own nerves, Thomas encouraged her daughter to be brave and claim her space. The little girl tentatively began practicing, and soon, one of the older boys started skating toward them. Thomas braced for a confrontation, ready to defend her daughter.
"She proceeded to go down the ramp despite you and your friends flying past her and grinding rails beside her. She only had two or three runs in before you approached her and said, 'Hey, excuse me,'" Thomas recounted in her post.
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But the confrontation she was expecting never came. Instead of mockery or annoyance, the teenager offered help. Thomas, stunned into silence, listened to their exchange.
"I heard you say, 'Your feet are all wrong. Can I help you?' You proceeded to spend almost an hour with my daughter showing her how to balance and steer and she listened to you," she shared.
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The teenager patiently mentored her daughter, offering tips and encouragement. "I even heard you tell her to stay away from the rails so that she wouldn't get hurt," Thomas wrote. The mom concluded her post with a heartfelt message of gratitude, not just for his kindness, but for the profound impact it had. "I want you to know that I am proud that you are part of my community and I want to thank you for being kind to my daughter. Even though your friends made fun of you for it, she left with a sense of pride and with the confidence that she can do anything, (all) because of you."
The story’s enduring appeal lies in its powerful defiance of expectations. It resonated deeply online, with users celebrating the boy’s character. As @ms_ashleybrown commented, "I'm so glad she left with a sense of pride. Girls can do anything they want and be anything they want to be. Proud of her!" Another user, @OwaTajerQR, added, "Wow... Glad the boy was sensitive."
Years later, this simple, positive interaction at a skate park remains a viral testament to the idea that kindness can be found where we least expect it.
This article originally appeared earlier this year.
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Left, A woman cleans up manure; Right, a man driving
17 everyday things we do now that the future will find bizarre
A recent thread on r/AskReddit posed a fascinating question: “What’s something normal to us in 2025 that by 2075 will be seen as barbaric?”
With over 4,500 upvotes and thousands of comments, the responses ranged from hopeful predictions about medical breakthroughs to funny critiques of social norms. It’s an interesting thought experiment at how our everyday habits might age in the not-so-distant future. Here are 17 of the most memorable takes.
1. Wiping with toilet paper
Redditor u/Dramatic-Avocado4687 keeps it blunt: “Wiping our asses with toilet paper.”
Another user chimed in to roast our primitive ways: “They cut down trees just to wipe themselves?!” In the future, bidets—or some next-level cleaning tech—might make TP as outdated as outhouses.
2. Factory farming
Factory farming got called out repeatedly. User u/w0ke_brrr_4444 called it “the worst hell on earth that humans have ever created.”
Others noted the rise of lab-grown meat could render the practice obsolete. As u/AltEcho38 put it: “I’m convinced it’ll all be lab-grown by then, and we’ll be looked at as savages for raising animals for slaughter.”
3. Medical bankruptcies
The American healthcare system came under fire. User u/SarlacFace said, “Medical bankruptcies and for-profit healthcare leaving people to die if uninsured.”
If universal healthcare becomes the norm, future generations might shake their heads at the idea of choosing between chemo and rent.
4. Treating women’s pain like an afterthought
Many commenters didn’t hold back on this one. “Not giving anesthesia with placing IUDs,” wrote u/tt_DVM2011.
Another user, u/ThatRoryNearThePark, shared a harrowing experience: “Worst pain of my life… couldn’t sit upright for at least 48 hours.” If future medicine treats women’s pain with proper care, this era will look like the Dark Ages.
5. Eating animals
Some users went beyond factory farming to predict the end of meat consumption altogether. Redditor u/ciquta said simply, “Eating animals.”
Others, like u/Zetsubou51, lamented how disconnected people are from their food sources: “We don’t care because we don’t see it. Factory farms are awful for the animals and the people that work in them.”
6. Scrolling endlessly on social media
User u/cornylilbugger predicted: “Spending multiple hours, every day, scrolling mindlessly on social media.”
The irony wasn’t lost on u/Izual_Rebirth, who admitted: “Scrolled way too long to find this one.”
7. Single-use plastics
“Plastic everywhere, all the time,” wrote u/letthisbeanewstart, imagining future disbelief at how we let plastic infiltrate everything from straws to textiles.
U/MarkNutt25 added: “An even bigger problem is plastic textiles. Microfibers are evil.”
8. The 40-hour workweek
“Working a 9-5 just to survive? Barbaric,” said u/DeathofSmallTalk1.
User u/EvaMayShadee painted a grimmer future: “We’ll probably be working 60-hour weeks by then.” Optimism? Optional.
9. Drilling teeth
The dental industry might face a future reckoning. As u/llcucf80 put it: “Drilling teeth.”
One user brought hope with a scientific breakthrough: “If that new shot from Japan works, pull the tooth, get injection, grow a new tooth,” said u/nomiis19.
10. Chemotherapy
Redditor u/Helpful_Finger_4854 hopes cancer treatments will improve drastically: “Dying from cancer, hopefully.”
Another user, u/Vocalscpunk, put it more bluntly: “We still poison the whole body with chemo and hope the cancer dies first.”
11. Driving ourselves
“Driving yourself will seem barbaric,” predicted u/CranberryCheese1997, imagining autonomous vehicles becoming the norm.
12. Using fossil fuels
Redditor u/loftier_fish had a grim take: “If the answer isn’t ‘using fossil fuels,’ there will be a lot fewer humans to deem anything barbaric in 2075.”
13. Child influencers
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Using kids to generate content got roasted as a future ethical disaster. “Hopefully, monetizing your children for social media will seem barbaric,” wrote u/TheWorstWitch.
14. Modern healthcare procedures
Some users pointed out that many current medical practices could be judged harshly in the future. “Orthopedic surgery with drills, rods, and screws?” asked u/Orthocorey.
Another user joked: “So you guys just strapped them down and blasted them with radiation to cure cancer?!”
15. Animal captivity for entertainment
Redditor u/w0ke_brrr_4444 went in: “Drugged dolphins in resorts and whales at SeaWorld. Barbaric.”
16. Fast fashion and waste
Wastefulness came under fire. U/rabbity_devotee called out “fast fashion” and “overflowing landfills.”
17. The whole premise of this thread
Finally, some users argued that future humanity might not even have the luxury of judging our “barbaric” ways. As u/NapoleonDonutHeart put it: “By 2075, we’re gonna be way more barbaric… we’ll fight over everything once food gets scarce.”
Whether these predictions hold up or not, it's clear that what feels normal now won’t always be. And when 2075 finally rolls around, let’s hope they’re a bit kinder to us than we’ve been to the past.
This article originally appeared earlier this year.