(3/17/2020 - Happy St. Patrick’s Day!)
First of all, big thanks to all the kind comments and asks I’ve gotten!! I seriously never expected this to blow up so hard (it was the panda, wasn’t it?) but I’m really glad that it did, given how much people seem to enjoy it.
Quick notes: Yes, a few things are incorrect (mainly that student loans aren’t paused, just the interest on them). That comes from trying to find good news right now and having to really dig deep into the internet.
Also, if it wasn’t clear: TERFs, racists, homophobes, transphobes, and the like are not welcome here. Negative and bigoted comments will be deleted and the users blocked. If you see someone saying nasty stuff, and I haven’t seen it, please message me so I can get rid of it. This is a place of positivity in a world that feels like it’s going to shit.
Now, without further ado, my list - actually, your list. I’ve gone through the comments to pull out some really great things I’ve seen you guys posting about, because I know there’s a million different versions of this post now, and I want as much good to spread as possible.
(Image ID: Anon message on tumblr that says, “For your good things: around noon today [3/17/2020], medical students nationwide [in America, presumably] were suspended from their clinical rotations for their safety. Before they had even been officially notified of this, students were contacting hospitals and asking our school for ways they could volunteer to help instead.” End ID)
~ @cryauto13 : The Cincinnati Zoo is offering daily digital Home Safaris that are gonna be great for children to still see zoo animals and learn while the zoo is closed to the public. They are live every day of the week starting 3pm EST. Yesterday featured Fiona the hippo!
~ @mallorymaedke: Children’s author Mo Willems is doing a free class online for kids to learn to draw. You can find the first episode on YouTube here
~ @zaera-d: Gail Simone is doing a free comic writing class on Twitter. Anyone can join, and they also have a Discord server. First thread is here
~ @itsdrarrybaby: Comcast is giving free internet for students without it for 60 days throughout America
~ @maytheskitty: Some Canadian service providers like Bell and Videotron are lifting the data caps on phone plans so people don’t worry about going over their limit while in isolation
~ @woahzaina: Sixty LAUSD schools are giving meals to students who live in the LA area. You can visit their site here to find out more
~ @jenroses: Ireland just announced a test for C19 that takes only 15 minutes!
~ @nightsshadow1: The worlds fattest parrot species (located in New Zealand) was just saved from the brink of extinction against a rare fungus! Here’s a picture of the fat boi!! He is green and speckly and LARGE:
~ @khunagueroagneswifey: Country music star Hunter Hayes, after having to cancel his tour, filmed his entire concert in a warehouse and uploaded the video to YouTube so people could still see the show for free! You can find it by searching his name in YouTube
~ @paperuniverse: A man in Toronto is buying hand sanitizer and giving it out to people for free so they don’t have to pay for it
~ @fantabulisticity: The Metropolitan Opera will be streaming a new opera every night during the C19 shutdown, starting as of yesterday (3/16/2020) on their website
There were a lot more that I didn’t touch on in the comments, so if you want to smile a little more, take a scroll through.
Since you guys did all the hard work for me today, I just want to give a couple shout outs to a few small, personal happy things that happened to me today:
~ Nearly everyone tipped $2-$3 at my coffee shop, which meant that myself and my coworkers actually went home with a reasonable amount of money despite the severe lack of business
~ Every single person in my supermarket was delightfully pleasant to each other - the fighting over product has stopped, and instead, people are helping each other find scarce products, complimenting outfits, and I even heard two people exchanging cookie recipes while they waited in line.
~ A ton of you guys have shouted me out in the notes or messaged me directly saying such incredibly nice things, and it means so much to me. I’m glad this has reached so many people, and I’m looking forward to keeping it going (though I might have to drop to only one or two things a day, otherwise this is going to get absurdly long lol)
I hope you guys have a safe night (or morning or afternoon, depending on where you are!). Wash your hands, text your friends and family, and try to smile. We’re gonna get through this shit.
As a parting gift, here’s a platypus sitting on a person’s hand and looking soft and fluffy and precious: