Tuesday, January 08, 2019

Making a difference

Back during this past summer, I wrote a short piece about Marlene who is a greeter at Walmart. She wears a tiara every day. She started several years ago when someone gave her tiara. She wore it to work as a joke. Everybody loved it so she started wearing a tiara daily. That was 17 years ago. 

The story resonated with local readers. When the article appeared in the paper,  I shared it on social media. The piece lit up my Facebook account. The article got over 1200 shares. She got a private message thank you from the CEO of Walmart.

The local TV station also saw the article and contacted Marlene. They asked if she'd be interested in letting them do a segment on The People of Alabama. She agreed.  

The segment aired this past week and the last time I'd looked, it had been view by close to a million people. She's signing autographs.

Marlene told Jilda the last time we were at Walmart that all the attention was because of the story I wrote. 

It was nothing for me to snap a picture and take a few minutes to capture her story. But for Marlene, it set off a chain of events that became significant in her life. 

Sometimes we don't realize that even the small things we do can make a difference in someone's life.



20 comments:

  1. It takes a good eye to recognize a good human interest story and then to tell it well.

    I've been wearing a tiara for years but no one notices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joe. Send me a selfie of you in a tiara. I'll give you a shoutout.

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  2. See...it truly is a wonderful life. We really don’t know how we impact one person. I am honoured to be reading your blog

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  3. A lovely story. You are right about the impact of the small things - and it is a great reminder to ensure that they are positive.
    Love her tiara and smile.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I try to steer clear of negative stuff when I can. It's a waste of life force.

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  4. Dude my grands would say 'SWEET'. That sounds good to me. I loved the story and it is wonderful what the written word can do at the right time. good on you and Marlene! again...SWEET!

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  5. Anonymous2:14 AM

    You're a good person, Rick, & so is Marlene!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Evet
    Katlıyorum.
    Farklılık yaratmak gerekir.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is a happy story. Sometime the smallest thing we do for others turns out to be bigger than we can imagine.
    Karma always returns, good or bad. You obviously have good karma. Keep up the good work.
    Hugs, Julia

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  8. Go Marlene! And thank you Rick for introducing her to the world.

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    Replies
    1. I tried to find her video on Youtube but I was unsuccessful

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  9. What a sweet story Rick! It's really cool how things line up due to one small gesture.
    Lisa

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  10. Such a nice story about someone who seems like a nice woman

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  11. What a great story. I always think that great things can happen in small ways. You touched a spot in people's hearts with this one. She will never be a queen over a country but she makes folks smile and I'll take that over a real tiara any day. We had a greeter named Bill in our Walmart years ago. When you walked in he would look up to the ceiling and yell, "Watch out!" You'd look up and he'd smile and say: "For falling prices!" Dang, I fell for it every time!

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