Feel Good Friday

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Feel Good Friday: 8-year-old paying it forward

This edition of Feel Good Friday brings a bittersweet story of an 8-year-old boy, a fallen soldier and a random  act of  kindness.

Here is how the CBS News story (from Steve Hartman) began:

At the Ohio Air National Guard base near Toledo, Lt. Col. Frank Dailey still can’t believe the honor recently bestowed upon him. . . .

It happened at a Cracker Barrel, of all places. As the security camera shows, Dailey entered the restaurant on Feb. 7 for an early lunch. At about the same time, 8-year-old Myles Eckert came in with his family.

Myles was very excited. He’d just found a $20 bill in the parking lot. . . . “I kind of wanted to get a video game, but then I decided not to,” Myles says.He changed his mind when he saw the guy in uniform.

“Because he was a soldier, and soldiers remind me of my dad,” Myles explains.

And so, with his dad in mind, Myles wrapped the $20 in a note that read, “Dear Soldier — my dad was a soldier. He’s in heaven now. I found this 20 dollars in the parking lot when we got here. We like to pay it forward in my family. It’s your lucky day! Thank you for your service. Myles Eckert, a gold star kid.”

Feel Good Friday: Saul Goodman

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Feel Good Friday: Saul Goodman

Recently, NPR’s Fresh Air interviewed Bob Odenkirk who plays the most popular fictional lawyer currently on television–Saul Goodman of AMC’s Breaking Bad.

Here is a description of the interview:

“When the going gets tough, you don’t want a criminal lawyer — you want a criminal lawyer.”

That’s how meth dealer Jesse Pinkman describes the fast-talking, sleazy Saul Goodman on AMC’s Breaking Bad. Played by Bob Odenkirk, Saul knows how to bend the law, or break it, depending on his clients’ needs. He helped Walter White — a high-school chemistry teacher turned meth cooker — launder money, stay out of prison and get connected with a meth drug lord.

Now, in the final season, even Saul is scared. Walt has plenty of drug money stashed away, but he’s murdered a drug lord. Worse still, a DEA agent (who happens to be Walt’s brother-in-law) may be on to him.

Before Breaking Bad, Odenkirk was best known as the co-founder and co-star, with David Cross, of the HBO sketch-comedy series Mr. Show.

Breaking Bad begins the second half of its final season on Sunday. Odenkirk tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross about Saul’s comb-over, the character’s penchant for long-winded speeches, and his own thoughts on playing the most comedic character in a serious drama.

Feel Good Friday: Burglars Return Computers To Charity

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Feel Good Friday: Burglars Return Computers To Charity

Gawker recently ran a story about apologetic burglars who returned the things they stole from a clinic that treats the victims of sexual assault. 

Here is how the story began: 

Burglars rarely return to the scene of the crime — much less in order to return the things they stole.

But that’s exactly what happened in California last week, just hours after the San Bernardino County Sexual Assault Services was robbed of several computer, monitors, and other valuables.

Candy Stallings, who runs the nonprofit, says she was called to the office on July 31st after a report came in about a break-in at the office.

The burglars had climbed in through the walls, disabling security systems and motion detectors as they went.

As Stallings left the scene around 1:30 AM, she overheard an officer explain to some “transients” who had gathered near the building what the nonprofit did.

The office has no sign on the door identifying itself in order to protect victims who seek its services.

Just three hours later, Stallings received another call: The burglars were back. But this time, rather than steal more stuff, they had left some stuff behind.