Today's heartwarming post-Hurricane Sandy story comes from Redditor RuffDesperado, whose friendly neighbor is offering free electricity to people who need to charge their phones. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey residents have been facing massive power outage on an unprecedented scale, which may take longer than a week for complete restoration, according to the utility companies.
When photographer Patrick Lu noticed a man proposing to his girlfriend on the capital grounds in Austin, TX, he instinctively snapped a pic to capture the moment.
It turned out so well that the next morning, he threw the image up on Reddit to try and discover the identities of the mystery couple.
Lu's inquiry quickly made it to the top of /r/Austin with 1,400 up votes, but the groom-to-be, Joel Bush, caught wind of the thread through friends.
Bush, shocked, says he and fiancée Jennifer Orr are grateful:
We experienced that magic on its own terms, with no thought about posing or anything. And, because the photographer did such an awesome job, we also have that precise moment and her beautiful reaction captured for safekeeping. It's pretty priceless.
[mashable]
A Toronto-area man who is "almost entirely blind" has been making statues out of scrap metal for years, including dragons and dinosaurs.
He asked his daughter to show the pictures on Facebook, but she had bigger plans -- and landed the front page of Reddit.
[reddit]
The rules of AskReddit clearly state: "AskReddit is for thought-provoking, discussion-inspiring questions. If your question can be answered by google, or in one word, it isn't right for AskReddit."
Rules, shmules.
Redditor elkresurgence threw caution to the wind this morning when he asked: "Which famous person needs to come out already?"
Within hours, every single response read "Tom Cruise."
Then, DutchessPDX brought everyone back to earth:
I think we need to stop speculating on who's gay and who's straight and let people get on with their lives. Gay or straight doesn't matter. But obviously Tom Cruise.
Remember Scott Widak, the man with Down syndrome who was terminally ill with liver disease, and whose nephew Sean O'Connor posted Widak's address to Reddit this past spring?
"One of my uncle's favorite things to do is open mail, and I thought that if he got a lot of mail it would cheer him up."
Widak died Saturday, and O'Connor returned to Reddit with an update -- and with a beautiful Imgur album that captures the last months of Widak's life, and the letters and gifts he received from all over the world:
Thank you reddit for thinking of my uncle. He will surely be missed... His general cheerfulness did decline a bit as he got more ill, but his happiness didn't fail to shine through at times no matter how sick he got.
[dailydot]
Street musician Charlie Rae had struggled for years to catch her big break. Then last week, San Diego resident Andrew Steelsmith heard her playing from a few blocks away.
"I sat through three songs with my mouth wide open," he said.
Eager to help her out, he posted his grainy cell phone video of her signature ballad, "What Do You Know," to Reddit, where it proved to be just the exposure Rae needed -- several producers and publishing companies have since come calling.
In a Reddit AMA on Monday night, Rae thanked her new fans, and acknowledged her years of struggle: "Performing on the street has definitely been the most humbling experience for [me] personally. … I truly think playing on the street has been more intimate and a learning experience than any paying gig."
[reddit]
