Man Steps Up to Help Senior Citizen: See the Heartwarming Photo

Not all elderly people are helpless by any means, but sometimes anybody from any walk of life could need a little help from a total stranger.

Here’s an act of human kindness that the photographer who captured the moment characterized as “A little redemption for the suffering human soul.”

That description might sound a little dramatic, but … it fits once you hear the story.

“The older man was paused at the top of an escalator and a few people started gathering waiting to get on,” the photographer, Paula Picard, explains.

“It was clear he was feeling unsure and this young man offered the simplest kindness: an out-reached arm and a ‘can I help you on, sir?"”

This happened on an escalator at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

“He quietly started to explain to the young man that he had gotten stuck on an escalator once and was a little scared.”

Past trauma can absolutely ruin things, and a lot of malls don’t even have alternatives to escalators except for inconveniently located elevators that aren’t always readily apparent.

It must have been difficult for him to admit it.

“The young man gently offered an assurance, they looked at each other eye to eye for just a moment and the older man accepted his arm. Everyone else remained patient. So, so sweet to witness!”

That is wonderful.

And, for the record, the young man’s name is Alonzo Johnson.

Now, normally we’d be super harsh about a woman taking photos of perfect strangers in public.

And then posting them to social media.

These aren’t celebrities, they’re everyday people.

Remember that whole Alex From Target thing?

That wasn’t okay, it was a violation of a young cashier’s privacy.

That came to mind for this.

Worse, Picard shared that old man’s story of fear and infirmity.

But she explains why she felt that she absolutely had to share it.

And we get it.

“In about an hour, the evening news will air and we’ll be reminded of division, race wars, political mud-slinging, shootings and other heartaches.”

That’s all too real.

Even if we don’t force ourselves to sit through the news, it’s there on every platform of social media.

“But today, violence, race, age, politics and other social lines were blurred and one person simply helped another. I wanted to hug both of them.” 

After that story, we felt the same way.

“Whoever this young man is, YOUR FAMILY RAISED YOU RIGHT! THANK YOU! So, please look for the silver linings — as I was so fortunate to witness this evening.”

We don’t automatically credit people’s upbringing for how they turn out.

After all, a lot of people turn out to be good despite their childhoods, not because of them.

But, from this encounter, Alonzo Johnson seems to be a good person in a world that too often manages to crush the good out of people.

That deserves respect.

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High School Senior SLAMS Sexist Dress Code with Scathing Yearbook Quote

Yearbook quotes used to just be little cute ways of being remembered or sharing jokes with friends.

Now, in the age of social media, many students hope to be able to share their sense of humor or their ingenuity with thousands of people who never attended their school. Sometimes, it works, and their photo and quote get shared all across the world.

One student’s yearbook photo has gone viral for making a hilarious point about sexist dress codes.

When Tori DiPaolo tweeted this photo from the yearbook, she included a caption.

“Tori: 1; Dress Code: 0.”

She wasn’t just congratulating herself for an entertaining quote that poked fun at the hypocrisy of school photos that bare those scandalous shoulders when the school itself bans them.

She’s apparently waged a lengthy battle against the school’s outrageously sexist dress code policies.

“Over the past four years, myself and many of my friends have received dress code violations for clothes that were nowhere near inappropriate.”

That’s all too common.

And while many students are quick to blame teachers for reporting them for their “offenses,” they should realize that most teachers only do so for fear of getting into trouble if they don’t report dress code violations.

“I became a bit infamous around school for fighting the administration about dress code, so I figured I’d use my senior quote as one final jab.”

Great callbacks to your reputation are a great way to use a yearbook quote.

Second only to the folks who use their yearbook quotes to come out of the closet.

“I just found it funny that the outfits for senior portraits technically violated the dress code by exposing our shoulders, so I saw my opportunity and ran with it.”

Funny, yes … but not funny haha, you know?

Dress codes can be especially onerous in the south, where soaring temperatures can combine with humidity to make even a tee shirt feel like its smothering its wearers.

But no matter the location, dress codes are clearly and aggressively based on gender discrimination.

“It’s all based on sexism, and it is completely unreasonable.”

She’s not pulling that out of nowhere.

So much of dress codes has to do with the idea that a girl’s bare shoulders or, gasp, if her tee shirt rides up, will distract the boys in the classroom.

You know, because shoulders and the small of your back have magic powers that force boys to stop paying attention.

One of my favorite anecdotes about girls responding to stupid sexist dress code enforcement was a girl who was told that her bra strap was showing so she needed to change outfits who then reached under her shirt and removed her bra.

All the while without breaking eye contact with the teacher.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Or bras.

“There have been a number of incidents where I was called into the office due to what I was wearing. Whether it was my bra strap showing, or my midriff being a quarter inch exposed, administration always gave me a problem.”

Pulling her out of class and wasting her time when she could have been learning.

Shame on them.

Like, the idea of a dress code makes sense, but basically you should just need to wear clothing that wouldn’t get you banned from Instagram or, like, a McDonald’s.

That’s just part of life.

Instead, students — most of whom are in the middle of growth spurts and many of whom may not come from families who can afford to be picky about clothes — are expected to go above and beyond.

Because apparently certain parts of the human arm are just too darn sexual.

(But in ways that only impact boys)

Policies are inconsistently enforced, so a girl might only get in trouble for her attire after having worn it a dozen times before, thinking that it wasn’t a problem.

The most insidious part of how dress codes are enforced is that, in case she might distract boys from their educations, girls are called out of class or even sent home.

Which effectively prioritizes the educations of hypothetical boys who lack basic self-control skills.

The fact that girls are supposed to be responsible for their male classmates’ educations is ludicrous, but it’s enshrined in countless dress codes across the country.

That kind of thinking is only a few steps below “that witch hexed me into lusting after her!”

DiPaolo isn’t the only students or former student to have expressed these concerns or fought this battle.

There have been viral stories, like that parent of a female student who invited the school’s principal to go shopping with them to see how absurd the dress code was an how difficult it was to meet.

There are adults fighting similar battles against what’s considered inappropriate for grown women vs what men are allowed to do.

There are even cases where men are directly impacted — right now in Europe, there are numerous men wearing skirts to protest their companies’ bans on wearing shorts during soaring temperatures.

Though, honestly, skirts have to be way more comfortable.

Maybe they’ll stick with them.

And maybe society should care a little less about how people decorate their meat prisons.

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High School Senior Models Prom Dress After Beyonce: See Her Flawless Look!

India Ross does not care about the identity of Becky with the Good Hair.

When it comes to Beyonce, this high school senior cares about one thing and one thing only: her awesome taste in fashion.

Ross, a student at St. Louis’ Hazelwood West High School, has gone viral because she didn’t just wear your basic black dress to her recent prom.

Oh, no.

Instead, she modeled her gown after the dress Beyonce stunned in on the red carpet of the MET Gala in New York City last year.

As you can see above, Ross has impressively copied the sheer Givenchy Haute Couture ensemble, replete with a back cutout and a number of colorful hand-sewn crystals.

“I have my own sense of style, but Beyoncé is my inspiration,” Ross tells Us Weekly.

Ross will double-major in Fashion Business and Fashion Merchandising at Columbia College Chicago in the fall and says her prom dress required over 2,000 hand-placed crystals.

That’s dedication!

It also cost $ 800, which may sound like a lot… but consider how much Beyonce likely shelled out for a very similar looking dress.

And because people on the Internet suck, Ross has received criticism for her copying of Beyonce.

In a caption to the collage featured here, she wrote the following in response to these haters:

The Fact that people think I let ignorance ruin me Let’s make this clear I do not think I’m Beyoncé but she’s my inspiration.

I think somebody is confused on a inspiration just because she has on a #Givenchy dress don’t mean I suppose to have a million dollar dress on I still look so god damn fine in my Walmart, eBay, Michaels, cheap looking #givenchy dress #islay.

I sure hell did a good job give credit when due #crownus #blackmagic.

And your never gone find a pony NAILED as mines #prom2k16 please save all your negative comments off my page.

You tell ’em, India!

Beyonce is yet to acknowledge her biggest fan, but Ross still has a message for her idol:

“I love you Beyonce! I wish I could meet you. And by the way, can I have the real Givenchy dress? I’m sure I could slay that one, too!”