T for Two

Between 1975 and 1978, a horrible man named Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime ruled Cambodia, forced people to move and work on collective farms, and murdered somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million of his own citizens!  His name is always mentioned along with Hitler, Mussolini, and other brutal despots.

It is said that the only people Pol Pot feared were kids in American elementary schools, universally regarded as the meanest people under 5 feet tall in the world, viz:

A fourth grader in Altamonte Elementary School in Florida wanted to get in on the fun on "College Colors Day," which the school puts on to engender school spirit (albeit for other schools, but anyway...)

The little tacker did not have any University of Tennessee gear. That's his favorite school, but for reasons that are none of our business, he didn't have a UT t-shirt or cap or anything.

So, he drew up a UT logo and pinned it to an orange T.

His teacher is Laura Snyder, and she said on Facebook, "When the day finally arrived, he was SO EXCITED to show me his shirt. I was impressed that he took it one step further to make his own label."

But apparently that wasn't cool enough for some of the sweet little girls in his school.


"After lunch, he came back to my room, put his head on on his desk and was crying," Snyder wrote. "Some girls at the lunch table next to his (who didn't even participate in college colors day) had made fun of his sign that he had attached to his shirt. He was DEVASTATED."

The magic of social media helped Snyder spread the story. She asked if any of her contacts could help get the little guy (whose name is not given, in the name of decency) some UT swag of some sort.

Well, you know what happened next. The U of Tenn saw the posts and send the boy a big box o' coolness.

Hats, bags, school supplies, bracelets, water bottles, towels and other UT stuff was in the box that came to Snyder's classroom. She feels the experience was a great unifier for her class, and that was the kids were "ecstatic" to have the hats and shirts etc.

But here's the other really cool part. UT took the boy's homemade logo and has made an official t-shirt of it, with a portion of the proceeds to go to STOMP Out Bullying, a national anti-bullying organization.

"When I told him that his design was being made into a real shirt and people wanted to wear it, his jaw dropped. He had a big smile on his face, walked taller and I could tell his confidence grew," Snyder said.

Meanwhile, back on campus, as the UT Volunteers football team stumbled off to an 0-2 start to their season, there was so much demand for the shirt (pictured above) that the campus store website crashed.

And Ms Snyder shared this message from the young man's mom:

"I am overwhelmed by the love I feel from this extended community and the pride I feel for my son and for being a VFL*," she wrote. "Every comment, item sent and action taken on behalf of my son will never be forgotten and hopefully will serve as inspiration for him throughout his life."

I hope so too. It's great, the way people stepped up and did something nice!

*"Volunteer For Life