Good Things Thursday - 05.04.23
Despite what MSM says, we're still progressing forward, folks.
What’s that saying? April flowers bring May flowers?
Time to check out what’s bloomed!
Down’s & Barbie | Hosting Prom in TN | Normalizing Disabilities | 105th Birthday | Washing Machine Engineer | Quote of the Week
Mattel introduces first Barbie doll representing a person with Down syndrome
”Mattel on Tuesday introduced its first-ever version of the Barbie doll representing a person with Down syndrome.
The new doll is part of Mattel Barbie Fashionistas line, which aims to offer kids more diverse representations of beauty and fight the stigma around physical disabilities.
Previous Barbie Fashionistas have included a doll with a prosthetic leg, one with hearing aids, another that comes with a wheelchair and a doll with the skin condition vitiligo, which causes patches of skin to lose their pigment.”
Read more here.
Small business owners in Nashville will host prom for student denied from school dance for wearing a suit
”Small business owners in Nashville are stepping up after a high school student was turned away from their senior prom for wearing a suit.
B. Hayes, 18 – who uses they/he pronouns, according to their Instagram account – said they weren’t “allowed in the doors” because they were wearing a suit.”
Read more here.
Normalizing Disabilities
“I've pretty much always had one leg. Missing a limb makes you a walking question mark.
When I was a child, kids in the playground would ask what happened to me. I always felt it was my job to tell them. After all, adults often asked me the same question, so surely it was a reasonable one. I ended up writing a children's book called "What Happened to You?" about what it means to be asked this question. It took me 40 years to find the answer.
As I got older, I grew more uncomfortable sharing my medical history with strangers. Adults think they want to know, but it often turns out they don't — not when they realize it's a personal question with a difficult answer. It makes everyone awkward. And kids don't need to know what happened. They just need reassurance that, yes, some people have one leg, and that's fine. Disability is normal.”
Read more here.
WW2 veteran receives 4,000 cards for 105th birthday
”A World War Two veteran celebrating his 105th birthday received more than 4,000 cards following an appeal for people to send him their greetings.
Ernest Horsfall, from Preston in Lancashire, served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers as a staff sergeant from 1940 to 1946.
He said: "I am utterly amazed. I want to thank each and every person who took the time to send me a message."“
Read more here.
Meet the Engineer Creating Off-Grid Manual Washing Machines That Empower Low-Income Communities
“The idea for an energy-efficient, manual washing machine originated after he quit his job at Dyson to volunteer with Engineers Without Borders U.K. in India. He noticed a neighbor struggling to do the laundry and realized that women were disproportionately responsible for carrying out the time-consuming task.
“Handwashing clothes is crippling and back-breaking in rural areas as women carry water from ponds. I spoke to women, they felt they couldn’t afford electric washing machines. That’s when the penny dropped,” he said in an interview with the Global Indian.”
Read more here.
Quote of the Week
