Over the past couple of days, Walt, the Red Barron Pizza guy, has taken over my X feed. He went viral because he was at a supermarket –doing his job– when a social media clout chaser asked him for the time. Walt, with a smile, interrupted his work to pull out his phone and tell the kid what time it was. The kid then made it appear as though he used his phone to steal money from Walt’s phone and told Walt so. To which Walt responded with a fed-up tell-off that had every hard-working American that’s barely hanging on financially –and who are super tired of social media clout chasers– jumping to their feet and cheering him on.
Something wonderful happened. Worried that Walt would lose his job over the incident and have an even harder time paying his mortgage and taking care of his four children, a bunch of people started donating money to help him. But I think it goes deeper than people worrying about his financial health. I think a lot of people saw a man robbed of his dignity. Treated as nothing more than fodder for clicks by callous internet pranksters who completely ignored Walt’s humanity in order to advance their own ends. There are a lot of people in this country that have walked in Walt’s shoes. They don’t have money or power or looks or influence so they are treated as inconsequential. They sometimes feel like nothing more than cogs in the machine (or NPCs in today’s lingo). Lots of people who have had a Walt, the Red Barron Pizza guy moment at least once in their lives and maybe they couldn’t afford to get their dignity back, but they could certainly afford to give a little of their precious, hard-earned money to help Walt regain his.
This episode also beautifully illustrates a bigger truth. We’re not meant to live individually or as a bunch of divided groups. We’re meant to live as one body, working together for the good of the whole with Christ as our head. When a member of our body gets hurt, our instinct is to help that hurt part of our body. It’s all explained rather nicely by Saint Paul in his various letters.*
Walt, the Red Barron pizza guy showed that people are just itching to help out other members of the body who are drowning in life. But hoping to go viral after getting harassed by clout chasers and giving them a well-earned what for isn’t the most practical way of getting the helping hand you need.
What are people to do in situations such as these? Go to church! I know this advice sounds trite, but it’s really not. Joining a church is the most viable way to connect the generous hearts to people in need because it puts us in regular contact with other members of the body. It is, in fact, the institution that Christ left us to better keep us connected. It’s one of the reasons God made the sabbath for us. So that we would rest but also to rest in community. One of the answers to my children’s First Communion question “What are the benefits of going to Mass?” is: “We become closer to one another because we are members of Jesus’ mystical body.” And becoming closer to one another is exactly what happens with weekly attendance. We build a network of friends and friends like to help each other. No viral video necessary; our dignity stays intact.
So, get thee to church! It is the best way for people who have walked in Walt’s shoes to help other people walking in Walt’s shoes without anyone having to be humiliated on social media in order to bring attention to their plight. And bring your kids too! Maybe it will help them to recognize hard-working Americans as fellow members of the mystical body instead of NPCs to be dehumanized for clicks.
*and explained further by Fulton Sheen in his book The Mystical Body of Christ.
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