One of the greatest things about being around professional hockey players for me, is watching the faces of their fans when they get to meet their hero's. It takes me back to being a kid myself, and waiting for autographs with the hopes of meeting my hockey hero.
Over the years, there are many athletes who have truly impressed me with their giving nature. They give of themselves, their time, and their wealth, making a contribution to their community. But every so often, you see something extraordinary.
For me, that moment was March, 8, 2014. I remember this date for a couple reasons. The first is, it was the day before my birthday. I was meeting with Scott Hartnell, who then played for the Philadelphia Flyers, and I made an unexpected appearance on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. That was a great feeling. But as good as that was, the second reason was infinitely higher.
The second reason why I won't forget that day: I was watching James Reimer being the last person off the morning skate at the Air Canada Centre. I watched him come down the tunnel to the dressing room, stopping to sign autographs for all the young kids along the way. Not only did he sign, but he engaged each kid in conversation to ask them a little about themselves. It put a big smile on my face.
"He gets it..." I said, outloud.
Then just before James was steps away from the dressing room, he came over to talk to a woman in a wheelchair. She was overwhelmed when she saw James. He asked one of the equipment managers to get one of his sticks, and he signed it for that woman, and gave it to her. She started crying. I stood watching that empty hallway taking pictures of it. Then, as the woman and her family left, I watched James turn around in a 360 degree rotation to see if he missed anyone else to sign, before finally heading into the dressing room.
This is how James Reimer treats his fans
I shook my head in disbelief at the kindness this man had. It was truly inspiring, and it moved me. In fact, I can think of few people as kind as James Reimer truly is.
The Leafs beat the Flyers that night, but then went on a losing streak for the rest of the month, falling out of playoff contention. James Reimer was in goal for the Leafs that night, and he was in net for the majority of that losing streak where Leafs Nation lost their patience with the team's effort, and blamed Reimer for the losses. Newpapers, reporters, bloggers, fans, all went on record to blame and shame. That's when the cyber bullying started.
Twitter followers tried to attack James Reimer, but he wasn't on Twitter. Yet, his wife April was. And oh, how the the hate mail flowed. April Reimer was subjected to weeks of cyber-bullying on Twitter, taking the brunt of it all from the degenerate Leafs fans. I read a lot of those messages, and they were simply horrific. I felt that if the people who wrote those horrible things had seen the kindness of James Reimer, or had it been their kid James was meeting, they would've never said those terrible things. Yet, they tweeted away, never knowing the damage their words and actions had.
Here are a couple of the tweets April received.These were the tame ones, as all the really offensive ones were taken down.
@BlueLineG27 tweeted: “tell ur husband thanks for costing the leafs another game and maybe the playoffs. He’s garbage. He must be cut.”
@MLFHROOZ tweeted to April: “you should seriously tell your husband to get psychiatric help because he has become an absolute joke.”
They say behind every great man, there is a great woman who got him there. So after taking the experience of being cyber-bullied, April Reimer has created lemonade out of lemons. She has launched a cause called, #Tweetsweet to share her story. Those who live inside the cowardice act of cyber bullying can feel supported by someone who's actually experienced it first hand. April spreads the message of #Tweetsweet to create a more connected social media realm.
A mentor of mine once told me, "We all live on a starvation diet of acknowledgment" I found that regretfully truthful. So everyday, I am committed to sending out a #tweetsweet as a random act of kindness, which I hope will encourage the recipient. If that's the case, the recipient can #payitforward causing a tsunami of acknowledgment through #tweetsweet
So if you are on Twitter, perhaps you can follow us @april_reimer and @chuckbastie and use the #tweetsweet in your everyday life. Let's choose to add more kindness to the social media world. Our words have immense power. Let's choose to be responsible and kind with those words, and encourage rather than discourage.
If you would like to hear my interview with James Reimer about Tweetsweet, click here:
http://talk-radio.ca/?p=902
Thank you to James and April Reimer for your example, and contribution to Toronto. God speed in your Journey together.
