An Army of Normal Folks - Giving $5,000 To Your UPS Driver

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

UPS driver Tim Daniels and his customers in the East Lake neighborhood of Atlanta truly love each other. So when Tim had a surgery that took him out of commission for a few months, his customers stepped up and showed him just how much they love him. And "The Dancing UPS Man" decided to surprise all of them. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Soledad O'Brien, and on my new true crime podcast, Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to 1964, to the cold case of artist Mary Pinchot-Meyer. She had been shot twice in the head and in the back. It turns out Mary was connected to a very powerful man. I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor promote aggression. John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the Toe Path with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

So everybody, we're doing this new special series, Random Acts of Kindness. Short episodes where we're just going to talk about people who do Random Acts of Kindness that are absolutely vital to growing this army of normal folks and we were brought a interesting story by our friend Casey Clark about a guy named Aaron Shinan in Atlanta who happened to build a friendship with his UPS guy I guess is the story. Aaron tell me about that. Yeah that's that's absolutely right. Tim has been our EPS guy for the I think the 15 years that we've lived in this neighborhood in Atlanta and I don't even really remember how it started exactly a number of years ago. I remember it must have been cold because it was dark outside early and he was wearing a

Dallas Cowboys hat, winter hat. You're not allowed to do that in Atlanta. Are you? Yes, sir. Well, that's part of the problem. And so I started giving him grief and like cowboys men, come on, you're in Atlanta. And he said, you Falcons fan and yada, yada, yada. One thing led to another. And we just started talking about football.

And so every time he would come by, um, we'd talk, you know, he'd show up, he'd come by, knock on the door and looking for me, just to talk about the games from the day before or something like that. We became kind of friendly that way and then come to find out that his kid went to the same school as my kids. I started keeping cold Gatorades in the fridge during the summertime and hot drinks in the wintertime if he wanted to stop by and get something. We found out his birthday is a few days before my wife's, so we would have him over for birthday parties.

And I knew a lot of people in the neighborhood liked him because he's so likeable. He couldn't have just been us. But then, yeah, we just kind of, you know, swapped numbers, texting, talking trash about football. He's so mad about the Cowboys keeping Dak Prescott and not making any more moves this off season. So, yeah, he just became a good friend. That's awesome. I mean, yeah, it used to be back in the day, your postal worker walked and everybody kind of knew their're close to worker. And unfortunately, I think we've lost some of that interconnectivity. But it sounds like Tim, the UPS guy, Tim Davies was just

Daniel, an old school throwback, right? Know the people in your neighborhood kind of guy. Yeah. But I understand as you got to know him and talk to him that you notice he walked with a little bit of a limp. It wasn't a little bit. I mean the man just limps, period. I was a dude that's on and off a big brown frot key and packages all the time. Do that job limping. With a smile. With a smile and a handshake and a fist bump, whatever. And the summertime you'd see him, you know, wearing shorts and he'd have

these big braces on both of his knees. And so we would start talking about that too. And he would tell me, yeah, I got to get them replaced, get my knees replaced. Can I get my knees replaced? I was like, man, you got to do that. You know, time to do that. And yeah, yeah, yeah. And he didn't do it.

He didn't do it. And then finally he said, well, it turns out I got to get my hip fixed before I can do my knees. So he finally scheduled that surgery for this earlier this year and, and got the hip replaced. Um, and so hopefully once he's healed, he can get the knees done. So, um, Casey, where do you fit in all of this? Well, I had seen Tim around my neighborhood when I'm walking my dog or

when he's dropping off a package and he is just the friendliest person. I mean, he just makes my day, you know, and after like several interactions like that with him, I just like, he just made me proud to be a part of this community. I was like, we're so lucky to have him have somebody like that who just randomly throughout your day is going to like make you smile, make you feel better about whatever's going on in your life. And so, um, yeah, I was, And so, yeah, I opened Facebook one day and I saw a picture of Tim.

I didn't even know Tim's name, but I recognized his face immediately. And I thought, is something going on with him? Is there something I can do to help him? And then I read Aaron's post and I was like, oh my gosh, I gotta let Tim know that we're gonna miss him so much. And so, yeah. You know, we talk about on an army of normal folks

all the time to make your impact where you are. And you don't have to be part of some big 501C3. You don't have to be part of some massive organization to actually make a difference in the world. And it sounds like this Tim guy just through his kindness in doing the job that he's job had an effect on the people that he served literally packages to, but served with a smile and a simple hello. And Aaron, I think I read that even when he didn't have a package,

when he bit by your house, he honk his horn and wave at you. Just say, Hey, our kitchen faces the front of the street in the front of the house. And I'm often in there cooking and sure enough, around six 30, you'd hear the truck coming and hear this honk and we just turn and wave and see them. And he'd be waving back at us and driving down and the lades Became that we sort of were used to it. In fact, I'd sexed him last week because somebody drove by With exact same honk and honked and I it reflectively looked and waved thinking it was him. But of course it's not so Yeah, it's the sound of the evening to us is Tim's truck and that honk pretty phenomenal, so evening to us is Tim's truck and that honk. Pretty phenomenal. So he has to get his hip fixed before he had his knees fixed

and clearly he's going to take some time off and you had an idea. Did they have another neighbor of ours who's friends with him. Also, we decided to try and raise a little bit of money to try and get him, you know, a food delivery gift card, an Uber Eats gift card, something while he's laid up, you know, so he didn't have to worry about that kind of stuff. So I put this post on our neighborhood Facebook page with his picture and explained what was

going on and said, hey, I'm trying to raise a little bit of money. Here's my Venmo. And, you know, if you're able, you able, feel free to contribute." And that was it. I did not think much more of it than that. We were thinking we could raise a couple hundred dollars to feed them. I'm one of those people, with my phone I've got all the notifications turned on. My wife hates it. So my Venmo, if someone Venmos's me, I got a text message and I get an email. I don't really, I need to go in and fix it, but I don't. But so my wife and I were just sitting there watching television that

night after I posted it and then Venmo thing just starts running. Like it's on fire. I mean, it's like a bell going off in her house. Yes, sir. Like a constant. And, um, uh, at some point finally I looked and within an hour we'd raised $500, which was more than I ever thought we would raise in the first place. And by the time I went to bed that night, we had raised a thousand dollars.

And, um, I was so incredibly touched. And then it also made me reflect a little bit. Well, of course, Tim's not just mine. Of course, Tim's not just Kim's my friend down the street. Of course, Tim impacts people the same way he impacts me. Cause this isn't a nice neighborhood of friendly neighborhood. And I was just overwhelmed. So did you have your feelings hurt that you found out that

Tim wasn't just your best friend? He seemed to be everybody's best friend. I definitely did not. I actually felt kind of selfish and, uh, uh, ignorant. I mean, I, I, he was mine somehow, you know, that, like I had a claim on him. I, that was wrong. Uh, I did not feel embarrassed. I was, I was, I was like, yeah, of course, of course.

Um, so I posted again that night and within like an update and said, you guys are amazing. I can't believe this. And I went to bed and you know, by the time I woke up the next morning, it was up to $1,500, $2,000. And at that point you're like, nobody can use that much Uber Eats in Atlanta. This is not just a gift card anymore. We got to figure out something else to do.

So, um, and then by the end, Bill, it was, um, I think he ended up transferring $5,600 to him. Wow. Which is amazing. I mean, just absolutely amazing. I was just blown, absolutely blown away. But it speaks to the power of random acts of kindness and an army of normal folks. And the random acts of kindness here on this story, Casey, it's both. It's Tim's random act of kindness while doing his job to everybody he comes into contact with that then inspired random acts of kindness among all the people on his route

that found out he was going to be off a while and they just wanted to help. And then together this army of normal people through Tim's random acts of kindness and the people he inspired through that kindness to be kind back enriched one another's lives. Yeah, it was incredible. Like Aaron said, I wasn't surprised to see how many people had such nice things to say about Tim, how they were inspired by him,

how they had been impacted by him. But it was overwhelming the number of people. I don't know if you've counted how many people made comments on that Facebook post but Was it a hundred people? Is it? Yeah. Well, I actually printed it out yesterday Yeah, I can't I'm certainly don't have time to read them all but it's oh you got it. It's it's pictures of list after lift after list from all these people in this East Lake neighborhood of Atlanta,

Georgia, that just wouldn't shut up about him and continue to give little bits of money to have 55 or $600 so that when Tim was getting his surgeries, you know, this isn't something that's raised $10 million and affecting people all over the world. But if we're going to make a difference where we are, this is Tim making a difference where he is, and all of these people making a small difference where Kim is, and little itty-bitty random acts of kindness. And if you look at the smile on Aaron's face and Casey's face when talking

about this, you can see how restorative it is to your very souls. Amen. It really is. sort of it is to your very sauce. Amen, it really is. It's just astonishing. You know, Casey said it's easy to put a comment on Facebook. I was more shocked by the number of people who were then willing to put their own dollars behind it. That was what was truly astonishing to me. I mean, some people sent $150, some people spent 10.

To provide your own hard earned dollar in this day and age for somebody that you only sort of know that you like and all, but don't really know their situation. I it's just it really really affirmed my faith in humanity to a degree. And I just love it love the neighborhood even more for it. Well, I think it speaks volumes about the kindness in your heart to do that for Dallas Cowboys fan. If I have time to share the Cowboys played the Falcons in Atlanta last season and of course Tim went and by some miracle, the Falcons won.

Um, and so I was looking for him that Monday, man, I was looking for him. And, uh, I saw the truck up at the street in the neighbor's house and I wasn't planning to get a package. So I went up there and there's some other dude. I'm like, where's Tim? He said, oh, you didn't show up today. And I said, oh, come on. He said, he's probably worried about getting ripped over that Falcons Cowboys game.

I was like, dang it. I didn't get him. So anyway, you feel free to cut it. Hey, Alex, speaking of Cowboys fans, do we have any anywhere around? Yeah. I think we're ready for surprise number one. Oh. We'll be right back.

I'm Soledad O'Brien, and on my podcast, Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to the 1960s. Mary Pinchot-Meyer was a painter who lived in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Every day, she took a daily walk along the towpath near the E&O Canal. So when she was killed in a wealthy neighborhood... She had been shot twice in the head

and in the back behind the heart. The police arrived in a heartbeat. Within 40 minutes, a man named Raymond Crump Jr. was arrested. He was found nearby, soaking wet, and he was black. Only one woman dared defend him, civil rights lawyer Dovey Roundtree. Join me as we unravel this story with a crazy twist, because what most people didn't know is that Mary was connected to a very powerful man. I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor provoke aggression.

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the Toe-Path with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, we've been talking about you, dude. It's now your time to join. You gotta turn on your camera, though. My hand. Yo! What's up? you know, you're not going to turn on your camera though. My this thing. Yeah, I'm I'm I'm I'm in the cowboy room. You

know, there you are. cowboy room. Hey, hey, Tim, I gotta ask you a question. Um you took a job at UPS to make a living. Um yes, yes, yes. But whatever it is inside of you that makes you do the job the way you do that inspires people along your route to care enough

about you and to talk about you the way they do. I'm sure you like the money, but I cannot imagine that that money is anywhere close to what you feel when you hear people talk about how much they appreciate you. When you hear what you've just got through here and what's going through your ears. Yeah. Well, you know, my whole route, I love each and every one of them. And it's just like I got a friendship with everybody. And it's just different. You know, we talk about sports, talk about life, talk about kids. And it's very emotional, you know,

to hear everything that was said. And I was overwhelmed when Aaron came to me and told me what he did and, ooh, you know, I had to sit down for a minute. And I was like, oh, oh. But you know, I was raised to treat people in a nice kind way and smile. You know, I wake up with a smile on my face. I don't care what's going on in my life.

I got a smile on my face and I want my customers to know that I appreciate y'all and they make my day. So I thought this surgery was supposed to happen probably like two years ago. But I miss my customers, I love my customers. They make my day, but I knew they wanted to serve the more than I did. But I said, I knew I got to get it, but I just say I got to do it because I was just here when I don't miss.

I knew I had to do it, but it was just emotional. And like I said, trying to leave my customers and I told my supervisor I said when you do find somebody to run my route Make sure they care because all my customers they spoil and I love to spoil them Jim Jim we we talk about on the show all the time We talk about on the show all the time about making a difference where you are, and you don't have to be rich, and you don't have to be part of some big organization. To as a member of the army of normal folks, just normal folks, see areas of need and employ

your abilities and your passion. And your abilities and passion are simply the, to shed a little sunlight and a little happiness everywhere you go. And there is a need you see are just the people along your route. And you're a living example of what little random acts of kindness can do to inspire people's hearts. And I just want you to know, I'm inspired by you, dude. Just the, just, just being able to do what you can do where you are, changes the world. And I have a list here of thousands of people who, or hundreds of people along your list whose world you changed every day by

simple act of kindness and I think crying right now. Sorry about it. What did you say? He's been crying on the screen too. Yeah. Well, I mean, AC and Aaron are are are just living proof of that. Tim, how long have you worked for UPS? Going on 11 years. Wow. Well, I want to tell you one more surprise is UPS has a guy that's got like 1.7 million followers on something, right?

Alex on what? Instagram or tick tock or whatever it is. Both of those. Yeah. Yeah. And he has a route down in the Southwest in Texas somewhere. And he's been a guest on the show. He's been all over the world on social media. He's been interviewed by everybody and he's called the Dancing UPS Man. Tim, have you ever heard of this guy? Nearly. Yeah, his name's Russell Butler. I love the dude. He hung out with me one day in Memphis and told his story and we did in front of a live audience and he lit the place up and he can do ice ice baby and spin around like nobody's business.

And, um, there seems to be this recurring theme we keep tripping across, which is some of these UPS folks are just great guys. And Tim, while you inspired the people along your route with your random acts of kindness, and then they inspired you with their random acts of kindness, and then they inspired you with their random acts of kindness, this guy wants his people to

smile too. And so while he's on his route bouncing around, he'll just bust a move for everybody. And I love him. And his name's Russell Butler. And so Aaron and Casey, in honor of your random acts of kindness for Tim and in honor of Tim's random acts of kindness for the people on his route, we have the very own Russell Butler dancing UPS man to give you guys a ho and hello. Alex, where's Russell?

What up, dude? My man. How you doing Russell? I'm doing great. Bill. How you doing? How do you feel when you find out there's other UPS guys sharing sunshine out there? Hey Tim, man.

I just, I just heard your whole your whole story dude I absolutely love it man my brother and Brown keep doing the thing man. What can Brown do for you? That's right that's right man I tell you my my heart goes out to you bro like my knees there's days my knees don't want to function I can't imagine having hips replaced knees I mean, that's you're doing the thing dude. I you know again. I'm I'm proud to be your brother in Brown Yes, sir Yes, sir Saying Casey. Have you uh, have you seen Russell's moves? I'm not before

Well, I'm hoping to yeah I'm hoping to. Yeah. All right. Dude's sick and you would not have any idea if his knees are best up. Trust me. He can spin and twirl. My dance moves are dangerous because I go about two 60. So when I go right and then I come back left, some of me is still right.

And then when I bust back right, that that side swipe might hurt somebody. So I got to be really careful. But that cat is lean and clean. And Tim, with your new hip, we got to get Russell to start teaching you some moves so you can watch that on your route. When I get these knees, it's on. Hey, Russell, I got a question. Wow. when I get these, it's on. Alright. Hey, Russell, I got a question. What football are you a Cowboys guy being down there?

What are you? I was just about to say shout out to them Cowboys. How about them boys? That's right. Aaron, you're getting outnumbered here. I know. Let me let me let me tell you something. We've got six people on this screen. We're looking at at Tim, a UPS guy in Atlanta. We're looking at at Russell, a UPS guy in Texas.

Aaron and Casey. Y'all, if you don't believe in the power of an army of normal folks, just look at the grins on this screen today. All from people who deliver packages for a living and decide to make smiles along the way just to brighten people's day. And then human beings touched by that, who then want to do little random acts of kindness to give back.

If that is not the power of what we try to talk about every week, I don't know what is. And all four of you simply make my week. Hey and Bill and Alex thank you all for doing this. Aaron, Casey, thank you all. Seriously that's pretty special deal what y I'll did for Tim. It's pretty amazing. It was so any anything you do to get Tim back on the route.

I said, I love each and every one. Y'all love that. Appreciate it is you're going to feed them tonight too. In fact, Alex, Alex, you got anything to say about all this? You put it all together. Yeah. The only thing I failed at is I tried asking Tim before the interview. Hey, what's your favorite song? Because like, you know, we often have like entrance music for guests, and he wouldn't give me his favorite song.

He couldn't do this. I wanted to surprise you, Tim, but Ruffle dancing your favorite song but not allow me to do so so I don't know if you got one on the song you could think about well no sorry about these boots on the ground with the fans I personally think if it's all right just go with ice ice baby and we can intro it with some with some video of that cat doing his stuff and I'm telling be a ice ice baby and we can intro it with some with some video of that cat doing his stuff and I'm telling you

you will all freak out the things that move on him. He moves things. I don't even have things I don't even know it's crazy. I got Tim's song. Would you be game to dance or Russell Yeah, I'm ready dude. Just give me just give me the goat. Alright right. Let me pull it up here. Oh my God. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I got my boots on the ground.

Yeah. Oh my God. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I got my boots on the ground. Where the fans at? Where the fans at? This dude does this on his route, y'all. That's awesome. Yeah.

I've never heard of. That's awesome. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. I've never heard of. That's awesome. Yeah. That's tremendous. Yeah. So, so Tim time to step up your game over there in Atlanta. I'm Tony. Hey, it's coming. It's coming. As, as Aaron, thank you so much for thinking enough about Tim to do what you did. It feels like it inspired a neighborhood to give back. Casey, thanks so much for being a part of it. Let us know. Tim, just know those little random acts of kindness and those smiles. They inspire the neighborhood, they've inspired us,

and now there's going to be thousands and thousands of people that see and hear this story that will be inspired by you. And maybe hopefully they hear this driving down the street or on their morning walk and today they just give somebody they don't know an extra smile because of what today, they just give somebody they don't know an extra smile because of what you've done. And if we had a million people doing that today, I just feel like it may break down some of those walls that continue to divide us. A simple smile, a simple hello. Russell, a simple dance move.

You guys are inspiring. You're a member of the Army of Normal Folks. Your random acts of kindness, are no smaller feat than some billionaire giving away millions of dollars to some big philanthropy. It all counts, it all matters that we do what we can where we are and if we stand together and join the Army of Normal Folks, we can change our culture and it's all walks of life and you guys are the absolute illustration of what that looks like and I salute all of you and I thank all of you for what you do and for joining us today. Thanks, Kai. Thank you, Bill. Thank you.

I'm Soledad O'Brien and on my new True Crime podcast, Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to 1964, to the cold case of artist Mary Pinchomire. She had been shot twice in the head and in the back. It turns out Mary was connected to a very powerful man. I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor provoke aggression. John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the Toe Path with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts.