It all started simply, with a new hashtag, as things do.
While cleaning out his car before an upcoming transmission repair, Jason in New Orleans found a post office pen under a floor mat. The following day he handed it to his postal carrier. His casual media post about it ended with #giveback.
Soon others in distant states discovered post office pens in their garages or kitchen junk drawers. They deposited them in dozens of blue mailboxes. Trending, trending, trending . . . #giveback. Not many days later, postboxes nationwide were filling up with pens. The US Postal Service admitted they had never dealt with such a windfall. A viral giveback revolution had begun.
Several pastors jumped on the bandwagon with “Thou shalt not steal.” This led to travelers returning towels to hotel chains. In a major way. Hotels, from Bangkok to Berlin, had so many stacks of terrycloth towels in laundry rooms that 24 hours in a day were not sufficient to keep up.
As socials filled with #giveback, airlines received hundreds, then thousands, of stolen forks and spoons. Mountains of them, often accompanied by notes of apology penned in Turkish or French or Korean.
After pop singers sang about giving back, the #giveback movement was investigated by international news outlets, and even some heads of state took notice.
Still unaware he was a global influencer, Jason discovered a dusty library book under his bed. He asked a buddy to give him a lift to the library. Both told friends and coworkers about returning the book. Soon students throughout New Orleans were giving back long-overdue books. As they texted their friends, siblings, and parents about it, #giveback trended anew. University libraries around the globe got buried in returned books. Day after day.
As for Jason, he just went about his routine, waiting on the call that his car was fixed.
While cleaning out his car before an upcoming transmission repair, Jason in New Orleans found a post office pen under a floor mat. The following day he handed it to his postal carrier. His casual media post about it ended with #giveback.
Soon others in distant states discovered post office pens in their garages or kitchen junk drawers. They deposited them in dozens of blue mailboxes. Trending, trending, trending . . . #giveback. Not many days later, postboxes nationwide were filling up with pens. The US Postal Service admitted they had never dealt with such a windfall. A viral giveback revolution had begun.
Several pastors jumped on the bandwagon with “Thou shalt not steal.” This led to travelers returning towels to hotel chains. In a major way. Hotels, from Bangkok to Berlin, had so many stacks of terrycloth towels in laundry rooms that 24 hours in a day were not sufficient to keep up.
As socials filled with #giveback, airlines received hundreds, then thousands, of stolen forks and spoons. Mountains of them, often accompanied by notes of apology penned in Turkish or French or Korean.
After pop singers sang about giving back, the #giveback movement was investigated by international news outlets, and even some heads of state took notice.
Still unaware he was a global influencer, Jason discovered a dusty library book under his bed. He asked a buddy to give him a lift to the library. Both told friends and coworkers about returning the book. Soon students throughout New Orleans were giving back long-overdue books. As they texted their friends, siblings, and parents about it, #giveback trended anew. University libraries around the globe got buried in returned books. Day after day.
As for Jason, he just went about his routine, waiting on the call that his car was fixed.
