# Your feel-good story for the day **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110 "2025-04-16T17:37:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/181 "2026-03-27T18:33:36Z")
That’s similar to Rehan Staton. He’s a former sanitation worker who went to Harvard Law, and while a student created an awards program for the school’s support staff. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2026, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/182 "2026-04-05T23:01:07Z")
A statue to a rat named [Magawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magawa) was unveiled in Cambodia. Magawa was an award-winning landmine-detecting Southern giant pouched rat (thus the cute little gold medal) that worked in Cambodia. > From 2016 to 2021, Magawa cleared more than 22.5 hectares (56 acres) of land in Cambodia. In that time, he found 71 landmines and 38 instances of other unexploded ordnance.[ > He received the [PDSA Gold Medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDSA_Gold_Medal) on September 25, 2020, for his work, and was the first rat to do so.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magawa#cite_note-APOPOretirement-3)[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magawa#cite_note-NYTmedal-5) Magawa was the most successful mine-sniffing rat in APOPO’s history when he received his medal,[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magawa#cite_note-NYTmedal-5) and was described by the program’s manager in Cambodia as a “very exceptional rat” upon his retirement. > **[Magawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magawa#/media/File:Magawa_in_2020.jpg)** > > Magawa (November 2013 – January 2022) was a Southern giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei) that worked as a HeroRAT sniffing out landmines in Cambodia for the non-governmental organization APOPO (in English, Anti-Personnel Landmines Removal Product Development) which trains rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis. Magawa was the most successful landmine-sniffing rat in the organization's history, and received the PDSA Gold Medal in 2020. > Magawa was born in November 2013 at the APOPO headquar... EDIT: Yahoo article I googled [linked](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/cambodia-unveils-statue-honour-famous-011308001.html) because I couldn’t get Discourse to let me post the picture of the statue. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/183 "2026-04-06T00:59:18Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > EDIT: Yahoo article I googled [linked](https://ca.news.yahoo.com/cambodia-unveils-statue-honour-famous-011308001.html) because I couldn’t get Discourse to let me post the picture of the statue. [aside] Sometimes you can post a picture this way: right-click on the picture and choose the option “open image in new tab.” Then go to that tab and if the URL ends in “_.jpg_” or “_.png,_” copy the URL and paste it in the reply box. Depending on the format of the image, sometimes it will show up. When I do this, it works about half the time. I’m on my phone right now so I don’t know if it would work with this picture or not. I can’t demonstrate. [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/184 "2026-04-06T01:30:59Z")
Aww! What a precious little rat-man. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/185 "2026-04-06T03:06:49Z")
Thanks to **Karen\_Lingel** for finding this. Eight-year-old space lover’s plushie shoots for Moon onboard NASA rocket > **[Eight-year-old space lover’s plushie shoots for moon onboard Nasa rocket](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/02/nasa-artemis-ii-moon-rocket-mission)** > > Lucas Ye of California ‘really surprised and very happy’ as mascot designed by him to act as zero-gravity indicator ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/186 "2026-04-06T17:58:36Z")
I guess this “zero-gravity indicator” works on the Weather Rock principle: “If plushie is floating, you’re in zero g”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/187 "2026-04-07T02:39:15Z")
Exactly. Or they might just have [taken along a small dog…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NvBGb5lf78) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/188 "2026-04-12T14:37:09Z")
> **[At 3 Feet Tall, He Was Rejected And Bullied. Now He’s Living His Dream As A...](https://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/4112/At-3-Feet-Tall-He-Was-Rejected-And-Bullied-Now-He-s-Living-His-Dream-As-A-Doctor)** > > At just 25 years old and standing only 3 feet tall, Ganesh Baraiya has become a powerful symbol of perseverance. Possibly the world’s shortest doctor. He had to go to court to be allowed to attend medical school. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/189 "2026-04-12T15:52:11Z")
Good for him. And good for his father. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/190 "2026-04-17T13:44:34Z")
Gotta love the swagger! > **[3-year-old steals the show with viral walk-up song strut](https://www.aol.com/news/3-old-steals-show-viral-183705068.html)** > > A California toddler couldn't help but feel the music when his walk-up song came on during a Little League baseball game. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/191 "2026-04-17T21:10:46Z")
Dr. Jennifer Arnold had to do something similar. I’ve also heard of quadriplegic, blind, deaf, and other similarly disabled med school applicants having to prove that they are indeed physically capable of doing the work, both during and after med school. If you aren’t familiar with their story, she and her husband, who is also short-statured, had a reality show for many years, which followed their careers and also the adoption of their two children from overseas, both of whom had their own forms of dwarfism. Her one pregnancy turned out to be choriocarcinoma, which was successfully treated but eliminated any chances of having children of her own. She is 3 feet 2 inches tall, and was treated in the pediatric cancer clinic (!) because of her size. > **[Jennifer Arnold | Boston Children's Hospital](https://www.childrenshospital.org/providers/jennifer-arnold)** ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/192 "2026-06-09T19:23:19Z")
I’ve seen the picture, of course, but never heard the story behind it. > **[Guy On The Way To See His GF Takes A Random Photo That Becomes The Most...](https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/man-snaps-random-picture-way-140113682.html)** > > One image gave color to a whole generation. Over a billion people can recognise it in an instant. Redraw it from memory. Yet, it was only a few minutes in the making. An accidental image that would live on film forever. Read the full article to see... ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/193 "2026-06-09T19:31:53Z")
Whoa! You mean that was a real place? Not some made-up virtual reality that existed only in the mind of Bill Gates? It looks totally AI! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/194 "2026-06-09T19:33:21Z")
If you don’t want to follow that link, it’s about the guy who took this photo, which was the default wallpaper for Windows XP and is perhaps the most widely seen photograph ever. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/Bliss_%28Windows_XP%29.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/Bliss_%28Windows_XP%29.png) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/195 "2026-06-11T20:44:12Z")
Not quite the night out he expected… > **[Is there a pianist in the house? How audience members – and fellow musicians...](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/03/is-there-a-pianist-in-the-house-how-audience-members-and-fellow-musicians-have-saved-the-show)** > > A Sydney screening of La La Land with live orchestra was rescued by a brave (and skilled) amateur pianist. What happens when classical performers, or their instruments, suddenly collapse? Plus, Tavener’s mystic pantomime finally gets to the stage ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/196 "2026-06-11T22:32:10Z")
I walked over to the neighbor’s house to have a beer with him and talk trash about the president. At the end of his driveway I noticed a little shiny piece of metal. Got to the garage, grabbed a beer and “my” chair and joined him. I looked at his wife’s VW Bug and the right side running light is hanging out of the bumper like a defeated boxer’s eye. I asked him what happend. He didn’t know, but said, “I’ll fix it tomorrow!” which I know means “Never”. It was going to be taped or glued, I’m sure. I got up and looked at it. The light housing has 2 little prongs on one end, and a little square thing on the other end. Looks like it should have some kind of retaining clip there… I walked down to the end of the driveway, found that little piece of metal. One side has an “R” stamped on it. Seems legit… a few moments of fiddly-fuckin’ around, and SNAP! Fixed! We were both somewhat flabbergasted. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, but I felt like both! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/197 "2026-06-11T22:43:10Z")
Nice. It’s a sweet day when you can help a friend like that! j ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/198 "2026-06-11T23:06:19Z")
A couple months ago I went over for a beer and he had his lawn tractor in a trailer. Said he was taking it to the shop because it wouldn’t start. I tinkered with it, pulled the plug and cleaned it. Fired right up and been running since. He gave me the same Stink-Eye today as he did then! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/199 "2026-06-11T23:08:07Z")
Hah! j ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110/200 "2026-06-11T23:36:11Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I walked over to the neighbor’s house to have a beer with him and talk trash about the president. My cockles were warmed right here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-feel-good-story-for-the-day/1017110.md?page=11)