Ok it took, what, all of a day (two days if you are based in Europe) for Charles Ramsey to become a household name. The newly minted Internet legend who helped kidnapping victim Amanda Berry make the 911 call heard 'round the world has put a smiling face on a story of unspeakable horrors with his funny TV interviews. (See them all on the NEW Charles Ramsey Facebook appreciation page.)
Although three women and a child were rescued in Cleveland this week, the stories of their kidnappings are really just the tip of the iceberg for Berry and her fellow captives, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
But... I dare say that's what has made Charles Ramsey and his ebullience during TV interviews go viral. He's a hero with a great attitude and a hearty sense of humor.
And this is what we should learn from it - BE YOURSELF AND BE A HERO - even if the world isn't looking.
And yes, no matter what people want to say, Ramsey is a hero. He's a guy who saw something off and decided not to turn the other way but to put himself out there and help Amanda Berry.
By heading next door with another neighbor (Angel Cordero, who has come forward to try to claim his own bit of the spotlight), by offering her a phone to call 911 and staying there until police came, he changed the course of these three women's lives -- for the better.
He also unwittingly made himself a public figure, a man who is being both celebrated and (sadly) mocked today, but he hasn't backed down. From his pledge to turn any reward for finding the missing women over to the women themselves to his insistence that he is NOT a hero, Ramsey is a man who deserves all the applause he's getting today.
And I have decided that this kind of hero deserves more - so I am making a store for Charles Ramsey - with #deadgiveaway merchandise to get him money he deserves.
And the more canny amongst you will also see this as a #greatmarketing exercise - which it is in part.
But it is more than that - it is to hopefully keep alive his memory - as just take a look at some of the quotes that made us grin along with him:
From his now famous interview with local station WEWSTV, which has even been auto-tuned - and the Charles Ramsey song is now part of the T-shirt rannge #deadgiveway
1. On recognizing Amanda Berry's name:
When she told me, it didn't register ... Until I got to calling 911, and then I'm like, I'm calling 911 for Amanda Berry? I thought this girl was dead!
2. On alleged suspect Ariel Castro:
My neighbor ... you got some big testicles to pull this off, bro.
3. On seeing Amanda:
Bro, I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway.
4. Again on seeing Amanda:
Either she's homeless or she got problems. That's the only reason why she runnin’ to a black man.
From Ramsey's interview with Anderson Cooper 360:
5. On the 911 operators:
We're both calling 911. Now she gets through and I get through. She deal with a moron, me, too.
6. On the cops responding:
They got there so fast because I said moron. Because I said hey, Amanda Berry is right in front of me right now. Here's what she got on and I told him white tank top, blue sweatpants, nice tennis shoes, nice ponytail. What else? Oh, right. She's panicking, idiot. Put yourself in her shoes. Like I said, Amanda Berry, that don't ring no damn bells, you being a cop and all?
7. On how the ordeal has affected him:
See, that's why now I'm having trouble sleeping. See, up until yesterday, the only thing that kept me from losing sleep was the lack of money. See what I'm saying? So now that that's going on, and I could have done this last year, not this hero stuff, just do the right thing.
8. On being a hero:
Bro, I'm a Christian, an American, and just like you. We bleed same blood, put our pants on the same way. It's just that you got to put that -- being a coward, and I don't want to get in nobody's business. You got to put that away for a minute.
9. On why he ran to help:
You have to have cojones, bro ... That's all what it's about. It's about cojones on this planet.
10. On the reward:
I tell you what you do, give it to them. Because if folks been following this case since last night, you been following me since last night, you know I got a job anyway. Just went picked it up, paycheck.
How can you not love a guy like that? He's got heart, grit, and a sense of humor!
And he even turns down the money from the reward. But he can't turn down our money - as it's just for him - Charles Ramsey.
Buy a Tshirt - keep the dream #deadgiveaway alive - be a hero - be yourself - and have fun doing it!!!
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