A viral prank creates a happy twist

I bought a Red Baron pizza this morning.

Why am I telling you this?

First, it’s a good product. Tasty. Portion controlled.

Second, to support the company who named Walt Zerod the employee of the month.

So what?, you may be thinking. Here is the story:

It starts with Walt,  a hard-working father of four stocking Red Baron products at a Meijer grocery store in White Lake, Michigan, in August.

He was approached by a young man, with video rolling, who asked what time it was.

When Walt pulled out his cellphone, the young turd man played a sound effect resembling an Apple Pay transaction.

He then pretended that he had just electronically stolen $10 from Walt's account.

The prankster laughed and told him he'd taken his money.

Walt was upset and explained that he was already working an hour past his scheduled departure time, he had four children at home, he couldn't afford his mortgage comfortably, and he had to get up at 5 a.m. to visit another 10 stores.

He was furious but — thankfully — restrained himself from punching the dickhead prankster, but he did shout, “My life is hard enough as it is. I don't need this crap."

Walt accused the prankster of being a leech, exploiting people for social media attention and making money from their humiliation. He was spot on.

All the prankster could mumble was something along the lines of it was a joke.

As it turned out, the joke was on the prankster, because when the video went viral, it brought a tsunami of support for Walt.

As that happened, people  feared Walt’s understandable angry reaction might cost him his job. 

To the contrary, Red Baron posted what you read at the top of this column.

His company, along with almost everyone else, was on his side.

Among the multitude was Luke Oakenshield, who had never met Walt, and who started a GoFundMe campaign to help him.

His reasoning was simple: a working father shouldn't have to worry about losing his livelihood because somebody wanted to make a viral video at his expense.

The contributions poured in. 

The fundraiser has passed $700,000, and Walt has expressed deep gratitude for everyone’s help, but asked for privacy.

His righteous anger touched Americans’ hearts, and there is another twist to the story.

Oakenshield was described as a homeless veteran, so someone started a Go Fund Me for him. 

The donations came pouring in. A chain of charity.

Everyday Americans rose to support other everyday Americans, and an American company stood behind one of its workers who was being harassed.

Which is why I bought a Red Baron pizza this morning.