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Besides the senate testimony linked in this article, my favorite Mr. Rogers fact is this: He would help move freshman into CMU and Pitt dorms every year, becau

Besides the senate testimony linked in this article, my favorite Mr. Rogers fact is this: He would help move freshman into CMU and Pitt dorms every year, because he lived only a few miles away and he wanted to welcome them to his actual neighborhood. How cool would it have been to look up from figuring out where to put your bag of clothes to see Fred Rogers holding a box of your books...

overcast 9y ago
I would have died right there. He impacted the lives of so many children, that it was a guarantee many of them grew up watching him.
davidrupp 9y ago
Not quite as cool, but I got to meet David Newell ("Mr. McFeely") at an appearance when I was a student at the University of Florida; got his autograph for my Mister-Rogers-age baby sister. Dude was every bit as gracious as he and Mister Rogers appeared to be on television. They don't hardly make 'em any more.
- overcast 9y ago
  Speedy Delivery!
mcgrath_sh 9y ago
This story [1] from Anthony Breznican stuck with me after he shared it on twitter. I firmly believe that the actions Mister Rodgers took would come across as insincere and self-serving if it were basically any other “celebrity”. However, that was the power of Mister Rodgers. He could connect with anyone and made everyone feel like they genuinely mattered to him. I grew up in Pittsburgh and was in a Catholic Grade School when he died. We held a special memorial mass for him because of the impact he had on both our city and kids generally. I can’t think of anyone else that would be done for, not even Dan Rooney or Mario Lemieux. Mister Rodgers was one of a kind. [1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/23/mr-rogers-story-probably-make-you-cry/340111001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/23/mr...
- slededit 9y ago
  It takes a special kind of person to probe someones feelings when its obvious they are upset. Most people don't want to share the baggage - although the term awkward is more commonly used. But Mr. Rogers was all about feelings.
- kolpa 9y ago
  Sigh, a story chopped up over 29 tweets.
- sdrothrock 9y ago
  > I firmly believe that the actions Mister Rodgers took would come across as insincere and self-serving if it were basically any other “celebrity”. On the one hand, I think Fred Rogers was a wonderful human being. What I say next is not meant to detract from that in any way at all. I don't think Fred Rogers was special. Anyone can do what he did; the problem is that most people simply don't want to, I think. We've been taught that that kind of behavior is tiring, that we deserve "me" time and thoughts, that the public space is also "our" space. When I think about Fred Rogers, my mental image is that service is first, then celebrity came from that consistent service. Any modern day celebrity could slowly take on a Fred Rogers-like image if they chose to consistently and wholly devote themselves to kindness and service. In the beginning, it may seem insincere, but then as it continued consistently, I think that sincerity would be born from that consistency. Especially if they ceased other commercial activities or used those activities solely to plainly drive their service. Edit: I've been reading the Esquire article about him (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/ https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-...) and interestingly enough, there's a quote about this: "You would think it would be easy by now, being Mister Rogers; you would think that one morning he would wake up and think, Okay, all I have to do is be nice for my allotted half hour today, and then I'll just take the rest of the day off . . . But no, Mister Rogers is a stubborn man"
  - a3n 9y ago
    > I don't think Fred Rogers was special. Anyone can do what he did ... He's special because he stepped up and did it.
murph-almighty 9y ago
Recent CMU alum here and I probably would have lost my mind if Mr Rogers helped move me in. With that said, the freshman orientation experience involved pulling in volunteers across the school to help move people in. After going through it as a freshman, I got a chance to volunteer for the next two years of students. I remember one particular family had made an entire trip out of it by doing a multi-state bike-and-drive to get to Pittsburgh. While I get this isn't particularly unique to CMU, it really helped to know that there was a group of people who were excited to see me there. And it felt good to be the person doing the welcoming to the university.

overcast 9y ago

I would have died right there. He impacted the lives of so many children, that it was a guarantee many of them grew up watching him.

davidrupp 9y ago

Not quite as cool, but I got to meet David Newell ("Mr. McFeely") at an appearance when I was a student at the University of Florida; got his autograph for my Mister-Rogers-age baby sister. Dude was every bit as gracious as he and Mister Rogers appeared to be on television. They don't hardly make 'em any more.

overcast 9y ago
Speedy Delivery!

mcgrath_sh 9y ago

This story [1] from Anthony Breznican stuck with me after he shared it on twitter. I firmly believe that the actions Mister Rodgers took would come across as insincere and self-serving if it were basically any other “celebrity”. However, that was the power of Mister Rodgers. He could connect with anyone and made everyone feel like they genuinely mattered to him. I grew up in Pittsburgh and was in a Catholic Grade School when he died. We held a special memorial mass for him because of the impact he had on both our city and kids generally. I can’t think of anyone else that would be done for, not even Dan Rooney or Mario Lemieux. Mister Rodgers was one of a kind. [1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/23/mr-rogers-story-probably-make-you-cry/340111001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/23/mr...

slededit 9y ago
It takes a special kind of person to probe someones feelings when its obvious they are upset. Most people don't want to share the baggage - although the term awkward is more commonly used. But Mr. Rogers was all about feelings.
kolpa 9y ago
Sigh, a story chopped up over 29 tweets.
sdrothrock 9y ago
> I firmly believe that the actions Mister Rodgers took would come across as insincere and self-serving if it were basically any other “celebrity”. On the one hand, I think Fred Rogers was a wonderful human being. What I say next is not meant to detract from that in any way at all. I don't think Fred Rogers was special. Anyone can do what he did; the problem is that most people simply don't want to, I think. We've been taught that that kind of behavior is tiring, that we deserve "me" time and thoughts, that the public space is also "our" space. When I think about Fred Rogers, my mental image is that service is first, then celebrity came from that consistent service. Any modern day celebrity could slowly take on a Fred Rogers-like image if they chose to consistently and wholly devote themselves to kindness and service. In the beginning, it may seem insincere, but then as it continued consistently, I think that sincerity would be born from that consistency. Especially if they ceased other commercial activities or used those activities solely to plainly drive their service. Edit: I've been reading the Esquire article about him (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/ https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-...) and interestingly enough, there's a quote about this: "You would think it would be easy by now, being Mister Rogers; you would think that one morning he would wake up and think, Okay, all I have to do is be nice for my allotted half hour today, and then I'll just take the rest of the day off . . . But no, Mister Rogers is a stubborn man"
- a3n 9y ago
  > I don't think Fred Rogers was special. Anyone can do what he did ... He's special because he stepped up and did it.

murph-almighty 9y ago

Recent CMU alum here and I probably would have lost my mind if Mr Rogers helped move me in. With that said, the freshman orientation experience involved pulling in volunteers across the school to help move people in. After going through it as a freshman, I got a chance to volunteer for the next two years of students. I remember one particular family had made an entire trip out of it by doing a multi-state bike-and-drive to get to Pittsburgh. While I get this isn't particularly unique to CMU, it really helped to know that there was a group of people who were excited to see me there. And it felt good to be the person doing the welcoming to the university.