Social media is so oversaturated with negative stories of war, natural disasters, and atrocities that going online can sometimes be almost depressing.
That’s why it definitely comes as a whiff of fresh air when a story of upliftment and compassion hits our feed.
Delaney Edwards Alwosaibi, a store clerk in Louisiana, went on Facebook to heap praises for her co-worker Jordan Taylor for his actions when her autistic brother visited the store they were working at. The story and the accompanying video has now gone viral.
Both Delaney and Taylor are employees at Rouse’s Markets in Baton Rouge. Taylor was busily stocking shelves when Delaney’s brother Jack (also known as Ziggy) and their father walked into the store.
Outside environments are always a challenge for someone with autism. A grocery store, where it’s often bustling and busy, is certainly not an ideal place for an autistic person to visit.
However, for some reason, Ziggy took an interest in stocking the store’s shelves and the incredible empathy that Taylor showed definitely left its mark with Delaney. Taylor actually lets Ziggy do the stocking and worked for the next thirty minutes hand-in-hand to complete the task efficiently.
Part of Delaney’s post went: “Talk about a stand up young man!!!! My dad took Ziggy to Rouse’s yesterday and apparently he was interested in stocking the shelves. We all know autism makes going out difficult, and sometimes grocery stores can be a challenge.
“This young man took the time to slow down and allow Jack Ryan to help for over 30 minutes, guiding him as he finished his task.”
Delaney’s father shot a video of Taylor and Ziggy working together and it was impressive that they managed to work seamlessly together.
“He could have ignored him. He could have made an excuse and said he couldn’t allow him to help. Instead, he let him have his moment and in turn gave my family a moment we will never forget,” Delaney added.
The kindness was going to be repaid in spades because Delaney launched a GoFundMe campaign for Taylor, who mentioned that he wanted to go to school. To date, the campaign has managed to generate $25,000.
In the campaign’s description, Delaney wrote: “Jordan told me he loves math and would like to possibly be an educator someday. All I know is, whatever he decides to do he will excel! Thank you to Jordan for what you did for our Ziggy, we will never forget!”