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Stranger's Video Helps Grandma Selling Baked Goods Go Viral
Elderly Woman Sells Homemade Pies and Cakes
Inez has been setting up shop outside her local grocery store since November 2018, frequently rising at midnight to start baking. Her specialties include pecan pie, sweet potato pie, pineapple pound cake, and red velvet cake with cream cheese icing.
Recently, Lakelander resident, Mannie (who posts on TikTok as @mannierants), came across Inez selling her cakes in the blistering Florida heat.
In a now-viral video, Mannie zooms in on her small business, consisting of a tray table and footstool draped in white tablecloths and covered in baked goods.
"I love sweet potato pie. I would like to get two," the TikToker tells her.
Mannie starts counting out the money...and doesn't stop...completely emptying his wallet as Inez cries with gratitude.
"I don't know what your challenge is. I wish I had more, I wish I had more. I want this to be bigger for you. I want more people to come and support you, I really do."
- Mannie told Inez
However, Mannie didn't just wish it; the TikToker did something about it, putting a call out on social media.
"I don't know her, neither her situation," the text overlay reads. "But my heart says she needs our support. If you're able to please stop by if you're in Lakeland Fl. It will be greatly appreciated."
Mannie tells Fox13 News that he wasn't looking for fame. He just wanted to help a grandma out and support local.
“That’s the main reason why I made it. Not to go viral for social media purposes. I just wanted local people to support each other because that’s the best rewarding experience."
A TikTok Video Goes Viral
73-year-old Inez Hudson sets up shop outside a local Lakeland grocery store to raise money so she can support herself.
Fox13 News
It worked! Mannie's post took off, garnering more than 800,000 views and nearly 6,000 comments.
"That cry broke my heart. I can't stand to see our elderly forced to worry how to make ends instead of enjoying their latter years😢🙏❤❤"
"We’re coming GRANNY🤗🤗🤗🤗💖💖💖💖🖤🖤"
"Im in Orlando! Momma we will be there soon ❤️"
"She's so grateful 🙏 I'm from tampa im coming 2 support."
People from all over the area, and even beyond, started making the trip to Super Choice Foods to buy Inez's baked goods. And they keep on coming.
Her long-time friends are beyond thrilled for her as they know how tough it's been financially.
"I shared with her, God said, ‘stop worrying.' Trust Him and he's going to make things go to where you're not going to have to stress," said one friend, Jamie Overstreet. "Gradually, more people are coming, and to hear it's going viral, ah! That's so exciting!"
Now the only thing Inez has to worry about is selling out.
While the elderly woman is excited about the uptick in customers, she does admit her newfound fame makes her a bit nervous. Overall, however, she's ecstatic that all of her hard work is paying off.
"It makes me feel happy because I've been doing this for so long and it's something I've always wanted to do."
- Inez Hudson
Supporting Local Business
Inez joins a growing number of seniors who can no longer afford to live off their fixed incomes. According to the Pew Research Center, the older workforce has nearly quadrupled in size since the mid-1980s, equating to roughly 11 million people.
As inflation continues to hammer the country and the cost of housing skyrockets, more and more people who should be enjoying their retirement are forced to continue working.
It's also why supporting local businesses and the "little guy" is so important. Buying local ensures that our money goes to the people who need it most, rather than to huge corporations that value profits over people.
When we choose to buy from small, independent sellers we are directly contributing to the livelihoods of our neighbors and friends. So next time you're deciding where to spend your money, consider businesses like Inez's.
Your support could be the difference between struggle and success.
You'll Find Happiness When You Stop Trying to Find Yourself
You find yourself curious yet defiant towards this idea: that our quest to "find ourselves" is what's actually causing us to be unhappy. How can trying to figure out who we are be a cause for discontent? A lot of us have felt or been led to believe that we need to define ourselves, to figure out who we are and what we want, in order to discover what makes us happy.
But what if the truth is much simpler than that?
You'll Find Happiness When You Stop Trying to Find Yourself
We are living in an age where the definition of success is again changing. Being successful once meant getting rich, or bagging that coveted position in the corporate ladder. It still does for many. But the millennial generation is more likely to judge success by their ability to turn their passion into a source of income, by how many stamps they have collected on their passport, or by how many followers they have accrued on Twitter or Instagram.
So what is success, really? I will not answer that for you, because who decides which definition is the right one? Your idea of success could be entirely different from mine. So why should one be better than the other? Why compare at all?
What if I told you the same logic can be applied to happiness? The things that make you happy might not do the same for me. But shouldn't it stand to reason then than finding ourselves will help us better understand what makes us happy?
To live is to change
Before I answer that question, I want you to ask yourself, do you still like playing hide and seek, like you did as a kid? Or do you prefer playing on your PS5 or going clubbing now? You might have loved chocolate cake a couple of months ago, but maybe cheesecake makes your mouth water today. You never were an animal person, but perhaps suddenly, you find yourself secretly enjoying watching dog or cat videos on YouTube.
By now, you have probably picked up on the common thread -- your preferences have changed. We are constantly changing. Different periods, life experiences, people and places will constantly mold us into something new. We are always evolving.
So what use is it to seek to "find" ourselves, when the moment we feel we know who we are or what makes us tick -- BOOM -- we have changed some more? You will never find a fixed answer to who you are, because the answer is never fixed. And because you will never really find a stable answer, the question will keep gnawing at you, leaving you feeling incomplete and discontent. You will feel like a failure, for not being competent enough to even answer the most basic question: 'Who am I'?
Sit back and enjoy the music
How do you feel when a song is stuck in your head and you just can't recall the lyrics or the singer? Annoyed maybe? Even very annoyed? It's a powerful analogy, isn't it?
The moment you realize and accept that there is no fixed answer to who you are, you will learn to love yourself as is -- to simply enjoy the song, without needing to name the singer. The moment you learn to let go is is the moment you will feel at peace, because you will no longer be 'chasing' anything. You will simply be.
You are your thoughts. So let your thoughts embrace the chaos of flux and the constant myriad of changes. Accept yourself in every moment. Define your terms for your personal success and happiness. But don't stop there. Keep redefining those terms.
And finally, you will realize that you're no longer chasing something that always seems just slightly out of reach, but instead walking alongside change as a happy life companion.