mpho (deane) phalane

well...

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

I own a small bakery. Business has been slow. Rent is up. I was thinking about closing.

Last Friday, a teenager came in. He looked nervous. He counted out change for a cookie. He was short 50 cents.

"It's okay," I said. "Take it."

He ate it at a table, looking at his math homework. He looked stuck.

I used to be a math tutor.

I walked over. "Quadratic equations?"

He nodded. "I don't get it."

I sat down and helped him for 20 minutes. He got it. He left smiling.

The next day, he came back with two friends. They bought cookies.

The day after that, five kids came.

Apparently, he told the school, "The lady at the bakery helps with homework."

Now, my bakery is the after-school hang-out spot. It's loud. It's messy. There are backpacks everywhere.

Yesterday, I found a note in the tip jar. It was wrapped around a $20 bill.

"Thanks for helping my son pass math. A Mom."

I'm not closing the bakery.

I think I finally found my purpose.

It's not cookies. It's community.

[Danny @DjokovicFan_]

Novak Djokovic: “My wife is my rock. She’s the only serious relationship I’ve ever had. We have grown together and have an amazing base and foundation. I’m still able to play at a high level because of her support. She’s the best partner in every way.”

https://t.co/sOQ4ckcAwy

[Dawn @DawnPatrolskip]

@busiwe_bubu Uyalazi ibhadi, well done our online detectives.

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

@thandiswamazwai Zoe modiga
Meshell Ndengencello
Muneyi

It’s fine everyone else can be booked for the next one.

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

@__NadiaN 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾 that’s what I’m talking about!

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

I’ve been a mechanic for 30 years. I’ve seen it all. But last Friday, a woman pulled in driving a beat-up 2005 Honda Odyssey. It sounded like a bag of marbles in a blender. She had three kids in the back, all under the age of six. The car was packed with bags. Not grocery bags—suitcases.

"It's making a noise," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I just need it to get to my sister's in Denver. That's 400 miles." I popped the hood. It wasn't good. Alternator was shot, serpentine belt was hanging by a thread, and the water pump was leaking. Parts and labor? Minimum $800.

I walked back to the waiting room. She was counting change out of a Ziploc bag to buy the kids a soda from the vending machine. She looked terrified. "Ma'am," I said. She jumped. "Is it bad? I have... I have $60."

I looked at her. I looked at the kids. I saw the bruise on her arm she was trying to hide with a long sleeve. I knew that look. She wasn't just visiting her sister. She was escaping. If I told her the truth, she’d be stranded here.

I took a deep breath. "Well," I said, wiping my greasy hands on a rag. "It's a simple fix. Loose wire. And... uh... there was a recall on these belts. Manufacturer pays for it. You're actually lucky you came in."

Her shoulders dropped about five inches. "Really?" "Yep. 'Standard Warranty Policy.' Takes about two hours. Why don't you take the kids to the diner next door? On me. We have a... coupon."

I spent the next three hours replacing the alternator, the belt, and the pump. I filled the gas tank. I put new wipers on. I paid for the parts out of my own retirement jar.

When she came back, I handed her the keys and a receipt that said $0.00. "You're good to go," I said. She looked at the receipt, then at me. She knew. You don't get a full tank of gas from a loose wire. She grabbed my hand, squeezing it hard. She didn't say thank you. She just whispered, "You just saved my life."

I watched that van limp onto the highway, running smoother than it had in years. My boss walked up behind me. "You didn't charge her, did you? That's coming out of your paycheck, Mike." "Take it," I said, lighting a cigarette. "Best money I ever spent."

Some repairs aren't about cars. They're about giving someone the mileage they need to start over.

Anonymous

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

"My name's Claudette. I'm 71. I drive the number 9 school bus, same route for sixteen years. Pick up kids at 7 a.m., drop them at school, repeat at 3 p.m. Most days it's just noise, backpacks, and asking kids to sit down forty times.

But I see patterns.
Like the boy in seat 14 who started getting on with wet hair every morning. Then soaking wet clothes. Then barefoot one day in October.
I pulled over. "Sweetie, where are your shoes?"
He looked down, embarrassed. "Water got shut off at home. Can't shower. My shoes got moldy."
Nine years old. Walking to the bus stop barefoot because his single dad lost his job and couldn't pay the water bill.

I drove to Walmart after my route. Bought him shoes. Size 3. Left them on his seat the next morning with a note, "Found these on the bus. Must be yours."
He wore them every day after that.

But then I noticed others. Girl wearing the same stained shirt three days straight. Boy who never brought lunch, stomach growling so loud I could hear it from the driver's seat. Kids who smelled unwashed, kids with holes in their backpacks.

So I started keeping things on the bus. A plastic bin under my seat. Clean socks. Granola bars. Soap. Deodorant. Hair ties. School supplies. I'd leave items on seats like I "found" them. Kids would take them quietly, never asking questions.

Parents started noticing. One mom stopped me. "My daughter came home with new crayons. She said you found them on the bus."
I nodded. "Lost and found."

She cried. "We can't afford school supplies right now. Thank you for not making her feel poor."
Word spread somehow. Other parents started leaving things. Backpacks. Jackets. Lunch boxes. "For the bus lost and found," they'd say. I'd distribute them to kids who needed them.

Then something bigger happened. The boy with the shoes, his name's Tyler, his dad got hired at a factory. First paycheck, he brought me $40. "For the lost and found," he said. "So other kids can find things too."
Now there's a whole system. A "bus pantry" at the school. Supplied by families who can, used by families who can't. No applications. No proof of need. Kids just take what they need from the bin, like finding lost items.

Other bus drivers started doing it. Twelve drivers in the district now. Feeding kids. Clothing kids. Giving them dignity disguised as coincidence.

I'm 71. I drive a yellow bus full of loud children.

But I learned this, poverty rides the school bus every single day. It sits in seat 14, seat 22, seat 7. And most people never see it because hungry kids get really good at hiding.

So pay attention. On buses, in classrooms, at pickup lines. Some child is barefoot. Some child is hungry. Some child needs someone to "find" exactly what they're missing.
Stock a bin. Leave supplies. Make poverty look like luck.
Because no child should feel ashamed for needing shoes."
.
Let this story reach more hearts....
.
Credit - unknown

[KABUGO @Kabugo_]

You think you’re untouchable until life sneezes in your direction. A sickness. A loss. A job gone. And suddenly, the same ground you mocked becomes home. No one is above life.

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

@BalogunAbass12 Since 2003 🤞🏾

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

@Arnold_Sibanda1 @PhaksPhothinja @sabelotrev But they don’t…

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

@thandiswamazwai 🤣🤣🤣👌🏾

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

Well put! 🫵🏾

[The Observist @theeobservist]

@PresidencyZA @CyrilRamaphosa Imagine skipping the meeting, then waking up later to announce you didn’t like how the meeting you skipped went. Peak foreign policy strategy.

[The Brand KritiK @future1_the]

@PresidencyZA @CyrilRamaphosa

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

💯

[Motshidisi E. Mohono @MotshidisiM]

There is no point in having a personal banker at FNB. None.

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

Troll!!!! 😭😭😭

[Hlovo @hlovo_]

😭😭😭😭😭

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

In this house… 😭😭😭10 yr old “Daddy, Masedi (8 yr old) kicked me in vagina - please also kick her in the vagina for what she did to me” 🤣🤣🤣

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

This makes a lot of sense!

[🫀BGK the great @frombretoyou]

A cheat code to adulting is to always have something to look forward to, no matter how small or big

[Mashudu Modau @Mashstartup]

Start the week with absolutely faith that you can recover, you can recommit and all the rewards are still possible 💪🏿

[mpho (deane) phalane @msdeane]

Yo Helen Zille 🫠