The Auburn Store

When I got to work on Monday, my friend Andrea grabbed me up and said, "You have GOT to see this movie of Drew we took yesterday, it's hilarious!!" He'd been acting up in the car or something, and they told him if he didn't straighten up, they were going to take him to the Auburn store. So she pulls out her Blackberry and shows me a movie of her youngest son having a HISSY FIT in front of the Auburn store at the Galleria. Here's the movie:

So after laughing HARD for quite a while, Helen and I told her she needed to post it on YouTube. She said ok, but didn't have an account and asked if I'd post it and send her the link. Well, DUH! So I posted, linked to my FB and sent a copy to a few friends from work, plus the Spouser. I told her I had a feeling it'd go viral, was she okay with that? She said yes, but thought I was out of my ever-lovin' mind!

The next day, there were close to 5k hits and over 80 comments. It was on the homepage of al.com and all over Facebook. I'd already begun receiving messages in my YouTube inbox wanting permission to air the clip and interviews with the parents from ocal radio stations, national syndicates, then today . . . ESPN. They were doing a live interview with Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram today on SportsCenter and wanted to show him the video and get a few quotes on fan loyalty. Y'all, I bout died!

Now keep in mind, for all of these messages, I just gave them Wade's cell number. Wade is Andrea's husband, and the cameraman for this clip. Since she's out of town this week for work, he's handled all of this by himself - fielding media inquiries, copyright questions, and who knows what all else. I can't imagine. Plus, sweet Drew who's in the video, has no idea what all's going on. After all, he's only 4 and now everybody knows him!

So it looks like they're going to be on WJOX tomorrow to set the record straight. There were several comments on the YouTube post as well as al.com that were inappropriate, downright MEAN, directed at them personally. Andrea and I are both pretty thick-skinned when it comes to talking smack about football rivalries, but this was just hateful. I blocked all comments on YouTube, and realized that the anonymity afforded by the world wide web can really let the crazies out.

HOWEVER, how stinkin' cool is that? I know a local celebrity and helped her and her family get their 15 minutes of fame, which is pretty neat! Right now, it's at over 92,000 hits on YouTube, and still counting . . . let's see how far this roller coaster will take us!