On April 11, we ran the story of Caine’s Arcade here on Good Feed Blog. Today, The New York Times follows suit.
The New York Times today tells the story of Caine Monroy, a 9-year-old boy who built an arcade in his fathers junkyard, and through the power of friendship, the internet, a video, and storytelling, something amazing happened:
A few days ago, few people had heard of Caine Monroy, who worked for hours last summer in the store making simple games out of discarded boxes from the junkyard. Now, eager children, television crews and curious supporters stop by almost incessantly, captivated by an 11-minute film featuring Caine that has been viewed more than five million times on the Internet in the last 10 days. His college fund has ballooned to more than $170,000, driven by donations to a Web site created by the filmmaker.
“It’s cool,” Caine said, standing amid his games, seeming both enchanted and nonplussed by his sudden fame. “I have more customers now.”
While there is a lot of talk in this story about the viral nature of videos, entrepreneurship, and instant fame, little is discussed of the very awesome relationship between father and son that is the connective thread throughout this story. Watch the video and see if you don’t agree.
I totally agree about how accepting his father is. There are enough dads in the world who would roll they eyes and call Caine’s idea a waste of time. Instead, he was embraced for this and the world sees him as the sort of kid who will someday grow up and change the world.
LOVE this story.