I don’t know about you, appreciated reader, but the world feels pretty freaking dark. And that’s not a sideways attempt to start a political or cultural discussion. It was just my reaction when I came across this story, and I honestly didn’t know how else to tee it for you.
Fortunately, it was resolved by the time I got a chance to hit “Schedule” or “Publish”. And that news truly lightened my mood. Here’s the whole tale, which definitely sticks the landing!
Mick Foley is the United Kingdom with AEW
for All In week, and did one of his one-man comedy/storytelling shows in Birmingham, England. As part of those, Foley does a “shirt off my back” charity auction, usually for the Cauliflower Alley Club’s work helping former pro wrestlers. Over the years, he says he’s raised tens of thousands of dollars that way. In Birmingham, he thought he raised at least another grand. But after posing with the “winning bidders”, they ran off with the prize without coughing up the quid.
The story came to us via Mick’s Instagram Story. That’s because it will disappear (from Mick’s account, anyway) in 24 hours, and he promised not to take the matter any further if the culprits returned the shirt or donate some of the promised £900. If not, Foley vowed to not only press charges, but also to make the culprits the main characters of the internet.
“I would like to address those two guys that chose to run. You know who you are. We know who you are. And we’re going to give you a couple of days to do the right thing. At the very least, you return the shirt. It would be really nice if you made a donation. I don’t expect 900 pounds, that’s a lot of money. Maybe you guys shouldn’t do that when you’re drinking. Maybe you shouldn’t make promises that you can’t keep. But if you don’t do something — some small way of atoning — not only will you know who you are, and not only will I know who you are, but a lot of people will know who you are. Because there were cameras everywhere.”
As someone who’s had just a little bit of that kind of online “notoriety”… I do not recommend. And I’ve never stolen anything from charity, unless I did it in a drunken blackout.
Which — let me tell you, appreciated reader, in the past I’ve had my share of drunken blackouts (and probably yours, too). So I’m glad I didn’t have a chance to get too judgmental about the men who ran off with Foley’s merch. As mentioned above, Foley returned with a new Story. This one could probably stay up, but he’s holding up his end of the deal after the now-sobered up drunk dudes did as he asked.
“It’s good news. The two gentlemen, they were inebriated when they ran off with the shirt, and they have just shown me proof that they made a very generous donation to the Cauliflower Alley Club. So, hey, I believe in second chances. People mess up, especially when they’ve been drinking, and these two guys made good on a promise — gentlemen, thank you so very much for that. All’s well that ends well, and this ended well. So thank you very much and… have a nice day!“
Second chances are tricky things; I know I wouldn’t be typing this without them, but I’ve also watched a lot of people waste them. But when people truly take advantage of them, especially to atone for wronging others — they’re wonderful.
And hey, getting the word out about Cauliflower Alley Club is never bad!
