Strangers gave a hardworking veteran the chance to finally rest

A TikTok video that ran just eight seconds long has raised more than $135,000 for a military veteran who works at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. James Blair has trouble walking, but he shows up to the job anyway. A traveler named LaCinda noticed him moving slowly through his shift and filmed it, not to mock him but to find help. "Watching him work so hard, he could barely move, barely walk truly broke my heart," she wrote. "I know there has to be a way we can help him retire." The clip has 5.8 million views, which is the rare case of an algorithm doing something genuinely useful. LaCinda then started a GoFundMe with a modest goal of giving Blair a chance to rest. "I don't know his full story yet. I don't know why he's still working," she wrote. The video found Blair too. The two have since connected.