This is one of the few things I’ll miss if TikTok does actually go away.
As of right now, the app is set to be banned on January 19 after a bill signed into law by President Joe Biden required parent company Byte Dance to sell TikTok to an American company.
Byte Dance has yet to comply, and has challenged the ban in the Supreme Court, with arguments being held last week. It’s expected that the court will rule on the issue before the 19th, but unless they issue an injunction or overturn the law requiring the company to sell, the app will effectively be banned in just one week.
Of course that doesn’t mean TikTok will go away immediately. If you have it on your phone already, you’ll still be able to use TikTok, but the law would force Apple and Google to remove it from their app stores, and without the ability to push regular updates to users, chances are the app would become pretty much unusable in the next few months.
Incoming President Donald Trump has expressed interest in saving TikTok, and asked the Supreme Court to pause the ban until after he’s sworn in to give him a chance to reach an acceptable resolution, but right now the app’s fate is in the hands of the Supreme Court as creators nervously await to find out what’s going to happen.
And honestly, for the most part, I’d be fine with most of the content on TikTok going away. But there are some videos on there that show the good that the social media app can do.
If you’re on TikTok, chances are you’re familiar with SB Mowing. The account was started by a landscaper named Spencer, who has racked up nearly 11 million followers on his videos showing him going around and mowing overgrown and out of control yards free of charge.
A lot of the videos are from houses that have been abandoned and have yards that haven’t been cared for in a long time. But every once in a while, Spencer gets a tip from somebody in need and shows up to help them too.
That’s what happened recently when Spencer got a call from a friend with the city who told him about an elderly lady who needed help with her overgrown yard.
When he stopped by the house, he met Beth, who apologized that her yard was such a mess and said that she hasn’t been able to get ahold of anyone to help with her lawn care.
Beth was told by the city that she would have to have her yard cleaned up later that month, or she would be fined $240 by the city for them to mow it – an amount that the elderly woman said she wouldn’t be able to afford.
Spencer jumped into action, and after spending the entire day mowing her yard, cleaning up the grass growing between the cracks in her driveway, and trimming up some bushes and trees, he was ready to reveal the final results to the homeowner – and to say she was appreciative was an understatement.
“I wish I had something for you. Your work makes me twinkle. I really, really appreciate you. I can’t tell you how much.”
When Spencer said he was happy to help, Beth tearfully replied that “no one’s ever been happy” to help her.
@sbmowing Her Tears Said It All: “My Prayers Have Been Answered” mowing edging cleanup asmr satisfying sbmowing cleaning overgrownyard fyp fypシ viral viralvideo transformation overgrown maruyama badboymower muckboots
Well the video quickly went viral, racking up over 70 million views and 8 million likes. And many who saw it wanted to help out, offering to donate so that Spencer would be able to regularly mow her yard throughout the season.
So once again, Spencer jumped back into action and started a GoFundMe for Beth, to help with things she needs around her house like a handicap-accessible ramp, a new driveway, a chair lift, regular lawn care, and repairing broken windows.
The fundraiser is already at nearly $200,000, so it sounds like Beth is going to be getting some well-deserved improvements to help make her life easier.
Seems like a lot of people were happy to help her out.
@sbmowing Beth’s GoFundMe is linked on my profile! SBMowing neighbors #helpingothers #elderly #accessibility #gofundme #donations
