(this is an updated follow-post on the original CrankyYank story which ran on 23 April)
“Generally speaking bars are not usually bastions of grace and kindness.” Steve Hartman’s sentiment from his CBS Sunday Morning piece may be true, but nightclub owner Jimmy Gilleece in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., turned that stereotype on its head.
When Gilleece learned that a Jimmy’s at Red Dogs patron had her wedding ring stolen he pulled out all the stops to find it.
“We met her the day before,” Jimmy explained to me exclusively via Facebook Messenger. “It was during the day. She seemed like a cool person and I felt like I needed to help. She seemed pretty upset about it. Plus when I get something in my head I can’t stop.
“I was so relieved we found the rIng,” he continued, adding that he pressed divers to go down a fourth time after three attempts. “Rivers was about to be handcuffed and I begged the diver to go down one more time. Returning the ring felt great.”
Jimmy’s outreach to the ring thief, Rivers, really struck a Cure Your Crankies chord.
“He was living in the woods and hadn’t eaten in 2 days. I could tell he needed help,” he told Hartman. He elaborated via Messenger to me: “Rivers is still staying with us. I have been getting a lot of donations to help with him. We set up an escrow-type account so he can find a permanentI spot. We just put all donations in his account.”
Jimmy also has set up a GoFundMe page to help Rivers create a new life, which is here.
“He currently has three jobs: One at Tower 7 restaurant; one at Jimmy’s and one on the Wrightsville Beach tour boat. He’s doing great. I can see a huge change in him in a short time. He seems more confident.”
Tenaciously trying to recover a patron’s lost property is admirable all on its own; it’s another another thing entirely to change the life of the homeless teen out of sheer compassion, and helping him realize his own potential in the process.
That, my dears, is peak Cure Your Crankies. 🔵
Will Pollock
is an Atlanta-based freelance multimedia journalist focusing on pop-culture, politics, journalism & media, retail, real estate, travel, politics, and human interest.
He is the author of two books (Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way. Sign up for the mailing list, follow on Twitter—and check out the book links below. Make sure to comment often—cranky does love company after all.
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