Here is an illustration that I wanted to include this past Sunday but ran out of time.

Comedian Turns Snarky Reply into Generosity

As a veteran comedian and improv actor, Patton Oswalt is known to have a ready retort for anyone heckling or giving him grief. But one particular time, his response caught his antagonist by surprise.

It started with a sarcastic tweet at President Trump. A Trump supporter named Michael Beatty tweeted back in response, lobbing accusations and insults at Oswalt. Out of curiosity, Oswalt began scrolling through Beatty’s Twitter timeline. What he found took him by surprise, which prompted Oswalt to tweet the following admission: Aw, man. This dude just attacked me on Twitter and I joked back but then I looked at his timeline and he’s in a LOT of trouble health-wise … He’s been dealt some [terrible] cards—let’s deal him some good ones. Click and donate—just like I’m about to.

The link that followed was to a GoFundMe account dedicated to help cover the burgeoning costs of care for Beatty’s health condition, which included diabetes and ketoacidosis. Because of Oswalt’s efforts at donation and promotion, the campaign began trending on social media, and has since exceeded several times over Beatty’s initial goal of $5,000.

Beatty responded to Oswalt with this: “You have humbled me to the point where I can barely compose my words. You have caused me to take pause and reflect on how harmful words from my mouth could result in such an outpouring.”