Tank – We love your positivity and hope that you have the BEST birthday, as you deserve it!
And, in honor of Tank's 32nd birthday today, we're thrilled to "rerun" one of our favorite Banter Bites, originally titled "A Tank … Full Of Love".
If there were an Olympic medal for love and inspiration, Tank Schottle would hold the record for most gold medals.
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: In this crazy world that we live in, sometimes simple, positive messages can easily get lost in all the "noise" … but they're there, and sometimes even the most pragmatic people (that'd be Black) feel the need to share them (much to Red's surprise).
It began when Black sent Red a screenshot of a Red & Black tweet that "we" posted (no one should be surprised that Black does the tweeting), "Guess who is throwing out the first pitch at tonight's @astros game … so excited for @TankSchottle because Special Olympian spreads message of love". At first, Red thought it was because Black knew Red's younger daughter had helped coach a Special Olympics volleyball team (the Fort Bend Falcons) but soon learned that Black's interest in Tank had nothing to do with that.
It turns out that for one of the least likely "warm and fuzzy" people you'll ever meet, Black was nevertheless inspired by Tank's "warm and fuzzy" attitude and approach to, well, just about everything. Suffering from an intellectual disability (or DIFF-ability as Black would say, but that's another post for another day), Tank came into his own when he was introduced to Special Olympics as a child, which led to his not only developing a greater sense of self-acceptance and pride but spreading his message of love based on his experience,
I love to spread love and hope for our country and our world. We should all love one another and bring hope and inspiration to other people.
Not someone you'd expect Black to follow, so Red asked, "Why?" (knowing that's Black's favorite word) and wasn't surprised how it started,
Some twit on Twitter decided to take issue with the punctuation or grammar of one of Tank's tweets, and I happened to follow one of the people who vehemently came to his defense, which got my initial attention. Now, I am one of the thousands of Tank's Twitter followers who finds the simplicity and sincerity of Tank's positive messages not only worth reading, but worth sharing.
Well, the more Red learned about Tank, the more she was struck at how one person can make such a difference. And there even was an instance when Tank could accomplish something no one else could with a 97-year-old veteran. And although Red initially found his words overly simple, as she watched her daughter (the one who volunteered with Special Olympics) get ready for college, she found herself echoing Tank's words (from a video that went viral several years ago),
Never give up on your dreams. Do what makes you happy. Do what makes you smile.
BANTER BITE BASICS
The intent was always to give two perspectives on any given topic — Red’s and Black’s. And some things will never change. But how we’ve formatted BANTER BITES has … and we see the value in providing both long and short versions.
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY
Everything with us is a story. Years ago, we were working with a branding company, and one of the team imagined us as cartoon characters. (Thank you, Puneet!) People told us they loved our sisterly banter, so we started doing a single-frame cartoon to introduce our monthly columns. Then we used them on slides at speaking engagements (Black’s corporate background taught her how BORING PowerPoint presentations can be, so she refused to have slides filled with words).
Then we modified them so each of us was in our respective environments — Red in the kitchen and Black in her office — and people suggested we syndicate them. (Black, of course, then researched syndication.) And we even used them at a pitch meeting with Hasbro. When we started working with an animation company and saw their version of our “creatures”, we decided they needed to be front and center.
Fairly early on, Black suggested to Red that we start a daily BANTER BITE that we could post on our website and also social media. It could be about something happening in our lives, current events, some obscure fact/study Black happened across, the list goes on and on …Red’s reply? (Keep in mind, she’s the self-proclaimed queen of blah-blah-blah.) “I’m not sure we’ll have enough material to be able to post every day.”
THE REALITY?
To make her point, Black started churning them out based on our conversations — and not only did it seem like there was something every day, but some days they just kept coming, and soon there was a huge backlog.
No, we didn’t publish them all, and we usually don’t post anything on our website on weekends (except for holiday wishes) because we strongly believe weekends shouldn’t be spent on gizmos, although that doesn’t stop Black from working. (FYI, our social media guru schedules posts on Sundays because that’s what the data supports, although we still think people should digitally disconnect on weekends.)
The feedback? Almost instantly,
People told us our BANTER BITES are fun and quick to read. But also relevant to their day-to-day lives – and not just on the day they’re published.
In other words, they didn't have an expiration date! Amazing, since in today's world of social media and constant news, even something from earlier in the day can be considered old or outdated.
FIXING WHAT WASN’T BROKEN
They started as a two-frame cartoon with a sentence or two below them. Then we were advised that, for SEO purposes (in other words, to “please” the online algorithms), we needed to have more words and key phrases. So, we expanded them.
Now, we realize there’s room for both. Some will be short and to the point, while on others we may have more to say (but you’ll have a “keep reading” option).
P.S. – If there’s a topic you want us to talk about, you can email us at Banter@RedandBlack.email.
Red started to write warm and fuzzy Christmas and holiday greetings, but Black said some things are worth repeating … like our simple Christmas post from 2023 (check out the movie clip) …
No matter what holiday you may celebrate, Red can’t help but quote a line from one of her favorite Christmas songs, “Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on, your troubles will be out of sight.”
And Black can’t help but point out that the song wasn’t introduced in a Christmas movie but in the movie "Meet Me In St. Louis."
Wishing you a merry everything and a happy always!
Sadie Hawkins Day … some may find it sexist. Some may find it inspirational. Others just nostalgic. Our take on it hasn’t changed since we first issued this post. But if you asked Black for a car analogy (she always has one), she’d tell you it’s about taking the wheel and leading the way …
Comic strip or reality show: A group of bachelors participates in a foot race, and whoever's caught by the single woman in the race will become her husband.
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: We may be sisters, but except for growing up with the same parents in the same house in New York, that may be where the similarities end; especially in terms of dating "protocol" as Black never thought twice about asking boys (and later men) out on a date, while Red never gave it any thought, accepting the convention that boys did the asking. (She did make an exception for her senior prom but was shocked when he accepted.)
When it comes to Sadie Hawkins Day, we both agree it's a quirky holiday that makes it "acceptable" for girls to ask out boys, but of course, we have very different perspectives. For Red, it conjures up images of Sadie Hawkins Day dances, although she never went to one and doesn't even remember how she knows about them. While Black's fascinated by how it all began with the cartoonist Al Capp and his popular "Lil' Abner" comic strip and quickly became a pop culture phenomenon.
Now, over 80 years later, if you were to analyze Sadie Hawkins Day, you would probably find it outdated and sexist. But why not just laugh at its silly beginnings and enjoy the day. The funny thing is Red still thinks men should ask out women, while Black always believed that every day's Sadie Hawkins Day.
Staying Real … On Social Media?