Those who have watched How I Met Your Mother know that nothing good ever happens after 2 AM. The night hours are when the criminals creep, people’s hearts are broken, and the drunken fools roam the town. Five years ago, however, one group of drunken men single-handedly disproved this theory when they did a good deed at 3 AM that was captured on CCTV cameras.
Martin Griggs, 24, and friends Dean Mason, Simon McMillan, and Dan Buttler, all 23, were enjoying a night on the town in Boston, Lincolnshire, UK.
The four young men were waiting for kebabs outside of a takeout restaurant when they noticed a damaged bike rack. The metal hoop had been bent out of place when a car had reversed into it weeks before.
Feeling the urge to do a good deed (or simply trying to impress the women nearby), the young men spent a quarter of an hour prying and bending the bike rack back into place.
“We saw it was bent, and so we thought we’d fix it,” Butler explained later in an interview with Right This Minute. “I came out with my chips and cheese and I saw they were all struggling, so I thought, ‘I’ll show them how it’s done,” McMillan jokingly added.
The men spent 13 minutes fixing the bike rack— but they had no idea they were being filmed by the town’s CCTV cameras.
Peter Hunn, principal community safety officer at Boston Borough Council told The Guardian UK: “We recorded the whole sequence.”
“At first two lads had a go and then encouraged others to help. At one point, five were pushing and pulling.”
“To look at the bike rack now, you would hardly know it had been damaged.”
When city officials saw the footage, they decided to reward the men—who were shocked by the positive reaction to their deed.
Mason told Yahoo News UK that they simply “like to do our bit here and there.” He also says it’s not the first time they’ve helped out, adding: “We sometimes help drunk people get into taxis.”
“We do feel quite proud of ourselves. I think we did a good job. Everybody is very happy about it.”
“People have been saying ‘good on you’ and that it’s nice to see lads not just destroying the place and doing good for once.”
The video of the men fixing the bike rack has been viewed over 2 million times, the Boston Borough Council reported. “The BBC YouTube channel has registered more than one-and-a-half-million viewings alone,” they wrote. “Almost all the major news organizations are featuring the footage supplied by the council and the story has appeared in newspaper and on radio and TV, as well as social sites, all over the world.”
The owner of the fast-food shop where the boys were waiting offered them a free meal as a reward, and the mayor has presented them with a certificate of recommendation.
“We’re getting medals and we’re having a presentation about it, as well.”
It’s so amazing to see a group of people acting so selflessly— especially while drunk at 3 AM. Comments on the video read:
“nice job guys”
“if the local council repaired it would of cost the best part of grand, just goes to show, it does not have to cost a bomb”
“Faith in man RENEWED”
See it for yourself below!
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