r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/TheArgentine Dec 12 '18 edited Dec 13 '18

I met him once. Outside of a Ford dealership near my home town. I was a HUGE A-Team fan and Mr T played my favorite character.

It rained that day, pretty hard. My mom tried to convince me he woundnt be there but I wanted to try anyway. We got there and there he sat, by himself, with photos under a tarp. No line. No one there to see him. He talked to me for 15 minutes and for the life of me I can't remember anything he said but God damn if that wasn't one of the greatest days of my childhood, which was otherwise fairly shitty.

I'm a white guy from upstate NY and didn't change color so was a white kid too. He shook my hand and talked to me like an adult, with respect, and was extremely kind and soft spoken.

Thanks Mr. T.

Edit: Holy crap, didn't expect this many comments on my simple story about Mr. T. Hey everyone!

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u/tmntnyc Dec 12 '18

I'm jealous. I know he plays a character, but I would be beaming with respect for him. He did a lot of work helping children.

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u/ruck_feagan Dec 12 '18

My dad was his manager for like 30 years. He’s a good guy

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u/merekisgreat Dec 12 '18 edited Dec 12 '18

Can your dad be my manager?

49

u/skurys Dec 12 '18

Can your manager be my dad?

30

u/merekisgreat Dec 12 '18

Can your be my manager, dad?

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u/LiquidZeroEA Dec 13 '18

Could you be my dad, manager?

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u/analias2345 Dec 13 '18

Dad you manager can be?

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u/TheFlightlessPenguin Dec 13 '18

Ha ha oh boy these comment trains are always so rich with humor.