We spoke to the guy invited to the wrong Thanksgiving by a grandma
‘The most delicious thing was the mashed potatoes’
It was a story that went viral worldwide with the spirit of Thanksgiving.
Wanda, a grandma who didn’t quite understand iMessage wound up inviting high school student Jamal Hinton to dinner with her family on the nation’s favorite holiday.
After Hinton tweeted the interaction, it blew up to 200,000 retweets, and the modern fairytale of Thanksgiving was born.
It all started when Mrs Dench accidentally sent a text meant for her grandson to Hinton, and then when it became clear they in fact were not related she invited him anyway due to her duties as a grandmother to ‘feed everyone’.
In a turn of events unexpected in the Twitterverse, Hinton attended the meal with Mrs Dench’s family and warmed the nation’s hearts. He was meant to take a pumpkin pie, but forgot it.
We spoke to Jamal, who is 17 and lives in Phoenix, about this year’s Thanksgiving memories.
Did you plan on going to the meal as soon as you saw the text?
I didn’t plan on it at first but then I thought why not when she asked again
So she asked you again after the first text?
Yep she did
And what made you ask for a selfie of her?
To confirm that she was not my grandma
Did your own family mind you going elsewhere? Did you take anyone with you?
Nope they didn’t mind. And I didn’t take anyone, I went alone but still had so much fun. I ate with their whole family, it was great.
Did your own grandma mind you being fed by a different grandma?
Nope she was okay with it and she loved the generosity
What was your favorite part of Mrs Dench’s meal?
The most delicious thing was the mashed potatoes
Did you watch the U of A game? Do you ever see yourself at ASU one day?
I didn’t catch the game, but I love ASU. It seems like the amazing school that everyone loves and wants to attend. My sister goes there and I feel like it would be an amazing experience.
How do you feel about going viral?
Lots of people recognize me, it’s been amazing.
And what does your friend who originally tweeted the texts think?
He thinks its crazy that the tweet got so huge, and that it had such a big impact on people
Was she worried that you’d accidentally given her number out?
Yes she mentioned it. We had a little joke about it but she understood it was an honest mistake.