Aussie James West tracks down the Trans in time for Thanksgiving
Each year there must be millions of emails about Thanksgiving preparations hitting American inboxes from loved ones. Nothing unusual there. It’s a big holiday and no doubt takes loads of organising.
Florida’s Tran family send dozens of preparation emails each year; but unbeknown to them the James West (one of their relative’s partners) they’ve been emailing was in fact not the James West they intended. For the past three years, 28-year-old James West from Sydney had been receiving the emails along with family photo updates and even inside goss of what will join the turkey on the dinner table. And then it appeared his appetite finally kicked in.
After three years of disregarding the emails, James West, who traditionally doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving decided to change this in 2010. His mission: to track down the Trans and ask for a real invitation to Thanksgiving. The Aussie broadcast journalist filmed a sweet and sincere video My Thanksgiving Plea: Tracking down the Trans and kicked off a YouTube campaign to help rouse the attention of the Trans. It’s been reported some Tran family Googling also helped West meet his time-sensitive mission. But first, watch his plea here:
[briotube]http://www.youtube.com/v/395SRMefGAI[/briotube]
So, this pursuit indeed has a very sweet ending. West made it to Thanksgiving thanks to the welcoming hearts of the Trans. To watch a series of videos documenting the adventure visit James West’s blog where you’ll find Operation Tran.
news.com.au and CNN have followed the story, and even Mashable have reported on it too. Some news readers celebrate West’s pursuit while others label it ‘stalker-like’. Of course there are going to be cynics, but I’d high-five West if I ever ran into him. Good on him for having some fun with some mistaken identity emails and making some friends along the way.
What do you think? If you were the Trans, would you open up your home to Mr West?
Yours in the digital revolution,
Julia
