One of the cutest and most hilarious videos to surface the Internet in 2015 was one that involved a polite little boy getting an unexpected gift. If you haven’t seen the avocado boy video, you’re truly missing out. Everyone is obsessing over the four-second video, it has over 48 million views! The video features a young boy opening one of his birthday presents, to his surprise when he opens the gift, under all the wrapping paper was nothing but an avocado. Yes, an avocado, the dark green, pear shaped, commonly known fruit with the big pit in the middle. You expect the young kid to freak out after being given an avocado as a present, but no, the young boys responds “an avocado...thanks,” all with a smile on his face.
There is a background story behind this viral video. The little boy is named Henry and he is a three-year-old boy from New England. Henry’s uncle posted the video of the gift unwrapping on the Vine app with the caption “when you are really good at pretending to like your birthday gifts” but apparently the gift was actually just a lesson in manners. Henry’s mom and uncle were teaching the toddler a lesson of being gracious when receiving presents. A couple days before his birthday, the adults decided to test the young boy to see if the lesson got through to him, in doing so they wrapped up ridiculous items from around the house, like an oven mitt, a coffee K-cup and the infamous avocado. Henry understood loud and clear and when he opened his unusual gifts he kept any feelings of disappointment hidden and simply responded “thanks!”
For a three year old this is nothing but impressive, usually young kids around Henry’s age are unable to keep their feelings to themselves. Kids have a tendency to be brutally honest, not to be rude, just because they don’t know any better. Don’t worry though, along with Henry’s peculiar gifts, the little gentleman also received his much deserved toy monster truck.
A simple lesson in teaching manners to a toddler got caught on camera and suddenly it turned into a new trend. Yes, the avocado gift became a huge hit in homes this holiday season, and my guess many more years to come. Parents, siblings, and cousins all wanted to surprise their family and friends with an avocado. People anxiously awaited the avocado to be opened, hoping to get the famous reaction all on video. Guilty, I myself even gave my brother an avocado, and he reacted just the same as little Henry, and thanked me for the avocado.
The video’s popularity also started another trend of parents wrapping up terrible gifts for their kids and Jimmy Kimmel made a compilation video which was all inspired by young Henry. Oh, and did I mention that Henry got to FaceTime with Demi Lovato? Lucky kid, am I right?
But the truth is, we can all learn something from Henry. We won’t always get what we want in life, even if it is as small as a birthday gift or as big as the promotion you have been hoping for, but instead of getting angry and upset, be thankful for what has been given to you. So watch the video again, and through the laughter and smiles it brings you, take in Henry’s innocence and remind yourself that life is too short to get into a fuss over something as silly as, well, an avocado.
