Many parents have sought ways to support their children in remote learning over the past year. Some hired tutors, and others learned way more about literary devices or fractions than they ever wanted to. Jennifer Bryant allowed her 4-year-old son Noah to use her laptop for school when his iPad stopped working, never suspecting that he was actually hacking his way onto her Amazon prime account.
Noah's Amazon Adventures
Noah Ruiz, who lives in New York, knew what he wanted and how he was going to get it. A lover of both SpongeBob and popsicles, he couldn't resist investigating further when he discovered that his two loves had been combined into one delicious frozen treat- a Spongebob popsicle.
Upon making this discovery, Noah ordered 918 of the Nickelodeon-themed ice cream bars. He didn't tell his mother about his eventful visit to Amazon on her laptop, but on the day of the delivery, "he kept saying the number 51." As his mother relays, "all day he was walking around saying '51, 51.'" However, she didn't pay much attention, because Noah is prone to repeating things, as he has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
The Arrival of the SpongeBob Popsicles
Noah's mom shares her Amazon prime account with her sister, who was the one who unexpectedly received three 70-pound boxes from Amazon. Bryant had had been busy doing other things when Noah was supposedly using her laptop for remote learning, so she had no idea what was happening when her sister called.
"She was fussing and cussing, and she said to me, 'You know, you really need to stop ordering all this stuff.'"
The three 70-pound boxes required immediate freezing. Jennifer replied to her sister with "I don't know what you're talking about."
Her sister then opened the boxes, and Jennifer put the pieces together. The boxes contained 51 cases of SpongeBob Popsicles, which ended up being 918 popsicles, costing just under $2,619. It was suddenly very clear why the 4-year-old had been repeating "51" over and over. In the end, it was discovered that Noah bought over $2,000 worth of SpongeBob popsicles.
A Sweet Ending
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Despite the obvious mistake, Amazon refused to take the ice pops back because they came from a third-party vender. Because of this, Bryant's credit card was not refunded, and she was suddenly faced with the stress of losing $2,619 to her son's Spongebob popsicle vice.
Bryant attends NYU's Silver School of Social Work and is a mother of three, and she was at a loss for how she was going to pay her tuition this semester. Fortunately, her friend and fellow social work student started a GoFundMe to help.
The GoFundMe paid off the ice pops within 24 hours, eventually reaching far higher than the original goal.
Jennifer plans to use the extra money to pay for Noah's education and the additional supports he needs for his autism. She hopes to be able to send him to a special school for those on the autism spectrum.
Although the Fruit Punch and Cotton Candy-flavored popsicles melted within two days, and Noah wasn't able to eat them all, the ending is a sweet one. However, I'm willing to bet that Noah won't be allowed anywhere near his mom's laptop again.
