This story has nothing to do with the election or politics at all. Maybe that’s why it felt like a breath of fresh air. That’s especially true because the whole thing basically took place on social media. It started with a brief video clip on Tik Tok which then got posted on Twitter:

I don’t use this verbiage often but this is a whole vibe. simple as that pic.twitter.com/NfdLsgLkxu

— DrewFrog (@DrewFrogger) September 25, 2020

If I’d given you three random elements from which to create a short video and they were: a man on a skateboard, cranberry juice and a hit song from 1977, the changes that anyone would ever care about the result seem vanishingly slim.

And yet, somehow, this random little clip went viral and has been viewed more than 24 million times. The clip featuring the 43 year old song was so popular that Fleetwood Mac was suddenly among the top downloads on iTunes this month:

iTunes Top 100 Albums right Now

#8 Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits
#19 Fleetwood Mac Rumours
#51 Fleetwood Mac The Very Best Of pic.twitter.com/pLZcGpFx1J

— FLEETWOOD MAC NEWS (@Nickslive) October 5, 2020

In particular, the song Dreams was streamed more than 8 million times in the past week. One of the many people who really liked the clip was Mick Fleetwood who made his own version:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CF7-GVDBHYz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Yesterday, the NY Times wrote about the man behind the story. His name is Nathan Apodaca:

About 8 a.m. on Sept. 25, his 2005 Dodge Durango’s battery cut out as he was trying to get to work at an Idaho potato warehouse. This was not a new experience for him: The S.U.V. has more than 330,000 miles on it.

So, Mr. Apodaca grabbed his phone, his large bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice and his longboard — the skateboard kept in the car just for such emergencies — and wheeled the rest of the way to work.

That was his “morning vibe” as he filmed himself coasting down the highway, boasting his mother’s Native American heritage with a feather tattoo on the side of his head, chugging juice and lip-syncing Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”…

“It’s just a video on TikTok that everyone felt a vibe with,” Mr. Apodaca, 37, said. “I’m happy that I could chill the world out for a minute.”

The video was such a hit that Apodaca has an agent now and has been flooded with offers and compliments:

Rapper Travis Scott asked Apodaca to make a promotional video for his new album. Ocean Spray has hinted it is looking into a collaboration. His inbox is flooded with celebrities letting Apodaca know how much they loved his vibes.

He now has a manager based out of Los Angeles who previously represented reality star Honey Boo Boo aka Alana Thompson. Apodaca turned down agent Gina Rodriguez repeatedly before she finally convinced him to sign on with her.

People donated nearly $20,000 to him to help him get a new car but he quickly gave it away to his family:

He gave $5,000 to his mother and bought his dad a truck. Only his sister has turned his generosity down.

“I was like I know you need a washer, a dryer, a stove, we can go get it right now. … She’s like ‘I’m stable enough, you do you, as soon as you get your house and you’re stable then you can go ahead and give me something,’” Apodaca said.

He’s been living in an RV on his brother’s property with no running water. Now he’s thinking for the first time about buying a house. But while he didn’t buy it for himself, Apodaca did get a new truck:

On Tuesday, a representative of the company went to the R.V. where Mr. Apodaca lives parked at his brother’s house in Idaho Falls with a surprise gift: a cranberry red Nissan pickup. The truck’s bed was filled with jugs of Ocean Spray juice.

So far, Apodaca is keeping humble even though he gets recognized now everywhere he goes. “I can’t go nowhere. It’s movie star-ish I guess, but I’m not trying to be that guy. It ain’t me,” he said.

Anyway, it was nice to have a break from the all of the tension in the world, even for 30 seconds.

‘FLEETWOOD MAC’ GUY SURPRISE! The Idaho man behind the viral “Dreams” TikTok video was gifted a brand new truck. Nathan Apodaca tells @willganss about the great surprise and good vibes. pic.twitter.com/5ccXNhRjHp

— ABC World News Now (@abcWNN) October 7, 2020