When we get bored, we can sometimes feel an odd sense of inspiration taking hold.
If you’ve ever spent days or even weeks on a personal project and don’t remember why you even started it, odds are that some version of you from the past committed you to the idea when you had nothing better to do. Apparently, they also had no idea how long it was going to take.
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But while these strange little chapters in our lives can spring up from time to time, it takes a particularly ambitious person to transform their boredom into an entire event.
And without even meaning to, that’s exactly what one Arizona man did.
Last year, 22-year-old Josh Swain got an idea during what he descirbed as “a spell of pandemic boredom.”
According to NPR , he sent a massive group message to everyone he could find on Facebook with the same name as him.
But while we can see that the Joshes he contacted knew why he was reaching out to them, they couldn’t have expected to receive a challenge drawing them to Lincoln, Nebraska for a battle to determine who is allowed to remain a Josh.
As he put it, “We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name. Everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck.”
Although Swain had intended the “Battle of the Joshes” to be nothing more than a joke, it eventually built up enough online enthusiasm that he decided it was actually worth doing.
And by April 24, the event would prove itself as not only real, but incredibly successful.
As The Lincoln Journal-Star reported hundreds of people came to Lincoln’s Air Park from around the country to determine the king of the Joshes.
Since another Josh Swain was there, he and Swain determined who got to be the real deal with a Rock-Paper-Scissors battle that the event’s organizer would end up winning.
Once that matter was resolved, the estimated 2,000 people in attendance joined in on a massive battle royale waged with pool noodles.
And according to The Lincoln Journal-Star , Swain had also intended the event to be a charity fundraiser for local food banks, the success of which can largely be attributed to the efforts of a 20-year-old Lincoln resident named Betsy Walker.
Not only did she spread the word, but she showed up to the battle with three car loads of food and supplies.
But as exciting as the flurry of superhero outfits and flailing pool noodles was, the Battle of the Joshes eventually had to end with a winner crowned.
And as NPR reported, that winner would turn out to be four-year-old Josh Vinson Jr., who had already earned the nickname “Little Josh.” The author of the tweet visible here would eventually correct his age.
Although Swain admits he had no idea how the event would turn out, he was eventually floored not only by the number of people who showed up, but also that the proceedings were, “incredibly respectful, polite, joyful, and just awesome overall.”
Furthermore, the battle achieved something much bigger than simply crowning a preeminent Josh.
According to The Lincoln Journal-Star , the event compelled people to donate between 200 and 300 pounds to the Food Bank of Lincoln and raise over $8,000 for Omaha’s Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation.
This made the event’s winner particularly appropriate since “Little Josh” had received treatment at that very hospital when he experienced seizures at two years old.
As his father said, “He loves attention. He’s always wanted his own YouTube channel, so there he is. He’s famous.”
h/t: NPR , The Lincoln Journal-Star
