Social Media Wise - It's a small, small world!

It all started with a visit to New York when Megan, a twenty something from Roseville, Minnesota stopped New Yorker Eric Silver on the street to take a picture of him.

Why? Because he was wearing a varsity jacket with ‘Roseville Pee Wee Hockey’ written over the shape of Minnesota and the name Emil stitched on it.

Megan stopping Eric prompted him to write a blog about their encounter, parts of which I have included below:

Minnesota, I Love You But You’re Not My Hometown

By Eric Silver on November 29th, 2012     

I have lied to strangers on the street and told them I’m from a suburb in Minnesota. I’m actually from Westchester, New York, the closest county to New York City.

Everything you buy from a thrift shop was worn by someone else. Yeah (duh, obviously), that’s the point of a second-hand store. But actually think about that. You have shared clothing with someone out there. And that person, somewhere in space and time and Big Lebowski bowling realities, existed. And if that person was real and loved this dress or vest or fedora as much as you do, a little bit of whoever they were rubs off on you.

I love Emil. Emil is my letterman jacket. I love him so much I dedicated a book of poetry to him (true story). I know Emil’s name is Emil because it says so, stitched in grey on black fabric. On the left front breast, the raises shape of Minnesota holds the words “Roseville Pee Wee Hockey.” The name Roseville is emblazed on the back, written in the script only reserved for varsity sports. Before me, Emil the Jacket belonged to Emil the Human. Assuming there are no 10-year-olds with 42-inch shoulders skating around ice rinks in Minnesota, Emil the Human was my age, probably the coach of the Roseville Pee-Wee Hockey team.

You can read Eric’s complete blog post by clicking on the link below:

Read more: Minnesota, I Love You But You’re Not My Hometown • NYU Local http://nyulocal.com/city/2012/11/29/minnesota-i-love-you-but-youre-not-my-hometown/#ixzz2EDiTUdgg

Now here is where it gets even more interesting. Megan wrote to say she posted the photo on her Facebook wall and heard back from Emil.

This is what Emil had to say, printed exactly as he wrote it:

Emil Mellgren

December 2, 2012 (3 days ago)

Hi, I’m Emil. I am not a hockey coach. But when I was about ten my parents gave me a jacket like that for Christmas. I am Swedish who lived in Minesota 97-99 when I was in Pee-Wee hockey. I then moved back to Sweden with my family. We returned to Minnesota in 2003. I finished my last two years of high school and got a real varsity hockey jacket. I stayed in Minnesota for college and continued playing club ice hockey and pond hockey whenever I could. After college I moved to Galway, Ireland. So I guess I fit the profile of a swedish misplaced Midwesterner. An old friend from Roseville read your piece and sent it to my brother who sent it to me. Just wanted to say that Emil the human is out there. Great writing btw.

Just goes to show you how ‘reach out and touchable’ our world has become with social media.

We thought we’d join in on the fun so we posted a message on the blog to both of our ‘unofficial’ sons that we had more Roseville memorabilia for them and to contact us directly. We are still waiting to hear a reply back!