A video from Cariboo Water in Quesnel is flowing around the world.
TikTok and YouTube viewers have turned Thomas the water baby into an internet sensation, and for the one-year-old, it was all in a day鈥檚 work.
The video shows the toddler diligently carrying in the empty water jugs from the loading dock inside to the stacks. It helps that his mom put a clever tune as the soundtrack to the scene, but what really fascinates people is the effective job the little kid is doing. He鈥檚 not just flopping them around or beating on them like big, blue drums. Thomas is on a mission, and he knows how to do it right, just get out of his way and let him do his work.
The reason it鈥檚 such a perfect 1:47 window into Thomas鈥檚 earnest efforts is because his mom, Tamara Pelletier, had time to get it just right. You see, this is what Thomas does, all the time. It wasn鈥檛 a lucky clip, it was one of many such moments. She鈥檚 even posted some other videos on TikTok and YouTube in the past of Thomas in the jungle of jugs, and some of them got tens of thousands of views. But this one was different. This one tapped into the public鈥檚 interest.
Within a day it had surpassed all other videos on the Cariboo Water platforms, by the beginning of Valentine鈥檚 Day it had three-million hits. By the end of Valentine鈥檚 Day, it had 30-million. It has only rocketed up since then.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ridiculous how crazy it鈥檚 gone,鈥� Pelletier said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 even understand. I have teenagers, and they鈥檙e like 鈥榤om, this is huge, you don鈥檛 seem that excited,鈥� and I鈥檓 like, I don鈥檛 even know what鈥檚 happening.鈥�
Let Howie Mandel explain it. The famed Canadian superstar did what鈥檚 called a stitch: a new video spliced alongside a pre-existing video. Mandel鈥檚 version showed Thomas hauling his cargo, and the camera also showed Mandel providing a commentary, and because he鈥檚 a comedian, it was a deadpan spoof on the wickedness of child labour. So there was another swell of viewership.
He wasn鈥檛 the only one. Pelletier said there were may others doing the same thing, and now the media coverage is pouring in. She鈥檚 gotten calls from Reader鈥檚 Digest, the video was featured on Global 亚洲天堂, suddenly little Thomas is a juggernaut. For the family-run business, it鈥檚 like drinking from a firehose, this past week.
鈥淗e does it all day long,鈥� Pelletier said. 鈥淗e waits for the truck, and he鈥檚 all about the empties. It鈥檚 pretty cute. He just follows what he鈥檚 watched us do. He鈥檚 so excited to do it.鈥�
Good thing, because Cariboo Water (they also own Quesnel Pure Water) is bubbling briskly along as business. They do household, commercial and industrial deliveries of distilled or reverse-osmosis water in five- or three-gallon jugs. They also have in-store pick-up. They have even been supplying much of the clean water to residents of Wells who are under a water safety advisory.
It鈥檚 so busy that Pelletier has put her nursing career on hold to help manage the business her husband Kurt Pethick has operated for more than 20 years. They loved that they could lead a family life connected to the business, they just didn鈥檛 think tens of millions of people would be clicking social media to watch them do it.
You can see the video on the Quesnel Observer鈥檚 website or Facebook page. Click to take a look. All the videos of Thomas can be found on Pelletier鈥檚 TikTok page @tamaraannemunro.
Howie Mandel鈥檚 spoofy response can be seen on his @officialhowiemandel TikTok site. You can see Howie鈥檚 video .
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