Brad Paisley is able to self-isolate at home with his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and sons Huck and Jasper, but he knows not everyone is that fortunate. The West Virginia native recently praised grocery store workers in Dewitt, New York, who dressed as superheroes while working during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I love the idea of you guys dressing up as superheroes, because that’s what you are,” Brad said in a Zoom video with some of the workers, which he shared on social media. “I’m so inspired by people like you. What a way to make your customers feel a little bit safer.”
The Zoom call happened after Brad posted a request for people to reach out to him, thanks to his latest single.
“It all started because of my current song,” Brad told Good Morning America. “The song’s ‘No I in Beer,’ so I did this callout, ‘Hey, have a happy hour and invite me.’ So I did a callout, and this was one of those. This was her kind of responding to that, and saying, ‘Hey, do you want to surprise my coworkers? We’ve been dressing up like superheroes.’ And that, first of all, I’m a superhero fan, so I thought it would be great.”
Brad was thrilled to be able to honor workers who are especially necessary right now, and who don’t have the luxury of staying safe at home.
“What an amazing way to handle one of the worst jobs to have right now, but one of the most important, which is working in a grocery store,” Brad praised. “They’re on the front lines.”
Brad has been doing other Zoom meetings and acts of appreciation, all from his house, including surprising someone on their last day of chemo, but he insists he gets as much from these encounters as he gives, and maybe more.
“It’s not totally unselfish to do these Zooms, because I do get something out of it. I get to feel like I made their day, and that’s a great feeling. But I really hope they know that I really appreciate what they’re doing. People are scared. And if I can distract them for a few seconds by jumping in a Zoom call and meeting them, when I never probably would have had that chance prior to this, then I feel like I should be doing that.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sony Music Nashville