She Made You a Sandwich – If You Can Claim It

Jade Hameister has done more in sixteen years than most of us, whatever our age.

She’s the youngest person ever to have completed what she calls the “Polar Hat Trick”–visiting both poles and crossing the Greenland ice sheet.

But when she stood up and spoke at the TEDx Conference in Melbourne two years ago, some trolls thought it would be funny to put her down. “Make me a sandwich,” they told her in the comments section of her YouTube video.

Well, she did exactly that. Although I doubt any of the trolls will have the stones to claim their sandwich–which she left for them at the South Pole. Right before she headed home to Australia to finish high school.

Her TEDx Talk is below. Take ten minutes to watch it, and read the article linked above. Then you can decide for yourself where this woman belongs: in the kitchen, making sandwiches for men who don’t have the tenth part of her courage; or wherever she wants to be, kicking ass on her own terms.

If you’ve been here more than a minute or two, you know where I fall on that scale.

Well done, Ms. Hameister. I’ll make my own sandwich. You keep being awesome.

I've been a soldier, a dreamer, a working stiff, a leader. A husband, father, example (good and otherwise), and now a survivor. I write about courage, because courage is what enables us to accomplish the impossible. If you draw breath, I love you. If you love in whatever way seems best to you and want others to love in whatever way seems best to them, I am your ally. If you believe someone is less than you because they do not love the way you do, I oppose you. If you see someone as a threat to be abused or destroyed merely because they do not look like you, or love like you, or worship like you, I am your enemy. I am a joyful and courageous man. And I stand with you who love.