From the "Unfunny doesn't have to mean rage-inducing" files
Saw this kicking around Tumblr, and felt that this needs some signal-boosting, and also thought you guys here at UFB might get a kick out of this awesome pair of brothers.

Note: At last count, it had over 8k notes (likes and reblogs) and I felt that reblogging it myself wasn't really enough to boost the signal. Stuff like this really needs to be shared across many websites, I think, because it is awesome.

So, over on Tumblr, user sweetupndown, posts about something that happened to her in the store she works at. Long story short, she helped a pair of brothers (a high school teenager and his pre-teen kid brother) find a game and controller for the little brother, who wanted a game with a female main character and a purple controller. The father of the boys threw a fit, and the older brother intervened and defended his brother's decision.

(also, warning for a wall of text; it's all one paragraph. The original poster apparently didn't bother with paragraphing or carriage returns? Not sure. Not entirely sure it matters either a whole lot, considering the impact of the message.)

Dear Customer who stuck up for his little brother,
you thought I didn’t really notice. But I did. I wanted to high-five you. Yesterday I had a pair of brothers in my store. One was maybe between 15-17. He was a wrestler at the local high school. Kind of tall, stocky and handsome. He had a younger brother, who was maybe about 10-12 years old. The only way to describe him was scrawny, neat, and very clean for a boy his age. They were talking about finding a game for the younger one, and he was absolutely insisting it be one with a female character. I don’t know how many of y’all play games, but that isn’t exactly easy. Eventually, I helped the brothers pick a game called Mirror’s Edge. The youngest was pretty excited about the game, and then he specifically asked me.. “Do you have any girl color controllers?” I directed him to the only colored controllers we have which includes pink and purple ones. He grabbed the purple one, and informed me purple was his FAVORITE. The boys had been taking awhile, so their father eventually comes in. He see’s the game, and the controller, and starts in on the youngest about how he needs to pick something different. Something more manly. Something with guns and fighting, and certainly not a purple controller. He tries to convince him to get the new Zombie game “Dead Island.” and the little boy just stands there repeating “Dad, this is what I want, ok?” Eventually it turns into a full blown argument complete with Dad threatening to whoop his son if he doesn’t choose different items. That’s when big brother stepped in. He said to his Dad “It’s my money, it’s my gift to him, if it’s what he wants I’m getting it for him, and if your gonna hit anyone for it, it’s going to be me.” Dad just gives his oldest son a strong stern stare down, and then leaves the store. Little brother is crying quietly, I walk over and ruffle his hair (yes this happened all in front of me.) I say “I’m a girl, and I like the color blue, and I like shooting games. There’s nothing wrong with what you like. Even if it’s different than what people think you should.” I smile, he smiles back (my heart melts!) Big brother then leans down, kisses little brother on the head, and says “Don’t worry dude.” They check out and leave, and all I can think is how awesome big brother is, how sweet little brother is, and how Dad ought to be ashamed for trying to make his son any other way.

I wish there were more people like that older brother out there, and fewer like that father. It doesn't make your son macho if he plays shoot-em-ups, especially if that's not what he's interested in. If your son likes the color purple, that doesn't make him gay by default. (And even if he IS gay, HE IS YOUR SON. You should love him no matter what his sexual orientation is. Your son being gay does not reflect on you as a parent, or at least it shouldn't.)

But what an awesome older brother. The world needs more people like him.