Kids were asked to dress as their idols for school on career day — the maintenance worker choked up when he saw one boy’s costume
Children usually choose role models based on who inspires them the most. On a Career Day at a preschool, kids dressed up as different professions they hoped to pursue when they grew up. While most kids might have picked outfits representing doctors or teachers, one kid chose a profession that surprised the maintenance worker, Mr. Bubba. A wholesome video capturing the worker's reaction to the young boy portraying him has been receiving tons of love online. Shared on Reddit under the username u/BreakfastTop6899 on Thursday, January 15, 2026, the post left many viewers awestruck.
It was Career Day, and every child dressed up as what they wanted to be when they grew up. The maintenance worker was his idol
byu/BreakfastTop6899 inMadeMeSmile
One preschooler at Weekday Preschool of the First Baptist Church in Clinton, Mississippi, chose his idol that no one saw coming. The 4-year-old decided to dress up as church facilities manager extraordinaire, Mr. Bubba Cable. According to Baptist Press, when the kid was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he replied, "When I grow up, I want to be Mr. Bubba." In the adorable video filmed by the school staff, the kid dressed as the maintenance worker stood as Mr. Bubba arrived to look at a miniature version of himself standing right in front of him. Watching the kid dressed up as him, he immediately burst into laughter before going near the kid to kneel beside him for a picture. He looked over the outfit and noticed every detail was spot on.
From the red T-shirt to jeans to Nike shoes and a waist pouch, and even a bald cap with five o'clock shadow and beard with glasses on his head, the kid was a spitting image of the maintenance worker. Mr. Bubba, upon seeing the kid, grew emotional and posed for photos next to him. The maintenance guy, who did not see it coming, said, "It's just a surprise that anyone would even look up to me like that. I'm just an average Joe here." A 2021 study published in the "International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance" noted that kids in school do not dream about aspirational occupations when it comes to their career goals. The study found that children choose future careers based on their own interests and desires, and they do not consider real-world limitations when imagining future work. For the young boy, Mr. Bubba's work impressed him, or maybe he admired the maintenance worker's personality, which is why the kid may have idolized him.
Reddit users who came across the video found it equally hilarious and wholesome. u/Worth_Sense7622 remarked, "I am smiling so hard. Tell him never give up on his dreams. Never know he could get a trade and be head of the janitorial staff for the entire school system." u/Galactus1701 mentioned, "That's how far kindness can go. The maintenance worker must have been so gentle and caring that the kid felt like he wanted to be just like him." u/Skid-Mark-Kid commented, "As a maintenance guy myself, this guy will never forget this. We are the silent ones in the back, keeping things going. We are always forgotten about and never recognized. That probably made his year."
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