(Joe Mack Roy) Pop when he worked for Eastman-Kodak and Billie Birdwell . Longview, Texas 1970s. from texashistory The world needs more generous people like the fans of the very popular online character known as 'Pop'. If you're not familiar with 'Pop' his name is Joe Mack Roy and he has been using his charming personality to grow his audience to millions of people online. Pop lives in Longview with his sweetheart of a bride known as 'Nan'. The videos are created by Jason Roy, who is a grandson of Pop. Recently, Pop had to travel to Dallas for a medical procedure and while things took longer than expected upon arriving back home and visiting one of his favorite restaurants there was a generous gift waiting for Pop. It's one of the sweetest things I've seen online in a long time so I wanted to make sure I shared the kind story with you. Pop had recently been made the trip to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas to have a procedure on his throat. While it took a few days longer than expected for Pop to be released he is doing well now. Pop Had a Surprise Waiting For Him at One of His Favorite RestaurantsAfter being released from the hospital Jason helped Pop get back home to Longview. He was recovering and still wanting to go on more adventures around town. Jason then was grabbing food from Papacita's in Longview and as they were getting ready to pay for their meal an employee said there was a gift card waiting for Pop and Nan from a good Samaritan. This Kind of Generosity is Fantastic to See in LongviewWe will never know who left this gift card for Pop, and it really doesn't matter. But how great is it that people are looking out for each other. This is the type of Southern Hospitality that needs to be recognized which is exactly why I wanted to share it with you. Here are some of the best Mexican restaurants found in Longview: If you find yourself in Longview looking for a fantastic breakfast location listen to the locals and visit one of these locations. If you're looking for a great restaurant for a date night near Longview here are some suggestions from locals: If you've never taken time to check out East Texas own online celebrity, do yourself a favor and go check out Pop Watch forthwith. We'll provide links to both the YouTube Channel and Facebook page below. Joe Mack Roy, aka 'Pop,' of Longview is not only much loved by East Texans, but actually by people all over the country and beyond. There's just something about his plainspoken manner that will almost certainly make you smile, if not outright laugh out loud. As a matter of fact, he has almost 160,000 subscribers on YouTube and MILLIONS have liked the Pop Watch Facebook page. And for good reason... It's actually Pop's devoted grandson, Jason, who creates the hilarious content that we love so much. (Thanks, Jason.) Photo courtesy of facebook.com/JOEMACKPOP As we've mentioned in our previous article about Pop, "the hilarious part is when you see pop's genuine reaction to everyday things. Pop is saying all the things that we are thinking, with the charm of an older gentleman." I think we've all been craving that--particularly in a modern world that can become SO politically correct, it can strip away some of the authenticity and eccentric charm of our interactions with our fellow East Texans. Recently, Jason shared that Pop had been at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas to have a procedure done on his throat. While weren't able to glean what it was specifically, we were happy to hear that it went okay and Pop was in "good spirits." Photo courtesy of facebook.com/JOEMACKPOP Jason's grandmother and Pop's wife 'Nan' "said his throat [was] pretty sore so he [was] having trouble eating his jello and drinking liquids." Thankfully, there hadn't been any complications. This past Saturday, Jason posted an update video on the Pop Watch YouTube channel to let us all know the latest on how he was feeling. Pop was not particularly wanting to eat the hospital food (he's not alone there), though he was okay with taking in liquids. Jason said he felt his Pop was being stubborn. Which is, of course, one of the reasons we love him so much. At the same time, when it comes to doing what the doctors recommend to help ya heal, it can be a challenge. We'll share the video below. Here's what Jason had to say:
Jason, we'll definitely be hanging in there with y'all. Sending love to Pop, Nan, you, and your whole family. By the way, here's the link to the Pop Watch Facebook page, too. Get better, Pop. We all miss you. If you're looking for some delicious lunch ideas when you're in Longview, locals have suggested these locations. Longview is looking for new business to open up shop in a new area just being developed. Locals in East Texas speak up about the best place to get ribs.
Joe Mack Roy tells it like it is. Just ask any of the more than 33,000 YouTube subscribers the 84-year-old Longview native has drawn worldwide. “I’m just like they see and hear,” he said recently, sitting on his Spring Hill porch with his wife of 60-plus years, Maria. “That’s me. I wouldn’t care about changing, to be honest.” Roy’s cyber celebrity sprung from interactions with his grandson, Jason Roy, who lives across the street and started uploading short videos with his Pop to Facebook. “Because my family is in Puerto Rico,” Maria Roy said, noting the American territory where her husband was stationed in 1952 with the Air Force. “And then, people thought it was funny. They started making comments, and Jason started doing a little more, the little videos. And people got inspired by it. They said, ‘He looks like my grandfather.’ It’s nostalgic — little videos, because it reminds them of their grandfather that they wish they could have enjoyed a little more.” It might — if their grandfather’s advice for men was to “wash your dirty bootys” on Mother’s Day, or if he could pop an envelope against a cat’s rear and still have the cat follow him around. “You ready to go somewhere?” the grandson asks in that episode titled “Pop Just Nonchalantly Swats Cat off Chair.” “Well,” Pop replies, “we might as well if we ain’t got nothing else to do.” That activity could be a porch episode, or a ride-along as Jason Roy makes deliveries to schools and other customers of Sport Tyler Olympic equipment supply company. Pop explains why his foot did not fall asleep because he lacks vitamins and protein in “I Aint Shakin’ That Ensure,” one of 102 episodes of Pop Watch. “No, it’s just that I do so much around there that I don’t have time to sleep,” he says. The 25-year Texas Eastman retiree is just as straightforward sitting on his porch, with or without Maria. They were together that late morning as he spoke with a reporter when Maria asked if his hearing aids were turned up. “I’d rather just miss a lot of stuff than hear it,” he replied. Maria, a former banker now in her 42nd year teaching banking, Spanish and other topics at Kilgore College, can be as blunt as her husband. She explained the name of the YouTube series, “Pop Watch,” by saying that’s what their grandson calls him. “I call him every other name,” she added, not long after pointing out a small bruise on her husband’s left arm. “I don’t know,” he said of the mark. “It didn’t hurt. Don’t get me to lying how it started.” And she explains how they married, against her family’s wishes, after meeting two weeks before he was to ship back to the States. “ ‘He is going to take you out there and murder you. We won’t ever hear from you,’ “ she recalled the warnings of brothers and parents. “Sometimes, you just have to take a chance and reap the benefits.” Pop’s language can trend blue. But he doesn’t smoke or drink beyond two beers before dinner. He used to smoke, but he quit that in Pop fashion. “I tell you what,” he said. “I was sitting here one day and lit up me a cigarette. And I looked at it and just thumped it out in the driveway. And that was it. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.” His year and a half on YouTube doesn’t seem to have made a diva out of Pop. “As far as I’m concerned, they could stop it right now,” he said. He had much the same to say about the American political scene. “No, no politics,” he declared. “I never did care about getting into that. We’ve got too much of that going on right now. I’m really going to be honest with you. I don’t keep up with that. It flashes on TV, I see it and that’s it.” Pop prefers to invest TV time in the Discovery Channel’s “Naked and Afraid.” His favorite beverage is Dr Pepper. He prefers his pizza crust thin and won’t walk past a chocolate cream pie. The couple has a favorite song, one that might be called romantic in Pop World. It’s Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” “We used to dance to it,” Maria said. The popularity of Pop Watch surfaces in the couple’s daily lives as strangers stop to say hello. “I tell them, when they come down the road and start to turn in,” he said, waving his arm like he’s swishing an airborne cat. “I do like this, and they just move on down the road.” Don’t misread Pop, he’s warm down in there somewhere. “I’m usually sitting right here,” he said. “They say, ‘Are you Pop?’ I say, ‘Yeah. I’m Pop.’ ... When they come up here, I let them do the talking. They get ready to go, and I say, ‘Bye.’ ”
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