Uplifting1 min(s) read
Published 19:00 09 Oct 2020 GMT
A UPS driver is warming the hearts of tens of thousands of people on Instagram thanks to his tendency to take pictures with every dog he meets during his shifts.
Jason Hardesty, who is now verified on Instagram, shares the adorable pics with his 88.1k followers whenever he is lucky enough to come across a pooch on a delivery.
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The 30-year-old, who describes himself in his Instagram bio as "a very easily entertained UPS driver", started the tradition about two years ago when he was moved to a different route in a younger area, per BuzzFeed News.
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"My old route, which was more families, the dogs did not like you," he told the publication. "They moved me to a different area of town with more people my age, more single people, and the dogs were a lot friendlier."
He added, "They come to the door and are happy and let you pet them and stuff."
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Jason's Instagram account experienced a real surge in followers after author Jami Attenberg - who is on Hardesty’s delivery route - shared a link to his #pupsofjay tag with her 30.2k Twitter followers.
"I think I gained like 10,000 followers in 48 hours," Hardesty said.
Related - This genius dog managed to say "I love you" to her owners using a soundboard:
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Jason's most recent doggy snap posted last Friday, (October 2) has attracted 5,125 likes and 60 gushing comments.
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A user with the handle @jeannine_pope told the UPS driver: "That is a precious pup and a wonderful pic! Congrats on your magazine cover this month!"
User @cricketskittles took to the comments to share: "I wish I were still in NOLA for so many reasons, but one is definitely that I wish you and my pup Cricket could’ve met!!!"
Another user, @bayou_love, said: "Should get you a dog ups costume and give it to you favorite dog next week. That would be so cute" alongside heart eyes emoji
A fourth person, user @calli_kaliyah, suggested: "You really need to change your route and deliver in Ponchatoula!!! I need a photo opportunity with my dogs and the UPS man."
Jason told BuzzFeed News that he doesn't actually have a dog himself and so seeing them on his shifts is a real highlight.
"They love the fact that their dog loves me and I love them," he said.
