Walter Finch
A YOUNG man ‘from the streets’ who went viral on social media for his speech extolling the virtues of hard work has been gifted a new car by a Malaga entrepreneur.
Twenty-two-year old David, known online as Nano Jr, recorded the TikTok as he walked to his job in a logistics centre after his car had broken down.
He urged kids from good families not to drop out of school, or spend their parents’ money on drugs and parties.
Instead, the tattoo aficionado explained how he works 15 hours a day doing two jobs in order to provide for his family as the man of the house.
He talked about the phrase ‘tener calle,’ which roughly translates as ‘being streetwise’, which is a common term among Generation Z and centennials.
It implies belonging to the lower class, having an attitude and using expressions like ‘bro’ – essentially acting like a ‘hard man.’
However, Nano argued that the phrase is misinterpreted, and that it is not about those values at all.
“The street isn’t about causing trouble for your parents; the street is about taking care of your family, the street is about moving your family forward,” he said.
Hoping that he could ‘perhaps help 20 kids’, instead his message took social media by storm and has currently wracked up five and a half million views.
And during an appearance on Spanish TV show ‘Hoy en Dia’, he received a call from the CEO of meat producers Famadesa, Federico Beltran.
The businessman told Nano Jr that he would be rewarding him with a brand new Seat Ibiza, moving the young man to tears.
Although others pointed out that it was not right that Nano Jr needed to work 15 hours a day just to survive, while others were so wealthy they could just give cars away.
“No, it is not admirable that a 22-year-old young man has to work 15 hours a day to support his family. It is not an example to follow,” the writer Luis Gonzalo Segura said.
“That is the message that the exploiters and their lackeys want to convey.”
Julen Bollain, a professor in development studies at Mondragon Unibertsitatea in the Basque country, was in agreement.
“A society should be ashamed that to survive you have to exploit yourself, while the richest 10% in Spain own 76% of the wealth,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In his viral video, Nano Jr explained how he started working at the age of 16 and has been holding down multiple jobs ever since to support his family.
“I’m working two jobs, working my butt off. Why? For example, if my sister needs new shoes, I buy them; if we need oil at home, I buy a big bottle of oil.
“Here I am, trying to support my family because that’s what I have to do.”
Nano Jr works as an Amazon delivery driver From Monday to Sunday, with two days off that vary each week.
“I start at 10 in the morning and deliver until 7:30 – 8:00 at night.”
In the evenings, he works at VIPS during the night shift. “When I finish at 8pm, I go home, change out of my jeans, and head to VIPS, where I start at 9pm.”
He finishes when the restaurant closes, which depends on the number of customers that day.
Then, he goes home to sleep ‘from two to nine, getting my seven hours of sleep, and I wake up fresh.’
“There are no excuses; you have to keep moving forward,” he concluded.
However, he did confess to having had several disputes in his neighbourhood.
He also admitted that he had a trial pending because the police mistook him for ‘other kids from the neighbourhood’ due to his tattoos.
But he is confident that the misunderstanding will be smoothed out once police get to know him.
Since his moment of fame, Nano Jr said he has been overwhelmed with the offers of jobs, help and assistance he has received.
