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Three friends on Denver, and what made them smile.

Answers What made you smile today? · see how other cities answered →

Five and a half minutes at First Friday in Denver with a group of friends on the sidewalk, three of whom take the mic. Maceo introduces himself, says he is from Philly, and asks what they like about it here.

Derek Hand answers small and local: “I like just like the art that they have here”, the people, “the Lime scooters for sure”, and the cars. Andrew widens it to the map and makes the case Denver people make: “You got the mountains 30 minutes away, you got the plains 30 minutes away, you got everything you need right here.” What stands out is the range: “this really dope art district” one way and “diehard fans for all the sports teams” the other. “we ride for our sports teams. I don’t think no other city does that”, he says, and lands on there being “something for everybody”.

Derek’s second answer is safety, and he is sheepish about it. “I honestly think the safety as well”, he says, meaning “being able to just like ride scooters or like just go around Denver having fun”. The people, he reckons, are “kind of all in the same, like, mindset”. He is a snowboard instructor, and his version of the mountains is about the option: “you could go up to where you want to be alone”, so “you could be anywhere for any mindset, any personality”.

Then the weekly question. The project gets explained on tape, “this project called Picture It Didn’t Happen”, a crypto bounty board that puts up a question a week and pays a hundred dollars for the favourite submission, with entries in from India, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya. This week: what made you smile.

Andrew goes home for it. He is at school in Nebraska, and what made him smile was “coming back home and being able to be with my guys”, the ones he has known “since middle school, high school, kindergarten”. “The happiest that I am is, is at home with my family.”

Derek’s answer is smaller and more honest: “getting out of my comfort zone about coming out with the, like, my friends again”, because he is “usually homebody a little bit”. What he takes from the night is “making sure that every moment’s special to you”.

Luis, pulled in from the edge of the group, has the same answer plus a visitor: his friends are back in town and “My grandpa’s visiting in town from Mexico”, from Chihuahua. He puts the rest of it plainly: “Again, to just be around my family. I’m healthy.”

Asked what they would ask the world, Derek wants to know whether people have snowboarded, “That’s my main passion.” Andrew wants the reason people get out of bed, “what’s their why?”, because the answers differ enough to be worth hearing. Luis asks the one that stays with you, “where do you feel the safest”, and what “brings joy and passion to your life”. Then they go back to their night.

What is in it

Jump straight to a moment.

Transcript

Who speaks, by their own introduction on the tape: Derek Hand at 0:03, Maceo at 0:08, Luis at 3:29. Transcribed and speaker-separated with AssemblyAI from the original audio, so nothing is masked. The letters are the model's speaker labels, not names; fillers are dropped by the model. Names corrected. Published in full so it can be read, searched and quoted. Search every transcript →

0:02MaceoYeah. All right, what’s your name?

0:03Derek HandMy name is Derek Hand.

0:04MaceoDerek Hand, fuck yeah. What’s your name?

0:06CUh, Andrew.

0:07MaceoAndrew, it’s nice to meet you guys. I’m Maceo, I’m from Philly. And so you guys from here in Denver? Yes, sir.

0:11Derek HandYes, sir.

0:12MaceoOkay, what do you like about being in Denver?

0:13Derek HandUh, I like just like the art that they have here. Um, some of the people, the Lime scooters for sure.

0:20MaceoOh yeah?

0:20Derek HandAnd, uh, seeing some of the cars, you know, that’s pretty cool.

0:23CThe culture they got here.

0:24Derek HandYeah, yeah, very -- yeah, very --

0:25CI think you’re not gonna find this anywhere else. I mean You got the mountains 30 minutes away, you got the plains 30 minutes away, you got everything you need right here. I mean, you’re 30 minutes away from everything.

0:33MaceoI think that’s really special. What stands out to you about the culture itself though?

0:37CI just think it’s unique. I mean, I, I think that you come down here in Denver, I mean, you got this really dope art district. I think if you go that way a little bit, you’re gonna find diehard fans for all the sports teams. I mean, we ride for our sports teams. I don’t think no other city does that. I mean, I think that there’s just something for everybody. And it’s all --

0:53MaceoI don’t know.

0:54CYeah, something for everybody.

0:55MaceoOkay, sick. Okay, sick.

0:57Derek HandUm, I honestly think the safety as well. Like, like, I don’t even mean to be laughing, but like, the safety of the town. Like, being able to just like ride scooters or like just go around Denver having fun. Like, you could really just go anywhere in Denver and have fun. I mean, like, there’s spots that you obviously But there’s -- it’s really fun. I think the people here are honestly kind of all in the same, like, mindset, you know, just coming out to, like, Colorado, having fun. Like, there’s so much to do here and just having fun.

1:31MaceoOkay, you guys go, like, hiking or climbing and shit like that?

1:34Derek HandYeah, yeah, yeah, I go -- well, we go snowboarding a lot. I’m a snowboard instructor.

1:38CYeah.

1:38MaceoOkay. Oh, fuck yeah.

1:40Derek HandUm, yeah, I would say, like, just going up to the mountains. It’s really not that far either. Like, you could really just come down to the city. You could go up to where you want to be alone. Like, you could be anywhere for any mindset, any personality. There’s something out here.

1:55CSo you here, go put your feet in the water in the mountains and just relax.

1:58Derek HandYeah, yeah, yeah.

1:59CFeel it out.

1:59MaceoVery sick. And so I’ve been doing like this weekly video journalism thing with this project called Picture It Didn’t Happen. Picture It Didn’t Happen is like a crypto bounty board kind of platform where we put up like a question every week. We give people $100, our favorite submission. We have people submit from like India, Nigeria, Uganda. Kenya so far outside the US. And, uh, this week our question is, what’s something that made you smile?

2:20CMan, something that made me smile is being able -- I mean, I go to school in Nebraska. Yeah. And coming back home and, uh, go Big Red! Yeah, for sure. Coming back home and being able to be with my guys. I mean, these are all my guys that I’ve been with since middle school, high school, kindergarten. Like, coming back and being able to hang out with them and just, you know, be with my family. I think that this is The happiest that I am is, is at home with my family. So that’s what made me smile this week.

2:45MaceoOkay, fuck yeah. Yeah, I think, uh, A+ answers.

2:48Derek HandThat was really good. Uh, I think something that made me smile this week is really just like kind of getting out of my comfort zone about coming out with the, like, my friends again. Like, usually homebody a little bit, um, but it’s nice to like actually like come out with your friends and like, I think that’s the The most important thing in my life is really just hanging out with family, friends, and you know, just having a good time, making sure that every moment’s special to you. And I think they really like touched my heart with it.

3:17MaceoSo okay, look at you guys, wholesome bunch. You guys give me an interview? Nah, absolutely not. What about you two?

3:24CSay what’s up.

3:25MaceoOkay, let’s go. Yes, Lulu. Hell yeah.

3:28LuisWhat’s up?

3:28MaceoWhat’s your name, man?

3:29LuisMy name’s Luis.

3:30MaceoOkay, Luis. Fuck yeah. And so you heard the question.

3:33LuisSomething made me smile this week. All right, let’s do it. Obviously, my friends coming back into town, me getting to hang out with all my boys, always special in my heart. Getting to see my family. My grandpa’s visiting in town from Mexico.

3:46MaceoOh, that’s sick! Which is you know where in Mexico?

3:49CChihuahua.

3:50MaceoOkay, okay.

3:50LuisYup, yup, yup, yup.

3:51MaceoThe lady back here, she looked like she’s like eighty. She gave me my double shot. She said she’s from Mexico. She started talking to me in Spanish.

3:56COh yeah!

3:58MaceoYeah, I’m like, cuidado, cuidado. Thank you.

3:59LuisNo, my bilingual, you know. Yeah, you know, again, see my grandpa again, see my mom, see my -- see her dad is always special.

4:06MaceoYeah, of course.

4:07LuisAgain, to just be around my family. I’m healthy. Um, you know, God is always good. So always, we’re always grateful.

4:15MaceoOkay, sick. And if you guys could ask people around the world some questions, what would you ask them? Like, what would you want to know?

4:20Derek HandI want to ask them if they’ve ever snowboarded before. That’s my main passion.

4:28MaceoOkay, cool, cool, cool.

4:29CI guess I would want to know like what their reason for waking up in the morning is. Like, what’s their why? You know what I mean? Because I mean, obviously that varies around the world. Like, for us it might be really easy, but, you know, overseas or whatever it might be like, it’s different. Obviously it’s different. And I think that that could definitely give a lot of insight to how other people live. And I think that that’s really important. So what their why is would probably be my question.

4:53LuisUm, my question would probably be, where do you feel the safest in terms of just being passionate about anything? It could be the smallest thing, whether it’s like me right now just being with my friends. Like, I feel safe regardless of where we’re at. But yeah, that’d probably be my question, just where do you feel the safest? What makes you feel safe, what brings joy and passion to your life.

5:21MaceoOkay, sick, sick, sick. All right guys, well, I appreciate it. This is for We Them Media. Fuck yeah.

Filmed the same day.

3 April 2026

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