There is a phone in our home that we never answer. Seriously. A constant barrage of robo-calls and “Anonymous” caller IDs has left that phone to be no more than a nuisance. In fact, we no longer even listen to the voice mails because of so much time wasted checking them.

We live in an OPT-IN world, defined by Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “to choose to do or be involved in something.” If I didn’t give you permission to communicate with me then your efforts, automated as they be, will be met with an unanswered ring.

I was eager to see “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” not because I had watched “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” as a kid (because I didn’t), but of my respect for Tom Hanks as an actor; a modern day Jimmy Stewart whose acting skill ranges from “Saving Private Ryan” to “Big,” from “You’ve Got Mail” to “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump.”

I was not disappointed.

But the movie wasn’t what I expected. It’s not really a cinematic bio-op of a quirky children’s television show host in Pittsburgh. It’s more about the impact and transformation that can happen when we choose to care for others, affirm them for who they are now, and inspire them to their better selves.

Folks in Houston, Texas, know the name Jim McIngvale, better known to locals as Mattress Mack, that eccentric guy in the Gallery Furniture TV commercials. But if that’s all he did I wouldn’t be writing about him now. And you wouldn’t care.

During Hurricane Harvey and recent Houston flooding, Mack’s showrooms became makeshift shelters in which hundreds of evacuees and dozens of National Guard troops could catch some much-needed rest. Recently, he arranged for Metro shuttle buses to bring some 10,000 Houstonians to his store parking lot for turkey with all the trimmings. And on and on and on.