In the Montavilla neighbourhood of south-east Portland, Oregon, a three-year-old girl named Avlina waited at her front window every morning for one person: Ian Simon, her family's US Postal Service mail carrier. When he arrived, the two danced together through the glass, with no music and no plan, just improvised moves and a lot of laughing. Her father filmed it, posted it on TikTok in late 2020, and the clip travelled around the world.
At a time when many children had barely seen anyone outside their household for months, the video showed something simple and real: a daily moment of connection between a child and a neighbourhood worker. Here is what we know about the pair, how the ritual started, and why so many people found it moving.
Who are Avlina and Ian Simon?
Avlina's father, David Whitlow, posts on TikTok under the name Dr. David DC. Some news reports call his daughter Ava, a short form of her name. Ian Simon is a USPS carrier whose route includes their street. He was already known locally as a friendly face; Whitlow has said Simon waves to everyone on the block.
The family told reporters the routine began well before the pandemic. According to a December 2020 report by KPTV, carried by CNN Newsource, the dancing had been going on for about two years by then. HuffPost Canada reported that Avlina had been dancing with her mail carrier from the time she was first able to stand up.
How the window dance started
Nobody planned it. Simon explained it as something that grew by accident: "One of us started to do a little jig, and we just keep on doing it now." A small wiggle from the doorstep turned into a reply from the window, and then into a habit both of them looked forward to.
There is no choreography. Most days there is no music either. Each of them makes up moves on the spot and copies or answers the other. That is part of the charm. It looks like what it is: a toddler and a grown man being silly together for a minute before he carries on with his round.
@dr.daviddc #positivevibes #friendstory #happiness #Essentialworkers #uspsworker #usps #dance #fyp @boredmama503
♬ Home - Edith Whiskers
The video embedded above was filmed by Avlina's mother and a neighbour and posted by her father. It shows the dance from inside and outside the house, so you see both partners at once.
Why the video spread so widely
Whitlow shared the clip in late 2020, during the long months of COVID-19 restrictions. Reports at the time described it as seen around the world and shared on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Exact view totals were not published by the outlets we checked, so the often-repeated figure of "millions of views" is plausible but unconfirmed.
Whitlow said the reaction was overwhelming, and that many viewers wrote to say they cried watching it. Former postal workers and their families were among the most enthusiastic commenters. For them, it was a rare public thank-you to a job that usually goes unnoticed.
For the family, the daily dance mattered more during lockdown than before. Whitlow summed it up neatly: "It starts the day on the right foot." For a small child cut off from friends and nursery, a guaranteed happy moment each morning was a big deal.
Mail carriers as part of the neighbourhood
Stories like this one are a reminder that mail carriers are often among the few people who visit every home on a street, every working day. The US Postal Service employs around 640,000 people and delivers to more than 170 million addresses. In the 2025 fiscal year it handled about 108.7 billion pieces of mail and packages.
During the pandemic that role became more visible. Carriers kept delivering medicines, bills, letters and online orders while many people stayed home. Later, USPS also delivered free COVID-19 home test kits, more than 1.8 billion of them by early 2024.
Simon spoke about that responsibility when reporters asked about the video. He said many people depend on carriers through bad weather, the pandemic and even Oregon's wildfire smoke, and added simply: "I love my job."
Why small daily rituals matter
There is nothing complicated about what Avlina and Simon do, and that is the point. A short, reliable ritual gives a day some shape. For a young child, knowing that a friendly person will appear at the window at roughly the same time can be reassuring, especially when other routines have disappeared.
The dance also shows something adults sometimes forget: connection does not need words, plans or equipment. A glass window, a few silly steps and a shared laugh were enough. Many viewers said the clip reminded them of a mail carrier, bus driver or shopkeeper from their own childhood who made them feel noticed.
If you want to bring a little of that into your own neighbourhood, it can be as simple as learning your carrier's name, waving, leaving a note of thanks, or letting children say hello. Small gestures tend to be returned.
What happened next
The Portland dance parties were set to carry on into 2021, according to the December 2020 report. Simon also built a modest following of his own on Instagram with clips of his dance moves on the job. Avlina, meanwhile, kept her spot at the window.
The story never needed a dramatic twist. Its appeal was that it was ordinary: two neighbours, one tiny and one tall, turning a delivery into the best minute of the morning, day after day.
Sources: KTVZ / CNN Newsource, 22 December 2020: Girl, mail carrier find joy in daily dance parties; HuffPost Canada: Little girl dancing with her postman on TikTok; Wikipedia: United States Postal Service. Video by David Whitlow (TikTok @dr.daviddc).
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