Quinn Duane’s fiancé called off their wedding just days before the ceremony. The venue was booked. The food was ordered. The decorations were set. And none of it was refundable. The whole thing had cost $35,000. Duane’s mother, Kari, had an idea. They’d already paid for a wedding feast for 120 people. So they invited Sacramento’s unhoused community to come eat it. “When I found out on Monday that the wedding would not be taking place, it just seemed like, of course, this would be something that we would do to give back,” Kari said. Duane didn’t attend the banquet herself, but she supported the plan. “When you have a ton of food, what better way to give it to the hungry, those who need it,” she said. The first person to arrive was a woman who was too old to work and couldn’t afford rent. Then more people showed up. About 90 in total. The meal included salmon, tri-tip, appetizers, salad, gnocchi, and cauliflower. A group of people enjoying dinner. Photo credit: Canva Rashid Abdullah brought his wife and five kids. “When you’re going through a hard time and a struggle for you to get out to do something different and with your family, it was really a blessing,” he said. His wife, Erika, added, “To lose out on something so important to yourself and then give it to someone else is really giving, really kind.” Duane told KCRA that “the most overwhelming thing was how many people were positively impacted.” When asked what she took away from the whole situation, she said, “Doing something positive doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. Mine came out of a bad situation and regardless, it’s important to pay forward and do something positive in the world.” Bride's family feeds homeless after groom's cold feethttps://t.co/OhX9FPirIJ pic.twitter.com/c6FVJbncPC— KSDK News (@ksdknews) October 19, 2015 The family had also paid for a honeymoon in Belize. Duane and her mom decided to use it and took the trip together. The post Groom called off the wedding days before the ceremony. The bride’s family fed 90 people instead. appeared first on Upworthy.

Hans Jørgen Olsen and his sister were walking in the woods near their house in Norway when they accidentally wandered into a moose’s territory. The moose did not appreciate this. It charged straight at them. Hans was 12. His sister was in danger. And the only thing that came to mind was something he’d learned from World of Warcraft. In the game, there’s a move called “taunting” where you distract an enemy to pull its attention away from your teammates. Hans decided to try it on the moose. He taunted it, the moose focused on him instead of his sister, and she got away. A young boy plays a video game. Photo credit: Canva When Next Nature asked Hans if taunting a real moose was different from doing it in a game, he admitted he was terrified. “Animals are highly unpredictable. It was a high gamble. I could have tried to run, but I might have been trampled. I was really hoping my plan would work since moose are herbivores.” Herbivores or not, moose are huge and can absolutely kill you. The fact that Hans thought to use a video game tactic in that moment, and that it actually worked, is kind of wild. Hans told the outlet that video games had taught him more than just combat tactics. “There’s a lot of math in games. It’s helped me with budgeting and understanding how markets work, thanks to in-game marketplaces and auction houses,” he said. He also credited games with helping him learn languages, cooperation, and strategy. A K12 survey backed this up. They polled working professionals and found that 53% said their childhood gaming experience helped them build career skills. Problem-solving and strategic thinking were the top ones, and 44% had used a skill from a video game in real life. Hans doesn’t play World of Warcraft anymore. He’s moved on to Elden Ring, Toxic League, and Valheim. But he did offer some advice for other gamers: “Do your best, learn as much as possible, and don’t take verbal attacks from others online to heart. Just take a deep breath and play your best because you won’t perform well if your mind is clouded. And most importantly, have fun.” Oh, and one more thing. His biggest takeaway from the moose encounter? “Stay the hell away from an enraged moose.” The post Moose charged at his sister. The 12-year-old remembered a trick from World of Warcraft. appeared first on Upworthy.

Scott Kuru, CEO of Freedom Property Investors, opened LinkedIn one day in January 2023 and decided to share some hiring advice. “Never hire anyone that’s looking for work-life balance,” he wrote. The backlash was immediate and comprehensive. Kuru tried to clarify. “I am not against work-life balance. Balance is important. You cannot perform at high levels unless you have all the areas in your life in harmony.” But then he kept going. “Most people, not all, but most people that say ‘I’m looking for work-life balance’ are not driven to grow and therefore are not committed to improvement and or being super committed to the companies goals.” He also claimed that companies offering four-day workweeks only attract people who have “given up on their growth” and end up building “teams and companies of B players and low performers.” The comments section became a masterclass in professional disagreement. Michael Kowalczyk, an investment property strategist, wrote: “As an active father of 3 kids under 5, I’m a firm believer an individual can maintain a healthy work-life balance and perform at a high level. If your employee is able to produce the same results in 3/4 days worth of work, as what another can accomplish in 5 days, then I’d favor to hire that employee.” He added that too many people work hard for decades only to reach retirement “and regret not being to maintain that balance.” Ryan Scott, CEO of PLC, pointed out that “work-life balance” isn’t a negative term. “It’s in fact a statement of intent that people are now more mindful of balancing their life rather than only serving one aspect of it (career).” The post went viral across multiple platforms. Reddit’s antiwork subreddit tore it apart. Bored Panda covered it. YourTango ran a piece pointing out that a December 2020 study found 76% of workers were experiencing burnout, and that employees who maintain a balanced life actually work 21% harder than those who are overworked. After the pile-on, Kuru posted a follow-up attempting damage control. “The term ‘work-life balance’ is often misunderstood,” he wrote, explaining that he does offer flexible schedules and encourages his team to take time off when needed. He also emphasized that people have “freedom of choice” and can find companies better suited to their priorities. The whole thing perfectly captured a disconnect that’s been widening for years. Workers increasingly recognize that burnout is real, that life outside work matters, and that productivity doesn’t require sacrificing everything else. Meanwhile, some employers still operate like it’s 1995 and the ability to work 80-hour weeks is a virtue rather than a health crisis waiting to happen. Kuru’s LinkedIn is still active, still posting hustle-culture content about growth and sacrifice and momentum. The work-life balance post, meanwhile, lives on as a cautionary tale about what happens when you tell the internet that wanting balance makes someone a “B player.” The post CEO posted that he’d never hire anyone seeking work-life balance. The internet had thoughts. appeared first on Upworthy.

On March 23, 1839, Boston Morning Post editor Charles Gordon Greene was writing a satirical piece making fun of the Providence Journal. At the end of a throwaway paragraph, he stuck in an abbreviation: “o.k.” It stood for “oll korrect,” which was an intentionally misspelled version of “all correct.” That joke became the most widely used expression in the English language. Greene wasn’t being random. According to History.com, the late 1830s were in the grip of an abbreviation craze, especially among young, educated elites in Boston. The twist was that they deliberately misspelled words first, then abbreviated them. It was the 1800s version of texting slang, and apparently it was hilarious at the time. A woman on her laptop gives the ‘OK” sign at her desk. Photo credit: Canva Other abbreviations from that era included “KG” for “know go” (no go), “KY” for “know yuse” (no use), “OW” for “oll wright” (all right), and “SP” for “small potatoes.” Most of these died out almost immediately. OK should have died with them. But it got a second life thanks to politics. When Martin Van Buren ran for president in 1840, his supporters formed the “O.K. Club,” playing off his nickname “Old Kinderhook” after his New York hometown. Meanwhile, the opposing Whig Party weaponized OK, claiming Van Buren’s mentor Andrew Jackson had invented it to cover up his terrible spelling. Van Buren lost the election. OK won everything else. By the end of 1839, OK had already appeared in the Boston Evening Transcript, the New York Evening Tattler, and the Philadelphia Gazette. After the 1840 campaign circus, it spread into everyday American speech and never left. For over a century, nobody knew where OK actually came from. Theories included a popular army biscuit manufacturer named Orrin Kendall, a Haitian port called Aux Cayes known for its rum, a Choctaw chief named Old Keokuk, and President Woodrow Wilson’s personal favorite: a Choctaw word he spelled “okeh.” It wasn’t until the 1960s that Columbia University linguist Allen Walker Read traced OK back to that 1839 Boston Morning Post article. He spent years systematically disproving every other theory and published his findings in 1963-64. The mystery was solved. A throwaway joke about intentional misspelling had become one of America’s greatest linguistic exports. Today, OK works as an affirmation (“Can I go?” “OK.”), an exclamation (“I got the job! OK!”), a description of mediocrity (“How was the movie?” “OK.”), and about a dozen other things depending on your tone of voice. It’s understood across languages and cultures. It shows up in text messages, business emails, casual conversation, and formal agreements. All because Charles Gordon Greene thought it would be funny to write “oll korrect” in a newspaper 186 years ago. The post A Boston newspaper editor made a dumb joke in 1839. It became the world’s most popular word. appeared first on Upworthy.

A commencement speaker at NC State’s College of Textiles announced that he’s paying off an entire year of loans for every graduate. Source: College Commencement Speaker Announces He’s Paying Off Final Year of Loans For Graduates to Honor Father Wow.