On May 10, when someone stole the e-bike that this cancer survivor needed to get to her oncology appointments, Officer JP Young of the Kansas City Police Department told her he would do everything he could to find it. Ever since it went missing on Mother’s Day, Officer Young had never stopped looking for Olivia’s […] The post Kansas City Cop Won’t Stop Until He Finds Stolen E-Bike for Cancer Patient One Month Later appeared first on Good News Network.

It’s a hard time for anyone to be looking for a job, but it’s especially tough when you’re older and a little out of the loop on modern job seeking and networking practices. LinkedIn is primarily a platform for working professionals to connect and find employment that aligns with their skills and values. With layoffs continuing, people have also used the website to courageously share their layoff experiences. While the main intent behind this is, of course, finding a new job, there have also been some lovely displays of humanity that not only challenge the stigma of being laid off but show the power of a supportive community. The post that started it all Take this heartwarming story, for example. Patrick McCarthy, Communications Management & Marketing Leader, recently posted about a layoff that quickly went viral on the platform. Not for himself. For his father. Patrick McCarthy and his dad, Peter Judge with ABC15 Arizona Newscaster. Photo credit: Patrick McCarthy via LinkedIn “This is Pete. He’s my dad,” his post began. “My dad lost his job yesterday. I would tag him here, but he doesn’t have a LinkedIn.” Pete, who has had a “starkly different professional journey” than his son, spent most of his life working in the service industry and absolutely loved interacting with customers. His empathy and knack for listening made him perfect for the role. Over his career, Pete had had thousands of interactions from working at Walgreens, Fry’s, and (most recently) WinCo Foods, often being the reason folks came back. And then, Pete was laid off. His job as a cashier, one that he loved and was good at, was gone. “As anyone would be, he’s shocked. Overwhelmed. Scared. Emotional,” Patrick wrote. Knowing his dad didn’t have the same network to easily find a new job, Patrick reached out on his behalf, wholeheartedly believing in the “magic” of the LinkedIn Community. He implored that anyone looking for a candidate with “a LOT of customer-facing, customer service, and service industry experience” send him a message so that he could put them in touch with Pete. Patrick’s faith paid off, way more than he thought it would. In less than a week, the post was shared over 500 times with over 600 comments from people wanting to help. A manager at a nearby Sprouts grocery store said Pete sounded like a perfect match for a clerk position that could even pay his daily wage ahead of time. Another suggested he could be an excellent outdoor tour guide for REI. Someone else referred them to a weekly meetup group led by a career coach. Even LinkedIn responded, writing, “Pete sounds like a top-tier employee! Keep us posted as he progresses on his journey, as well as any tips or insights either of you learn along the way. It may help those in a similar situation.” The story has a happy ending Truly, Pete’s story already provides some helpful insight. And thanks to a lovely update from Patrick, we can now report that Peter Judge is once again employed! Patrick shared his dad’s job update on LinkedIn Screenshot of Patrick’s LinkedIn post. Patrick was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. In another update, he wrote, “Though social media can take a lot of us into those places of darkness and loneliness and self-criticism, there’s something special about the people on LinkedIn. The people that are here for the right reasons. And it feels like I’ve found a lot of them. You know who you are.”  What this all really proves The words “social media” and “job market” can elicit some pretty negative visceral responses. Of course, this viewpoint has some merit, but it’s refreshing to see the power of human connection break through the disheartening headlines. Here’s to Patrick and his father Pete, for reminding us that even when things seem bleak or uncertain, the world is full of people trying to help out one another. This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated. The post Three years ago, a man wrote a heartfelt LinkedIn post about his dad losing his job. It paid off immediately. appeared first on Upworthy.

No one is above having a bad day, but in South Korea, there’s a specific phrase said to loved ones to acknowledge the bravery it takes just to show up. Often, when you’re having a bad day, week, or even month, it can feel never-ending. The hits seem like they won’t stop coming, and it can feel impossible to escape the dark cloud that decided to rain on any thought of a parade you could have. When these things happen, it can feel isolating, as if no one understands how hard you’re trying to keep moving forward without falling apart. No matter how much money or security someone has, they’re not immune to this very human experience. That’s likely why the Korean phrase 수고했어, pronounced “soo-goh-het-suh,” is bringing so many people to tears as they learn about it for the first time. Joyful embrace against a vibrant red backdrop. Photo credit: Canva The video that started it all Korean actor and real estate agent Hana Kim recently shared the saying with her followers on Instagram. In the video, she tells a story about her mother’s nightly routine of texting her before bed. She explains: “In America, people say, ‘You did a good job.’ In Korea, we say, ‘soo-goh-het-suh,’ but we don’t say it because you’ve succeeded. This is what my mom texts me every night before I go to bed, and it makes me feel really supported.” Kim explains that the phrase means, “You’ve carried your pain, but you still kept going.” Saying it to another person acknowledges that you see both their pain and their perseverance in the face of it. “So if today felt long soo-goh-het-suh,” Kim says. “If no one noticed how hard you worked today, soo-goh-het-suh. If you wanted to give up everything but you said, ‘just one more time,’ soo-goh-het-suh. And you don’t have to carry this alone.” View this post on Instagram It hit people right in the heart Commenters were moved by the simple phrase for acknowledging life’s struggles and the willingness to keep going. Several people said it brought them to tears, with one sharing: “Not me suddenly bursting into tears. I’ve been so overwhelmed and struggling with balancing my life since my mom passed. The thought of getting a text or message from her saying that is both heart wrenching and comforting. Thank you for sharing this.” Someone grieving a loss welcomes the message: “THANK YOU, omg you had me in tears, it’s been so hard for me since we lost our girls after fighting so hard to keep them alive, I still can’t believe we lost them and sometimes is even hard to leave my bed, every day I get up I feel like I overcame my pain, my anger, my thoughts, my anxiety. So, yes your words felt like an act of kindness where we recognise that for some circumstances, the simple things become an achievement and a sign of success.” A mother and daughter share a joyful hug by the window. Photo credit: Canva The reactions kept pouring in Another person writes, “Wow! I’m crying at work. I needed this!!!! Thank you for sharing,” while someone else adds, “Now I’m sitting in my car crying. That’s so much more fitting than any phrase in English to acknowledge someone’s struggle and see that they keep carrying on.” Someone else chimes in to share their appreciation for the newfound phrase, saying, “This is the most beautiful praise, recognition, and supportive message that truly means so much yet could seem small to some. Thank you for sharing.” One person simply declares, “I have no words to explain how this made me feel.” A phrase worth borrowing At the end of the day, maybe English doesn’t need a new word so much as it needs this one. 수고했어 isn’t about praise for a job well done, it’s about being seen for simply showing up on the hard days, the ones where getting out of bed already counted as a win. That’s a kind of acknowledgment most people are quietly starving for. So the next time someone you love is having a rough stretch, skip “you’ve got this” and try something closer to soo-goh-het-suh instead. You carried it. You kept going. That’s enough. This article originally appeared in February. It has been updated. The post A beautifully simple Korean phrase said to loved ones having a hard day is bringing people to tears appeared first on Upworthy.

Pit bulls continue to be labeled as “bad dogs,” but no one would argue that the breed is ugly. Their big, blocky heads and tiny ears that barely cover their ear holes make them adorable shadows. But one house hippo is gaining attention for his unique look that screams pit bull… or teddy bear, depending on which end you’re greeted with first. Theodore is a brown pit bull who looks exactly as expected from his forehead down to his chin, but the rest of this pooch looks like he’s dressed for Halloween. He’s covered in fluffy, long hair from his ears to his tail, making him look like a golden retriever from the back and a pit bull from the front. His unique look is the result of a rare genetic condition. Before finding his forever home with Joanna Meadows, Theo was rehomed six times. Based on earlier videos from his time with Meadows, the peculiar-looking pup also had some odd habits that may have frustrated previous owners. But for his forever mom, finding a dog perched atop a kitchen cabinet is nothing she can’t roll with. In an interview with GeoBeats, Meadows explains how Theo wound up with flowing locks and a typical bully-breed face. “The reason he’s so different-looking is because he has a mutation,” Meadows says. “It’s called FGF5, and that’s the reason his coat’s so long like this. He’s got a pit bull face, and he looks like he’s in a teddy bear costume. He was an accident. The owner was in a position where she really could not care for him.” A rough start before finding home Theo’s first owner rehomed him with a friend, but unfortunately, that friend couldn’t care for him for long before he ended up in an animal shelter. That began a revolving-door relationship with shelters before Meadows finally took him home. After so much rehoming, Theo was anxious when he arrived, but he soon settled in once he realized his new mom wasn’t taking him back. As Meadows says, “As long as he’s with me, he is content. He’s happy.” Theo’s human later explains that the mutation he has is rarely seen in pit bulls, though it can occur if both parents carry it. As for how his hair feels, apparently it’s soft enough to belong in shampoo ads promising luscious locks. “His fur is super soft,” Meadows shares. “It flows in the wind. It’s almost feathery in some places. It’s super, super soft.” View this post on Instagram The proud pup mom becomes emotional when she talks about how much he has changed since coming to live with her. She takes him everywhere, and he provides emotional support when she’s feeling down. It seems Theo has found the perfect place to land, and commenters agree the pair truly belongs together. The internet fell for him too “I can’t believe he was returned six times. He looks like the sweetest teddy bear,” one person writes. “Thank you for giving this poor guy a home. Returned SIX TIMES. People are so awful,” another shares. “He looks like a mini Chewbacca!!! He’s adorable! Thank you for making him your fur companion. He’s living his best life now,” someone else gushes. One person imagines things from Theo’s point of view, saying, “In the beginning he’s like ‘I know. This isn’t going to work out. I know I’m going to get returned. So I’m not going to open my heart.’ Thank you for approving him wrong. loving and adopting him he is adorable.” View this post on Instagram Sometimes the last stop is the right one At the end of the day, Theo’s story is about more than a rare gene or a funny-looking coat. It’s a reminder that a dog returned six times isn’t a broken dog, he’s just a dog waiting for the right person to stop giving up on him. Joanna didn’t need him to be perfect or predictable. She just needed him to be hers. Now Theo gets to be exactly who he is, mohawk, teddy bear fluff, kitchen cabinet climbing and all, without ever wondering if this home is temporary too. This article originally appeared in February. It has been updated. The post Pit bull has a rare genetic mutation that makes him look like he’s wearing a teddy bear costume appeared first on Upworthy.

Imagine this scenario: you’re rushing out of the house when you realize you don’t have your keys. You’re in a hurry and do not have time for this. You look everywhere while your toddler, dog, and cat watch you panic. Which of these three do you think will be the most helpful when your anxiety runs the highest? An experiment run by researchers at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, asked this exact question. And while their findings might not be too surprising for some, others may find that their own experience shows otherwise. Either way, online commenters are having a blast with the whole thing. Cats vs. dogs vs. toddlers The animal behavior study, co-authored by Melitta Csepregi, Anna Ágnes Moravcsik, Ádám Miklósi, and Márta Gácsi, is titled “Dogs’ behaviour is more similar to that of children than to that of cats in a prosocial problem situation.” The idea was to compare toddlers, dogs, and cats in terms of their “pro social behavior.” Of utmost importance, the study found that all three species cared…at least a little. “All species were attentive toward the searched object or distressed caregiver,” the study notes. But what stood out, hence the title of the research paper, was that dogs and toddlers were similar in showing “spontaneous pro-social behavior.” Cats, on the other hand, were a tad more self-serving. “Cats mainly showed object-related behaviors when it was in their own interest.” In their own interest The paper concluded, “Children and dogs displayed similar levels of object-related behaviour in the test trials, including those explainable by stimulus enhancement and those likely indicative of pro-sociality. By contrast, cats only displayed showing behaviour (gaze alternation), and even this occurred with a significantly lower probability. In the motivational trial, no species differences were observed in any variable, indicating that cats could also be involved in the problem situation if it was in their own interest.” View this post on Instagram Writer Helen Pilcher, PhD adds a bit of surmised opinion in BBC’s Science Focus. She shares, “It didn’t matter what the object was, more than 75 per cent of the dogs and the children either gestured towards the hidden item or went to retrieve it. They didn’t have any special training. There wasn’t anything in it for them. They were, it seems, just happy to help. Cats, on the other hand, only ‘helped’ their owner if there was something in it for them. The only time they got off their backsides was when a treat or toy went missing, and even then, only 40 per cent of the cats approached or looked towards the hidden item.” Cats are actually very loving Now, some might find this study and its findings a bit flawed. In a recent piece on Upworthy, my colleague Annie Reneau shared a veterinarian’s take that cats are extremely loyal and loving to their caregivers. Reneau shares, “Cats may appear to be standoffish or only affectionate when they feel like it, but it could be that they are showing you they love you in ways that you might not recognize. Cats can be a lot harder to read than dogs, but they really do love us, just not always in the ways we expect.” It’s also worth noting that cats and dogs have been domesticated differently and, of course, at different times. Self-described cat connoisseur, Jackson Galaxy (AKA the Cat Daddy), is an author and feline expert with 30 years of experience working with cats. He also has 2.6 million subscribers on YouTube, where he posted a clip explaining, “With dogs, we co-evolved with them from the time they came in with us and it was all about helping us hunt, share our food and then you know striking this bond. And over time selectively breeding them to do very specific jobs. In the meantime they became companions.” Very different timelines The journey with felines is a bit different. Galaxy explains, “With cats, it really came down to this mutually beneficial relationship starting 12,000 years ago where we were storing grain. The mice and the rats were fouling that grain. The cats came along [and] took care of the mice and the rats. We said, ‘Well this is a great relationship.’ When  it came to calling them companions really that’s a blip in the timeline. We’re talking about a couple of hundred years as opposed to the 40,000 years with dogs.” That aside, many feline lovers have weighed in. A screenshot was posted on the BBC Science Focus Facebook page where some made jokes and others staunchly defended their feline friends. One Facebooker wrote, in part, “My cat was by my side 24h 7/7 when I got COVID and even before I had tested and had high fever. My cat stays by my side and licks my ankles when arthritis gets unbearable. My cat comes fast and jumps to me when she perceives people are not being too nice to me.” View this post on Instagram ‘Cats are teaching a lesson in responsibility’ Another joked that cats understand what’s happening, but want you to learn from your mistakes. “The cats are teaching a lesson in responsibility and the consequences of not taking care of your things. The dogs are just enablers who don’t care about personal growth. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk,” they said. And this person gives an example that completely negates the research: “We had a cat that did want to help. For example, we were on a trip, and her sister got herself locked in a room (likes to close doors). When we had someone check on them, she had been trying to push food under the door to her sister. It was crazy. She was the sweetest cat ever. She would always try to comfort us when we were upset. We lost her to cancer when she was only 11, but she was really special.” The post A study tested cats and dogs to see if they’d help humans in trouble. We love cats anyway. appeared first on Upworthy.