Timothy was exhausted for he worked extended hours. Although earning a low wage and handling ill-mannered customers, he always put serving those who sat are his tables well on the front burner of his mind He went about his daily duties carefully, putting on a smiling face as customers complained about the food or questioned the bill.

Usually as night deepen preparing to close the business, he would notice a couple of customers walk in, sit down and order drinks. Most of the crew had left by closing time, but Timothy stayed to serve. Eventually, the last round was ordered and be gave them the bill. The minimum tip was suggested on the receipt. “Tomorrow will be better,” he murmured.

But luck wouldn’t always smile on him. Evening approaching, a group of teenagers stepped in. Thankfully, they were polite and respectful. Their cheerful behavior began to affect him. As always, he did his best to make their dining experience a pleasant one.

Time dragged on and they finished their drinks. He placed the bill on the table, accompanied with some candies. The group placed their notes on the receipt and left smiling. When he returned to clear the table, he was astonished. A tip of $3 was sitting there, staring at him, but their total bill amounted to $100. He’d gone above and beyond to serve them. How could they be so rude?

Later that week, he battled to brush off the awkward memories. He arrived at work and expected it to be like any other day, but there was something left on the desk for him, a two-page handwritten letter from the teenagers with $18 attached, in which they explained they were unaware of how to tip appropriately due to it being their first time in this bar. Everything suddenly made sense.

Timothy thumbed up what they did with a big grin and he was so moved by their gesture that he uploaded a picture of the letter sharing their admirable efforts. The reaction was more than positive.

Bicycle riding has taken the world by storm. Bicycles are typically made of steel or aluminum but now there is a unique company that is growing bikes on trees, literally. These bicycles are made of British-grown ash trees by Welsh maker Andy Dix. His Hay-on-Wye company, Twmpa Frames, is making bikes that are of high performance and environmentally sustainable.

“It’s great to push for more bikes and fewer cars on the road, but there’s no escaping the fact that the bike industry as a whole is pretty energy intensive, ” Dix told Cycling Industry, “I’ve always tried to minimize environmental impact in my work. Rather than relying on heavily-processed metals, or layers of plastic that will one day end up in landfill, I’m building bikes from captured carbon, in a process powered by sunlight. ”

It took two years to build the prototype (雏形) that was made from ash wood. Dix tested the wooden bike on the roughest roads he could find and discovered that it was comfortable, durable, and excellent at absorbing shakes. He put more than 3, 000 miles on the bike. Dix explained, “I was running along battered roads that would have shaken me to bits on a aluminum bike. The penny dropped: Not only could I make a bike out of wood, but it had inherent advantages over other materials. ”

Though cutting down trees can add to more carbon in the atmosphere, sustainable tree farming is possible. Dix said that manufacturing a British tonne of aluminum results in carbon emissions of 4, 532 kg while producing a tonne of wood only emits 457 kg. Currently, the cost of a new Twmpa Cycle is out of reach for many bicycle riders; but the idea of using sustainable materials like ash trees could start a new cycling revolution that puts the environment first. Helping the environment could be just a pedal away.

While rice and wheat are the two most commonly consumed grains worldwide, a study covering more than 100, 000 people has revealed that choosing rice as a staple (主要的) food may result in a lower risk of obesity (肥胖).

Researchers collected data from participants aged 35 to 74. The participants responded to questionnaires via face-to-face interviews, providing information about their medical history and lifestyle, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, dietary status and physical activity. The researchers divided them into three groups according to their weekly rice and wheat intake. The first group eats rice as their staple food, consuming it either daily or four to six times per week. The second group’s staple food is wheat, and the third group consumes both rice and wheat as their staple food, with similar frequency.

The results show that rice preference may be associated with a lower risk of certain obesity types and that higher wheat intake was associated with higher risks of excessive body fat in men and women. However, when wheat lovers changed their staple food to rice five times per week, the participants showed a 36.5 percent lower risk of obesity in men and a 20.5 percent lower risk in women.

According to the researchers, wheat flour absorbs less water than rice when cooked, partly resulting in a higher energy density of wheat than rice. Meanwhile, rice-based dietary patterns often have more fresh vegetables, legumes, meat and fish servings. People with wheat preference tend to eat large bowls of noodles with fewer vegetables or less meat, and sometimes even with a large amount of oil.

The researchers concluded that compared with a preference for wheat, a preference for rice, or changing from wheat to rice could be associated with lower risks of overall fat accumulation, especially for individuals with normal weight. They also noted that given the vast territory and diverse ethnic groups, further studies may be necessary to fully understand the regional specificity and potential reasons for the observed links.