Hi friends,

Welcome to Connect x3. I hope you enjoy this week's stories — told from Chicago, Ho Chi Minh City and Columbus, about collective empathy, spontaneous ink, and gratitude on the slopes.

Connect soon,

Katie

This week's 3:

Collective empathy in The Loop:

I was driving in The Loop during peak rush hour, and a man was lying in the middle of a busy intersection in distress. People stopped and were genuinely concerned.

I called 911. “We’re already on our way to get that man some help. Thank you so much for calling,” the operator told me.

Multiple people had already called her to help him. I felt appreciation for the human-first response effort and love for my city.

— Katie Goebel, Chicago

Spontaneous ink:

It’s rush hour in Ho Chi Minh City, and we need to escape the madness of major intersections with no stoplights, cars and motorbikes swerving between each other to be the first home after a long day’s work, horns screaming, people yelling, music playing. Sensory overload in every direction.

We find a trendy craft brewery, Winking Seal, on a hidden road and excitedly walk in. No one is in the brewery yet, but the delicious handmade pale ale starts flowing, and we quickly start to relax from the chaos. It’s us and the bartender laughing, sharing stories and talking louder with every passing pint.

As he pours the three of us our third pint of the evening, we notice these perfect lines and beautiful artwork on his arm. I mean, these tattoos were truly perfect.

I don’t know if it was the liquid courage or the beautiful art or the amazing conversations — maybe all three. But one hour later, and we are sitting in the chair at the tattoo shop.

— Sam Spurlock Simpson, Ho Chi Minh City

(Editor's Note: Sam and her husband Nick are on a journey around the world. Follow along.)

Gratitude on the slopes:

I’d gone skiing for the afternoon with one of my best friends. She was taking a lesson, and I was on the chair lift on my way up the slope for one of my last runs of the day. I realized I was sitting next to a snowboarder I’d seen earlier that day, going off all these jumps with such a fearlessness that it was as if he was flying.

“You’re the snowboarder I saw earlier today doing all those jumps. You’re so talented!” I told him.

“I don’t know about that, but I’m just happy to still be out here, and I’ll keep showing up for as long as I can,” he told me modestly.

“That’s not a bad aspiration,” I thought to myself, grateful to be doing the same thing.

— Jeanne Booth, Columbus

Prompt for next edition: Unexpected humor

When was a time that you found humor in the unexpected?

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