Due to a scheduling accident, one Waffle House worker was left alone to run the entire restaurant on a Sunday night.

Ethan Crispo was just one of about 30 hungry customers who wanted food at midnight. After sitting at his table for a while, he noticed there was just one upset employee available to take orders, cook food, clean tables and manage the cash register.

The 24-year-old patron was losing hope of ever getting a meal. The employee who was recognized only by his name tag reading “Ben”-seemed to be on the edge of panic until Crispo saw him speaking to a male customer in a blue shirt sitting at the counter. After a brief conversation, Ben handed him an apron (围裙) and the man got to work washing dishes.

“It was a transition so smooth. I initially assumed it was a staff member returning to his shift,” Crispo told AL.com. “It wasn’t. It was a kind stranger.”

A couple of minutes later, a woman in high heels and a stylish dress walked behind the counter to make more coffee. She then took a few orders before resigning herself to clearing tables. Suddenly, a third customer in a red shirt marched over to help as well, though Crispo failed to catch his name or take a photo of the man at work.

The term “customer service” took on a whole new meaning that night. “It was the most fascinating thing,” Crispo said. “It was just one of the wildest instances of really, really cool people just coming together. It made a difference to many people that night. Certainly, their actions made an impact on me,” he added. “Humanity isn’t just good－it’s great.”

On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of the New York railway station, playing his violin. The music was so great that many people stopped to put some money into the hat of the young man.

The next day, the young artist came to the same place, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it under his hat. Then he began to play the violin. It sounded more pleasant than ever.

Soon he was surrounded with people who were attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to claim（认领）it soon.”

After about half an hour, a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist and said, “Yes, it’s you. I knew that you were an honest man and would certainly come here.” The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr. George Sang?” The man nodded. The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?” “It’s a lottery ticket（彩票）,” said the man. The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang’s name was seen. “Is it?” he asked. George nodded and took the lottery ticket and kissed it, then danced with the violinist.

The violinist was a student at an arts college and had planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna. Later his classmate asked the violinist, “At that time you needed money to pay the tuition （学费）and you had to play the violin in the railway station every day to make money. Why didn’t you keep the lottery ticket for yourself?” The violinist said, “Although I don’t have much money, I live happily. But if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever.”

Through our lives, we can gain a lot and lose so much. But being honest should always be with us.