The other day I was shopping at a local store and came across a lady from India squatting (蹲) on the floor looking for a certain product on the bottom shelf. She stood up quickly when she saw me as if to get out of my way. Feeling sorry, she explained that she was a cashier at a nearby store and was on her lunch break, trying to get a few needed things before her time was up.

I comforted her. “I am in no hurry. Go ahead and do what you need to do. I have plenty of time.” While she searched for something, she said that sometimes customers were rude to her at the store and she was really thankful for my kindness. I told her that I had noticed cashiers being treated rudely by some people and that those people needed to be more understanding.

She thanked me for being so nice and friendly. I told her, “The world would be a better place if we all acted kindly toward each other. Those who are rude may have bad karma (报应) coming after them finally for treating people badly.” She nodded and was surprised that I knew what karma was.

She asked me what karma meant. I gave her a simple answer. She looked puzzled, then broke out in a big smile and covered her mouth with her hand, laughing as she walked away.

It felt so good that I may have helped someone feel better for even a few seconds. In a brief exchange I showed her there are good and kind people in the world and may have added to her belief in humanity (人性). Maybe she thought about that later in the day, perhaps when someone was treating her unkindly.

Tim Ma's parents came to the United States from Taiwan in the 1970s. They opened a restaurant. It was not a success. They found success in America, however, in computers and engineering. In part because of their own experiences, Ma's parents hoped he would study to become an engineer or a doctor. They wanted financial security for their child.

Growing up, Ma considered many professions — writer, fireman, even president. Ma did well in math and science classes in high school. And he ended up choosing to study electrical engineering in college. Several engineering jobs later, though, Ma had a change of heart. He wanted to leave the engineering world behind and enter the restaurant business. It was in his blood. After all, his parents had owned a Chinese restaurant in Arkansas. His parents could not understand why he would want to leave such a good job to open a restaurant.

He wanted to study the fundamentals of cooking so that he could work as a chef in his own restaurant. Ma enrolled at the International Culinary Center in New York, where he received training in French cooking. “I have never cooked through my entire life up until this point.” Ma soon learned that he enjoyed cooking and he discovered it was similar to engineering. “Professional cooking is consistency, efficiency, cleanliness and it's all about the process of things which you know my background in engineering was. ”

In 2009, Ma opened his first restaurant in Virginia. His long hours paid off. Ma opened his fourth restaurant last year in Washington, D.C. He mixes his training in French cooking with his Chinese heritage to create new dishes. “I think in this country you can create your own success, just by working hard. Not because you're smarter than anybody, just by working hard. And that's why a lot of people end up coming to America.”

When a stranger gave Danille and her husband Nathan a box of onions which they later found they didn’t need, she decided to pass the kindness on.

Mindful of many families struggling to feed their loved ones, Danielle placed the onions outside her home with a sign encouraging locals to “take what you need, share what you can”. Now, one year on, their stand(摊位), called the “Waverley Co-op”, provides thousands of locals with 500kg of fruit, vegetables, and bread each week. “Residents and charities donate some produce, and we top this up with $ 100 of fresh fruit and other foods,” says Danielle, who explains that others began adding to the stand with their own donations.

“A common story we hear is that the items people take from the stand enable them to save a few extra dollars so they can afford to buy meat that week.” For a new mum Stacey, it’d been the lifeline she needed to keep food on the table for her family.

Last year, the 33-year-old’s one-year-old son Kaidan ran into a hot fire screen, badly burning his hands and forehead. Then, her husband lost his job. With Kaidan needing urgent medical care in Hobart 200km away, the mother spent four weeks at her son’s bedside before returning home, which led to piles of overdue bills at home. “Without the help of the Waverley Co-op, we wouldn’t have had food or nappies,” says Stacey, who discovered the volunteer-led stand by word of mouth.

“It has been a blessing to hear the stories and meet the people in our community,” says Danielle, who couldn’t be happier that a box of onions brought so many people together. “The invisible atmosphere of trust, support, and connection—that’s been the biggest success!”