It was 1st January, the first day of the year and a holiday for me. What luck! I started by thinking of getting the bank work out of the way. The bank person, an elderly gentleman with a white beard, paid little attention to my polite “Happy New Year” as usual. He nodded and I sat in front of him.

Minutes passed and nothing happened.

Then very hesitantly I put my form and booklet (小册子) in front of him. He was busy filling up entries in his register. After a few minutes, he took my form and from his cabinet he took out a very thick file from which he started filling in my details. I sat there wondering why we had computerized banking if we were still filling in forms and registers.

After waiting for a few more minutes, in which I showed all signs of being impatient, I asked him if my work was done. The moment I uttered (说) the words, I felt as if a bomb had fallen on him. He shouted, “Nothing is done, it will take time!”

Just then I saw his morning cup of tea which had been lying there for the last ten minutes, untouched. The tea had turned almost cold while he was doing his work. Suddenly I felt how this man must be feeling, when customers like me came always in a hurry to get their work done.

He had been working at this counter for God-knows-how-many years. We do not even feel the need to thank him for being there. He must be feeling so annoyed that “here comes another person who will push me for doing his work first.”

On an instinct (本能) I told him, “Sir, you please have your tea, I am not in a hurry.” This man, who I had been seeing for the last few years, suddenly looked up at me and for the first time we had eye contact—he had never made eye contact earlier. I saw a different person there, another human being who was as hard-pressed for time as I always am.

I saw both of us sailing in the same boat.

He really touched my heart with his wise words.

When I was a teenager, I got lost in a foreign country. I was in Berlin, Germany, only month-long trip in Europe. My team and I had one night there to spend however we pleased. Most of my teammates decided to stay indoors and relax. But I did not want to pass up the chance to explore Berlin.

I visited lots of major attractions around the city that night. When the exhaustion began to set in, I checked the time on my watch. I was surprised to see that it was two o'clock in the morning.

As I walked to a subway station, I realized that it was my dad’s birthday. This would be the first birthday I couldn’t celebrate with him because he died a few months earlier. Before I could begin thinking of my dad, I heard train wheels stop.

I rushed onto the train. At first, I was thankful to have made it onto the train. But that joy quickly turned to panic when I noticed that the train was heading in the wrong direction!

I looked around the nearly empty train. I saw a young woman sitting quietly by the window and approached her.

“Hi, do you speak English? I’m lost. Can you help me?” I asked.

The woman understood. She told me how to return to where I had first gotten on the train. But my anxious mind couldn’t follow her guidance.

Without thinking, I asked, “Can you come with me?”

Her face froze at my stupid request. After a long second of hesitation, she agreed to help me. At that moment, I was grateful for the kindness from a stranger.

On the journey back to the train station I got on, she and I chatted.

Finally, we reached my stop.

Weeks before Thanksgiving arrived, my anxiety about it increased. My husband and I recently made a cross­country move with our young child Jill. Our neighbor was an old couple, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith, who were kind and friendly.

Our new home was in a mess. “We should start thinking about plans for Thanksgiving,” I suggested. “Don’t worry about it,” my husband said. “Heat up some hot dogs, maybe some cheese, and the kid will be happy.” That sounded great. I was in a relief!   

In the past holidays, I had never been responsible for cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner. My job was always to bring drinks or a side dish to a large gathering (items that had the highest success rate) and help clean up after the meal.

But one day my son Jill happily showed newly­created turkey crafts. “Let’s go on a walk and try to find a rock that looks like turkey!” Jill shouted to me. “Take me on a walk, Mommy!” The excitement was building, and I had a feeling that hot dogs were not going to be enough for my child on Thanksgiving.

“I’m going to try and prepare Thanksgiving food, Leonard,” I said to my husband late one night. He eyed me curiously. “You sure?” Then he said. “Okay, then, if you think you can do it.” I said. “I’ve got two days to prepare. The grocery store is open twenty­four hours. I’m going to the store!”

Unfortunately, only a huge turkey remained, so I had no choice but to buy a thirty­pound turkey. Early Thanksgiving morning, I dragged(拖拽) the bagged turkey home. When my family saw it, they got a big surprise at its size. Seeing the surprise on their faces, I realized there was no way we could finish the turkey. It’s too big for my family. “There was only one turkey left in the store.” I explained. “But how could we finish the turkey?” I asked my husband and Jill.

Jill said we could invite our neighbor, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, to share with us.

Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Smith came to my house with a big smile on their faces.