Many years ago, there lived a very rich man who wanted to do something for the people of his town. But first he wanted to find out if they were good enough to get his help. So he put a very large stone in the center of the road. Then he hid behind a tree and waited.

Soon an old man came along with his cow. But he did not try to move the stone away. Instead, he passed around the stone and went on with his way. Another man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. No one tried to move it away.

Late in the afternoon, a young man came along. He saw the stone and said, “It will be very dark at night. Some people will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

The young man then began to move the stone. He moved it to one side. And he found a bag full of money and this message under the stone: “This money is for the kind person who takes this stone away from the road. That person deserves（值得）my help.”

Have you ever wondered what kind of person you are? I used to think of myself only. I did not care about helping others, but only care about my looks, clothes, money and grades.

One of my neighbors was having so much fun doing voluntary work, and he told me that he felt very good and fresh after helping others. I hoped to get the same results (结果), so I went to do voluntary work.

I did voluntary work at the nursing home for a year. I bought some snacks, coffee and gave them out to the old people here. I talked to them and played games like playing chess with them. They were from China,so they often had trouble communicating with others. I sometimes offered to be their translator (翻译). After my voluntary work at the nursing home ended, I began to do voluntary work at a Saturday English language school, a place for Chinese-American children to learn to speak Chinese.

Before I did voluntary work, I felt useless. I spent all my free time playing video games or hanging out with friends. But now I think I should try to be a useful person in the world. I have learned many life lessons through doing voluntary work. By helping others, I felt I was needed in the world.

Once I was driving home through a heavy storm when I saw an old lady standing at a bus stop. The wind was so strong that her umbrella was blown all over. I could tell she was cold. I couldn’t leave her there alone. So I decided to stop and offer her a ride.

She refused at first, but I kept asking again and again. Finally, she got in my car and I took her to her place. We had a wonderful time chatting with each other. After she got out of my car, she smiled and thanked me.

I was late for work that day, but I felt so glad. That was 40 years ago, as well as the beginning of my new habit which continued when I was out driving in bad weather.

The best part of my rides was the conversation. I was likely to ask a lot of questions such as “where are you from?” “where are you going?” their family, their pets or whatever else me to my mind. Surprisingly, almost everyone wanted to chat. We were usually laughing by the time the ride was over.

Now as retirement (退休) comes, I believe I have found my calling. I will be happy to join a community driving program to take people from one place to another.

As the years pass, perhaps I will be the one who stands at the bus stop. Perhaps there will be somebody who rolls down (摇下) a window and offers me a seat for a little ride. I will continue to take the belief in kindness of strangers.