Is a nearby neighbour better than a faraway cousin? An American lady, Anna Lane, believes it’s true. Her kind neighbors once helped her out when she was in a big trouble.

Mrs Lane was living alone in a city in Texas, US. The woman in her 70s could do a lot of housework herself. However, she was too old to mow (修剪) her lawn (草坪). Then a big trouble found her. She let the grass grow over 18 inches high and it broke the law in her city. As a result, she was in danger of paying lots of money or even going to prison!

Luckily, her neighbors, the Adams brothers, heard the news about her on TV. They decided to do something to help. “We haven’t met her yet, but she’s 75 years old and she needs some help,” said Sam Adams, one of the boys. “That’s the least we could do.”

The Adams brothers took their mowers (修剪机) and came to Mrs Lane’s house to mow her lawn without telling her. Once they got started, other neighbors saw what was going on and joined in the effort.

Together they worked hard in the sun and finished mowing the whole lawn in about two hours. When Mrs Lane saw what her neighbors did for her, she was surprised and moved to tears (感动得落泪). “I cannot believe this,” she said. “They were so kind to spend two hours helping me and I didn’t even know their names.” As for the Adams brothers, they said they would always be ready to help her.

It was a Friday morning, 7: 30 am. I felt too lazy to drive my car, so my son booked （预定） an Uber. In five minutes, the Uber reached our door. I checked the cab number and got inside the car. I was busy searching my bag for an important paper, so I just said, “Please, go quickly! I’m in a hurry!”

The driver replied, “Yes, ma’am!”

I was surprised when I heard a female（女性）voice. I stopped for a second and looked at the driver. She was a young lady, maybe around 30 or 32 years old. I had never had a female Uber driver before. I became interested in why she chose this job. I started the conversation, “If you don’t mind, can I ask you some questions?”

“Yes, ma’am! No problem.” she said.

“I guess you are well-qualified （很合格的）,” I said.

“Yes, ma’am! I have finished my education. I have even gotten my MBA.”

“What made you choose to do this job?” I could see her smiling face in the rear-view mirror.

Very politely, she said, “Driving has been my passion（爱好）since childhood. Of course, I respect（尊重）each and every job. In this case, at least I realize my dream. I love driving. I don’t care how big or small my job is. I want a job where I can get satisfaction（满足感 ）. I haven’t made much money from it yet, but as I told you, I love driving! That’s all there is to it.”

Once there was a boy, and he loved sweets very much. He always asked his father for sweets. The boy’s father thought hard about how to stop the child from asking so many sweets. An old man lived nearby. The boy’s father decided to take the boy to visit him. He might be able to make the child give up sweets.

So they went to the old man. The father asked the old man to help him. But the old man liked sweets himself. He told the father bring his son back after a month. During the month the old man tried to give up eating sweets. At last he did it. When the boy and his father returned after a month, the old man had a talk with the boy. From then on the boy did not ask for sweets anymore. The boy’s father surprised. He asked the old man, “Why didn’t you ask my son to give up sweets when we came to you a month ago?” The old man answered, “How could I ask a boy to give up sweets when I love them myself? In the last month I gave up eating sweets.”

A person’s examples are always stronger than words. We should not ask others do what we can’t do ourselves.