It’s believed that children are too young to fully appreciate (欣赏) the experience and knowledge of their elders, while many think that old people don’t understand the young. But in fact, both groups have a lot to learn from each other.

James Smith manages the Smith’s Care Home in my city. It is mainly an organization for serving the elderly (老年人). But not all of its visitors are old people. The home also includes a childcare center for pre-school (学龄前的) kids. There is a playground in the care home, where the elderly can play with the kids. In this way, they can learn more about each other, and respect and understand one another.

I think this is quite an interesting idea. For one thing, we live in a world where there are more and more old people. The world is facing this problem and its population ages. It will be important for young people to be able to understand and care for the elderly in the coming years.

It is a pity that my own grandparents weren’t around when I was little, as they had already passed away. I never got to learn what the world was like through their eyes. or what kinds of problems they might have faced when they were my age. To me, their lives will always be a mystery.

However, I think I can still learn from other people of older generations (一代人). I might find some of their ideas out of date, and they might believe that my generation’s way of thinking is strange or incorrect. But we can still learn from each other anyway.

How would you feel if a stranger bought you something to eat or drink? Would you like to buy another stranger some food or drinks?

Do you know what "paying it forward" means? It's not paying for something before you buy it. "Paying it forward" is to do something nice for another person for no reason. Then that person does something nice for someone else.

You might think that this doesn't seem like much. But this kind act can spread (传播) really fast. In December 2015, a woman was buying a meal at McDonald's in Florida, US. She also bought a meal for the person standing in line behind her.   Well, that person did the same thing, and the next person did too. Soon, 250 people had bought meals for another person!

But you don't need to spend money to pay it forward. There are examples of paying it forward every day like volunteering (做义工), giving food to the homeless or doing something extra nice for someone around you.

Try it out for yourself. All you have to do is look for little things you could do to make a person's day. Then, ask them to spread the word and do three kind things for someone else. And when someone does something nice for you, don't forget to do the same!