I was in New York and rode with a friend in a taxi. When we got out, my friend said to the driver, “Thank you. You did a good job of driving.”
The driver was surprised for a second.
“I admire the way you keep cool in heavy traffic.”my friend said. “Than you.” the driver said and drove off.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“I am trying to bring love back to New York,”he said.”I believe it can save the city.
“How can one man save New York.”
“It’s not one man, suppose the driver had 20 passengers. He’s going to be nice to those 20 people because someone was nice to him. Those people in turn will be kinder to their employees, or shopkeepers, or waiters, or their own families. At last the goodwill could spread to at least 1000 people. If I can make people happy, then finally I can change the attitudes of 3000 people.”
“It sounds good,” I said, “but I’m not sure whether it would work in practice.”
“Nothing is lost if it doesn’ t. It didn’ t take any of my time or money to tell that man he was doing a good job. I have made a study of this. The thing that seems to be lacking for the postal employees is that no one tells the people who work for the post office what a good job they’re doing,”he said.
“But they’re not doing a good job,”I said.
“They’re not doing a good job because they feel nobody cares thether they do a good job or not. Why not say a kind word to them? When those people hear my words, they will feel better. The city will benefit from their happiness. If more people join me, the city will become a better place,”he said.