Multiplying Happiness

Whoever it was who first said, "Friends multiply joy and divide sorrow," must have been a popular fellow. The truth is, though, that one needs not be friends with another in order to spread joy and happiness. A simple nod or smile to a stranger, be it at a coffeeshop, in your office building, on the campus, in a bookstore, or even out on the street, is often suffice to convey goodwill. Let me recount two such instances I recently found myself involved in during my time in London.

Having arrived in Cambridge a bit later than expected on Saturday, Dec 18, I proceeded to get a good night's sleep before heading out to London for the first time in my life with the Kwong family Sunday morning for lunch in Chinatown. The ride down to Greater London took approximately an hour, after which the traffice slowed to a crawl and we inched our way painstakingly westward. Stopped at a light some time within that second hour in the car, I glanced left out the window to find myself looking right in the eyes of a black bus driver in the driver's seat of, well, a double-decker bus. I greeted him with a big smile - really more like a grin, and some might even say an idiotic one at that, but that's besides the point - and a friendly wave. Rather than picking up the phone to report a harassment-on-the-job case, or just to report a nutcase, he flashed his own set of pearly whites in an entirely non-menacing way and waved back. That certainly brightened up my day in traffic, and I'm sure I did the same for him, especially considering he has to spend a lot more time on those dreadfully crowded streets of London than I do.

The second encounter with a stranger happened a week later on Boxing Day, when I had to take the bus down from Cambridge to London for my trip up to Manchester because the bloody trains shut down for two days over Christmas. So having taken the National Express down to Victoria station, I ducked inside the Starbucks at the corner to warm myself up with a Mocha. I picked out a stool by the window, set down my luggages, and turned around to survey the scene in the smallish café. It was a hectic Sunday, more customers than seats to go around. I spotted a Chinese lady sitting alone at a table, saw a piece of luggage by her feet, and immediately felt compelled to walk over and greet her. As a fellow traveller, I recognize how heart-warming it must be to meet a countryman in the chilly Christmas weather of a foreign land far from home. So I finished my coffee, hopped off my stool, strode over to her table, and struck up a conversation. Turned out she had just visited Switzerland herself. We spoke for a few minutes before I bid her farewell, lugged my suitcase out the door and into the cold toward the bus station, and as I turned back we waved a final goodbye.

The lesson in these anecdotes is, despite the horror and evil we hear all the time on the news, people are still generally nice, kind folks. So the next time you see an unfamiliar face, don't be afraid to show a little friendliness.