11/2/2025
Yesterday I went to my son’s place for a family gathering — the first time since I returned from China on October 24.
My daughter told us about an incident at her graduate school. One day, she was passing the school cafeteria. She stopped, grabbed a paper cup—reinforced with another cup—filled it with hot water, put on a lid, and walked out. Who would think that hot water wouldn’t be free?
A young worker came running after her, calling her back and demanding that she pay. My daughter was stunned.
“Are you charging me for hot water?”
“Yes. It’s $1.60,” he said.
As she told the story, she still sounded incredulous, as if saying, Can you believe this?
“Did you pay him?” I asked.
She said, “Yes. I said, ‘Fine, I’ll pay.’”
I said, “No — it’s not fine. If it were fine, you wouldn’t still be talking about it with so much indignation.”
She said, “You’re right. It’s not fine. I feel he went too far, chasing me out of the cafeteria for hot water charge.”
I told her, “In life we run into all kinds of people by chance. Our paths may never cross again. But to me, every encounter is a chance to show kindness. If someone wants hot water, I’d give them more than hot water — certainly not chase them out the door for it.”
Just as there are many kinds of birds in the forest, people are even more different. But ultimately, the choice of what kind of person we want to be is always ours.