Last night, on my way home I stopped because of being attracted by some hamburgers at a fast food restaurant. On my way in, a homeless man approached me and asked, “Do you have any bottles lying around?” I knew he would recycle them for a few cents, but I didn't have any, so I said no. And again he asked, “Can you spare some change ?” I smiled, and said no again. He was very respectful; he smiled back and said, “OK, thank you.” Even though he didn't have anything, he was still in good spirits. From the way he spoke I could tell he was smart.

    Then I bought one hamburger and enjoyed my meal, but in the back of my mind I wondered whether the homeless man was hungry. After I finished my meal I decided to order another one for him. At this point I didn't know if he was still around, but I tried anyway.

    At the counter I ordered a hamburger and also a hot chocolate, because it was cold outside, and I thought it would help warm him up. They delivered me the hot chocolate first and as I waited for my hamburger, I noticed the homeless man was standing right beside me. I looked at him and smiled, “This hot chocolate is for you.” He replied like a gentleman, “Thank you so much. That's very kind of you.”

    I always believe no matter how hard up I am, there are always those who are worse off than I. When you help someone, it's not always about money, it's about love. The love you give today, someone might forget tomorrow. It doesn't matter. Love anyway, because the greatest thing you can give is love.

    When I was a boy, I was always happy to see those little brown coins. After years I was still very happy to pick up pennies on the ground, I usually saved them up. I usually bought a pack of gum or a bag or chips when it was enough. After growing up, I hears a story about coins. It was said that our loved people sometimes would leave pennies on the ground in front of us. People wanted to show us that we were loved and watched over kindly. I never doubted that story even as an adult. It is difficult for me to find a lot of money on the ground, but pennies are there all the time. Maybe that is why I still enjoy seeing them and picking them up, no matter how dirty or old they are.

A few months ago, I was walking to the local post office to mail a letter. As I entered the room, I saw not one, not two, but four pennies shining in the sunlight. I smiled and picked them up. I kept them in my hands as I walked in the post office. "Four is Ok," an office said to a lady. The lady began searching her purse. Her face went red. I understood what had happened. I laughed to myself at this surprising moment. I placed my pennies on the desk before her. The smile I got in return was worth a thousand dollars.

    The coins weren't so valuable to me, but they did matter to her. I just performed a little kindness. I was happy.

    Metro Pocket Guide

Metrorail(地铁)

    Each passenger needs a farecard to enter and go out. Up to two children under five may travel free with a paying customer.

    Farecard machine are in every station, Bring small bills because there are no change machines in the station and farecard machine only provide up to $ 5 in change.

    Get one of unlimited Metrorail rides with a One Day Pass. Buy it from a farecard machine in Metro stations. Use it after 9:30 a.m. until closing on weekdays, and all day on weekends and holidays.

    Hours of Service

    Open: 5 a.m. Mon-Fri           7a.m. Sat—Sun.

    Close midnight Sun—Thur.      3. a.m. Fri— Sat. nights

    Last train times vary. To avoid missing the last train, please check the last train time posted in the station.

Metrobus

    When paying with exact change, the fare is $ 1.35. When paying with a smatTrip CARD the fare is $1.25

    Fares for the Senior /disabled customers

    Senior citizens 65 and older and disabled customers may ride for half the regular fare. On Metrorail and Metrobus, use a senior/disabled farecard or SmarTrip card. For more information about buying senior/disabled farecards, farecard or SmarTripR card and passes, please visit MetroOpenDoors.com or call 202-637-7000 and 202-637-8000.

    Senior citizens and disabled customers can get free guide on how to use proper Metrobus and Metrorail services by calling 202-962-1100

Travel tips

    Avoid riding during weekday rush periods –before 9:30 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m.

    If you lose something on a bus or train or in a station, please call Lost & Found at 202-962-1195.

    Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend like Francia Raisa. On Thursday, singer and actress Selena Gomez, 25, used Instagram to explain why she was “laying low” this summer. She posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed with her friend Francia Raisa holding hands. She said she recently received a kidney transplant from her best friend because of complications（并发症）from lupus（狼疮）, an autoimmune disease, which means it is the result of the immune system attacking normal tissue, including the kidneys, brain, heart and lungs.

    People with lupus may first experience tiredness, joint pain or a little bit of rash（皮疹）on their bodies and can go for a long time before their doctors realize it is more serious. Many people see two or four doctors before the real problem is picked up. According to Dr. Kyriakos Kirou, roughly a third to one-half of people with lupus develop kidney disease, and up to one in five of them will eventually need a transplant, sometimes because they weren't treated with effective drugs to prevent the immune system from attacking the kidneys. Though Gomez said that she was “very well now,” she warned about the dangers of not taking medical diagnoses seriously, like she initially did.

    Her Instagram post also called attention to two major health topics: the need for living organ donators and the fact that Gomez represents three groups more likely to be diagnosed with lupus and lupus-related kidney disease. Nine out of 10 people diagnosed with lupus are women, and most develop the disease between the ages of 15 to 44. And lupus is two to three times more common among women of color, including Hispanic women, according to the Lupus Foundation.

    Raisa is Latina, and Gomez's father is of Mexican origin. While it's not essential that the organ donator and receiver be of the sane ethnicity, people who share a similar background sometimes are better matched, according to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing.

    A serious problem for today's society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.

    First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.

    Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

    In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

    One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

    To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.

    LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant is a winner in retirement, too. The former Los Angeles Lakers star won an Oscar in the animated short category for "Dear Basketball," a poem he wrote after ending his 20-year career on the court in 2016.

    He'll add it to an already jammed trophy collection that includes five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals, NBA Finals most valuable player awards, a league MVP award and four All-Star game MVP awards.

    As executive producer, Bryant accepted his golden Oscar statue from "Star Wars" star Mark Hamill on Sunday night. He shared the award with Disney animator Glen Keane.

    Among those offering their congratulations via Twitter were Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and Shaquille O'Neal, Bryant's former Lakers teammate who admitted, "I'm jealous!"

Since hanging up his basketball shoes, Bryant has thrown himself into business (a new Nike shoe) and various forms of storytelling.

    "As basketball players, we're told to shut up and dribble," Bryant said on stage. "I'm glad we did a little bit more than that."

    He thanked his wife, Vanessa, and his three daughters, naming each of them. He spoke a few words of Italian — a language he learned as a child growing up in Italy — and closed by telling them, "You are my inspiration."