“We are good mothers,” I said to my friend, as we sat on our comfortable beach chairs under our beach umbrella and watched our children playing in the waves.

    Out of nowhere, the children took off running. About fifty yards from us, a man—maybe in his fifties—was fishing. The children stood next to him and watched with their little mouths hanging open as he cast the fishing lines. He smiled at them. They ran back to us—all except my three-year-old daughter, Drew.

    My heart beat fast with horror. “Drew! Come here! Play with your friends!” I shouted, very aware that my speeches about not talking to strangers weren't working. It seemed that many parents heard of horrible stories about children being taken away by strangers. Responsible mothers should teach their children that the world is a dangerous place. So I felt relieved (松口气) when Drew ran towards me and took hold of a shovel (铲子). Then she looked me in the eye: “I want to be with the person.”

    Again, she approached the middle-aged man, and started digging next to him.

    Several seconds later, she returned, waving something shiny.

    “Look, Mommy! A toy fish!”

    It was, indeed, a toy fish—yellow and rubber. This must have been what he was using to attract the fish. And he'd given it to Drew. The three other children were deeply impressed, and they didn't try to hide how jealous(妒忌的)they were—clearly, they all wanted the fish.

    “My friend gave me that fish!” Drew shouted loudly. The sand in front of the umbrella turned into a preschool cage match with a yellow rubber fish flying through the air. I felt like I might cry myself.

    Unexpectedly, there he was: the man, standing right next to us with three more rubber fish in hand. He handed them to each of the children. By their faces, you would have thought he was actually the really kind big brother.

    “Thank you,” I said, realizing that there is good and kindness in strangers.

    If you need to spend time on the road，it's important to find ways to keep safe on your feet．Don't suppose it's your right of way. Yes，you might be crossing at the right place，at the right time，within the crosswalk area，but you are still exposed to danger. It could be a distracted driver，or a cyclist with a loose sense of traffic rules，so you could still get hurt．You can be in the right legally，but that won't be much help when you're in the hospital.

    Follow pedestrian(行人) signals. Just as drivers aren't supposed to speed up to beat a light when crossing through an intersection，pedestrians need to take the same care when obeying their own signals．If the hand is flashing and the countdown is into single digits (数字), stay where you are．Trying to outrun the flashing hand is unsafe，especially as cars try to clear the intersection before the light turns red．

    Give drivers enough time to stop when crossing. Don't suppose that drivers will jam on their brakes when you hit the crosswalk signals. Some provinces，such as Alberta, issue （发出）a ticket if you don't give drivers enough time to brake.

    Cross quickly. Once you've followed all of the other rules，and it is safe to cross the street，don't then just wander along in front of six lanes (车道) of traffic. There's no need to run or jog，but respect the drivers who respected you enough to stop for you.

    It was dawn of March 21, 2018. Gary Messina was on his morning run along New York City's East River. Suddenly something caught his eye – a large 60-year-old man balancing on the four-foot-high fence that guarded the path from the water. As Messina got closer to the scene, the man took a step forward and slipped into the dark river below.

    When Messina reached nearer, the man was struggling in the water, clearly unable to swim. Other joggers also heard the man's cry. David Blauzvern and John Green dropped their phones and keys on land and jumped in. “People had called the police, but it was unclear when they'd get there.” says Green. “We just reacted.” Messina joined them in the river. Just as the jumper was losing strength, Blauzvern take hold of him. The pair were about 30 yards from the seawall when Messina and Green caught up to them. They seized the man, with Blauzvern supporting his back and Messina and Green holding him up from either side. As the men made their toward the concrete seawall that stretched (延伸) for blocks in each direction, Blauzvern had an awful realization: there was no way out of the river.

    By now, a crowd had gathered on land. “A rescue boat is on its way,” someone yelled to them. Swimming forward was getting tougher by the minute. The jumper, who was six foot two and weighed around 260 pounds, was heavy in his rescuers' arms. After ten minutes, they managed to get to the river's edge. “I've never been so out of breath,” says Blauzvern.

    Fifteen minutes after the men had jumped into the river, the two-man rescue boat appeared. But because it couldn't risk getting too close to the seawall, the men had to swim out to it. “I was completely out of energy at this point,” says Blauzvern. The men in the water pushed the jumper while the men in the boat pulled him up and, finally, to safety. The man they had saved was taken to the hospital for evaluation(评估). Details on his condition have not been known. As for the rescuers, each of them was at work by 10:30 a.m. “I was a bit late,” admits Blauzvern, smiling. “But I had a good excuse.”

    About 6 years ago, I was on a plane next to a woman. I was tired and wanted to take a nap. But before I could go into "ignore pattern", she tapped me on the shoulder to introduce herself.

    "Hi, my name is Helga!"

    We got to talking and eventually it came up that I had started an organization in high school called R.A.K.E.(Random Acts of Kindness, Etc.). As I described what we did, Helga got very serious and told me that she admired me for that. She told me a story about the last time she had flown. She was on the way to Arizona because she had gotten sudden news that her dad's health was on the decline. Later her father's physician called to inform her that her dad had rather suddenly passed away. For the 3-hour plane ride, she sat in silence around strangers.

    When she arrived at the airport in Arizona, she walked to the nearest wall, sat down, and cried. And here is the part I'll never forget about Helga's story. For 2 hours she sat and wept while thousands walked to and fro in the airport. Helga looked at me and said, "Houston, not a single person stopped and asked if I was okay that day." It was that day that I realized how much we need each other. It was that day I realized that kindness isn't normal.

    Kindness isn't normal. That has stuck with me all these years especially now. I work in schools nationwide speaking about sympathy, kindness, empathy (同理心) and love. I'm reminded all the time that, for many of us, kindness is not usually our default setting. We spend so much time worrying about our problems, our lives, our insecurities, getting to our flight so we walk by or ignore people in need of help.

    So, I've made it my mission to do my part in sharing stories with students, teachers, and parents about our need for character and sympathy. I'm always be on the lookout for the little opportunities that surround me every day to do something nice.

Life Begins on Board Your Next Cruise(邮轮)

On a cruise, it's all about choices. And never about effort or annoyance. Simply step aboard and float away, as your grand accommodation takes you from port to port, country to country. Maybe you haven't been on a cruise yet. Let's see what it might look like.

Rise and shine

Everyone is a morning person on a cruise. Wake up to find yourself floating joyfully somewhere out on the horizon, between vast blue skies and rolling oceans. You've travelled far through the night, and each morning begins with a completely new and foreign destination calling from outside your window. What a way to start your day!

Breakfast of champions

Before the morning truly begins, spend some time relaxing on the top floor with a steaming cup of coffee and warm French pastries, taking in the unbelievable views and the fresh sea air. Or head to one of the many restaurants on the ground floor to find a rich meal fit for a king, then walk to the front of the ship and have some fresh fruit and American pancakes in the open-air market.

Ease into your day

Energize your morning with a yoga class, strengthening your body on the open-air board, palms stretched to the sea. Hit the gym for a refreshing workout or take a swim that will set you up for the day. If you are not so sporty, simply spend your morning sitting by the pool reading a book, perhaps losing yourself in the history, culture and legends of your next port of call.

Rachel Carson was a science writer widely respected for her books about oceans.But she also devoted years to gathering scientific research that would awaken the public to the dangers of modern chemical pesticides.Her work,Silent Spring,became one of the most influential books of the 20th century.And it launched the modern environmental movement.

Born in Pennsylvania,she became a marine scientist working for the US government,primarily as a writer and editor.Her first three books,Under the Sea-Wind,The Sea Around Us,and The Edge of the Sea were physical explanation of life in and near the sea.They made Carson one of the best-known and respected science writers.But then she turned her time and talents to a new subject.

Carson had been concerned about the dangers of the pesticide DDT since the mid-1940s.At first DDT was a symbol of the progress of modern chemistry.It had saved countless lives by killing lice and mosquitoes that spread deadly diseases.But Carson doubted whether spreading large quantities of poison throughout the environment could be completely safe.She painstakingly gathered research to prove that the chemical industry was overconfident about the safety of chemicals that hadn't been tested.

Carson published her research as a book,Silent Spring,in 1962.It caused an uproar.Carson was immediately attacked by the chemical industry.Millions of citizens tuned in to watch a television program analyzing the issue.Carson's calm and reasoned arguments turned the audience in her favor.Finally,her work convinced the president to call for an investigation.Eventually 12 of the most toxic chemicals Carson wrote about in Silent Spring,including DDT,were banned or cancelled.She grew physically weak and endured a lot of pain.Yet she refused to stop working on the book.She died on April 14,1964,at the age of 56.Her writings helped move the nation toward a new understanding of how humankind depends on the interconnection of all forms of life on Earth.