A smile spreads

I pulled out my wallet in the best falafel shop in Berlin. After a long, intense, good day, I was hungry. Really hungry. But I only found 2.40 euros in my wallet. A falafel costs 3 euros. I asked the man behind the counter if I could have half a falafel as I didn't have enough money for a whole one. "Sure, we'll do that!" replied the nice man. "I'd like to pay for it for you," said a woman in front of me. "When I was in Israel a while ago, the exact same thing happened to me - and someone paid for me!" She pulled out her wallet and we put our coins together for a delicious falafel. How lovely.

After getting money from the bank, I went shopping for groceries. I asked the cashier: "Can you give me 50 cent coins?" "No, I don't have any myself." "You need 50 cents, I have some, said the woman behind me, exchanging one euro for two 50 cent pieces." I gave one of them to a homeless man standing outside the door.

In the end, I was rich. Not materially, but inwardly. The small wave of kindness that started in a snack bar in Israel has rolled all the way to Berlin. How wonderful.