The Kindness Contagion

A Stanford professor published an article in Scientific American that describes a contagious condition he hopes will grow and infect the general population: kindness.

Slurs and hateful language fill the air. Bullies push people around on playgrounds and in workplaces. Drivers cut you off … and then make obscene gestures.

What in the world can you do?

Be kind.

Steven Petrow is a writer who lives in North Carolina. He was recently waiting in a long line at his favorite bakery, a shop which makes amazing scones. Watching the people ahead of him pluck the delicious scones out of the glass case, he worried that the bakery would run out. But when he got to the counter, he saw that there was one left, so he pointed and said, “I’ll take that.”

No sooner had he spoken than the guy behind him shouted, “Hey, that’s my scone! I’ve been waiting in line for 20 minutes!” Petrow knew that the man had been waiting, but a line is a line.

What do you think Petrow said to the man? He could have declared, “Sorry, it’s mine!” He had every right to do so. Instead, he asked him, “Would you like...