Dear Stranger

You won’t read this, and neither would you remember our encounter. It was about 20 years ago in the Bern train station. It was late at night and I wanted to buy some snacks. After the cashier scanned the dried fruit and sparkling water (ok, it was probably M&M’s and a Vanilla Coke), I realized I didn’t have any money on me. Embarrassed, I picked up my stuff to put it back.

But then you, standing in line behind me, said: “It’s okay, this is on me. Just do the same for somebody else one day.”

I thanked you and I promised I would.

You must have meant what you said, but you cannot possibly know what your words sparked that night. They made made such an impression on my teenage self, I still get emotional when I think about it. I know, we’re talking about a bag of M&Ms, but you touched on something much bigger. Until then, I had never considered that you can pay something forward instead of paying it back.

I kept my promise and have helped out people in similar situations. But I was so enamored with the idea that I wanted to take it further. I try to be helpful and accomodating to strangers whenever I can because I know there’s a chance they will pay it forward in some way.

I wonder where it started. Who did something nice for you, dear stranger, that you were compelled to pay it forward? I like to think the actions of you, me and everybody else we win for our cause are ripples that move through society, becoming big waves. It is a strong case against the notion that one person cannot make a difference.

I’ve been thinking about you, dear stranger. In times of doubt I ask myself: Why am I doing this? Why am I publishing an article on my blog every week? The answer I found was: to pay it forward!

Ideas have the power to transform lives. They help us do or make things that seemed impossible. They make us see the world in a different way. They give us the intrinsic joy of learning something.

Everything I write was inspired by someone who was in turn inspired by someone before that. I try to add something of me, but in essence, I’m doing nothing more than paying forward an idea. Ripples and waves.

Dear stranger, you won’t read this, and neither would you remember our encouter. But I still want to say: Thank you.