【推荐1】Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station (加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register (收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.

I took off , but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.

I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.

Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership — a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.

“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.

“Thank you” — two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.

【推荐2】On a Saturday in November, Annacarin Elf, the head of Gothenburg City Library, just happened to walk by her workplace. Noticing that the door was unlocked, she entered the library, and was surprised that people were using it like on a regular day.

However, it was scheduled to be closed for the November 4 All Saints’ Day holiday, dedicated to remembering the dearly departed and for spending time with family. “In the library, many were sitting reading newspapers, some families were in the children’s section and others were searching for books on the computer,” Elf told The Local.

It seemed that Elf’s colleagues had simply forgotten to lock the door, and because this popular library is usually open on Saturdays, people just assumed they could walk in. Elf called to check with her staff team, before announcing that the library was about to close. The visitors calmly shut their books and left, some taking their books with them.

It later demonstrated that 446 locals visited the city library, borrowing a total of 246 books during the day. What’s remarkable is that clients checked out their books via the library’s electronic self-service system, and that to date, all the books have been returned!

While Elf did express surprise that the library seemed emptier than usual, due to the lack of staff, she highly praised the care shown by locals: “Nothing was destroyed. It’s amazing that Gothenburgers enter an empty library and treat it so lovingly.” The library itself was quick to show its support in an appreciative post with “Thank you for Saturday, dear Gothenburg.”

This story really attracted Swedes, going viral in the country. They were moved by this community’s respect for the books and equipment of what is a treasured community resource. The Mayor EU has even suggested that this unusual Saturday serves as an experiment of the possibility of operating a totally automated library.

【推荐3】Selena Gomez and I were scheduled to meet at a low-key coffee shop in Encino. Not wanting to keep the superstar waiting, I arrived at nine, 20 minutes early. As I was catching up on e-mails, Selena quietly scooted into the seat next to me. No bodyguard. Not even a drop of makeup. She was ten minutes early and so inconspicuous that no one else in the restaurant looked up so much. Selena was wearing Bebe shorts. She had a baby face and ordered a hot chocolate.

After making small talk about what she wore for the shoot, she dived into the subject of her career. Selena declared 2012 the year of movies. She filmed three: Spring Breakers, a drama; The Getaway, an action flick; and Hotel Transylvania, a comedy. Each is a marked move away from the teen style that made her a household name.

Now that her Disney days are behind her, Selena is at that unstable point in a child star's career where she is trying to grow up-both as a person (she turned 20 in July) and as an artist. “Being part of the Disney Channel was a blessing, and I'm super happy with what my show accomplished, but acting is something I would like to take on more seriously.” She continued, “I don't necessarily feel accomplished. I want to create a whole different persona when it comes to acting.”

Selena has been working full time since she was seven years old and scored a role on Barney & Friends. In 2007, when she was offered the lead in Wizards of Waverly Place, Selena, her mother, and her stepfather uprooted from Grand Prairie, Texas, to LA, where they are settling now.