We Need More Kindness Right Now

Stories from our readers

Mark Bittman
Heated

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A drawing of hands
Photo: CSA Images/Getty Images

UPDATED DEC. 11

A month or so ago, my daughter picked my grandson up at school and took him to the pizza spot around the corner. She stood outside in line; there was a cop there, waiting for his pizza. When he went to pay, he said to the guy working at the shop, “Yo quiero pagar por ella también” — “I want to pay for her, too.”

And no: He wasn’t hitting on her. He was just being kind. And it made her happy for like two weeks straight, which is a lot right now (or any time, really!). As a result of this, I asked our newsletter readers: Do you have any feel-good stories, with food at the crux?

Thank you for all of your responses. We’ll be running a handful every day this week.
—MB

Dec. 11

On Labor Day weekend, a fire started in the local National Forest, the Creek Fire was to become the largest single fire in California history, it is still burning and at 380,000 acres. A couple weeks ago I had gone down to the local Mexican restaurant for dinner and the guy in front of me in line was wearing a USFS Sierra National Forest fire shirt, so I asked if he was a firefighter. He replied that he was, and as we chatted about the fire he mentioned that he was on the crew that had initially responded to the…

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Mark Bittman
Heated

Has published 30 books, including How to Cook Everything and VB6: The Case for Part-Time Veganism. Newsletter at markbittman.com.