By Jian Yu-xian
Translated by Wu Hsiao-ting
Graphic by Su Fang-pei
Early on the first day of 2023, I arrived in Taipei for a visit from Hsinchu, about 90 minutes away by car. As soon as I boarded a bus in Taipei, the driver closed the doors and pulled into traffic. I quickly held onto something for support, then carefully walked to an empty seat and sat down.
I soon began to feel an atmosphere of tension and agitation among the handful of other passengers on board the bus. The source of that tense atmosphere was the driver. He was honking the horn ever so often, complaining about other people’s driving, and sometimes even cursing in a low voice. “What a bummer,” I thought to myself. “If I’d known, I’d have taken another bus.” One negative thought after another arose in my mind. I couldn’t wait for my stop to come up.
Counting backwards the number of stops I still had to pass, I finally arrived at my destination. Just when I was about to disembark, however, I noticed a shift in my emotions. I suddenly felt sympathy for the driver.
Instead of choosing to disembark via the back door, which was closer to me, I walked towards the front door, turned to look at the driver, and said to him in a cheerful voice before I got off, “Happy New Year!” His head hung low and his eyes were fixed on the steering wheel. He didn’t say anything back to me, but I clearly saw a look of embarrassment flicker across his sullen face.
I thought back to 30 years before that, when I was a student studying abroad. At the time, I was a hormonal teenager easily held hostage by the vagaries of mood. One day, I was walking angrily down the street, having been riled by a trivial matter, when a kind-looking, middle-aged, white lady said to me with a smile, “Why don’t you give me a smile?”
All of a sudden, my bad mood dissipated like smoke in the wind. I turned to the lady and flashed her a bright smile. She smiled back at me. I remember this beautiful moment so many years later—it has been burned into my memory.
People say that the fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose. I am happy I extended my goodwill to the driver and wished him “Happy New Year.” I hope it lifted his mood a bit, which would no doubt in turn have benefited the passengers still on the bus when I got off.
