More to Life than Ruby on Rails

I was sitting by the steps in front of the Bay Centre in Victoria BC, doing some peoplewatching, and feeling a little discouraged at the prospects of of my Mission, which is to influence humanity to use technologies that give them superhuman control over their information space. Anyway, an old Chinese woman was making her way down the steps, dragging her cart behind her. Thud-thud, thud-thud, thud-thud went the cart down the steps. She turned to me, held out her hand, and said, "Ma-nee, ma-nee".

I told her I had to go to the bank machine to get some, but I don't think she understood. So I went to the ABM, withdrew a 20, put it in an envelope, and ran to try to look for the old woman, whom I found poking through a garbage can. She was startled when I approached her and handed her the envelope. Slowly she opened the envelope and looked inside, then a big grin spread across her face and she said thankyou.

I'm now back sitting where I was originally, and I feel fantastic -- about helping out another human being. And she probably also feels fantastic -- about getting 20 bucks today. Through our interaction we each lifted the spirits of the other; it's what Stephen Covey calls "synergy" and what Marshall Rosenberg calls "through giving, feeling given to." It's a delightful and energizing feeling!