“A stranger handed up her first-class seat when my daughter was two years old so I could feed her in peace. My perspective on life was altered by that gesture. Be kind to others. Always – L.”

For a long moment, Jeffrey gazed at these words. Tears rolled silently down his cheeks. Kindness, he realised, was not a coincidence. It was a chain. A circle. He also participated in its movement.

Two years went by.

Sean was not as silent as he had been on the plane. He pointed at clouds, spoke incoherently, and made up stories as he went along. Once more, they were in the air. But now that he had determined that some things were more important than money, Jeffrey was holding a first-class ticket—not because he had gotten richer.

He observed a young mother at the boarding gate. Dark bags under her eyes, a sobbing baby in her arms, a pram and a bag slung over her shoulder. She appeared as though she hadn’t slept in days. Maybe, just like him, she was going home, where she would find herself exhausted and expecting a kid.

Jeffrey came over and gave her shoulder a gentle pat:

“Hello. Would you like to take my seat?”

Her eyes were wide as she gazed at him:

“Really?”

He gave a nod.

“Someone once did this for me. Pass kindness on.”

Kindness therefore proceeded indefinitely, softly, but unavoidably from one person to another.