對待犯下錯誤的人,懲罰并非唯一的解決之道。一個微笑也有讓年輕人改過自新的神奇力量。

I will never forget the smile and the look of a young mans face on the train.

One day I took the train home. There was an empty seat facing a young man. The man looked dirty and you could easily notice his drug addiction1 from his appearance. The train was extremely crowded but no one wanted to sit near him.

I walked to him and sat directly opposite him. I looked him in the eye and smiled. I would never forget the look on his face. It was a special look of shock, shame and amazement. He was obviously shocked that someone would sit opposite him. Then a look of shame replaced the shock. He realized that his drug addiction was so obvious that I could easily see it from his appearance. Then he tried to clean up himself secretly and quietly. He straightened2 his posture3 and arranged his hair. After the clean-up, he said nothing nor tried to get closer. He just stared out of the window. Sometimes he looked at me with an embarrassing smile.

A moment later he arrived at his stop. Right before going out the door, he put on a big and sincere smile. Have a good day,he said. The smile was unforgettable. All I did was smile and what I got was amazing.

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Notes:

1. addiction n. 癮

2. straighten v. 挺直,端正

3. posture n. 姿勢