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A Locksmith Tried to Do a Kind Thing and Learned What It Cost

Sep 3

1 min read

The story

Joel Kostman worked as a locksmith in New York, which means he arrived at other people’s worst hours: keys lost, doors stuck, fear in the hallway.

On The Moth he told a story about an act of kindness he committed while hoping for a small reward. That hope does not cancel the act. It makes him recognizable.

What happened next

The story landed because it refused sainthood. A working person tried to be decent inside a messy day. Listeners recognized themselves.

A lesson you can use this week

Do the kind thing even if your motives are mixed. Then notice the mix without using it as an excuse to stop.

Sources

The Moth / This American Life-adjacent tellings of Joel Kostman’s locksmith story; The Moth Radio Hour archives on kindness.

Comments

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