Me YES Like You, A New Kindness Movement?
Not long ago, I was listening to Mike Bullard, a Canadian celebrity talk show host on NewTalk 1010 with a comical bent. It was a long commute, and as usual he has me in stitches. Some people in the audience don’t like him, though, due to his strong opinons—as this story illustrates well.
As much as Mike likes to sound all crusty and cantankerous, he has a compassionate side that often shines through, as it did today.
He told the story of how he went down to the street below his office to chat with fellow workers. A woman, hovering by the ashtray, scowled at him and suddenly said to him, “Me, NO like you.”
He thought to himself, she’s mistaking me for someone else, and was about to point that out, when she said, “Me, NO like you Mike Bullard.”
His first instinct, as it would be for many of us, was to strike back, or to challenge her and ask her why. He was, after all, a celebrity host, and perhaps his opinion offended her.
But instead, he decided to practice kindness and positive karma. He smiled at her and loudly said:
“Me, YES, like you.”
She beamed and grinned and he could see he had made her day.
He then said, to the radio audience,
“Let’s start a new movement. Let’s go up to someone today, anyone, someone you don’t like, and say ‘Me, YES, like you.”
Sounds like a good plan for life—with grammatical corrections of course.
Not only did Mike make my day with a smile and a warm thought, he gave me the urge to go right up to the next person I met, preferably someone I had recently argued with, and say, “I like you, you know.” (I don’t think I can say Me YES like you, sorry.)
More articles by this author
Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche “has gone to dance with the Dakinis”; a teacher “rarer than a star in the midday summer sky” has passed
A rare chance to honor Buddha’s relics in New York state: 3-day exhibit of Holy Relics at Thekchen Choling
Happy Wesak Day! On this most sacred day, celebrating the birth, Enlightenment and Paranirvana of Gautama Buddha, we wish all sentient beings health, happiness, and ultimate Enlightenment.
Search
Latest Features
Please support the "Spread the Dharma" mission as one of our heroic Dharma Supporting Members, or with a one-time donation.
Please Help Support the “Spread the Dharma” Mission!
Be a part of the noble mission as a supporting member or a patron, or a volunteer contributor of content.
The power of Dharma to help sentient beings, in part, lies in ensuring access to Buddha’s precious Dharma — the mission of Buddha Weekly. We can’t do it without you!
A non-profit association since 2007, Buddha Weekly published many feature articles, videos, and, podcasts. Please consider supporting the mission to preserve and “Spread the Dharma." Your support as either a patron or a supporting member helps defray the high costs of producing quality Dharma content. Thank you! Learn more here, or become one of our super karma heroes on Patreon.
Lee Kane
Author | Buddha Weekly
Lee Kane is the editor of Buddha Weekly, since 2007. His main focuses as a writer are mindfulness techniques, meditation, Dharma and Sutra commentaries, Buddhist practices, international perspectives and traditions, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Zen. He also covers various events.
Lee also contributes as a writer to various other online magazines and blogs.
