Meet the Human Mood-Lifters

Every day when I drive my kid to school, I pass a smiling crossing guard who cheerfully waves to every single driver going by.

At first, the earnestness of her morning salutation freaked me out, and I’d keep my eyes resolutely on the road. But gradually, I broke down and started waving back. Now I wave so eagerly that my teen scrunches down in her seat out of embarrassment.

I’ve grown dependent on my crossing guard’s steady good cheer, especially when I’m feeling low. And I’ve gotten curious: How do human mood-lifters like her do it? And why?

So I went in search of more of them. After a few weeks of digging, I found three delightful people who actually spread happiness every day. They shared their lessons with me.

Empathy on the M14 Bus

When Quinton Miller’s M14 bus pulled up to a bus shelter in downtown Manhattan one recent morning, he said “Good morning!” to each passenger with a smile. As they exited, he told them to have a wonderful day.

Half the people didn’t respond, but that never bothers Mr. Miller, a bus operator for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for five years. “They might have had a bad day at work or school,” he told me. “They might be worried about someone.”

Mr. Miller manages the complex, nerve-jangling choreography of driving a city bus — which I saw as I joined him on his morning route — yet he still makes the extra effort to connect with his riders. Out of over 12,000 M.T.A. bus operators, the authority said he received the most appreciative comments from riders in 2024 and was in the top three last year.

How does he do it? He makes a “series of choices” to stay positive, he said, even when situations try him. If he’s on his break and it’s cold out, he lets riders wait inside the “nice warm bus” instead of at the bus stop. If he sees his usual airport workers running for the bus, he waits, because it will be 30 minutes until the next one.

His kindness works in both directions: Riders get to work on time, and Mr. Miller feels satisfaction for helping them. This squares with what studies have found. Empathy humanizes others — and it’s associated with higher levels of well-being.

“My philosophy is, you don’t want the job to change you,” Mr. Miller said. “You want to be able to change others on the job — by what you say and what you do.”

Good times at the D.M.V.

In a Facebook post about the Department of Motor Vehicles in Tillamook, Ore., unironic comments include a “pleasure to go to the D.M.V.” and “great time, lots of laughs.”

Brian Bertrand, who has led daily operations for over 20 years, often supplies the humor. He and his colleague have several stuffed sloths in the office — a reference to the 2016 film “Zootopia,” in which the D.M.V. employees were all slow-moving sloths.

“We try to have fun with the idea that D.M.V. workers just, you know, plod along,” said Mr. Bertrand, who was even voted Tillamook’s “Citizen of the Year” in 2023. He might even “make a little D.M.V. joke,” he added: If a person walks in and the office is empty, he’ll ask them, deadpan, to “take a number.”

He’s on to something. Research shows that laughter can reduce stress and build connections with others, even when people don’t know each other. And some of the grumpiest-seeming people, Mr. Bertrand said, are actually the first to crack.

“They’re more vulnerable than you think,” he said.

Staying positive on jury duty

When potential jurors file into the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, they often get an enthusiastic greeting from Rachel Brooks, the jury manager. “I’m waving and clapping, saying ‘what’s up,’ getting them in the mood,” she said.

Some people look startled, she said. Others can’t help but smile.

She tells candidates that while jury duty is a serious responsibility, her goal is to keep things positive. And she has found a reliable way to disarm them, she told me: “When you treat other people with respect, it’s reciprocal.”

A key component of a positive outlook, Ms. Brooks said, is an open mind. At orientation, she points out that jury duty gives you an opportunity to meet people you would not have met otherwise and to learn something new.

“I see people walk to lunch together and strike up conversations and become friends,” said Ms. Brooks, who knows of two couples who met during jury duty and later got married.

She can’t make everyone cheerful, she admitted. But she doesn’t fall victim to what’s known as a negativity bias, the brain’s tendency to pay more attention to unpleasant events than to positive ones.

“Let’s say one person is negative,” she said. “I’ll think about the other 400 that aren’t.”

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Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese martial art with complex, flowing poses — and Tai Chi walking is typically the first thing that new students learn. The basic gait is safe for nearly everyone and delivers several rewards.

Read the article: The Very Real Benefits of Tai Chi Walking

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