A few months ago, my dear friend Robyn and I were walking around hip and trendy NW 23rd Avenue in Portland, Oregon when we suddenly came across a homeless and very grumpy old man, kvetching and blaming the world for all his life’s problems.

Robyn happened to be right in his line of fire when she received one of his ugly slurs, “You yuppy snobby piece of shit!” Yeah, I know….he was angry. She reacted by saying, “You don’t even know me, Sir.” He continued to grumble in his pain as we moved on.

As we both walked away and while he still was shouting at us, I suddenly looked at him and yelled back as loud as I could muster with my arms open wide… “I LOVE YOU!”

Guess what happened? He stopped and just stood there in silence. The angry expression on his faced suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a sweet smile….and then….as he placed his hands on his heart he yelled right back, “I LOVE YOU TOO!”

It was the sweetest exchange and most wonderful transformation. I actually saw happiness on his face.

What I learned was that sharing more “I love you’s” especially to strangers is a bridge to humanity. Try it and let me know what happens.