“I don’t know if you remember me.”

Her smile stands out even amongst the chaos of 1000 students rushing from booth to booth.

It’s the National Association of Campus Activities’ annual conference.

NACA is where I first built my magic career, performing a comedy magic show on college campuses across America.

But I’ve since retired from magic, and it’s been 5 years since I attended a NACA event.

“Of course I remember. You brought me to your school back when I was a magician.”

Her smile takes over her face.

“Yes!”

“If I remember right,” I think out loud, “It was a family weekend event in the corner of the dining hall, on a stage just 4 inches off the ground or so, with endless windows behind me.”

“Yes! Yes! That was it!”

“It was a great show!”

“It was. I saw you were going to be here and I had to find you,” she says. “There’s something I never told you.”

Uh oh.

“After the show you were super complimentary to me about how well the event ran. You offered to leave me a LinkedIn recommendation.”

Damn. Guess I dropped the ball on that promise.

“I never contacted you about it,” she continues. “Because I was embarrassed. I didn’t have a LinkedIn account!”

Whew. I didn’t screw up.

“But I never got a chance to thank you.”

“For what?”

“I was having a really hard time back then. I was relatively new to running events, my department was not supportive. They made me doubt myself and my future.”

That sucks.

“But you were so positive. You said so many nice things about the event, and when you offered to write me a recommendation, you gave me confidence in myself. Your comment is what led to eventually changing jobs and building the career I now have today. I always meant to thank you but never got around to it. That’s why I was so excited to see you were here. Thank you.”

The power of ordinary conversations

I was speechless, and simultaneously, not surprised.

Because I know that what I did wasn’t special or extraordinary. It was just a simple kindness.

But we live in a world so overwhelming full of negativity and competition that basic kindnesses like giving someone a compliment on a job well done are rare.

It doesn’t take much to brighten someone’s day.

And when you extend the give of human connection to another, they will extend that gift forward, and the ripple spreads quickly.

Today, she is an advisor at a great school making a huge positive impact on students lives. And the critical inflection point was a single kind remark from a visiting comedy magician.

It was a powerful reminder that sometimes we don’t have to do any outrageous to make a dent in the universe.

We just have to be present, understanding, and kind.