What Is Happiness, Really?

This fall was unusually long. The leaves stayed green, as if they forgot the season, and didn’t want to fall. While I was walking in Central Park, I suddenly felt I had to use the bathroom. I ran into T.J. Maxx and rushed to the restroom. I think I saw urinals, but I was in such a hurry that I didn’t care and just went in. After I finished, I found there was no toilet paper in the bin. I checked my pockets — nothing! Oh no! What should I do?

I held my head with both hands, panicking. Then, I heard someone in the next stall. I looked down and saw a man’s shoes under the wall. Oh my goodness — I was in the men’s restroom! When I’m desperate, I forget shame. I said,

“Excuse me, there’s no toilet paper here. Could you please give me some?” 

A quiet hand passed me a handful of paper under the wall. Then he kindly gave me some more, as if he understood my situation.

“Thank you so much. Did I come into the men’s restroom?”

A deep voice answered,

“Yes, the women’s restroom is on the right side of the entrance. You missed it.”

“I was in such a hurry. I’m sorry, and thank you.”

Before he came out, I quickly went into the women’s restroom to clean up. Whenever I really need to go to the bathroom, I remember the movie Doctor Zhivago. I also think about the train scene with Jewish people being sent to Auschwitz. I always wonder — what did people do when they needed to use the toilet on that train? It must have been terrible.

In Doctor Zhivago, people try to throw out the waste from the train, but the door is blocked by a thick sheet of ice. They break the ice with a shovel and push out the frozen waste with straw. Sitting on a clean toilet now, I suddenly feel very lucky. Even a simple thing like this is happiness.

You don’t need a high-class life to be happy. If you can sleep well, eat well, and poop well, that’s true happiness. I feel grateful to that kind man in the next stall who gave me toilet paper —he gave me not just paper, but happiness.