Young Kim started folding roses as a child, when he was giving them to colleagues at school, for Valentine’s Day, Christmas Time, or at the end of the school year. It started as a hobby, and then he be…gan folding them in pubs or cafes. This is how I met him, folding roses at the Thinking Cup in Boston, close to the Boston Common, so I asked him for an interview. Me met later, at the Thinking Cup, where we got to talk while sipping a cup of coffee and enjoyed the warm Sunday afternoon, cheered by people smiling and sometimes interrupted by Harley Davidson fans driving through the North End.
Why is he folding roses? This is a hobby for him, but he enjoys just giving something for free, because he can get a smile from someone that tells you that you cheered up their day. He told me about the various reactions people have seeing him folding roses and the reactions they have when he gives roses to him. At one point, everything started feeling like an unintended social experiment, which showed him how suspicious and afraid people usually are, especially when they receive something for free, with nothing in return. On the other hand, he was surprised about the innocent reactions children have, just smiling and taking the roses, without any fear. When I asked him why he didn’t sell the roses, he said that he wouldn’t probably enjoy it that much, if he was making money out of it. So the reward for him is just a smile and people doing something else for their peers as well.
I have also asked Young Kim about dreams and what does he think we should do in order to fulfill ours. What is his dream and what does he do for fulfilling it? His passion is to tell stories, all types of stories, and to have an impact. Through the Coop Program at the Northeastern University (http://www.northeastern.edu/coop/), he got to work at CBS in Denver and to write about all kind of crimes and the stories behind them, and he felt he made an impact on the community. After that, working at CBS at their morning show, he got to tell stories on art and culture, which he enjoyed as well. So, as an advice for people who have a dream and don’t know how to accomplish it, Young Kim believes they have to work towards it and be flexible about it. You have to know to say yes and when to say yes. At the end of the day, if you are passionate about something, you have the drive of getting it accomplished, and you will have the regret later if it didn’t happen. This may change your life, it would certainly change your days. We are all capable of doing many things, it depends on each of us to nurture our talents, so it’s also about our choice.
What would he like people to know about him? If you ever see him in New York, where he is now, folding a rose, feel free to approach him. He is very generous, so he would like people to learn that they can be generous as well, by doing something that makes them happy and giving it to other people, to make them happy.
This interview was taken in April 2014, in Boston. Young Kim is now a journalist at CBS New York, he still enjoys folding roses, swing dancing.
