When, many years ago, I first read "I Have Always Depended on the Kindness of Strangers" in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, I knew that it was the focus of a book simply because it captured the essence of my life as well as the lives of others around me. Thus, The Accidental Life. I hope that the countless strangers on whom I have depended have depended on me as well. Acts of kindness are two-way streets. And they seem to be accidental in the sense that they do not fall into a pattern. I'm betting that readers will resonate with the acts of kindness that have influenced my life and the many essays, articles, stories, and opinion pieces that have resulted. My fondest hope is that readers will relate to similar acts in their own lives ... one sign of a book worth reading. Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert.