When I first met my boyfriend at school back in the 1980′s I always knew that he was the sweetest kindest boy, although I must confess, that wasn’t always what I wanted in a boyfriend then! (Girls hey, we are so difficult to please!) Now however, his kindness is very much appreciated.
Today we (correction, I) needed to go to the post office to send off some eBay sales to their eager purchasers, and because it’s a beautiful sunny day, I thought it would be nice if we went together. It also meant we could escape our cramped office for a while and soak up some rays.
Anyway, as soon as we turned out of the end of our road we came across an elderly couple parked on the opposite side of the road with car trouble. Adrian asked if I thought we should help, and my reply was an instant ‘Yes’. With the window down Adrian asked the elderly gentlemen if he needed any help and he seemed uncertain as to whether he should accept or decline, so we decided to give him no option. We parked up and jumped out to find that they had a flat tyre.
The elderly lady advised that her husband broke his back twenty years ago in Salisbury and that the job of changing a wheel was difficult as a result. Now, I’m only 40, but if I’m 100% honest, I struggle with undoing the nuts on a wheel on any day of the week. With them having been done up last by a garage using one of those pneumatic things, I could see that had we not stopped to help, this scenario at the side of the road could have gone on for quite some time.
Adrian had the wheel changed in around 5 minutes flat, I entertained the stranded couple with constant banter about their predicament and their German Shepherd dog, and the whole incident passed quickly and happily. When the job was done the couple tried to offer Adrian and I some money. I guess that’s a sign of the times! We didn’t stop to make a quick buck, despite us both being business people, we stopped because the couple were in need and we could both stop and help.
Without insulting the couple we refused the cash offered and told them to spend it on some extra biscuits for their dog. Our payment was the relief on their faces that the car was sorted and they could get on with their day. The currency paid was the sense of satisfaction we both felt because we could sing to ourselves the M People song ‘What have you done today to make you feel good’. A random act of kindness on a sunny day that made our day and the elderly couple’s day that bit better.
Is there anything better than that on a sunny day in life?
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