A couple of weeks ago, I went to the chippie. I was full of ‘flu and my brain wasn’t functioning, I probably shouldn’t have been out on my own.
Got there to find I’d left my wallet at home. So I was asking “how much is a small chips” and coppering up, and an old shabby-looking bloke in the queue asked how much I needed. I stared at the coins in my hand and for the life of me I couldn’t work it out, it might as well have been differential calculus using Drogna.
So then he pipes up, “get him what he wants, I’ll pay.” I tried to refuse, he wouldn’t have it. So I made my order, tried to give the change I had and he wouldn’t accept that either. Explained that I could afford it, I’d just forgotten my wallet, but he was insistent. So I said, ok, I’ll put it in the charity box then; they had an Air Ambulance collection tin. He told me that if I did that he would be offended, he wanted me to keep the money, so I’d little choice but to put it in my pocket.
As I left, he was walking off down the street, I thought “well the least I can do is offer him a lift.” I was about to call over to him when he got to his own car, got in and drove off, in his E-class Merc. Oh.
Point I’m trying to make is, whilst my tale is (sorry) small potatoes in comparison, sometimes you just have to suck it up and let people be nice to you. Best thing you can do is enjoy the gift, treasure it; second best thing you can do is do a random act of kindness for someone else.