GOOD DEED

Some things are so ridiculously unexpected that ten minutes previous to it happening, it's something you could never have comprehended, beyond your expectations rooted in routine. But something spectacular happened and it made me feel human(e).

To be stopped by a stranger in a completely out of the blue context is something that would bewilder anyone, and I'am the same. But really, there is no reason to be shocked by the contact made by you and another fellow human. A rough outline of this event travelled as follows:

I left college at around half five ish, I'am not quite sure because I'd stayed in college for a bit and it's really quite easy to lose track of the time. Nonetheless I began my usual walk back in to Leeds, this time stopping by a friend's house. Before I knew it I was being acknowledged by a stranger, and complemented bravely by how I seemed approachable.

The gentleman in this case was a music teacher, who had travelled by car for a interview at Leeds University earlier that day. He told a suspicious, yet believable story of how his car had recently been stolen, with half his money conveniently locked in the glove compartment, and all the while he sat none the wiser in his interview. But returning to where he knew he had parked his car, lay an empty space. In great shock and fear, he approached me, aside from anyone else for help (for which it feels rather unexplainable to define why I, out of anyone else, would be approachable), and expressed his desire for help, and to get home by any means.

The best I could provide him was all the money in my coat pocked, around £9.20, out of the £48.00 his ticket cost. My heart sank for this man in an alien city, far from home with little money, and this was all I had, and could have. Aside from a feeling of regret, I felt a massive sense of content and happiness, away from my circumstances, and focusing my mind on his world, where he was and where he needed to be.

If we all gave money to a stranger, we all might one day just chin up a little and forget our woes.

For that man I dedicate this post, because it was his gift to me, of generosity and openness that made my week a thousand times better. I hope you got home x