A Pleasant Surprise

The phrase “Someone ought to do something about it” is common enough but who exactly is the proverbial “someone”? Having said it to myself several times about the litter in my lane I decided that it ought to be me so I set off, armed with a litter picker and a large plastic bag. Among the rubbish I picked up was a half full bottle of gin – well I didn’t actually test it, together with various drinks cans, both alcoholic and soft.

My work attracted some attention and one fellow came across his garden to inform me who the guilty parties were just outside his fence. It seems two men are carers for an old lady in the lane but are not allowed to smoke on the premises so they pull in to have a smoke and deposit their fag ends and beer elsewhere. He told them off and they haven’t been back since but who dropped a carefully packed whole bag of litter somewhere else in the lane is unproven. Why some people go to so much trouble to throw their litter away in the wrong place is beyond me.

On a happier note I took my wife shopping at the local store the same day and unloaded a considerable amount of groceries at the checkout. As fast as I could deposit it, however, the lady on the till sent it through and placed it on the other side. It took a couple of minutes for me to finish before moving round to pack everything where, much to my astonishment, I found a young man already bagging it up. He was next in the queue but decided to help me first. He even offered to hold the door open and asked if we needed assistance loading it into the car. I thanked him profusely and said he would be mentioned in despatches.

It was a kind act and much appreciated. Wouldn’t it be great if we all helped someone in need like that?