Look out for those around you and lend helping hand

WITH the news of rioting across the country featuring heavily in the headlines at the moment, for those affected, fear and anxiety follows closely behind.

For those whose paths do not cross areas of unrest it can feel far removed, almost as though it were in another life, another world. But images in the news are a shocking and deeply disturbing reminder of how humans are capable of behaving towards each other.

I am not getting into the politics of the riots but I would like to flip the coin and highlight the other side. The capability for humans to be spontaneously and actively kind is an equal and opposite counterpart to their ability to be aggressive.

Last week, I was in Birmingham and managed to send my poor mobile phone for an ignoble bath down the loo. I needed to call family to find out if I was collecting children from grandparents en route home. I needed a map of some sort to get me home.

And lastly, I had an opportunity before I left Birmingham to get a photo taken with someone who’s been a bit of a hero of mine and as this person lives in the States, it was fairly unlikely that our paths would cross again any time soon. So, all in all, it wasn’t very convenient that I’d sent my phone for early retirement. So here comes all the lovely stuff. Firstly, the hero chap takes a selfie photo on his phone and sends it to me personally so that when my phone got sorted it would be there. Next, someone spent some time going through their maps and hand writing instructions to get me out of Birmingham. This did not stop me exploring a roundabout 14 times trying to guess which exit to take but that’s by the by.

I stopped then at a random petrol station with my last £15 cash — £10 went in the car, £5 saved for a road map. One problem; they had no road maps. As I was starting to get slightly huffy about this fact the super sweet cashier by the name of Kamir offered his phone so I could call my dearly beloved who, with some back and forth, organised the logistics of child collection.

Kamir then let me use his phone to go through Google Maps and scribe step by step notes of how to get to the children.

When I went to use my map money to buy something to eat, he insisted I went and chose more food and drink to sustain me for the long journey ahead and that he would pay for it himself. I assured him I wasn’t about to keel over from hunger on the two-hour car journey and a sandwich would do me fine, but I had to work hard to persuade him.

Small moments of care really help. Be it a hug from a neighbour, or support from a stranger, it is anything but small. It will never make the headline news but it restores connection rather than enforcing separation.

Small moments aren’t sought out, but simply recognised when an opportunity arises. As the Beatles sang: “I get by with a little help from my friends.”