The world is short of kindness

After so many bad toilet paper stories, I have a good one to report. Yesterday morning I went to Bakers Delight in Bankstown to get a loaf of bread for my brother. There is an IGA supermarket in a recess opposite. I walked over there to see if they had any toilet rolls as it is now impossible to throw a pack in the trolley with the rest of the weekly shopping, as everyone would know.

I hadn’t seen anyone on my long walk from my car, with toilet rolls in their trolleys. There was a lady outside IGA and she had toilet rolls in her trolley. She was just standing there. I asked her if she had bought the toilet rolls in IGA. She said no, she bought them near where she lives and was meeting someone to give them to. She said if she hadn’t already promised them to someone else she would give them to me. I said there was no need for that and I wished her a nice day and walked across to get the bread.

As I turned around after paying for the bread, the lady was behind me. She asked me if I could meet her tomorrow morning (which was this morning) and she would bring me some toilet rolls. She said she wanted to spread a little kindness and she seemed genuinely nice so I agreed to meet her at Michel’s Patisserie (not far from the bread shop) this morning.

I told this story to my brother yesterday morning and he laughed. He said there is no way this lady is going to turn up. I said I thought that was possible but I didn’t agree and felt that she was sincere and I didn’t want to be the one to not turn up so I was going to go there. This morning I went to the Patisserie, out in the open space, at the arranged time. A voice called out “here I am” and there she was. She had two packets of 12 toilet rolls, three boxes of tissues and a two-pack of hand sanitiser which she opened and gave one to me and kept one for herself.

We had a coffee together and a long chat. She has had more than her fair share of sadness in her life and I am pleased we met. I liked her instantly. I gave her my phone number and asked her to give me a call and keep in touch. I would like to meet up with her again.

The world is very short of kindness. We need many more people like this lovely lady M. She made my day and it had nothing at all to do with the toilet rolls. – Lin Golab