Little acts of kindness

This morning as I was waiting in line in the village post office I overheard an exchange between two customers which moved me greatly.
While Jenny the postmistress battled with my Christmas parcels, an elderly lady came in in a slightly agitated and flustered state. I know her to say hello to and I have always suspected that she is suffering from early Alzheimers and before I could turn around the only other customer struck up a conversation with her.
The other customer was a guy in his early sixties. He is Polish but has lived so long in the village that he can speak Welsh very well.I have met him several times when he has helped out at the Memorial Hall with the Conservation Group and The Flower Show and I have always found him to be a warm and delightfully friendly local character who always makes the effort to engage with you .
As the old lady worried away at this and that, I listened to him gently and sincerely reduce her anxiety by a calm,precise and incredibly moving few sentences that would have put to shame a trained counsellor or Psychiatric nurse.
Little acts of kindness between relative strangers are, I think, a rarity. British people with busy lives and routines are often embarrassed with potentially uncomfortable social situations and today I witnessed someone who went that extra mile when they didn't have to.
Being witness to this simple act of altruism was like finding a little nugget of gold in the allotment....

This afternoon we went to the beach (apologies for the gross tracksuit bottoms) then rushed home to check on the young buff hens who I had Incorporated into the adult hens' run. True to form there had been some skirmishes but no gross bullying had taken place.

Tonight we are settling down with the semi final of Strictly Come Dancing.....