The kindness of strangers: my melons went flying and a group...

One Saturday morning, I accompanied my mum to the local market to do our weekly fruit and veg shop. Mum was still looking around when I offered to take the shopping back to the car, which was stuffed into a little red trolley. It was like a Mary Poppins bag – quite a small thing, but it was surprising how much you could load it up. Or so we thought.

With the trolley heaving under the weight of an already full load of groceries, my mum rested a box of honeydew melons on top. She warned me to be careful getting it back to the car.

All was going well as I weaved my way through the crowds of people, and out of the market. But as I was crossing the chaotically busy main intersection into the market, the trolley got stuck on the traffic island in the middle of the road, and the box of melons fell to the ground. They went flying, spectacularly tumbling out towards pedestrians and waiting cars.

As the little walking man changed from green to red, I was stunned, mouth agape, trying to process how I was going to collect the melons shooting in six different directions.

Out of nowhere, a group of three or four older women came to my rescue. White hair, head scarves and one with a walking stick – they looked like they had stepped out of the same babushka doll. They weren’t deterred by the cars inching their way towards us. Utterly fearless, they just held up their hands to stop the traffic, in both directions. They collected all the melons for me, not missing a single one, as I fixed the box to hold them.

I thanked them and they didn’t say a word, just smiled and waved me goodbye. I didn’t eat the melons – I was never a real fan of honeydew – but I tell this story all the time because I love it so much.

What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

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