Positive Songs For Negative Times #82: The Kindness Of Strangers

This blog can tend to get a little negative when it comes to depicting 21st century society, so I think it's only right that I give a shout out to two individuals who bucked the trend recently.

The first was the bus driver who took Sam & I into Edinburgh from the Park & Ride. When we boarded, I asked him which was the best stop for the Dungeon as we'd booked a specific time slot and I knew it was going to be tight. He gave it a thought and suggested a particular stop, so we headed upstairs to get the best view. As we arrived in the city centre, we started watching the video screen that lets you know the next couple of stops, but the one we were looking out for didn't seem to be coming up. Suddenly, the bus stopped and the driver came upstairs. "I've been thinking about it," he said, "and you'd be better getting off here." He then proceeded to give us detailed directions on foot for the rest of our journey. I don't travel on the bus very often, but this seemed above and beyond normal bus driver behaviour.

The second incident occurred the following day after our trip to Hadrian's Wall. As funds were running low and we were still feeling full from the All You Can Eat breakfast, Sam and I stopped for a baked potato tea in the Asda cafe in Carlisle. Afterwards, we went to grab a couple of bits for the journey home the following day. As we returned to the self service checkout, I realised I'd lost my wallet. You can imagine how I felt in that moment - over a hundred miles from home, with no money, no bank cards (which would need cancelling), no driver's license, no hotel room key-card... I couldn't even think what else, but this was a potential holiday-wrecker. In a panic, but trying to stay calm so as not to scare Sam, I thought about the last place I knew I'd had the wallet... and realised I'd paid for tea in the cafe. A quick dash back to our table... but no wallet. At that moment, a customer on a nearby table stopped me and told me his friend had found the wallet and handed it in at the Customer Service desk. "We were trying to find see if you were on Facebook," he said, "to send you a message." (He wouldn't have found me, but I appreciated the effort.)

As the doctors arrive to cart Blanche Dubois away at the end of A Streetcar Named Desire, she tells them, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers". It's not something I'm overly familiar with myself, but I'm happy to take it whenever it's offered.

Kevin Morby produced one of my favourite albums of last year, This Is A Photograph. Recently, he released a download only sequel. He says...

“If This Is A Photograph is a house that you have been living inside of, then More Photographs is, perhaps, the same home just experienced differently. As if you, its inhabitant, have taken a tab of something psychedelic and now, suddenly, you've replaced your eyeglasses with kaleidoscopes.”

Make of that what you will, but I do like the opening track...