Thursday, July 30, 2009

gratitude+guilt


A strange thing happened a couple of days ago.
A young woman (maybe in her 30s) knocked on our front door and pleaded for me to help her (actually she was on her phone when I answered the door). I’d never seen her before in my life. She’d parked her car a few doors up the road and her car battery had completely died and she hadn’t a clue what to do. Did I have any jump leads? No, I didn’t.
I suggested that I (well, Stuart and me!) could probably get it started by pushing her down the hill (once we’d turned her car around). She expressed huge doubts – not about our ability to push her, you understand – “I’ve never done anything like that before in my life”. So, I explained what she needed to do and Stu+I pushed and pulled her car into position (it was at the top of the hill). She appeared to remain very doubtful.
Anyway, we managed to “bump start” her virtually immediately and she vanished down the hill (at some speed!) – mainly screaming in disbelief and but also desperately trying to poke her hand out of the car window to wave her thanks, in a vague manner of means.
All very amusing.
But later, I admitted to Moira that I’d been very suspicious by the whole thing. Her attitude had appeared really rather strange…. why our house (she must have passed nearly ten houses before knocking on our door)? She just seemed to assume that I’d comply with her request. She didn’t seem particularly pleased that we’d sorted out her problem…. although I was perfectly happy to help, I told Moira that I was little put out that she just seemed to ASSUME that I’d assist.
Well, yesterday evening I had to eat my words…. there was another knock on the door. It was the young woman again – but this time she was armed with a box of (quite expensive) chocolates! She apologised for not being able to thank us properly yesterday… she was really REALLY grateful…. and I was left feeling VERY guilty!
PS: the chocolates have probably been doctored… I’ll probably be kidnapped over the next day or so in a drugged state and smuggled to some far-off land… I’ll try and post a blog regarding my whereabouts….

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