A Little More Faith...

Earlier this week I did something stupid, I forgot to print out a parking ticket in a free car park.

You don't have to pay, but you're supposed to print a ticket and put it on display to show how long you've been in the car park. It's so easy to forget when you have children (well A child) jumping up and down yelling "We're going to the climbing frames, we're going to the climbing frames" at the top of her voice whilst impersonating a madly pogo-ing punk.

Even more stupidly it's not even the first time I've done this, I forgot once before when I was pregnant and my brain was mush, and I got a £15 fine which I could ill afford.

I walked back to car the other day and realised what I done, my stomach flipped over and I approached with utter dread expecting to spot one of those evil black and yellow envelopes mercilessly slapped on my windscreen. Only this time my dread turned first to happiness and then to gratitude. Some wonderful person had printed out a ticket for me and placed it under my windscreen wiper. It didn't cost them anything, just a little thought. But my gosh I appreciated it. Thank you so much to that kind anonymous stranger. I'm so, so grateful for that wonderful thoughtful gesture.

It was a small gift that I took very gladly. I've also taken heart from this: there are some very kind people out there, which I too often tend to forget. In our Daily Mail driven society we look at all strangers assuming they're paedophiles, murderers or worse. I'm guilty of eyeing people suspiciously when they're just trying to be nice.

I'm not claiming I'm going to stop doing that overnight but I am planning to check the cars around me when I park. One day I hope to find a ticket-less car and share the love.

Has a thoughtful stranger ever saved your bacon?