Random acts of kindness

Oh what a lovely day. A lovely autumn day for wandering around churchyards. And nice coffee shops and all manner of what-have-you.

Later on I noticed a cyclist in front of me. He was totally attired in dark clothing and had no lights on his bike. It was 8pm. Oh, and he had a bag of messages on his handlebars.

I only realised he was there because he was silhouetted in the lights of the on-coming cars. As I passed, I made sure that there was 1.5 metres of space betwixt us (I really don't want to end up as a Wingpig tweet).

At the next junction I stopped and when he caught up with me I leant over, rolled down the window and said "I can't see you?"

(I added the question mark, as I phrased my comment using the Australian Interrogative Inflection; I hasten to add that this is a mode of speaking that I try to avoid. I know that it's favoured by many (including a sibling of mine), probably due to watching drama set in Melbourne suburbs, although why they would when we have perfectly good drama set in the gritty streets that inspired Lowry). Anyway, I digress. I added the Antipodean inflection so as to sound helpful and friendly.

So imagine my surprise when this well-spoken middle-aged cyclist sneeringly said "You can't see me? So how can you talk to me then?"

I did try to reason with him that I was merely concerned for his safety, however I know he didn't hear that as he cycled off.

Oh well. Let's hope he doesn't get squished.