Deeds

Today Charlie started volunteering at St Brides in Old Trafford, helping out at their Big Breakfast, a community event that takes place on the second Saturday of the month. I decided to go across to lend a bit of moral support and, of course, to have something to eat. I took today's photo just outside the church.

I ordered my food and made my donation, and then went to find a seat to wait for Charlie, who had timed her break so she could come and eat with me. As I sat down at a free table, an old chap came across, carrying his breakfast, and asked if he might sit with me, so I said sure.

Now, I don't particularly enjoy talking to strangers, principally because I'm not very good at it, but we were joined almost immediately by Charlie and her friend, Ellie, who put me to shame, asking the chap's name - Graham - and introducing themselves without fuss, and thence conversation flowed quite naturally.

When their break came to end, Charlie and Ellie started to clear their plates, and, as I'd finished eating, I started to get ready to leave, too. It was only when I was on my feet with my plate in my hand that I realised we were leaving Graham on his own, but Charlie and Ellie had started to walk away and so I just said goodbye, too.

It was only a short walk back to the car but by the time I got there, I was thoroughly miserable. I felt really bad about not staying with Graham, and it pained me to think of him sat on his own after we'd gone. All the way home, I tried to think about how I might become a bit friendlier with people and recognise the situations when I should.

I played a bit of guitar once I arrived back and then set off for college at about a quarter to twelve, still feeling melancholic. I was just walking across the square, when I heard an old, frail voice calling out. It took me a few more steps before I realised it was after my attention, so I stopped and turned, to find an old man walking towards me.

I guess he must have been in his eighties although he seemed quite sprightly, and behind him I could see a little grey car, which seemed to be his. He explained that he'd just dropped his son at the station, and that although he had taken the road that his son told him to, he was lost.

Now, Salford Crescent station is just five minutes walk away, so I assumed he meant he'd come from there, and I asked him where he was trying to get to, to which he replied Princess Road. That didn't sound familiar so I opened the Maps app on my phone. It looked to be about three miles away.

"Which station did you drop your son at?" I asked, bemused. There was no single road that would lead to Princess Road.
"Victoria" he replied.

I couldn't begin to imagine how he'd ended up at the square but decided there was no point in pursuing that. Instead, I started to try to explain the route he needed to take but even getting back to the A6 was complicated enough.

And then I remembered Graham and my new resolution. 

"Look, would it help if I came with you?" I asked. And, to my predictable dismay, he replied "Oh, yes please. That would be a big help", adding "I'll give you ten pounds".

I have to say that he was a pretty good driver for a man of his age but quite early on I had to encourage him to drive on the left of the road and I felt a little nervous about a couple of the junctions that lay in our immediate future, the first of which was the right turn where Trinity Way crosses Chapel Street.

Well, my fears were almost recognised as it looked like we might be stranded halfway across the junction, so I encouraged my new chum to ignore the lights, as if that was perfectly normal and acceptable. But if he had his doubts about my navigation he didn't raise them, neither then nor when we repeated the same manoeuvre at the next junction.

But it was just after we'd negotiated that second turning that the atmosphere in the car changed. "Oh, I know where I am now!" he exclaimed and I swear that his driving almost immediately improved*. Consequently, when the opportunity presented itself, I asked him to pull over so that I could get out.

As I took my seatbelt off, he did the same and reached for his wallet, so I gently explained that I really didn't want any money for helping him to which he responded "Well, you've done a good deed" and at that my Graham related angst dissipated.

Of course, I now needed to walk back to college. I'd sent Yoss a hasty text earlier saying only that I'd be late, and I now followed that up to say that I'd probably be another twenty minutes.

When I got there, though, there was only Yoss and one other guy, Jamie, in the classroom, so the lesson was cancelled in time for Jamie to get a lift home with his folks, while Yoss and I went to the Kings Arms for the afternoon. Karma was smiling on me :-)

* I should make the point that he was not actually a bad driver. He was just an old guy in an old car, on some busy major roads.