Trying to get to a temp job on the outskirts of town, I used an online journey planner and made efficient notes on how to get there. I successfully caught the required bus and spotted the correct stopping point. It didn't look right though, so I queried with the driver whether this was the location I was looking for. No, I was miles from there. I got off the bus and stood in the High St in a little place, which as a Londoner I would be tempted to arrogantly describe as "in the middle of nowhere". For a few minutes my mind was blank, I didn't know what to do, I was quite disorientated. I had no more change in my purse to pay for another bus ride and I hadn't even saved the number of the agency in my phone. Eventually I decided what to do; I went to a cash point and took out £10, cursing because this was one of those terrible outlets that take money from you for using them. It annoys me to think that that is maybe the only cash machine in the High St, so the locals have little choice other than to be regularly fleeced.
Anyway, I looked up and down for a cab office, but not seeing one, I went into a little newsagent to ask if there were a cab office nearby. There was a woman in the doorway talking to the man behind the counter. When I asked about the cab office, he shook his head but passed me a Cab Card. Then I asked how far I was from the place and was relieved to be told it was only a couple of miles - it could have been ten miles for all I knew. I phoned the number on the card, but it went to answer phone, I suspect it was just one driver and that was his mobile. When I asked if he had another number, the woman spontaneously offered to drive me to the place. In the car the radio played Mahler's Symphony No 9. In the end I was less than five minutes late.
When I told people what had happened they accepted it as normal but to me, being from a big city, it seems amazing that someone would give a lift to a stranger. I am so grateful to that woman.
