Random acts of kindness

Have you ever been taken by surprise by an act of kindness from a complete stranger?

It happened to me, early this morning, on my walk into work. The local market was, as always, just setting up for the day's business. The usual stallholders were getting their stands set up, filled with the fabulous range of goodies on offer. Everything from flowers, to greetings cards, to clothing, to secondhand books, to food and produce.

One of the stalls is a bread stall (imagine the wonderful smell of that on the morning air). The huge variety of different breads are both beautiful to look at and delicious, if sometimes a wee bit on the pricey side. I have bought various loaves from the stall in the past, including their olive bread and the Italian loaves, especially if we've had friends coming for dinner.

Today, he had a tray of newly-baked little granary rolls ready to be put out for sale. They were amazing so I told him they looked great and asked, although it was very early and he wasn't really set up to sell his wares, if I could please buy just one roll. He grinned, and handed me a still-warm roll saying "no problem, just take it". Backing away from me with both palms raised, he wouldn't accept a penny!

He'll doubtless never see this, but 'Thank You' anyway. It's quite made my day.