Where have all the good people gone?

 

Every day the news is dominated by all the bad people in this world, killing, maiming, and shouting of profanities right up to the higher levels of government.

So, where “have” all the good people gone? “Well” I am pleased to announce that they are still with us and in great numbers, striving to retain their sanity, but are being drowned out by the drum beats of the media, and other similar organizations

 

I served at sea during WW2 and traveled all over the world, during which time I met many, many, many, good people. The war was not a factor just one person being there at the right moment to help another human being irrespective of nationality or creed.

I love writing about good people. It provides me with a sense of stability in this unstable world.

 

My old Scottish Lady

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During WW2, My ship returned to the Firth of the Clyde Scotland after a voyage to India and Burma.

Duties on board kept me quite late in the afternoon before boarding a train in the Clyde side town of Gourock bound for the Glasgow main station for my journey home to England to see my family.

On arrival I found that I had missed the last train south. The station was completely deserted and had closed down for the night.

 

The waiting rooms were locked and it was a bitter cold winter’s night. Using my baggage as a pillow I lay down on one of the iron benches on the deserted platform, the cold wind occasionally gusting around me, to prepare for at least a 12 hour wait.

 

After about 10 minutes I turned on my side to get a more comfortable position and became aware of someone standing quite close to me. I sat up. It was a little old lady probably in her late eighties, and in a broad Scottish accent.

 

“Are you waiting for a train young man?”

“Yes”

She continued “the next one is not due till 6 o’clock tomorrow morning”

“Yes but I have no other option”

“You’ll catch your death of cold staying out here all night”

 

“Go out of the station, and just down the road is an all-night café. Have a meal and the owner will let you sleep in an easy chair in the warm and wake you when your train comes in”

She took something from her purse and gripping my arm thrust it into my hand, and then promptly walked away.

 

I looked at what she had given me. It was a British sterling 5 pound note, the equivalent in those days of an average person’s weekly wage. It was too late to say thank you or try to decline

 

I did as she suggested. Had a good meal, and a night’s sleep, and thankfully because of that old lady I boarded the train next morning in good spirits looking forward to seeing my family again

The image of her walking away down that deserted railway platform still remains vivid in my memory to this day.

 

Just a suggestion from an old man in his nineties. Concentrate on the good people in this world. They will be there to help you, as you will for them. Without personal gain, just the good feeling of doing the right thing.

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