Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Nearly thirty years ago I was a trainee engineer based in Liverpool. I was hundreds of miles from home, but I had a nice place to live, wasn't overworked, had a good bunch of friends and plenty of money in my pocket.

One Saturday morning I decided to walk into Liverpool city centre and buy myself something. I didn't need anything, I was just going to spend some money!  The walk was about four miles and took me through Toxteth, an area which two years later would erupt into rioting, largely because of the poverty of the place.

I stopped into a newsagents/general store to buy myself some sweets for the walk. While I was making up my mind the door opened and in walked this "ragamuffin". She looked like she might have been four years old (at the most), was wearing a summer dress and sandals even though it was a bitterly cold day, and she was not too clean.

She walked up to the counter, reached up and placed a fifty pence coin on the glass. Then, she proudly announced, she had saved this up for her little brother's birthday and she wanted to buy him a teddy bear and she wanted that one there.  The woman behind the counter told the little girl the teddy cost way more than 50p. The girl tried another one, and another one, and another one.

By this time I was engrossed. I knew that none of the bears on display could be bought for 50p. I also knew that I could easily buy the best bear there with the money I was going to waste that day - but did I want to encourage a little girl to take money from strangers?

While I dithered the little ragamuffin turned, the smile in her voice undimmed. "Oh well," she announced to the world. "I'll just give him mine then."

Her words echoed after she left. "I'll just give him mine," didn't sound like she was going to give him ONE of her teddies. She was going to give her little brother HER teddy, probably the only teddy she had!

I bet if I found the woman that little girl became she wouldn't even remember that day - but I do. Vividly!

Days like that can change the course of a life.