Kindness of Strangers

My daughter is a single parent, who works hard to provide for herself and three young sons. She budgets carefully and manages to plan for the little luxuries and treats that many others take for granted. When her eldest son, David, wanted a bicycle so that he could do an after-school pamphlet delivery job, the family saved up and soon, he was the proud owner of a good second-hand cycle. 

One afternoon, my daughter asked David to go to a local shop on an errand. He rode his bicycle, but foolishly left it outside the shop without putting on the lock. When David came out of the shop, it was gone. He walked home in tears and then, together with his exasperated mother, went to the local police station to report the theft.

Imagine their joy when they arrived at the station: a car parked out front had David’s bike wedged in the boot. The driver told my daughter how he’d seen a group of kids steal the bike once my grandson had gone inside the shop. 

The driver—in his late teens himself—had called out to them to “leave that bike alone!” Despite this, one member of the group had jumped on the bicycle and ridden it away while the others followed. Not to be deterred, the teen got in his car, drove after them and demanded the stolen bike back. He was happy to be able to return it to my grandson together with a lecture (reinforced by the policeman and his mother) about the folly of failing to use the bike lock. Then, in all the excitement, he slipped away, without even giving us his name or telephone number. 

Diane Davidson, Auckland, New Zealand