How I met kindness in London..

Kindness..

The truth is that kindness knows no boundries.

Wheather amongst Malaysian, Asian, British or European.

Everyone has kindness in her heart.

I have mentioned previously how I thought the Swiss were very courteous and gracious.

The Catalonian has a warm big heart.

They just love kids.

Even a little Catalonian would play and tease Isabella.

The elders would stop to greet Isabella in Spanish 'Bonita' they said.

It meant pretty.

Owh I googled immediately because she kept on trying to make me understand what it meant.

Could it be the Bonita shop?

An old lady accross our seat in the train suddenly gave candies to me, I mean to Isabella but because of it being a choking hazard I had to eat it on her behalf.

In London, on the day of our arrival it was raining cats and dogs.

What a weather.

It was not fit for arrival especially when we travelled by underground, not by taxi.

It was a short walk from the Acton Station to Stewart's place, the townhouse we were staying throught airbnb.

His direction was clear.

It was raining lightly at first.

So, we decided to just walk in the rain.

After all the direction was very clear and it is just a short walk.

However, due to the darkness, I missed the gate which was actually opposite the Acton Station.

It was immediately after the pedestrian walk.

Because of that we ended up getting lost somewhere inthe neighbourhood.

My husband couldn't phone Stewart.

Later on I found out that he didn't insert the Country's code.

+4 hehehe.

Anyway, we were at a junction I really don't know where to go.

We have walked quite a distance and it didn't seem right because he said it was just a short walk.

The rain became heavy now.

Nobody was around to ask for direction.

Ya who would be walking in that rain right?

No, the British does you know.

Actually, there was an English lady passing by, back from a store and we stopped her.

We asked if she knew the address but unfortunately she didn't.

She tried to use her GPS.

We explained to her that we were staying in a friend's place and this was the address.

She asked if we could call him to come and pick us up.

She graciously offered to use her phone.

Immediately took the number and dialled.

She talked to our host about our predicament how we were lost.

She got wet because she was not carrying an umbrella.

Her groceries and newspaper became wet as well.

I felt so bad but grateful nevertheless.

I tried to shield her head with my handbag in a futile attempt to cover her from the rain.

Hehehehe.

I would feel bad if she catches the flu.

How many times has someone answered,'No, I don't know this place' and walk away.

Now, this lady was in an unfavourable situation (in the rain) and her house was still a distance to walk which meant she will get soaked even more.

She didn't know the address and could just walk away.

But she didn't. She waited and tried to find a way to solve our problem.

When it was solved, and Stewart was well on his way, then she left us.

We were forever grateful to the soaked wet English lady who showed us such pure kindness.

As it turned out, the walk was so short, less then 2 minutes. Pfftt. Thanks to the darkness.

Our stay later had a shift of luck to the good side, Thank God.

Things happen during travel. No sweat. Just remember that good things come to those who wait.

Okay, second story.

Banyak betul story minah ni. LOL.

I wonder if I should be a storyteller instead of a doctor.

Okay whatever. Dah melalut dah.

We were in the middle of going down the stairs in one of London's underground station.

I couldn't quite recall which one it was.

Some of the underground has no lift so we had to carry Isabella's stroller in our 

Hubby was holding the back of the stroller and me, the front.

We had to be very careful because any mishap could cause an injury to us and even worse our baby.

Some stairs could be steep and narrow.

I remembered at that time, we couldn't go down very fast and had to pause several times.

Imagine carrying a 7 kg stroller plus a 9 kg baby on the stairs and you had to take your time.

Not easy dude.

You could easily miss the steps.

Anyway, there were 2 old ladies and an old man in front of us going down the staircase.

Each one was struggling with her and his walking stick.

So they had to take their time.

Anyway, the other passer by just rushed next to us to catch on the next train.

Everyone moves fast in the underground station.

It is just that way.

I guess because of the pressure to go faster, the first lady, slipped and went down head first.

Another old lady and old man were behind her, and then there was me.

Since I was quite close, I witnessed the whole thing.

The 2 elders were struggling with their cane so they couldn't help.

The first babushka as the Russian would say means grandmother, just went down the steps head first.

It was such a horrifying image to me and my husband.

I couldn't help her because both of my hands were holding the heavy stroller and we couldn't put it down in the middle of the stairs as it would roll down and injure Isabella.

In that few seconds I felt horrible, sad and torn.

However the Londoners were very quick.

They caught her and tried to help her sit.

She couldn't stand up.

I think she sprained her ankle.

Being a doctor, we were taught to be nosy.

I peeped to see if she was badly injured, if it was an emergency.

People were surrounding her and we were still unable to go down the stairs.

As I passed her, I saw there was a 2 cm cut on her left eyebrow,no bleeding.

Judging from the fall, she wouldn't have suffered any fracture except a sprained ankle.

Her fall was in a slow motion.

But to an old lady, it would have hurt her fragile body even more.

One of the great thing about London's underground is that their staffs are everywhere, very efficient.

You can't get through the stroller gate, don't panic, owh there the officer coming towards you to open the gate.

Very efficient. It makes our ride very smooth. Great job guys!!

Paris?? No staffs were there to help.

Not baby friendly underground station at all.

Anyway back to the story, the officer came to the site within seconds and immediately called for a medical help.

Seeing an old lady struggled like that I mean, why does she have to use this mode of transportation?

Where were her children?

Why don't they provide lifts for the elders in all station?

I was emotional, pissed off.

I soon realized that everyone has her own life and you cannot help to change everyone's life according to how you favour.

I have seen on daily basis how the old Russian struggled for a living. They were active and could chase the bus better than I was.

People make do with what they have.

Regarding the lift for all station, actually they are renovating the stations in turn.

London underground has been amongst the oldest in the world and they are making changes.

Half of the stations have lifts now for the wheelchair people.

You can't expect change in a blink of an eye.

So how?

That is life.

The end.