Kindness... all for salt

A knock on the door this evening and it's the neighbour asking me if he could have some salt as he has a visitor and no salt to serve.

Not a problem, I give him the salt pot and tell him to take what he wants as I don't really use it.

It turns out mum has had a couple of interactions with this man, the first when he was trying to do his washing in the communal machines. After putting 3 times the needed coins in, mum showed him how to get it started.

The next time mum was on her way to work with her suitcase and she had to climb the stairs to get to get outside (we are in the basement). This man was on his way down and insisted on carrying mum's suitcase all the way out the front door.

Tonight we had a bit of a chat about the fact there is no heating in our rooms yet again - a common occurrence these days it seems. Mum said she had contacted the landlord and he is out of town until tomorrow. We are lucky as we have a small electric heater so we won't freeze.

The neighbour was very concerned that we may be cold and checked that we had a heater - offering his one if we didn't.

He whispered quietly to me so mum wouldn't hear 'it is not so bad for us - we are young, but it is not right that your mother has no heating'. True, we are younger but mum also has a really bad cold and should be warm in her home.

After a few more words of anger about our landlord, he goes back to his room. But not for long.

A short time later he knocks on the door again and he has an electric blanket that he has taken off his own bed, insisting that mum use it.

There are some kind souls in this world and one of them lives next door to us.