Human kindness – the most precious Christmas gift of all

It’s 8.30am and I’m walking to the underground London. It’s a different work week.

Back home, sending a greeting as you pass folk is daily occurrence, whether it’s a comment about the weather or passing the time of day, we relish a wee natter while we queue in the bakers or pass someone walking their dog.

So, finding myself faced by silence on a Wednesday morning is strange. Curious, I asked the boss about it and discovered that in London, people don’t speak to each other.

What?

At this time of year London is brimming with holiday cheer. Big Ben is shining like it’s been personally polished for the occasion and Fortnum and Mason are selling a box of mince pies for a tenner.

Along with the overwhelming number of homeless people...

If people don’t speak to each other how do, they ask for help?

In Fife, when we need help, we holler for it. Whether it’s Nourish Support Centre Christmas Appeal or the Merchant’s Quarter celebrating ‘A Merry Merchant Christmas’ we tell folk what we need, and they answer in abundance, and I feel so lucky my hometown is the Lang Toun.

A couple of days ago I read about a ‘Wall of Kindness’ which appeared in London with pegs for unwanted coats and hats and I felt heartened by it just as I did when I saw the rail Wendy Brown put outside Balance Fife in November offering unwanted coats to passers-by on Kirkcaldy High Street.

These helping communities may be miles apart in distance, nevertheless they possess the same humanity. Perhaps we’re not that different after all.

I’m my father’s daughter and of course I didn’t give up in my attempts to natter, and by the time I left London I had them talking because if there’s a time when folk need to hear a ‘how are you’ it’s right now.

In the meantime, I’m away to Aldi for some mince pies …

> Lisa May Young is the director of Kirkcaldy Strong and a columnist for the Fife Free Press