Kindness of Strangers

I am amazed and delighted at the kindness of random strangers.

Last week I bought some vintage pianola rolls on eBay - as you do. Saturday afternoon I got a message saying the order had been sent.

Sunday lunchtime I got a phone call from a complete stranger in Sydney who was standing next to a mail box in a street in Cremorne. On top of the mail box was a large parcel addressed to me. It was in full public view, just sitting on top of a mail box in a busy street where hundreds of people were walking past, many eyeing the parcel with varying degrees of curiousity or caution.

It had my name and address clearly showing and the unknown Good Samaritan had gone to the trouble of looking up my phone number online and calling me to see if he could help.

Once we'd worked out what it probably was and that neither of us were hoaxers, we tried to figure out a way we could get it back on track. Being Sunday, the post office was closed and wouldn't re-open until Tuesday because Monday was the Australia Day holiday. The anonymous helper couldn't hang around and didn't know anyone in the street with whom he could leave it until I'd sorted out the next step. I asked if maybe he could leave it in a nearby shop if there was one open and let me know the location so I could follow-up later.

That is how we've left it. Meanwhile I've messaged the vendor via eBay asking if it actually is the parcel meant for me, and how come it ended up sitting on top of a public mail box in Cremorne.

I'll keep you posted when I know some more about what's going on.

Coming to Australia part 2

I counted 78 forms I had to fill in during my application period in order to get to Australia.

On several of them I answered "No" to the question "Do you need accommodation on your arrival in Australia?" And on dozens of them I put the address where I would be staying.

Nevertheless, as I disembarked the aircraft, there was a very nice woman waiting at the bottom of the steps to take me to the migrant hostel in Woodville.

I explained that I didn't need to go to the hostel and my accommodation was all arranged.

She was quite insistent, to the point of grabbing my arm and trying to pull me towards a waiting van. I stood my ground. Pointing to a group people waiting at the gate I said, "See those people over there? That's my wife's family. I'm going to stay with them." And much to her consternation I walked over to join them.

About five weeks later, in my new teaching job, I got talking to one of the other new teachers and we discovered we had arrived in Adelaide on the same day. He and his wife were staying at the hostel while waiting to move into a new house that was being built.

I told him about the incident with the welcoming party and the attempt to drag me to the hostel.

He said, "Oh, you're that Ian Short! They are still laying a place for you in the dining hall."

Coming to Australia part 1

On this day, 45 years ago, I arrived in Australia.

It was a stinking hot day and after 36 hours in the air from London via New York, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Fiji, I met my wife's Adelaide family for the first time.

Immediately, my new brother-in-laws whisked me over the road to the pub. One asked the barman, "A schooner for our Pommy brother-in-law".

"Oh, you're a Pom", said the barman. "How long have you been in Australia?"

"Twenty minutes", I replied.

"What do you think of the place?"

I must have given the right answer because not only did I get an ice-cold beer, I'm still here in this astonishing country forty-five years later.