Paddington Station, Platform 1, Under the Clock

After my journey up from Penzance this afternoon, you can imagine my frustration as the minutes turned into well over an hour that I was waiting for my taxi driver to find me at the pick-up point of Paddington Station, Platform 1, Under the Clock.

He was somewhere in the station at 7.30pm, as arranged, on the dot, and calling me on his mobile... but he didn't know where he was, nor where platform 1 was. In fact I wonder whether he might have been in the wrong station altogether. The matter would have been more easily dealt with perhaps if we both had a strong grasp of the same language.

Following my 13th call which took much the same shape as all the others - "where are you... ah.. clock.. one o'clock.. platform?" - I lost all dignity and jumped up and down under the clock and swore a bit. Then I kicked my case.

I had been under the clock for one hour and twenty minutes, during which time an earwig had fallen down my cleavage, bitten me as I retrieved it and then motored off under the infuriatingly disinterested statue of Brunel.

I was very embarrassed that my tantrum and earwig episode had caught the attention of a man who came over to me to hear my story. He was sad that this was my first experience of being back in London, especially since he had had "one of the best days of his life and had closed a very important deal". He offered to pay for my taxi to Sydenham, wheeled my 30kg case (full of new curtains) to the rank and handed £40 to the driver with a, "get her home safely please". He wouldn't tell me his name.. "it didn't matter".

Utterly WONDERFUL!

I am still buzzing from such a generous and selfless act of charity and can only hope that it made his day even better too. Reckon I should keep the chain going and 'pay it forward'. Hope you are inspired to do the same!

It has made my week!

xx

Oh and for any of you worrying about the taxi driver who still may be wandering around looking for platform 1... I spoke with him on the phone and he seemed to be relieved to be let off the hook!