My Honeydews Tumbled Away and a Band of Helpful Elderly Ladies Rushed to the Aid
One Saturday morning, I joined my mother to the nearby market for our regular fruit and veg shop. Mum was still looking around when I volunteered to take the groceries back to the car, which was stuffed into a little red trolley. It was like a Mary Poppins bag – rather compact, but it was surprising how much you could load it up. Or so we thought.
With the cart straining under the load of an packed load of groceries, my mum rested a box of honeydew melons on top. She warned me to be cautious taking it back to the car.
All was proceeding smoothly as I made my way through the crowds of people and out of the market. But as I was navigating the chaotically busy main intersection into the market, the trolley became lodged on the traffic island in the middle of the road, and the box of melons tumbled to the ground. They scattered, dramatically rolling out towards pedestrians and stationary cars.
As the little walking man changed from go to stop, I was stunned, mouth agape, trying to figure out how I was going to retrieve the melons shooting in multiple directions.
Out of nowhere, a band of three or four older women came to my assistance. Silver-haired, scarves and one with a cane – they appeared as if they had emerged of the same nesting doll. They didn't hesitate by the cars creeping their way towards us. Completely brave, they just held up their hands to stop the traffic, in each direction. They gathered all the melons for me, not missing a solitary melon, as I fixed the box to hold them.
I expressed gratitude to them and they didn’t say a word, just grinned and gestured me goodbye. I never consumed the melons – I was never a real fan of honeydew melon – but I tell this anecdote frequently because I adore it so much.
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