The girl in the green coat.

The girl in the green coat on the number seven bus.

(this might seem like a rant, but I promise you it’s not. Bear with me.)

Have you ever just had one of those days? Nothing is going right, you’re exhausted by half one in the afternoon, no amount of tea or coffee can take that away and you’re stuck at work?

Saturday was one of those days for me.

I had spent the morning trying to wake myself up in a variety of ways, none of which worked, my sleeping pattern is mostly all over the place, all the time. I normally function with about 4 hours sleep a night. My skin was dry, my hair was a mess, I was grumpy and I had to go and do a nine hour shift at work. My job causes a lot of my anxieties, so I knew when I woke up with that horrible, familiar, tight feeling in my chest that I was in for a not so fun day. Flustered, I arrived at work and although my job is not highly skilled, it requires a lot of concentration. Working with those who haven’t been in the job for a very long time can be tough, and half way into the shift I had a panic attack.

I don’t know why. I don’t know what triggered it. I don’t know why I woke up that morning pretty sure I knew I was going to have one.. I just did. I then had to work from six oclock until ten by myself, and then get on a bus alone to get home.

Now, this story probably seems like a whole lot of miserable nonsense doesn’t it? Well I promise you it isnt.

I left the shop in a huff with everything. At the fact that I was exhausted, at the fact that I’d only taken 8 bets in four hours, at the fact that I was on my way to get on the bus when I have a perfect little car waiting for me outside of my house as soon as I pass my driving test.

It was close outside, warm but there was a promise of thunder in the air, hanging like a secret above our heads. A storm was definitely coming. Good, I thought to myself, about time the summer started! Whinging again.. I know.

Now all this time that I’d been sat in this bus stop, having a mental rant at myself inwardly, people had slowly begun gathering at the bus stop and the bus finally arrived.

And after that awful day, a day of anxiety, boredom, anger and exhaustion, the bus driver did something so small but so kind that it truly lifted my spirits endlessly.

When I asked for a week pass, he took one look at me and said “I take it you’re not going elsewhere tonight? Buy your pass tomorrow, just get yourself on”. Just like that. A gesture I’m sure he thought no more about for the rest of his shift, but it just made me think about the good we can do with a simple kindness. He didn’t know me, and yes he could probably see from the look on my face that I hadn’t had the best of days but that little gesture, gave me a little boost.

So to that bus driver, who looked about 19 years old, a mass of floppy blonde hair and who drove the wrong way down the road (shouting “I’m turning round.. it’s been a long day!”), I just want to say a huge thank you, from the girl in the green coat on the number seven bus.

18/06/16