5 h. ago The kindness of strangers: a gentle flight attendant made me feel I wasn’t alone

He didn’t try to tell me everything would be all right, because it wouldn’t have been. If he hadn’t been there, I would have been sobbing on my ownRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesI’d completely forgotten it was my little sister’s 40th birthday, so that morning I hurriedly arranged to send some flowers to her house. She died before she could receive them. My sister died at 11am and I got a text from the florist saying they’d delivered the flowers at 11.30am – how ridiculous. They must have sat on her doorstep for days.I got the call as I was walking through the doors at Emerald airport in Queensland, about to fly home to Brisbane. My stepdad rang me and said, “I need to talk to you about something – your sister’s died.” I was like, “What? What do you mean?” I told him I was about to hop on a plane home and that I’d call him when I got on the ground. I hung up, stunned. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago The kindness of strangers: when I left my card in an ATM in Argentina, a Dutch guy found it and saved my trip

I was travelling solo in 2009, carrying only one card with me. If Bart hadn’t helped, I would have been in a big messRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesI was towards the end of a nine-week trip, travelling solo around the world. After that long abroad, I was just exhausted. So when I went to the ATM to get money out, I made a critical mistake.At home in Australia, we take the card out and then we get our cash. In Argentina, where I was, it’s the reverse – first your cash comes out, then your card. So I put my card in, got my money and just walked away, leaving my card behind. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Woman tortured and raped by evil ex for 13 years finally escaped after meeting kind stranger

Michael Christie terrorised Emma Louise Goddard after meeting her when she was just 15-years-old.

Events

2 w. ago Kindness of strangers: a woman I’d never met heard we had flu and dropped a big pot of soup at our doorstep

We’d just moved to a small town and didn’t know a soul. Then we all got sick at the same time. That food saved usRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesIt was 1996 when my husband was transferred to the small rural town of Healesville for work. In inner-city Melbourne, where we’d been living, we had a support network of neighbours, friends and family. In Healesville we didn’t know a soul. It was just me and my husband, our two little kids and two dogs.We hadn’t been there long when we all came down with the flu. It wasn’t a cold, it was the flu – complete with aching, fevers and hallucinating. It was terrible. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The kindness of strangers: a woman I’d never met heard we had flu and dropped a big pot of soup at our doorstep

We’d just moved to a small town and didn’t know a soul. Then we all got sick at the same time. That food saved usRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesIt was 1996 when my husband was transferred to the small rural town of Healesville for work. In inner-city Melbourne, where we’d been living, we had a support network of neighbours, friends and family. In Healesville we didn’t know a soul. It was just me and my husband, our two little kids and two dogs.We hadn’t been there long when we all came down with the flu. It wasn’t a cold, it was the flu – complete with aching, fevers and hallucinating. It was terrible. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago The kindness of strangers: when my period arrived, a lifeguard quietly put a towel around me

I was only 13 and he was young too, but he somehow knew not to make it a big deal. If he hadn’t helped, it likely would have destroyed my entire holidayRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesIt wasn’t my first period, but it was within the first year of getting my period. I was only 13 years old and, when you first start menstruating, you never know when your next period is going to arrive.I was away on holiday with my family, playing in the hotel pool with some new friends I’d just met. There was definitely a boy there I fancied. At one point, I hopped out of the pool and suddenly this lifeguard, who must have only been 15 or 16 himself, walked straight up, put a towel around me and said really quietly in my ear, “You need to go to the bathroom.” I looked down and realised why: my period had started. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago The kindness of strangers: I thought my wages would be docked but the customer I’d overpaid returned

The till was $20 short – almost a week’s pay. It meant I’d have no money for the Christmas periodRead more in the Kindness of strangers seriesIt was Christmas Eve, 1977. I was 20 years old and working on the desk at a credit union as a teller. Management thought it was a wise idea to offer our customers a glass of champagne with their withdrawals that day, so I had been helping myself to a small glass of bubbly as I handed the customers one.By the end of the day I was unsurprisingly a bit tipsy and, when I balanced up the till, I realised I was $20 short. At the time, $20 was almost a week’s pay for me, or at least half a week’s pay, so it was a decent amount of money. I was sitting there feeling quite distressed, because if the till was down you had to make it up from your own wages – that was the deal. It meant I would have no money for the Christmas period. Continue reading...

Economics

last month Arsenal’s comeback queens face ultimate Barcelona test in Champions League final

New chapter in Arsenal’s storied history awaits as they aim to end continental drought in a sold-out Lisbon finalAfter 18 years, Arsenal are back in the biggest game in women’s European football with a dream to end their long wait for continental glory. They face the holders, the favourites and the much-revered Barcelona, who are aiming to win the Champions League for a third consecutive season on a picture-perfect weekend in Lisbon.Strolling along tree-lined paths through the Portuguese capital’s sun-kissed Parque Eduardo VII, as a group of Barcelona fans cross paths with two Arsenal supporters wearing full red-and-white kit and exchange a few friendly quips about Saturday’s final, it is hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for the 3,467 attendees who saw Arsenal lift the Uefa Women’s Cup – as it was known in 2007 – in the somewhat less glamorous surroundings of Boreham Wood FC’s Meadow Park. In those days, the competition concluded with a two-legged home-and-away final. Arsenal fol...

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