An afterthought today, killing time before the bus home.

I visit Tesco’s. Home or Extra or City or Metro. The expensive one.

I’m always limited to one basket; it’s all I can carry. But today, there are no baskets, so it is a handful.

Four items. Fishcakes and new potatoes, a healthy supper this evening. I bought the frozen peas last week, to keep the rest of my bag cool after a trip to the seaside. But from Aldi. It’s cheaper, and peas are just peas.

I’ll eat well, tonight.

And a small tube of wine gums. Because I had a hypo last week.

Last, a bag of liquorice all-sorts. Because I like liquorice. But I was good. Maybe. I only had six sweets. Or ten.

They’re called Coconut Rolls, apparently. I never knew. Looked it up. But the rolling machine must have been working overtime, it fused five yellow sweeties into one. Does that count?

But the bulk of the packet, I’ll save for later. Must take care not to let them go stale.

I join the queue. To a manual checkout. A pace whose slowness I can handle, and I am keeping somebody in a job.

I can’t see the cashier until I get closer. But I know her. Not know. Not properly. We know to say Hello.

She is kind. She always has a smile and a greeting for me. I haven’t spoken to anyone all day. I don’t mind that, I’m peculiar in that respect, but her greeting makes me feel special.

I know she is not from here, she sounds eastern. Serbian, or Bosnian, perhaps? Lithuanian? Latvian? Or somewhere near? My age, I wonder what adventures those eyes have seen? But it is none of my business. I hope she feels safe here, wherever she’s from.

She smiles at me, remembers I have only one arm, and packs my bag.

I amble to the bus stop, smiling. Small things.

Kindness knows no boundaries.