The space between

Trevor* and I didn't know our fates would be intertwined that day. But when I walked past him and realised he'd been abandoned, and then further discovered his home was in my direction, it seemed a little bit selfish just to leave him there.

And so on we walked, me padding along in my trainers, him rattling away. We got a few looks I'm sure, but I didn't mind - once we got into a rhythm it was quite nice to have the company. At one point I nearly left him at a petrol station, but luckily for him they didn't have what I was looking for so on we went.

In the end, I was almost sad to say goodbye. And I must say, it felt a bit odd to dock a trolley before going into a supermarket, but really when I only needed one thing it was a bit ridiculous to parade him up and down a single aisle just to prolong our farewell. So I gave him a friendly cheerio tap as I parked him with his friends and that was that.

You know me well enough, dear reader, to expect a point to come round about now. And it's this: I nearly didn't stop for Trevor. I did, I'm ashamed to say, walk right past him at first, and double-backed only a good eight paces or so later. Eight paces before I checked myself: I was brought up to be helpful, not selfish, so what on earth was I doing?

I've explored moments of hesitation on this blog before - it seems something of a recurring theme. What interests me this time is the vivid awareness we have whilst processing our decision in this space in time, the space between the call and the answer, to steal a phrase from a beautiful song. Sure, today's example might be somewhat trivial, but on too many occasions a similar opportunity has subtly suggested itself - and I've chosen poorly. Complacency is a new theme I'm starting to dwell upon: I'm slowly realising that it's no longer acceptable to only respond to situations that put themselves directly in our paths. We have to look for those which nestle in the sidelines - often it will cost us nothing to bring them along on our journey, and who knows: we might even enjoy it. XTC talked about making plans for Nigel. It's time I started looking out for Trevors.


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*The names have been changed to protect the innocent.