On a packed tube home from Victoria this evening I was standing near the door. A man and a woman got on at the next stop, chatting happily. Then the woman looked down at the floor into the bag of a younger woman standing next to me and couldn't contain her excitement, "Ooooh, what a lot of chocolate!"
It was true. The carrier bag was packed with posh looking chocolates and chocolate bars. Of course this had been quite an intrusion into the chocolate owner's privacy. It wasn't quite an "Ooooh, someone likes chocolate!" but fairly close. She was quite a shy girl and a little embarrassed by the implication that she was about to go home and scoff her way through several pounds of chocolate and defended herself in a soft voice, "I work in a chocolate shop," she explained, "I get it all for free. I'm not some kind of crazy chocoholic!" There was a little West Country burr in the chocolate owning girl's voice, not unlike the Cadbury's Caramel Bunny (voiced by Miriam Margoyles, fact-fans, which might take the edge off the erection of any sexy cartoon rabbit fans). She had dealt with the intrusion rather well, especially as she was clearly quite a shy girl anyway.
"Wow, how lucky," the envious non-chocolate owning woman said, "It's really good stuff as well."
Rather than descending into the usual London silence between strangers the three people struck up a conversation about the chocolate. Apparently it just gets thrown away in a skip, so the staff of the shop get to keep it. "I don't eat it all myself," protested the chocolate girl, "I give it to friends and family." Did the lady protest too much? Was this just a pre-rehearsed excuse to defend herself against chocolate accusations? I don't think so. She was a slim enough girl and she was from the West Country and thus unlikely to be a liar.
"You can have some if you like," she said.
"Oh, no, I couldn't" said the woman, now herself embarrassed. The tables had turned. The canny young girl had made the nosey woman look like she'd asked about the chocolate because she wanted some herself. Which on a subconscious level was almost certainly true. She hadn't really wanted to intrude, she'd just seen all the chocolate and not been able to help herself. A bag of chocolate is like a kind of woman trap. I must remember this.
But the young girl was insistent and kind and she said, "Go on, I've got bags of the stuff. Just have a couple of bars."
The woman was tempted, but not sure how to cope with this stranger's kindness. And we all know you shouldn't accept sweets from strangers, no matter how sweet and shy they may be. The man was less embarrassed though. "I'll have some," he said and the girl selected a couple of bars for him.
It was a beautiful moment. Though one day I might hate humanity and want it all destroyed the next I see some simple act of friendship and my faith in God is restored. It was a touching scene.
Though I was very close I didn't try to catch the girl's eye (difficult as she was shyly looking at the floor) in the hope of getting some goodies for myself. Apart from a brief relapse at Easter I haven't eaten chocolate for ages. I am over that addiction. Though some say once a chocaholic, you are always one whether you eat chocolate or not.
The woman, perhaps annoyed at her own politeness at refusing any gift then said, "Maybe one time you should take a bag down to Shelter and give them all a treat."
"That's not a bad idea," said the girl, unchastised by the suggestion that she was being greedy and selfish giving these expensive treats to her family and strangers. But I don't think it would be such a good plan. There's a sniff of the Marie Antoinettes about it. "Yes, sorry to hear you are homeless, but hopefully this 80 pence truffle will make you feel better about yourself. In any case most homeless people are chocaholics who have lost everything due to spending all money on Fredos and Bourneville and so such a plan of action would only send them further into trouble.
The tube arrived at Earl's Court and the girl got out, bidding her new envious friends goodbye.
The woman laughed and apologised to her friend for her rudeness in making the original comment. "I just couldn't help remarking," she said, "There was so much chocolate there."
