I was temporarily living in my home town of Wangaratta while caring for my grandmother, who had dementia. I got weekends off and on one of those occasions I met a girl called Marie. During that lovely early period of a new relationship where you’re still getting to know each other, I took her camping at Mount Buffalo in Victoria.
On the way home we stopped in Myrtleford, a small town at the foot of the mountain, to get petrol. I fuelled up and Marie stayed in the car while I went inside to pay.
I was in my early 20s at the time and wasn’t earning money because I’d been caring for my grandmother, so I deliberately put only $20 worth of petrol in the tank. But when I went to pay, my card was declined. This was a time before mobile phones, so I couldn’t call someone else to ask them to put money in my account. I’d have to ask Marie for the money, which I couldn’t face. I vividly remember looking out at her sitting in the car and feeling utter panic wash over me. I was trying to impress her – we weren’t yet a sealed deal. What was I going to do?
Behind the counter was a young fella, maybe a couple of years younger than me. He just had this incredible read on the situation I was in. Very quickly, without any fuss, he went and got his backpack, took out his wallet and said, “Mate, I’ll pay for the fuel. When you get the money, just post it back to me care of the petrol station.”
Of course, I politely declined and said I couldn’t possibly take his money. But he insisted, saying he understood that sometimes this happens. He seemed to have a wisdom beyond his years.
When I got back in the car, I said nothing to Marie – the shame was real. But on the drive home I silently committed to getting that $20 back to him as soon as I could, and I did. Back then, $20 felt like a huge amount of money, as it does when you’re young. The cashier was probably working there part-time while finishing school, so I’m sure it was a lot of money for him too.
In the years after, whenever I was in the area, I always drove past that petrol station hoping to bump into him again. I never did. But it was a lovely bit of male-to-male camaraderie for this fella to surmise the situation and want to save me that embarrassment. There was this mutual understanding between us of the horror of my predicament.
For him to so generously offer me that money had a big impact on me, and made me want to be a better person. I’m still touched and amazed by it.
What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
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