Knock knock

A knock on the door.
"Hello. I'm from the ESB. Here to cut off your electricity for non payment."
"O.K. said my wife."
"Can you pay something off the bill? £10.00 would do." 
"I haven't got it." said my wife, holding a crying child in her arms.
"£5 will do", he said, seeing the sad hopeless in her eyes.
"I have nothing" she reminded him.
"£1 will do." he countered, hating his job, I believe, at that moment in time.
"I haven't got it. We have nothing. You better just do your job and cut me off."
He looked at her and my daughter in her arms and then said with a kind smile "Ah I'll tell them there was nobody in... Bye now"... and left....

That was over thirty years ago...nineteen eighties..long strikes...little money and borrowing to survive...hanging on my our fingernails to clothe and feed our two children...We didn't eat for days on a regular basis but we had each other.... On a funny note, out of nowhere, my wife said to me one time "I don't care if you have an affair...but you better not buy her dinner!!"....  The tough times were bearable...but only if we shared them.

I was sitting in my kitchen today, minding my own business, when a knock descended on the door...and before I knew it I was sneakily ambushed by this painful memory. The caller, well versed in sales techniques wanted to help me save money by enticing me to a different, cheaper electricity supply company. He was perhaps confused and couldn't grasp the fact that I was not interested in saving money.... Maybe a refresher sales course is inevitable...but how could I explain to him loyalty to the employer's of the the kind hearted man who didn't cut us off..... who gave us that glimmer of hope...a narrow shelf of time on which to rest ourselves. Though our situation changed and we became monetarily comfortable soon afterwards neither of us forgot the actions of a fellow traveler.... and our (now my) grateful thanks remains undiminished....Sometimes our heroes don't wear capes and strut the limelight...just saying

Caledonia