The doorbell rang at 10:22 am. I was knitting as I always do at this time of day. In between my first coffee and my second, I like to knit jumpers and little beanies for premature babies. I have been doing this since I retired over thirty years ago. I have always enjoyed having a routine and it is not often disrupted.
That’s why I was surprised when the doorbell rang. My children weren’t visiting with my grandchildren until the weekend, so I was perplexed at who else it could be. I hadn’t made any appointments that I could remember and no one other than my family ever came to visit. Part of me felt apprehensive to open the door because I knew the person behind it would be a stranger. But if I didn’t open the door, then no one else would.
So I opened the door and was surprised to see a technician ready to complete a ducted heating service. Local to Canberra, it’s not normal for technicians to turn up to peoples’ houses unannounced. They’re much too busy to randomly service peoples’ ducted heating. I immediately let the service technician know that he had the wrong house. I didn’t want to waste his time or have to pay for his service, as my latest pension was yet to be paid. I couldn’t afford the service even if I wanted to. That’s why I was knitting myself a jumper alongside the beanies for the premature babies. It is very cold in my home.
As I began to shut the door on the technician, he informed me that a thoughtful neighbour of mine had booked in a heating service on my behalf, and paid for it in full. I was taken aback. I can’t believe someone would book my home in for a heater servicing. Canberra residents have always been friendly, kind people, but no one is that kind. I haven’t experienced this level of kindness since my late husband left me all those years ago.