Random Act of Kindness

I'm following an account on Twitter called "Capital of Kindness" and it has inspired me to write about an incident that happened to me.
It must have had a big impact as it happened almost 30 years ago when I was just 12 years old and I've never forgotten it.

In March 1984 Liverpool played Everton at Maine Road (the then home of Manchester City F.C.) in the Milk Cup Final Replay.  This was to be the first football match I'd ever been to so obviously was very excited.  I left Liverpool Lime Street on the Football Special with my 14 year old brother.  The proviso of us going to Manchester at such a young age was we were meeting our 19 year old brother who had travelled in the opposite direction from Sheffield.

The match ended in a 1 nil victory for the Reds so we were in good spirits as the 3 of us left the ground.  After taking us to the coach park, our elder brother left us as he had his own coach to catch.
What we witnessed then, I have never witnessed since.  Every coach we could see had all their windows smashed as fans, I'm guessing from both sides, climbed through in order not to be left behind.  Whether these coaches were heading to the train station or direct back to Liverpool, we weren't sure.  What we were sure about was that there was no way we were going to get on one of these coaches even if there was room.  It was pure chaos.

That's where this story really begins.  We started out on foot looking for the train station.  As we were in a strange city we started to follow other groups of supporters and really, hoped for the best.
After walking for what seemed like miles, we realised there were no fans in front of us and we were alone and lost.  For whatever reason, we made the decision to turn around and walk back the way we came.
Walking past some waste ground there was a group of lads who shouted at us to get out of the way.  As we ran they started throwing stones at one of the football coaches passing by.  It was at that point we realised we were in a hostile place.  Luckily they hadn't spotted my rolled up souvenir flag which was now shoved up the sleeve of my coat.  Our coats fastened all the way up to hide our scarves, we carried on walking.

By now it was getting late, probably around 11:00 pm but the road was very busy.  Still unsure of where we were going or how long it would take to get there, we flagged down a taxi purely to ask for directions.  We had no money, no phone (mobiles in 1984?) and running out of hope.  Random Act of Kindness (1) - knowing we had no money, the driver told us to get in and he would take us part of the way.  After he dropped us off and told us where to go, we gave our thanks and headed, now, in the right direction.

Not long after, another taxi stopped and asked us if we were going for the Football Special.  How he knew, we don't know.  Maybe by now I was carrying my flag again and he spotted it.  We said we were and - Random Act of Kindness (2) - he told us to get in as we would never make it in time.  Again we made it clear we had no money but it didn't matter.  We were soon at the train station.

Even standing in the queue we weren't sure if we would get on.  Rumours were going around that this was going to be the last Special and we were at the back of a very very long queue.  Not only did we get on but we had seats as well.  Not like the outbound train were we had to sit on the floor.

The train was due to finish it's run at Lime Street but made, if I remember this correctly, an unscheduled stop at Edge Hill.  As we only lived a 2 minute walk away we got off.  To our surprise there were our parents waiting for us.  I'm not sure how they knew the train was stopping off at Edge Hill, we were just glad they did.

There was talk of our mum writing to the local Manchester Newspapers to thank the two taxi drivers, like people often do in the Liverpool Echo.  Whether she did or not, I don't know.  I hope so.

This proves that although Liverpool to us is "Capital of Kindness", kindness can be found everywhere...and it's free.

Remember - It's boss to be kind!

Follow me on Twitter - @Degsy1013 but more importantly follow @RAKLPOOL and spread a bit of kindness.