Why are people so much nicer in real life? - Kevin Buckle

I try to get into the Waverley Mall shop twice a week to collect stock and do the weekly fire test which normally sees me taking several bags of vinyl home and meaning I can’t get to Marks & Spencer and do a food shop.

Kevin Buckle was laden with shopping - but at least the bags broke his fall

During the first lockdown I managed to move most stock to my home so would make a weekly M&S visit when in town and the difference was remarkable in that the food hall was always close to empty whereas now you would hardly know there was a lockdown.

Anyway, last week I managed to only have one record bag and was under instruction from my youngest daughter to bring home a cake for my wife’s birthday the next day so made my first visit in over a month. I took a bag with me but came away laden with two and the record bag on my back.

As I crossed over Waverley Bridge I could see my bus coming so decided I would run for it. I ran through a group of young lads and one decided to stick his hand out in front of me mucking about the way kids do rather than with any malicious intent.

However the next thing I knew I had fallen to the floor, thumped my head on the pavement, and my shopping was everywhere. Initially I thought I’d tripped but later realised that while I had stopped suddenly the momentum of the heavy bags had kept going and pulled me over.

While my bleeding head didn’t look good and was more than a little sore the next day the lump I expected failed to appear and I realised the bags of shopping had broken my fall to some extent so the impact hadn’t been as bad as it might have been.

Sprawled on the road in front of a busy pavement full of people to my surprise the young lad who had put his arm out came over to apologise and along with his mates help pick up the shopping. I muttered something about him not meaning it and being OK and they left while several others came over to check I was alright. It wasn’t as if he had deliberately tripped me up and certainly kudos to the lads for not running away.

Funnily enough two police motorbikes and a police car arrived a couple of minutes later which would have given the young lads a fright. Thanks also to those who came up to me at the bus stop to check I was OK.

My first thoughts as I waited for the next bus was I wish more people behaved like this online when clearly at fault. Avalanche has many good customers thankfully but every day there are a few downright unreasonable folk and other shops tell me only having a few makes me lucky! People are definitely much nicer in the flesh so for many retailers their shops can’t open soon enough.