THE rising price of fuel is hitting us all hard.
The Government are squeezing household spending and we are on the brink of recession if you listen to the political pundits and doom-mongers.
I'm not an economist so I can only speak from my experiences, but this week a stroke of bad luck as a result of a misjudgement on my part led to several acts of kindness.
Like most of you I thought I knew the limits of my car's fuel tank. When that yellow light rears its ugly head I should have enough to get me from here to there - or so I thought.
On returning to my car the other day I sat down and turned over the engine. Nothing.
I tried again and the poor thing coughed into life, before I managed to turn it around and limp the 100 yards to Rhyl's Morrisons petrol station.
I could see it's bright yellow visage glistening in the afternoon sun, before the engine cut out again and left me stranded, right in the entrance to the supermarket car park.
This is where panic sets in, and when I caught sight of a taxi driver in the rear view mirror - as they're not noted for their patience on the roads - it heightened my concern.
Then, to my surprise and delight, the chap got out of his vehicle and pushed me and my car into the petrol station.
He zoomed off before I had a chance to say thank you.
Then, around 20 yards from the pump, I got out to roll in and fill-up.
There was no need. A charming young man got out of his car to push me again, as did the lady in the vehicle behind me.
I'd like to think I'd have done the same for them, but in a world packed full of grunting, snarling individuals with complete disregard for manners, politeness and generosity, I was expecting nothing less than to have to do this myself, as I have before.
I was pleasantly surprised. No, if I'm honest I was a little overwhelmed.
It's small consolation, but for me at least one decent thing came out of the current situation.
If you're reading this - thank you. You made my day.

• Post to:
•  del.icio.us
•  Digg
•  Newsvine
•  Nowpublic
•  Reddit