Kindness, DIY & a touch of impatience!
TV and radio presenter Gaby Roslin on special moments and why painting walls drives her mad
Gaby Roslin on special moments
It’s World Kindness Day this month, but I honestly think that every day, week, month and year should be about kindness. We all need to change our mindset to kindset!
My parents always taught me to be kind and, many years ago, when I was entering the crazy TV industry, Dad said to treat everyone as you would expect to be treated. With that in mind, I would like to share a story with you…
About 30 years ago now, I was working on a television show and there was a very kind man who used to help with everything on the studio floor: fixing things, carrying things, sweeping and generally helping anyone who needed it. Then, last year, I bumped into him in London. I ran to hug him (in the pre-covid-19 days, when hugging was acceptable) and he cried. I was rather taken aback. He said that he couldn’t believe I’d remembered him. Of course I had! He had since lost his job, but was now working at an animal rescue centre and had found calmness and happiness. I was thinking about him again recently and I hope he is okay.
There have been other kindness stories in my career, such as a colleague who believed in me so much as the new presenter for a TV show that she told the boss to let me have a four-week trial on-air, and if it didn’t work out, she’d leave her job. Thankfully, I got the position after two weeks and she kept hers! Or the time Paul O’grady called me every day for two weeks after my mum died, simply to leave a message to make me smile. He’d always say, ‘Don’t phone back, this is just to let you know I’m thinking of you.’ Or the time when Richard and Judy called me after I separated from my first husband and told me that my daughter and I could come and stay with them so that the paparazzi didn’t know where I was. These people were all so kind and I will never, ever forget what they did. I now believe that surrounding yourself with good, kind and thoughtful people is the way to go, and if this year has taught us anything, it’s that kindness is key.