The way he talked to the waitress was completely contemptible and caused me to double my tip when paying the bill.

I doubt he thought anything of his behaviour. I’m sure he barely thought about her at all.

But, a few minutes previously, she had been serving a table near us and I heard the customers – presumably her family – wishing her a happy birthday and talking about her plans. The children at the table were extremely excited about an upcoming sleepover at her house.

The man – who then dominated the conversation with his partner – probably doesn’t realise it, but you will almost never meet anyone who isn’t important in someone else’s eyes. We might remember that when talking with someone new.

And, if we should chance upon someone whom no one thinks important, we still shouldn’t be unkind. They probably need our gentleness and consideration the most. Either way... be kind!

When 14-year-old Tilly heard about a “crazy cat-lady” living in a makeshift shelter in bushes in the next town, she decided to help.

Her parents thought she was wasting her time. The woman needed psychiatric and local council help. What could a schoolgirl do?

Tilly still got on her bike and headed off. When she got there, the shape of the plywood shelter was still marked out where the bushes had grown around it. But only a few scraps of carpet suggested that anyone had ever lived there.

A shop-keeper suggested the woman might have recently been re-homed.

“What did you think you could do?” I asked.

“For the woman?” Tilly replied. “I had no idea. But I stopped off on the way and bought tins of food for the cats.”

We don’t have to fix everything, but if we each do whatever we can, what a difference that would make!