Lost in a downpour, a man with a rainbow umbrella helped me

It was bucketing down, absolutely pouring. I was on my way to a birthday dinner but got lost in central Sydney’s labyrinth of streets, so I ducked into an internet cafe to look up directions to the restaurant. I then wrote those directions down by hand – such were the times!

When I stepped back into the rain I realised how ill-prepared I was. As I waited to cross the road a man standing opposite offered up his big rainbow umbrella to share; I gratefully accepted and, still unsure of where I was going, asked if he knew the way. He walked out of his way to get me onto the right street, then handed me the umbrella.

'Here, you take this,' he said. I protested but he waved me off, saying he didn’t have far to go, and walked off in the other direction through the rain. There was no exchange of names, no handshake, no small talk and no expectation of anything in return. I held on to that umbrella for years until one rainy day I passed it to an elderly woman at a bus stop, knowing it had found its new owner.

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