06/09/2026
The day before this I had cried pretty much all day.
I'd had one of those weeks where absolutely everything felt wrong.
I'd been really unwell over the bank holiday and I'd convinced myself I'd ruined everyone else's weekend because of it. I felt guilty for being ill, overwhelmed about going back to work when I still felt exhausted, and like I wasn't doing enough with every part of my life.
And when you live alone, sometimes there's nobody there to interrupt that spiral.
Anyway, the next day I went to Sainsbury's on my lunch break.
I went in for food and somehow ended up at the self-checkout with a jumper and a wicker basket costing £50. 😂
And something I'd put down set the red light off and the woman working there came over to help me.
The first thing she said was:
“Bet you didn't come in for all this stuff.”
I laughed and said, “Oh no, I always come to Sainsbury's for a jumper and a wicker basket that costs me £50.”
She burst out laughing.
And then we just...chatted.
She told me about another woman who'd done exactly the same thing earlier. She held my bags open while I packed them. We joked about how you can never go into a supermarket and leave with what you actually went in for.
It probably lasted two minutes.
She won't remember me.
She had absolutely no idea that the day before I'd been sitting at home crying.
But I left that supermarket feeling completely different.
And it made me realise something.
Sometimes when you live alone, the tiniest interactions with other people become much bigger than the person giving them will ever know.
Someone laughing at your stupid joke.
Someone holding your shopping bag open.
Someone talking to you like they've known you for years when they've actually known you for 90 seconds.
None of it fixed the things I'd been upset about.
It just reminded me that I was still part of the world outside my own head.
And that was exactly what I needed that day.
She'll probably never know how much that tiny interaction meant to me, but I think I'll remember it for a long time.
And I'll especially remember it the next time a stranger tries to start a random conversation with me.
Because maybe they'll need it too ❤️
