The fox and the hare

On two of my most recent training runs, guess which of the following things happened to me. Did I
a) get chatted up
or
b) help a very small boy refind his mother?

The answer is both.

Improbable as it sounds Unsurprisingly for such a sweating, hairy youthful, attractive mother of two I was approached by a very good-looking, nattily-dressed Brazilian-looking bloke as I was struggling up the last and meanest hill on my usual route.
"Bonjour!" said he. (The fact he was walking and I was 'running' should tell you how fast I am, plus the fact we could have a conversation at all. Paula Radcliffe can sleep easy in her bed.)
Then he said things like 'do you run here often?' and questions of an ilk this clapped out bit of mutton girl hasn't been asked for some years now. I rather enjoyed it, but then told him I was married at which point he disappeared like a wil'o the wisp. Probably just as well.

Yesterday at the lake I saw a boy of about 5, tears and snot streaming down his face behind a tree. "Are you lost?" I said, in the manner of a kindly old lady. "Let's go and find Mummy, shall we?" My heart swelled with goodness and warmth for being such a good citizen. All of 5 minutes later, we found her. I wasn't expecting much, perhaps some tears and my hand clasped weakly in gratitude, followed by Esther Rantzen jumping out from behind a bush as a nearby band played the theme tune from 'Hearts of Gold'. Instead she just looked at the kid and yelled "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" after which I scarpered in case she thought I had been trying to abduct him.

So you see - never a dull moment.