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Community and coincidence

Please note: this post is 95 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

Last night, new volunteer Syed came along to his first Quiz Club: little did he know he’d be reunited with a familiar friendly face. Here, Syed and his older neighbour Pat share their wonderful story of community and coincidence. 

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Syed, 32

Last Sunday, the heavens opened and I got caught in the rain; it literally looked like I’d fallen in to the ocean. As I got onto the bus, my eyes met those of a fellow passenger, an older lady, and we both laughed at my appearance. As she went to get off the bus, she said to me "it is my time to face the rain!" and I replied, "at least you have an umbrella!" I didn't catch her name - as is so often the case with brief conversations on public transport.

Fast forward to yesterday’s South London Cares Quiz Club; guess who ended up sitting next to me? A lovely older neighbour, who I now know is Pat: we both instantly recognised one another from the bus! It turns out we both live in Streatham and according to Pat, I have a face you can't easily forget. I don't know whether this is a good thing or not...

The world is quite small and full of coincidences, isn't it? Meeting Pat in this way reminded me of how close to our neighbours we are, but how seldom we have a chance to connect meaningfully.

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Pat, 78

I think I’m going to tell people that the rainy journey on the 133 bus was my own brief encounter. When Syed got on, he was soaked from head to toe: the water was even dripping down onto his glasses. I tried to stifle a smile when I saw him because I didn’t want to be rude, but he looked so drenched that I couldn’t help it!  Our eyes met and we both laughed out loud! We shared a joke when I got off too, so I went home feeling happy that young Londoners are still friendly enough to share a smile with a stranger.

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I've not thought about young people all that much before coming to South London Cares social clubs. I know they're always around and about - on buses and so on - but I don't interact that much with young people. Since I've been part of the social clubs, I've become much more aware of young people, and now I'm keen to know what they’re all about. 

I’m very anti "older people’s clubs" - that’s not me, sitting and knitting, but the social clubs, and the people at them, are a breath of fresh air. As Syed and I live in the same area, we got the bus home together after quiz too which was lovely, as we felt like old friends. I’m really looking forward to seeing him again at another social club soon. It was such a happy coincidence, it’s just got to be a sign of good things to come

Syed and Pat are just two of the 30+ fantastic neighbours who get together at our fortnightly Elephant and Castle social club to share stories, jokes and smiles.