... Freshly annoyed by some new stupidity or other of my gym I came out a while back in full Muttley mode going sassle frassle etc and stayed in a foul mood right up to the point where I met two charming, young and lost North Americans. These pleasant people were an instant annoyance cure.
It turns out that they were looking for an address in the Barbican area: they were close, but their heading was 180° wrong so I sent them off in the correct direction with many a cheery traditional Cockney cry of encouragement (eh?).
I have quite a strong belief that if you see lost-looking people during your pavement perambulations you should consider stopping to see if you can help, as long as considerations of personal safety, punctuality etc are still met. Only in some very small percentage of cases will they be unlost and/or suspect you of being some nasty weirdo. The vast majority will be grateful that you stopped to help and you will have a brief but probably pleasant conversation with some probably pleasant person, who is after all probably pumping plenty of pounds into the local economy. If you are lucky this conversation may even take place in a language you both know. What could be nicer?
Oh, and it fits with my General Theory of the Cosmic Bank of Goodwill™, which states inter alia that if you intend to make occasional withdrawals then you really need to be topping up your account's balance from time to time.
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