The kindness of strangers: a Los Angeles bus driver got everyone onboard to sing me happy birthday

The jolly driver had already done me a favour when I’d left my camera on board. Then he got on the microphone and said ‘Hey folks, it’s this guy’s birthday today’

• Read more in the Kindness of strangers series

Back in my native Austria, people don’t even bother to lock their front doors. So when I set off in the 1980s to backpack through the US, I was warned about the country’s high crime rate and made to fear this big, scary place.

I had my 21st birthday while I was in Los Angeles, and I’d been out having a few beers. Tired and ready to go home, I jumped on a public bus. The moment I stepped off I realised I’d left my camera on the seat – a disaster, as it was very precious to me.