The kindness of strangers: my melons went flying and a group of old ladies came to the rescue

White hair, head scarves and one with a walking stick – they looked like they had stepped out of the same babushka doll

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One Saturday morning, I accompanied my mum to the local market to do our weekly fruit and veg shop. Mum was still looking around when I offered to take the shopping back to the car, which was stuffed into a little red trolley. It was like a Mary Poppins bag – quite a small thing, but it was surprising how much you could load it up. Or so we thought.

With the trolley heaving under the weight of an already full load of groceries, my mum rested a box of honeydew melons on top. She warned me to be careful getting it back to the car.