The kindness of strangers

As Blanche DuBois says in A streetcar named desire: “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Although I don’t actually depend on it, I’m always surprised and humbled when singers step up to help at a workshop. These days all my work involves one-off singing workshops. Although many familiar faces turn up, there is always a significant number of strangers who I’ve not sung with before. Last Saturday I ran a one-off singing workshop a good three-hour drive from home. I provided milk, tea, coffee and biscuits for the breaks. Other than that, I walked into an empty space. As soon as people started arriving they began asking if they should set the chairs out. Others wanted to know where the cups were so they could get them ready. At the end of a long, tiring (but wonderful!) day, I started packing up my bits and pieces. People put their chair away neatly and tried not to leave anything behind. When I went into the kitchen I found it spotless. Cups had been washed and put away,…