SUNDAY in our household was one of those days when everything just seemed to be going wrong. Nothing major – no actual real life crisis – just one little thing after another. I am sure you can relate to days like those.

It was already around 12.30 by the time I realised that we were supposed to be in Plymouth for 1 o’clock and not 2 as I had mistakenly remembered. This of course meant we were now going to be late for my son’s dance audition and there was very little we could do about it.

It was also the point at which we got stuck in traffic in Teignmouth. Anyone who has ever driven through Teignmouth will know what I am talking about.

It was one of those times when you may as well have been sat waiting on the M25. Nothing was moving anywhere. Shouting at the car in front was having no effect at all and my mood was not helped when I realised that we didn’t have enough petrol to get us to Plymouth. Despite already being horrendously late there was nothing for it but to stop for petrol on the way.

Having already got the time wrong, there now clearly wasn’t time to stop and eat lunch either. I decided to get a meal deal from the garage at the same time as stopping for petrol which we could all eat in the car.

The good news was that there was a special offer on. All you had to do was to show your clubcard. Being the kind of day that it was, I was not surprised to find that I had no clubcard with me in my wallet.

But never mind, I thought, I can use the app on my phone. I hurriedly accessed the app and tried to locate my electronic clubcard. Except that for some reason the app did not appear to recognise me. I even fed in all my details again as I waited in the shop – but it was having none of it. My details were ‘not recognised’ and meanwhile the minutes were ticking by.

You might think that all of this was ridiculous in light of the fact that I was only looking at making a saving of £2. But you might also, like me, be of the same view that every pound counts at the moment. Either way – my aim these days is always to try and save a little bit of money where possible. I tried everything I could to make the app understand that I needed it to recognise me and give me the discount, but it was having none of it. In the end, I had no choice but to give up.

Having wasted another ten minutes I just paid full price for the lunches.

Why am I writing any of this? What has this series of irritating but minor events and a meagre saving of two pounds got to do with anything? The reason is the empathy and kindness of the cashier at the petrol station.

She saw me frustrated and clearly struggling but remained good humoured and friendly throughout. She did everything she could to help. Throughout my fumbling on the phone – my struggle to find passwords, to access my account and my mutterings about not finding my clubcard she made me feel like she understood why saving two pounds was important and that she was on my side.

I apologised for wasting her time but she reassured me that she was having to save every penny too. She got it completely. Put simply, she was kind. In the end, technology had defeated both of us and the saving was never made. But despite all of that I left the petrol station feeling a lot better than when I had gone in.

The kindness and understanding of the cashier had transformed my visit from one which was frustrating and annoying to one in which I had felt understood, heard and supported. I had been the recipient of simple kindness.

This series of events made me remember something important. So often in life we are not able to resolve other people’s problems, however much we might wish we could. But we do always have the option of being supportive and kind. And very often that in itself is enough to completely transform someone else’s day.