One day last week, I was on a bus to Mater Dei Hospital and was seated next to a woman who seemed to be some years older than myself (we are both senior citizens).

While usually I am quite alert and attentive to what goes on around me, I was a bit engrossed in my thoughts when I noticed that the bus had stopped to pick up a heavily pregnant young woman. Strangely enough, she spoke to the driver but then dismounted.

The woman sitting near me told me: “Serves her right that the driver sent her back! Coming on the bus with no change and a €10 note! She must have been standing there waiting for some time and there are shops all round. She should have gone and got some small change!”

I could not believe these words, coming from a woman, a mature one, and, I suppose, a believer in Christian charity.

I quietly turned to her and told her: “So, was that the reason she dismounted? I am really sorry I did not click on to the problem before she had dismounted. I would have got up and paid her ticket myself. And shame on the driver who turns away a pregnant woman who must have been waiting for the bus in the scorching sun for some time. He should have had the decent Christian attitude of giving her the ticket and fork out the cost from his own pocket. I am sure that it would not have broken his bank!”

Shame on Christian people who have forgotten what Christian charity is all about!