Some weeks ago, I arrived in Glasgow's Queen Street station from Edinburgh and feeling the need to answer the call of Nature, I headed for the station's new superloo, only to discover that I needed a fifty pence coin to operate the turnstyle. I had bank notes and bank card but no coins, and there was neither card payment nor change machine available. My need turned from desperation to panic.

I was just contemplating how to climb over the turnstyle and risk any penalty when what could best be described as a 'common old working chap' (a line from the song, 'I belong to Glasgow') arrived. 'Do you need a fifty-p coin?' he asked, recognising my problem.

'Yes,' I replied. 'I have notes and a bank card but no coins.'

'There you are,' he said, handing me a fifty-p coin. He looked at my wife and asked if she needed one as well. 'Yes,' she replied. He gave her a fifty pence coin too.

'That is so incredibly kind of you,' I said.

He looked at me as if I were a bit dumb and replied: 'If you can't be kind, what's the point in being human?'

----

There was a sequel to this. When we emerged from the Gents, I pulled a £5 note from my wallet and offered it to him but he refused to take it. 'Take it,' I insisted, 'and donate it to your favourite charity.'

He thought for a moment; then took it. 'I'm taking my granddaughter to the football tonight. I'll give it to her.'

'Football tonight', I thought. The only game in Glasgow that evening was a Rangers UEFA Cup game. This kindly man was a Rangers fan - and so was I, but neither of us was wearing any football insignia. That just goes to show that the much-maligned football fans are not all thugs and hooligans.

'If you can't be kind, what's the point in being human?' I shall never forget that remark.