Julie Jay: Sometimes you really should talk to strangers

Last week, I encountered not one but three very kind people, which surely confirms Ireland as the most friendly place on Earth. Picture: iStock 

At one one point in one of Tennessee Williams’ most famous plays, A Streetcar Named Desire, the character Blanche DuBois utters the tragic final line: “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” The longer I spend in this parenting game, the more I understand exactly what she was talking about.

On the hard days, it is often strangers who offer you the most unexpected but necessary support. A passing word from a passerby can make or break you on a morning where everything has gone awry.