The young man stopped at the petrol station, he needed petrol, but more pressingly he needed to relieve himself of a full bladder and lunch time meal that he had indulged in some miles back. It was an old fashioned filling station with old fashioned pumps. A small half brick, half wood cabin building housed the old man, who, when seeing him stop, lifted himself lazily off his chair and walked outside.
The old man limped over to the car.
The young man looked at the money in his hand. “Just put two gallons in please. Can you tell me where your toilet is?”
“Round back.” The old man motioned with his head as he lifted the nozzle off the petrol pump and started to fill his tank.
The young man walked around the back of the building and found a small wooden shed precariously propped against the back wall of the building. The timber of the small shed had seen better days. He pulled on the door, and it swung open on one hinge. Inside was a toilet bowl, and wash basin with two taps. A roll of bright pink toilet paper hung on a hook opposite the wash basin.
He stepped inside lifting the door level, so it would close, and located the small catch and bolt to secure his privacy. He looked down the toilet bowl. The person before him had not flushed properly, the remnants of paper and faeces floated in the stained water. As he took a breath he thought, ‘Needs must’. As he started to loosen his belt a ray of sunlight pierced through the cracks of the wooden framed hut, and he caught a glimpse of something shining in the bottom of the toilet pan.
He stopped what he was doing, bending down to see what the shining object was. It was a two pound coin … he could see the head of the Queen of England on the silver, surrounded by the yellow of the outer circle that denoted the two pound British coin.
He did not have a lot of money; in fact he was on a tight budget. Two pounds was a lot to a student on a grant. He looked down at the contents of the toilet pan and contemplated aloud, ‘Was it worth it?’
He nodded to himself. He then pulled out some loose change in his pocket, suddenly a smile lit up his face. He breathed deeply and picking up a two pound coin from his hand he dropped it gently into the toilet pan next to the one already lying there.
“Now it is worth it,” he said.
