A good write up ted. Sorry about the change of tone but the deep, dark, cold night sometimes offers you uncomfortable glimpses into other worlds...
Me, huggy and BFC were on the outskirts of Witham at about half past midnight, according to our Garmins the temperature was hovering between -3 and -4. I'd just rolled off the A12 bridge and was approaching the Coleman's Bridge industrial estate which has a branch of Screwfix when I noticed a young woman walking onto the bridge on the other side of the road. She didn't look right, I think it was the 1000 yard stare. I wasn't sure what to do and thought about it for a few seconds. If it hadn't been so late and so cold I'd have probably ridden on catch up with huggy and BFC. Anyhow I turned back and found the lady leaning on the side of the bridge looking at the empty A12. She obviously wasn't in a good way, told me how shit she was feeling and how shit the world was and how she needed to get to her friend's house in Colchester but the trains had stopped and she couldn't find a taxi that would take her. She said she was waiting for an HGV to appear on the A12 and she was going to jump off the bridge in front of the lorry.
I started talking to her and she kept telling me to go away and then walked back towards Screwfix. I switched off my bright lights and followed her. I managed to persuade her to stop walking and said I would try to get her a taxi which I'd pay for. I phoned Chet's and the dispatcher said the lady had been giving them trouble during the evening but I said I didn't think it was a good idea for her to be left wandering about and said I thought she'd hurt herself. The dispatcher said she'd need to get Chet's permission to send a cab and she'd phone me back. The lady then let me talk to her friend in Colchester and I got his address, the chap told me the ladies name. By then the lady had relaxed, drank some of my water, and shortly after Chet's phoned back. They said they would send a car providing I paid by credit card which I did. About 5 minutes later a cab turned up and off the lady went. She said she was on probation, she'd had dealings with Open Road who I do my Appropriate Adult volunteering with, it sounded like she had some mental health issues plus problems with drugs and alcohol.
Its a sad world out there and there are some really lost souls