Two Jogged Over Cuckoo's Nest

Sevan and Kash haven't had much luck with missions so far this Sunday. With their previous mission cancelled, they passed the time running around Regent's Park on a chilly yet sunny Autumn day. They decided to call Mr P earlier to find out whether he was about to bail on them too. Fortunately, he wasn't!

Mr P returned to the UK a few weeks ago from his home country, where he had gone on a trip last year. While he was away, a disaster happened: Mr P's health rapidly deteriorated, and he became paralysed for months. His family lived each day in uncertainty as to whether he was going to survive. While Mr P was fighting for his life, a family friend offered to look after his flat - the same one that Sevan and Kash visited today. What looked like a favour to Mr P at the beginning turned out to be quite the opposite. The person who was supposed to take care of Mr P's place soon made himself at home.

Cuckooing - a practice where people take over a person’s home and use the property e.g. as a place to live.

Maybe the Cuckoo Tenant didn't expect that Mr P was going to make it back to the UK but our Beneficiary survived, regained control over his body and made a comeback to London. What Mr P found out in his home, shocked him. Despite being given notice, the Cuckoo Tenant left behind an untidy kitchen, his belongings and not collected deliveries. Mr P didn't consider him to be a bad person but bringing his own flat into a nice condition after the unexpected tenant had left was no fun. Moreover, Mr P had COPD and found it very challenging to pack the Cuckoo Tenant's stuff away without losing his breath.

Sevan and Kash's job was to remove the Cuckoo Tenant's clothes from drawers and cupboards and pack them into a box, a suitcase, and large carrier bags for further collection. What was a big job for someone of poor health took GoodGymers around 15 minutes and they were ready to move on to another task. While Kash emptied Henry the Hoover and hoovered the now empty cupboard, Sevan was unpacking family heirloom - crockery, and chatting to Mr P.

Mr P was a lovely chap to talk to and had powerful stories to tell about his past work, the months of fighting for life, and then his recovery. He used to own a carpentry business, working on prominent projects overseas. Now, he found it hard to accept that the well-capable man he was, used to running around construction sites, had been deprived of his good health and suffered the loss of his loved ones. Despite hindrances, he remained positive and learned a lesson about life which he passed on to Kash.

Live and enjoy your life while you can. Don't worry about small things, they usually don't matter that much. Treat every day as if it was your last one.

The advice was the most precious gift from Mr P and a lovely reward for help. Mr P was touched by the support he received from the GoodGymers and wanted to offer them a tip, which they had to say no to. Sevan and Kash would stay for a cup of tea, they had to get in time to the next mission in Camden though.

The runners said goodbye and picked up the rubbish they promised to take out on the way out. Among the things to throw away was a working helium balloon pump. Sevan left it by the recycling bins. Who knows, maybe someone will take it?