Today's surreal moment

Picture the scene: I'm parked on a double yellow line outside a train station with 2 kids in the car. It's the end of a hot day, and from the look on my face most people would assume that bothering me might not be the best idea. I'm clearly waiting for someone to come in on a train, so while I'm theoretically stationary on the double yellow, it's clear that I'm not going to be there long.

Enter stage right: a community support police officer. Smiling.

My instant reaction is to assume he's smiling because he's about to give me a ticket. He leans close to the open window, and says "would you like a pen and a pencil?"

"Is that slang for parking ticket?", thinks I.

But no, he really means it. He gives me a pen and a pencil bearing a British Transport Police logo. Then, he moves to the back window of the car and gives Isabel two packs of colouring pencils (suitably logo-ed).

He waves, gives us all a friendly smile, and goes on to foist his wares on the car parked behind me.

Bizarre......