I treat strangers with kindness and respect.

Nobody saw the scrape. The car park was empty at seven on a Sunday, the other car had a fresh line down its door, and the only person who would ever know was already walking away.

Leaving a note there is kindness with the audience removed. Most of it is transacted — a favour with a return address, warmth toward people whose opinion of you matters. A stranger you'll never meet again offers nothing back. Which makes what happens in that gap unusually honest information: not a performance for anyone, just what you turned out to do.