"You are currently the only person in this conference"

I am quite new to phone conferencing. I forgot the last one I should have been taking part in because I was making tea and toast. This week I called the number a minute or two early, anxious not to let the side down again. The voice at the other end said, "You are currently the only person in this conference."  I was surprised at the impact that statement had on me. I guess someone has to be first to ring the number and enter the code but I felt I had somehow failed.... "The only person in this conference."
On another occasion this week I felt sure I was the only person in a particular situation. An extremely elderly lady in a motorised mobility scooter was in front of me in the checkout queue. When she came to pay for her shopping she could not find any money in her purse. She presented the cashier with an old phonecard and an un-activated credit card, neither of which were acceptable. I loaded her shopping into her scooter basket and offered to pay for it. The lady behind us was pleasantly surprised at my magnanimity. The old lady was thankful and scooted off. The cashier asked, "Is that your Mum?" I explained that I had never seen the lady in my life but that I was in the fortunate position of having enough money to pay for her shopping as well as mine. That's when I found out I wasn't a lone do-gooder. "She came in last week and did exactly the same thing," the cashier informed me. When I left the store, the old lady was sitting in a large Land Rover Discovery. The motorised scooter was sitting un-motorised at the rear of the vehicle beside a puzzled looking man who was scanning the car park. "Are you with the elderly lady?"I asked. "Is there anything I can do to help?"  The Discovery driver was looking for a strong man to help him lift the scooter into the boot. I offered the services of a strong woman and took hold of what the man described as "the light end." It turned out that the man had never seen the lady in his life but was just being a 'good neighbour' because her scooter battery had run out. I felt a certain amount of relief - maybe I was the only person in a conference, but I wasn't the only mug at a shop.