I mentioned in another post that whilst working in Notting Hill I had caught my head on the underside of a sink and subsequently, bruises had appeared all down one side of my face. When I was attacked most of the injuries I had received were from blows directed at the same side of my head as the bruising. The incident at work aggravated my injuries. I was taken to hospital where I had a CT scan and was told I should rest for several weeks. So I had to go back up north to stay with family and recover. I wrote an e-mail to Stuart telling him about my journey:
I had to travel across the country after being told by staff in hospital that I needed to rest up. What a journey! I made my way up north and my sister Milly and her husband travelled down to London to collect my belongings from the house in Notting Hill where had been living. I am so glad I did not have to drag a suitcase across the country with me. I was in a bad way. I made the journey confidant that if anything happened to me train staff or members of the public would call emergency services. Hours of wondering in my head “Are we nearly there yet?”
The most memorable events I will tell you of – read them at your leisure – this is just me prattling about people I crossed paths with. The good, the not so good, and those I kind of hope I will never be stuck in a train carriage with again. I will start with the worse and it will get better.
So starting with the tube journey on the way to catch a national train that would take me up to a hospital in the north. I was sitting in a corner of the carriage. A man boarded, he must have been in his forties. He headed towards me and had the audacity to wink at me and blow me a kiss. I turned away. He plonked himself next to me. Maybe ignoring him was a mistake because he then whispered into my ear “sexy”. I just shook my head and turned away again. He was quiet for a couple of minutes, but then nudged me and said ” sexy ” again. I put my hand up and said “do you mind!” There were plenty of passengers so I felt safe. But then a couple of minutes later he put his hand on my lap and said “sexy” again. This time I jumped up and went to stand near the area for prams / wheelchairs.
Annoying!!!! Was he mocking me? The thing is, I was wearing a knee length pencil skirt, woolly tights, flat court shoes, coat, scarf – all proper and modest nothing about my appearance suggesting I would be open to attention from a man on the prowl or an utter fruitcake. Or maybe he just wanted my seat and was trying to get rid of me?
Annoying! Maybe you are one of the many who have been made to feel super uncomfortable by a complete stranger presuming to behave inappropriately in a public setting.
Now I had to face the train journey across the country. I had insisted I could undertake the train journey alone. Several family members had kept insisting they would prefer to drive all the way down south and then take me up north in their car. That seemed such a waste!
7.08am I boarded the train with a large flask of super strong coffee. But a group of seven, all men accept for one brave girlfriend sat near me. They were on their way to a footie match. I overheard that they were planning sightseeing beforehand. From the moment they sat down it was apparent that they were breakfasting on Foster’s lager. One of them!!!! In his twenties, vibrant ginger head, beard, very loud and prolific with his use of the most colourful language imaginable. Sometimes I am shocked by the language people use in public, even when little children or the vintage generation who surely are deserving of more respect are present.
I was already nauseous, groggy and exhausted. I knew he could make the journey a nightmare. The conductor came to check our tickets. I went over and said to this lad “excuse me, I really don’t mean to be rude, but would you be so kind as to make your language less colourful as it is still a bit early in the morning.” He asked me what I meant. I said that if it had been evening and there were crowds heading out for a drink I would expect bad language but to hear so much swearing so early when I didn’t feel awake yet was exhausting. Well he was very nice about it and apologised and his mates were lovely too.
It turned out he had been out drinking all night and had not even gone home to shower or change his clothes. Nice!!!
So, he decided to include me in their chatter / banter for the rest of the journey. Things improved slightly when a very cheery woman, who turned out to have been a police woman for almost ten years, sat next to me.
There was a very long queue for the toilet who were listening to the conversation between me and the police woman and the man who had not been home all night. The three of us seemed to be giving them some laughs. Can you imagine? Me…only conscious / remotely coherent due to the copious quantities of espresso I was pouring into myself. He…giddy and running on adrenaline with hangover delirium and believing himself to be the on-board entertainment. And our PC who was just ecstatic to be off-duty and determined to have a great day and chuckling at everything.
I don’t remember all of our conversations now.
I do remember him telling us he was single but open to meeting the woman of his dreams. Then he remarked maybe fate had lead us to being on the same train.
I remember telling him I was sure the vast majority of women would be attracted to a man with mud all over his trousers (hope it was mud) and who hadn’t washed or brushed his teeth and had Foster’s for breakfast.
His mates just laughed the whole journey.
Increasing my agonies was the severe delay to our train journey. Someone had been throwing things at the trains from an overhead bridge. There was some damage to one of the trains but also the overhead cables. So, they had to remove the damaged train and turn the overhead wires off so that it was safe for some engineers could repair them. No trains were able to move until the work was completed. Everything was repaired within three hours, but that is a very long time to be trapped with someone who is totally repellent to you!
He was alright really, just ever so loud! I was so grateful to get off the train. Only I was horrified when he kissed me. I told him to get off me. Only he carried on kissing my hair. I was pushing him away with my hands, but the fool tried to kiss me. I was outraged. His mates grabbed him.
Ay ay ay!!!!!
Then came another shorter train journey to my final destination. On the local little train there was an older lady, she was probably well into her eighties. She was wrapped up well, but had no gloves and as I chatted with her I saw her rubbing and blowing into her red hands. Well, co-incidentally….I had forgotten my own gloves when I had left the house. When I was at the station waiting for the train and noticed how bitterly cold it was, I bought some gloves. Only, the only pair I liked had a second pair attached. Two pairs for the price of one. So I pulled the brand new gloves out of my bag and handed them to her. She was so pleased. She seemed to be crying tears of joy. It was lovely to end my journey chatting with a sweet gentle soul after all of the other trials of dealing with challenging passengers during my epic day on the British Rail Network.
I love having a little opportunity to be kind. Being kind is a wonderful way to achieve instant happiness. Whether you are on the bus, or train, or any other mode of transport, please be kind, be considerate, be patient and be lovely. Try not to harass or offend your fellow passengers.
I was working with a colleague who reminded me about it. He was great to work with and a very interesting person (a locum, so I don’t know when I will work with him again). We had such an interesting chat about a whole host of mental health related subjects. Sigh. It was quite fascinating.
People have bought candles for me – candles creep me out. All I see is a fire hazard. I give them straight to someone else, who I know does like candles, or a charity shop. I have been given clothes I would never dream of wearing (again I give them to friends). Also lots of bubblies – bath gels, salts, hand creams. perfumed soaps. And then there are all the teddies and cuddly toys. I am just not a cuddly toy kind of a person. (Except for the little teddy Goldfinch gave me – but that is different!)
I had always wanted a wooden desk. When I was a teenager I saved my pocket money carefully so that I could buy one. We went to the nearest Ikea to buy the pine desk that I had set my heart on. It was around £350. Anyway, the local Ikea in Warrington did not have it in stock, but they said there was one in stock up in Leeds. So we drove all the way to Leeds to buy it. My pocket money was cash of course, so we handed over the money and in return we left the store with a very heavy flatpack wrapped up in cardboard. Dad tied it to the roof rack of the car.
Well the weather deteriorated rapidly. The wind was howling, the rain was lashing down. There is a stretch of motorway (I think it is the M62, but I should check that) which is very exposed and the wind was so strong it seemed to be pushing the car right over towards the hard shoulder. Suddenly, there was this horrific noise, and we saw panels of wood go flying all over the road. Dad had to pull over. My Ikea flat-packed desk was all over the place. Some of it had flown right over the motorway bridge. Other pieces were in the road and cars were driving over and I could see pieces were breaking.
When Dad rang Ikea later on, they said that if he had paid with a credit card there would have been some insurance, but because we paid with my pocket money (cash) there was nothing they could do. Can you imagine my tears!
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I did something sweet to help someone. Around two weeks later they drove up outside my pretty abode. I went out to see them and they said they had something for me in the car, but they needed to assemble it. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it. They had built a beautiful wooden desk. It was large. It had two cabinets either side, one with three drawers and one with a cupboard with a mid-shelf inside it. It was so perfect.
On the road we call life, we pass many people. Some only briefly share the road with us. But all will leave their mark on us in some way.
One of the most super-friendly students in our high school was Carl Sanderson. He was a handsome young man. But what everyone would remember him for, was his smile. When I was eleven, and beginning high school as a Year Seven student, Carl was fourteen starting Year Ten of high school. He was friendly with everyone, not just me. Yet it made such a difference to know there was a friendly face and a cheerful smile, belonging to a fellow student who was going to look out for me.
I quickly realized that Carl was one of those boys who was everyone’s friend. Everyone adored him. He was soooo cute (too old for me to worry about how cute he was). The teachers clearly were very fond of Carl too.
Carl Sanderson was killed when a motor cycle hit him. The driver was speeding of course. I was told he was travelling at around 80 miles per hour when he hit Carl. Apparently Carl died at the scene. He had been crossing that road on the way to collect a younger sibling from school.
Carl made an impression on me in the short time that I knew him. I realized how much it means when you are nervous or alone, to be greeted by a warm friendly smile. I realized how much it means when another human takes the time to show interest in you. During the brief acquaintance I enjoyed with him, it struck me how warming and encouraging another person can be just by their friendliness. I decided I wanted to be like Carl.
I have woken up craving lemons, well more specifically it is lemon curd that I am craving. I eye-balled some in the supermarket the other day and resisted the impulse to sneak it into my shopping trolley. But now I am wishing I had given into my desires.
Well…it is thinking of lemons and lemon curd that has inspired me to write about a person I want to share with you, in connection with my nomination from Michelle, the creator of 
All of the other staff have been very lovely and very helpful. I am so glad to be part of a team who are so kind and have been so patient with me.
I was thinking about work. I really like my new job and especially the people I am working with, but I have had some really tough situations to endure in previous employment. When you have difficult, obnoxious colleagues – they can make your working hours a nightmare. I am sure I am not the only one who has been in a job that is hard to endure. Have you had the feeling of dread when you think about facing your workmates again? Or perhaps it’s the clients or customers that make the job unbearable? Have you ever had days at work when you were close to tears most of the day, or had that feeling of wanting to walk out on a job and never go back?
Well, kindness is sometimes the ray of sunshine that keeps you going. So of all the places to be kind (and home should of course be the foremost haven of kindness) please remember to be kind to your workmates and colleagues. Some of your workmates may not have a kind word waiting for them at home, they may face hostility or abuse. A kind word at work can help dissipate stressful situations. Kindness can sustain the heavy hearted. You might not have any idea how close to tears your colleagues might be.
Then came another shorter train journey to my final destination. On the local little train there was an older lady, she was probably well into her eighties. She was wrapped up well, but had no gloves and as I chatted with her I saw her rubbing and blowing into her red hands. Well, co-incidentally….I had forgotten my own gloves when I had left the house. When I was at the station waiting for the train and noticed how bitterly cold it was, I bought some gloves. Only, the only pair I liked had a second pair attached. Two pairs for the price of one. So I pulled 
the brand new gloves out of my bag and handed them to her. She was so pleased. She seemed to be crying tears of joy. It was lovely to end my journey chatting with a sweet gentle soul after all of the other trials of dealing with challenging passengers during my epic day on the British Rail Network.
Caramel 