We changed the clocks on Saturday night (strictly speaking it was Sunday morning). I love the lighter evenings that come with British Summer Time, but I absolutely hate losing an hour because it takes me weeks to adjust. I set my alarm clock for Sunday morning because I wanted to make absolutely sure that I didn't miss out on my usual Sunday morning routine and to make sure that I was wide awake in plenty of time to enjoy the omnibus edition of The Archers. We were awake by 8am and we enjoyed a nice relaxed morning, but this morning I was much more reluctant to get up, it felt like the middle of the night. Why do we have to be so tied to time?
To answer my own question, it is all the fault of the railways. In the middle ages towns and villages managed perfectly well with local time, set from a sundial, but everybody had slightly different local time. Mechanical clocks were created and they were also set using the sun and local time continued. When the railways developed it was very inconvenient to have various local times, imagine the timetable nightmares. The Great Western Railway was the first to adopt London Time in 1840, others followed and by 1847 most were working to London time, this is confirmed by the January 1848 edition of Bradshaws Railway Timetable (no Robbie's collection does not go back that far!). By 1855 most public clocks were set to GMT, but this held no legal status until the Definition of Time Act in 1880. There is a certain irony in all this, the railways 'invented' standard time with GWR leading the way, now time is their master and it seems that punctuality seems to create greater problems for FGW than for anyone else!
Monday, 31 March 2008
Saturday, 29 March 2008
Three to a seat
Saturday morning dawned a little too early for my liking, Robbie was far too cheerful and noisy, but at least he had made me a cup of tea and brought it back to bed. He was making train noises again, according to him it was the sound of a DRS Chopper starting up. It is just as well that he told me because it sounded more like Woody Woodpecker to me!
I tried to cling to sleep, but my efforts were futile because Robbie was chattering away happily about a rail tour that he is going on later in the year. When Robbie is excited he speaks even faster than usual and his accent is stronger. He assured me that this particular charter was going to be brilliant "because it is three to a seat". At least that is what I thought I said. I was horrified, thanks to Robbie I have come across more than my fair share of train enthusiasts and I wouldn't want to share a carriage with some of them, so the prospect of sharing a seat was truly appalling! I had a flash of sympathy for FGW passengers because that degree of overcrowding is a daily reality to some of them. Anyway it seems that my ears let me down - it's not surprising as they are severely over worked when Robbie is around! He had not said "to a seat" he had said "to the sea". It is a rail tour to the seaside.
www.spitfirerailtours.co.uk
I tried to cling to sleep, but my efforts were futile because Robbie was chattering away happily about a rail tour that he is going on later in the year. When Robbie is excited he speaks even faster than usual and his accent is stronger. He assured me that this particular charter was going to be brilliant "because it is three to a seat". At least that is what I thought I said. I was horrified, thanks to Robbie I have come across more than my fair share of train enthusiasts and I wouldn't want to share a carriage with some of them, so the prospect of sharing a seat was truly appalling! I had a flash of sympathy for FGW passengers because that degree of overcrowding is a daily reality to some of them. Anyway it seems that my ears let me down - it's not surprising as they are severely over worked when Robbie is around! He had not said "to a seat" he had said "to the sea". It is a rail tour to the seaside.
www.spitfirerailtours.co.uk
Bedtime Reading
Robbie and I had both had a busy week and by Friday evening we were worn out. Emily was working, and Mum's taxi was booked for 10pm, but she was out on time and we were home again by 10.30pm. After finishing a couple of jobs I headed off to bed. I was just settling down when Robbie announced that he had something that I would really enjoy. I wondered whatever he could mean - but life with Robbie is never predictable so I waited patiently while he rummaged through his bag and proudly produced the April edition of Railways Illustrated. I hadn't planned to spend an early night with my husband reading railway magazines and my quizzical expression elicited more information from Robbie. He said, "it has an article about Chris Gibb (Virgin Trains MD), you know how much you like him, but they haven't got his feet in the photo". I am used to translating 'Robbie speak' into English but that sentence took more effort than most.
It is not possible to like someone I have never met, but Chris Gibb does sound like a decent bloke. As someone who observes the railways from a distance, I like the fact that he speaks in plain English that everyone can understand and as far as I can tell he does what he says he will do. The straight answer seems as rare in the railways as it is in politics, so it is refreshing when you find someone capable of saying what they mean and when necessary calling a spade a spade. In the article he was eloquent about the farce at Rugby over the new year period "it was totally avoidable. It was a shortage of key people at the right time and Network Rail will be getting a bill from us for long term damage to growth".
OK, I did once say that he was easier on the eye than some of his counterparts from the other TOC's, etc. I wasn't commenting on his looks as much as his ability to smile and to look approachable. There are a number of faces in the railways that could have made convincing gargoyles! While on the subject of confession, Robbie is right that I did once say that Chris Gibb had very expressive legs. Back in the old days when he was MD of Cross Country I noticed that when he was photographed his feet seemed to be working to their own agenda. The photo with the Railways Illustrated didn't show his feet and was cropped oddly leaving people to wonder about his hands, but it had the trademark cheerful smile.
The article was a good read, clearly Virgin has some interesting plans for the future. I learned a little more about Chris Gibb too, apparently he has a passion for punk rock music, that didn't seem to fit with the photo of him in a fleece; but when I looked closely at his shirt and tie it was clear that there is a streak of anarchy within him. Not many people would be brave enough to combine a shirt with vertical stripes and a vivid red tie with crazy diagonal stripes. It seems that his role is to be known as Chief Operating Officer, a rather grim sounding title, I wonder who he will be operating on first - Network Rail Perhaps?
It is not possible to like someone I have never met, but Chris Gibb does sound like a decent bloke. As someone who observes the railways from a distance, I like the fact that he speaks in plain English that everyone can understand and as far as I can tell he does what he says he will do. The straight answer seems as rare in the railways as it is in politics, so it is refreshing when you find someone capable of saying what they mean and when necessary calling a spade a spade. In the article he was eloquent about the farce at Rugby over the new year period "it was totally avoidable. It was a shortage of key people at the right time and Network Rail will be getting a bill from us for long term damage to growth".
OK, I did once say that he was easier on the eye than some of his counterparts from the other TOC's, etc. I wasn't commenting on his looks as much as his ability to smile and to look approachable. There are a number of faces in the railways that could have made convincing gargoyles! While on the subject of confession, Robbie is right that I did once say that Chris Gibb had very expressive legs. Back in the old days when he was MD of Cross Country I noticed that when he was photographed his feet seemed to be working to their own agenda. The photo with the Railways Illustrated didn't show his feet and was cropped oddly leaving people to wonder about his hands, but it had the trademark cheerful smile.
The article was a good read, clearly Virgin has some interesting plans for the future. I learned a little more about Chris Gibb too, apparently he has a passion for punk rock music, that didn't seem to fit with the photo of him in a fleece; but when I looked closely at his shirt and tie it was clear that there is a streak of anarchy within him. Not many people would be brave enough to combine a shirt with vertical stripes and a vivid red tie with crazy diagonal stripes. It seems that his role is to be known as Chief Operating Officer, a rather grim sounding title, I wonder who he will be operating on first - Network Rail Perhaps?
Friday, 28 March 2008
To Tell the Truth ...................
Robbie fell over as he was getting off the train yesterday morning. He had only bought a new suit a few days ago and I am ashamed to say that when he told me about the fall I enquired about the suit before I asked about him. The suit survived unscathed but Robbie hurt his hand and his dignity was seriously affected; the platform proved surprisingly resilient. It could have been much worse, I do worry about him, I wish we could find a way to keep him upright.
Why are men such dreadful liars? OK I know that is a huge generalisation, but I am cross so please make allowances. Just for once I am not having a go at Network Rail, but come to think of it the same thing applies to them, if they want to mislead us, at least they could make the effort to do it convincingly instead of treating us all as if we are fools! I was actually getting at Robbie. He knows from bitter experience that I have a built in lie detector and it is not easy to pull the wool over my eyes, but it doesn't stop him trying! This week I caught him in out, there was no disputing the 'evidence', it had his fingerprints all over it, but he clung stubbornly to his version of the situation. Establishing the truth really is like pulling teeth. It makes me so cross that he assumes I a stupid enough to accept his version, as far as I am concerned the original 'misdemeanour' is never worth a lie, because most things can be put right or overcome. I wonder if it is a case of arrested development, you know that phase when a toddler learns to play hide and seek and they think that if they can't see you then you cant see them - they don't realise that their rear end is poking out from behind the sofa for all to see! I wonder if men ever progress beyond that stage - or maybe they just enjoy getting caught! I have found that admitting a mistake or omission, apologising and asking for help to put it right will get a much more favourable response than denial or trying to blame the others. Maybe Network Rail should give it a try sometime, we would all be shocked into stunned silence, so at least they would have a quiet few days! Just for the record, Robbie has been forgiven!
Robbie was on form last night in terms of random statements. We has just been shopping at Morrisons and he got into the car after parking the trolley and said "I will have to wash my high visibility vest before April". I expect he was thinking about trains and charters, but it made me laugh because it made me think of Harry Potter and the invisibility cloak. Robbie is high visibility all the time, vest or no vest!
Why are men such dreadful liars? OK I know that is a huge generalisation, but I am cross so please make allowances. Just for once I am not having a go at Network Rail, but come to think of it the same thing applies to them, if they want to mislead us, at least they could make the effort to do it convincingly instead of treating us all as if we are fools! I was actually getting at Robbie. He knows from bitter experience that I have a built in lie detector and it is not easy to pull the wool over my eyes, but it doesn't stop him trying! This week I caught him in out, there was no disputing the 'evidence', it had his fingerprints all over it, but he clung stubbornly to his version of the situation. Establishing the truth really is like pulling teeth. It makes me so cross that he assumes I a stupid enough to accept his version, as far as I am concerned the original 'misdemeanour' is never worth a lie, because most things can be put right or overcome. I wonder if it is a case of arrested development, you know that phase when a toddler learns to play hide and seek and they think that if they can't see you then you cant see them - they don't realise that their rear end is poking out from behind the sofa for all to see! I wonder if men ever progress beyond that stage - or maybe they just enjoy getting caught! I have found that admitting a mistake or omission, apologising and asking for help to put it right will get a much more favourable response than denial or trying to blame the others. Maybe Network Rail should give it a try sometime, we would all be shocked into stunned silence, so at least they would have a quiet few days! Just for the record, Robbie has been forgiven!
Robbie was on form last night in terms of random statements. We has just been shopping at Morrisons and he got into the car after parking the trolley and said "I will have to wash my high visibility vest before April". I expect he was thinking about trains and charters, but it made me laugh because it made me think of Harry Potter and the invisibility cloak. Robbie is high visibility all the time, vest or no vest!
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Over Dressed
Robbie went to a gig last night, to see a group called Be Your Own Pet, he has seen them before so he must have thought it worth the effort of going to the gig. He tends to like loud and tuneless music, there are a few groups that we both like, but generally if I like it he doesn't and vice versa. I picked him up at the station at midnight and he could hardly walk, his legs were killing him because of all that standing around. He insists that he is not too old to go to gigs, but I do worry about him, his legs hurt and his ears play him up for days afterwards, I can't understand why anyone would do that for pleasure!
Just when I was thinking that I was on a winning streak with Sam and his school shoes he found a new issue for me to worry about. He was obviously acting as Robbie's understudy this morning, still flitting around in his PJ's fifteen minutes before we needed to leave the house. He finally appeared in the lounge fully dressed, in fact he was a little too fully dressed, he had his uniform black trousers, white shirt, tie black blazer and lurid green belt! I insisted that the belt had to go but he was adamant that it would be fine, after another verbal spat I won and the belt was reluctantly returned to his bedroom to be reunited with his jeans. By the time I dropped him at school he managed to look approximately tidy and he was very reluctantly wearing his new school shoes. I wonder what new challenge he will manage to come up with tomorrow!
Just when I was thinking that I was on a winning streak with Sam and his school shoes he found a new issue for me to worry about. He was obviously acting as Robbie's understudy this morning, still flitting around in his PJ's fifteen minutes before we needed to leave the house. He finally appeared in the lounge fully dressed, in fact he was a little too fully dressed, he had his uniform black trousers, white shirt, tie black blazer and lurid green belt! I insisted that the belt had to go but he was adamant that it would be fine, after another verbal spat I won and the belt was reluctantly returned to his bedroom to be reunited with his jeans. By the time I dropped him at school he managed to look approximately tidy and he was very reluctantly wearing his new school shoes. I wonder what new challenge he will manage to come up with tomorrow!
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Mystery Men
Robbie was at work until late in the evening yesterday because he had to work from home in the morning while waiting for the Sky repair man to come and replace the sky box. We had no TV over Easter because the sky box turned up its toes, I didn't miss it that much but certain other people were having withdrawal symptoms. I am fairly happy as long as I have my radio, I can't survive without Radio 4. The Sky man turned up eventually and everything is back in working order, so when Robbie got home last night he parked himself in front of the TV and watched junk until 1.30am.
Talking of Radio 4 it was responsible for a serious rise in my blood pressure yesterday. The You and Yours program had a 'phone in' about rail travel, George Muir from ATOC, Nigel Harris from Rail magazine, Tom Windsor a previous rail regulator and the dreaded Iain Coucher from Network Rail were all there to answer questions. The first three sounded sensible and plausible, but yet again Iain Coucher sounded totally insincere and complacent. Someone who rang in had been prevented from getting to work that morning because of an engineering overrun at Shenfield. He did his usual splutter and stutter, then explained that the planned engineering work to work on signals had been completed on time but it just so happened that the very next signal to where they were working developed an unrelated fault and this caused the delay. Whatever! When Sam was younger he always blamed the squirrels for whatever he had done wrong, he was very convincing, but that didn't mean I believed him. The calls to the program were overwhelmingly critical, the only company to receive any praise was Virgin; whatever you think about their service you have to admire their PR!
I overheard Robbie making a series of work calls during the morning, he kept talking about Craig and Timmy and I began to wonder who they were, a gay couple perhaps? Did Robbie have a secret life? Eventually I asked about them as I hadn't heard him mention either of them before. It turned out that he was actually referring to a place, Craigentinny nr Edinburgh, apparently it is the place where the trains 'go to bed'.
East Anglian Daily Times
Talking of Radio 4 it was responsible for a serious rise in my blood pressure yesterday. The You and Yours program had a 'phone in' about rail travel, George Muir from ATOC, Nigel Harris from Rail magazine, Tom Windsor a previous rail regulator and the dreaded Iain Coucher from Network Rail were all there to answer questions. The first three sounded sensible and plausible, but yet again Iain Coucher sounded totally insincere and complacent. Someone who rang in had been prevented from getting to work that morning because of an engineering overrun at Shenfield. He did his usual splutter and stutter, then explained that the planned engineering work to work on signals had been completed on time but it just so happened that the very next signal to where they were working developed an unrelated fault and this caused the delay. Whatever! When Sam was younger he always blamed the squirrels for whatever he had done wrong, he was very convincing, but that didn't mean I believed him. The calls to the program were overwhelmingly critical, the only company to receive any praise was Virgin; whatever you think about their service you have to admire their PR!
I overheard Robbie making a series of work calls during the morning, he kept talking about Craig and Timmy and I began to wonder who they were, a gay couple perhaps? Did Robbie have a secret life? Eventually I asked about them as I hadn't heard him mention either of them before. It turned out that he was actually referring to a place, Craigentinny nr Edinburgh, apparently it is the place where the trains 'go to bed'.
East Anglian Daily Times
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Genetic Engineering
Sam and Laura are back at school this morning, they only had Friday and Monday off school because Easter was so early. They have another school holiday coming up in a couple of weeks. Easter has been a bit of a non event for us this year, usually we go to Plymouth to visit family, but with such a short holiday that proved impossible. It is lovely to visit family, but when we had snow on Easter Sunday I was quite relieved that we were at home, it is bad enough driving to Plymouth in good weather, I've had miserable journeys in driving rain and fog before, but thankfully I have never encountered snow.
Sam must be growing, when he put his uniform on this morning his trousers were perilously close to becoming 'ankle bashers' and they will certainly not last until the summer. His blazer is also looking a bit short, but that will have to last for a while longer. I am annoyed about his trousers, I bought him three pairs of M&S trousers for the new school year, they had plenty of growing room (or so I thought) and I expected them to last until the summer, but it looks as if we will have to go shopping in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully it will not be as traumatic as the saga we had buying shoes recently. I think I wrote about the visit to the shoe shop, but that was just the tip of the iceberg, for the next couple of weeks he refused to wear his new shoes. He wore his old shoes and then when I removed those he sneaked out in black trainers, he claimed the new shoes were tighter around his ankle and we had to have a 'frank exchange of views' before he surrendered and went to school in his new shoes. I feel as if I am running a laundry at the moment, Emily is home from university and I have been sorting out all the stuff that no longer fits Sam so I have piles of washing. I know it is mad to wash clean clothes before passing them on for recycling but I can't help it.
Robbie was late home from work again yesterday. He told me he had some exciting news and he had a huge grin on his face. He had been in contact with Wendy, his cousin from USA and she had met up with cousin Bobbie who reminded Wendy that various family members had worked for a well known company building locos. As you can imagine Robbie provided me with a full account of the various classes of loco that the company built, but I will spare you the details. He was delighted by this news and he has decided that trains must be in his genes! I wonder what is in my genes, endurance perhaps?
Sam must be growing, when he put his uniform on this morning his trousers were perilously close to becoming 'ankle bashers' and they will certainly not last until the summer. His blazer is also looking a bit short, but that will have to last for a while longer. I am annoyed about his trousers, I bought him three pairs of M&S trousers for the new school year, they had plenty of growing room (or so I thought) and I expected them to last until the summer, but it looks as if we will have to go shopping in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully it will not be as traumatic as the saga we had buying shoes recently. I think I wrote about the visit to the shoe shop, but that was just the tip of the iceberg, for the next couple of weeks he refused to wear his new shoes. He wore his old shoes and then when I removed those he sneaked out in black trainers, he claimed the new shoes were tighter around his ankle and we had to have a 'frank exchange of views' before he surrendered and went to school in his new shoes. I feel as if I am running a laundry at the moment, Emily is home from university and I have been sorting out all the stuff that no longer fits Sam so I have piles of washing. I know it is mad to wash clean clothes before passing them on for recycling but I can't help it.
Robbie was late home from work again yesterday. He told me he had some exciting news and he had a huge grin on his face. He had been in contact with Wendy, his cousin from USA and she had met up with cousin Bobbie who reminded Wendy that various family members had worked for a well known company building locos. As you can imagine Robbie provided me with a full account of the various classes of loco that the company built, but I will spare you the details. He was delighted by this news and he has decided that trains must be in his genes! I wonder what is in my genes, endurance perhaps?
Monday, 24 March 2008
One Track Mind!
I forgot to mention that when we were in bed on Sunday morning, after Robbie's little gem about Argos he strayed onto the subject of trains. I was quiet for a few moments after his comment about the stretch mark, he really knows how to make me feel good! For some reason Robbie chose to fill the silence with a detailed account of the platform arrangements at Nottingham Station. He mentioned Sheffield and I commented that when I worked in Sheffield I used to travel there by train. He asked what route I took and I told him what I could remember, it was 1983 so I could hardly be expected to have total recall! Robbie insisted that I was mistaken about the route and he sat up and started to get out of bed. Talking more to himself than to me he said that he wondered if he had a timetable for 1983, and he was going to have a look. I fixed him with one of my best Paddington Bear stares and without a word he got back into bed and put his arm around me. With a tone of defeat in his voice he said he would look later. That man really does have a one track mind - a railway track!
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Help he is Driving Me Mad!
Help he is driving me mad! No, I don't mean Sam, Robbie is doing my head in. We finally have a weekend together without him dashing off to play trains so I hoped we could have a nice lazy family weekend. Our 'us' time on Saturday morning was spoiled by a dispute about 'the human windmill' waving his legs around and taking all the duvet. When I finally thought I had his undivided attention he chose exactly that moment to cut his toe nails! I retreated to the bathroom for a nice relaxing bath, with Radio 4 providing a little sanity in the background.Saturday passed with Robbie eulogising about the marvels of Northern Ireland Railways. He went on and on about their various systems, I will spare you the details but top of his list of was that they don't have to suffer the tyranny of Network Rail! That makes him want to move to Northern Ireland right now! A bit later on he was sitting at his computer when he started to make strange roaring noises, I was just about to call for the men in white coats when he explained that he was making the noise of Castle Class 450's. Mistaking my horror for interest, he went on to explain the subtle difference between them and Thumpers - Im none the wiser, but if it pleases him to snore while he is awake I don't suppose I can do much about it.
Sunday morning was cold and snowy, I don't remember having snow on Easter day before! I decided that I was in no hurry to get up. Robbie put his arm around me, looked into my eyes and said "Argos tomorrow, they have a really good kitchen bin at half price". Great, looking into my eyes obviously makes him think of the kitchen bin! Sadly Robbie has never followed the adage 'when in a hole stop digging'. He continued to cuddle me and after a couple of minutes he said, "oh look, I've found a stretch mark" - It wasn't lost, unfortunately! I hope he has good health insurance because he makes me feel murderous at times. I wonder if anyone could train him, or maybe he is just unique!
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Fighting Back!
According to Sam, he is perfectly normal and it is the rest of us who are a bit weird (his choice of words, not mine), maybe he is right. Living with a person who has Asperger Syndrome certainly tests the limits of my sanity at times; it can be frustrating, exhausting and isolating. I love Sam dearly and I am so used to his idiosyncrasies that I couldn’t really imagine him being just ordinary. He rivals Robbie when it comes to random facts; on Thursday he informed me that apart from humans, dolphins are the only other species that indulge in sex for pleasure. I will have to have a rethink, I’d always assumed that rabbits had all the fun! Sam is the only person I know who can talk more than Robbie, his specialist subject is films and comic books, but just like Robbie he will talk in detail about absolutely anything!
Shopping with Sam has always been ‘an experience’. Can you imagine a child with a compulsion for sorting being let loose in a supermarket, we could never get past the cereal section because he wanted to sort and straighten all the boxes. Shopping with Sam was a very time consuming activity! When he was three he went to the fish counter at Safeway (now Morrisons) on a behind the scenes visit with his nursery group and he has been fascinated by fish ever since. For years afterwards he would go up and look at the fish and `interview' the staff about what the various fish were and where they came from. I would attempt to ‘disown’ him and disappear to the next section but eventually I would have to drag him away. I really don't know what Sam found so fascinating about fish, perhaps it is his Cornish background showing through!
For years it was Sam’s ambition to be a trolley pusher at Safeway, but one day as we left the shop he spotted a sign displaying job vacancies, he said "Mum, if I can't be a spy I think I would like to work on the fish counter". Thankfully he has slightly different ambitions these days.
Shopping is still a challenge and it rarely passes without incident. Something about Tesco transforms him from a tolerable teen into an angry troll, come to think of it; the supermarket has much the same effect on Robbie! On Friday Sam and I had to pop into Morrisons for some bread and a couple of other items. Sam was being really helpful (there’s a first time for everything) and when we got to the bread section they had packed the bread on to the shelves so tightly that it was very hard to pick up a loaf without squashing it. I held the basket and Sam carefully eased the loaves off the shelf and checked the sell by dates. We were just selecting our second loaf when an old woman who was using her trolley as an offensive weapon came up behind us and shouted 'excuse me'. I looked behind me and checked that we were not blocking her way and Sam stepped a little closer to me. In seconds she shouted 'excuse me' again and attempted to shove Sam away from the bread with her trolley. I was incensed and told her she was a very bad mannered old woman. I pointed out that Sam was helping me, she had plenty of room to go past us and if she wanted to buy bread she should wait her turn. She was very offensive and threatening and as I walked away I told her to learn some manners. I was so angry that someone would treat Sam like that, especially when he was being so well behaved.
Sam was shocked into silence for a while afterwards; I think he was really shocked by the woman’s behaviour. As we drove home he told me I was ‘awesome’ and he said he didn’t know I could be so cross. Maybe I wouldn’t have stood up for myself as much, I am not a confrontational sort of person, but I couldn’t stand by and let Sam be treated like that!
Shopping with Sam has always been ‘an experience’. Can you imagine a child with a compulsion for sorting being let loose in a supermarket, we could never get past the cereal section because he wanted to sort and straighten all the boxes. Shopping with Sam was a very time consuming activity! When he was three he went to the fish counter at Safeway (now Morrisons) on a behind the scenes visit with his nursery group and he has been fascinated by fish ever since. For years afterwards he would go up and look at the fish and `interview' the staff about what the various fish were and where they came from. I would attempt to ‘disown’ him and disappear to the next section but eventually I would have to drag him away. I really don't know what Sam found so fascinating about fish, perhaps it is his Cornish background showing through!
For years it was Sam’s ambition to be a trolley pusher at Safeway, but one day as we left the shop he spotted a sign displaying job vacancies, he said "Mum, if I can't be a spy I think I would like to work on the fish counter". Thankfully he has slightly different ambitions these days.
Shopping is still a challenge and it rarely passes without incident. Something about Tesco transforms him from a tolerable teen into an angry troll, come to think of it; the supermarket has much the same effect on Robbie! On Friday Sam and I had to pop into Morrisons for some bread and a couple of other items. Sam was being really helpful (there’s a first time for everything) and when we got to the bread section they had packed the bread on to the shelves so tightly that it was very hard to pick up a loaf without squashing it. I held the basket and Sam carefully eased the loaves off the shelf and checked the sell by dates. We were just selecting our second loaf when an old woman who was using her trolley as an offensive weapon came up behind us and shouted 'excuse me'. I looked behind me and checked that we were not blocking her way and Sam stepped a little closer to me. In seconds she shouted 'excuse me' again and attempted to shove Sam away from the bread with her trolley. I was incensed and told her she was a very bad mannered old woman. I pointed out that Sam was helping me, she had plenty of room to go past us and if she wanted to buy bread she should wait her turn. She was very offensive and threatening and as I walked away I told her to learn some manners. I was so angry that someone would treat Sam like that, especially when he was being so well behaved.
Sam was shocked into silence for a while afterwards; I think he was really shocked by the woman’s behaviour. As we drove home he told me I was ‘awesome’ and he said he didn’t know I could be so cross. Maybe I wouldn’t have stood up for myself as much, I am not a confrontational sort of person, but I couldn’t stand by and let Sam be treated like that!
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