I was talking to a lovely lady today whom I have known for many years, but don't see very often, she is a fiery chick but a loveable fiery chick! She was asking me how I was getting along with my white cane. The cane can be a heavenly gift but also a right pain in the backside, if I am somewhere that I haven't been before, I use it, it sometimes stops people bumping into me, it sometimes gets me a seat on a packed train, it mostly stops me from tripping over, falling down curbs or walking into things. on the other hand, it makes me a target for people who think they can pinch your handbag, or people who try to help you when you are managing quite well on your own (recently, I was getting off the train at Woodbridge in Suffolk, there is quite a big gap between the carriage and the platform, I had my girls with me and my stick was doing its thing, then all of a sudden I feel two large hands under my armpits and this massive bloke literally lifts me off the train and plops me onto the platform, grins at me and says 'awwite luv'...my girls and I just stood there, mouths open and watch this fella strut away, you could almost hear him thinking 'there, that's me good deed done for the day!' while I know if I could have looked in a mirror, Mums WTF face would be staring back at me), the cane is also no good it you have more than one shopping bag, Mum tried to get me to use one of those shopping trollies, but I got street cred to maintain you know so I made sure the thing made its way back to Mums house!
Anyway, my first white cane was provided for me by Bedfordshire sight concern (thank you very much), and has travelled with me for miles and miles, it has been strapped to the back of a motorbike when I was taken to Devon for the weekend on my 40th birthday, it came with me on our adventure to Scotland on the train, its been everywhere I have been.
Then one day, my daughters Grandmother gave me £20 to spend on the girls, I thought, I could stick it in my purse and buy extra chocolate when I next go shopping, or I could buy something they really wanted, SO, after much deliberation, my eldest found some tickets for £10 each to go and see a lovely group of lads called ROOM94, they were playing in London on a Sunday evening, so in my very simple mind, I thought I could get them there on the train and tube, hang out in a little bar and wait for them to be done then bring them home....OHHHHHH NOOOOOOOO, things are NEVER that easy, I buy said tickets over the internet, no probs, plan route, the bloody tube station we need is shut, never mind get off at the one before and walk to the venue, drop girls off and find a bar.....this is where things got messy, as the Boyfriend tells me there is 'NO BLOODY WAY YOU ARE HANGING AROUND LONDON ON YOUR OWN'.....mmmmm, no bugger tells ME what to do! His reasoning was, he would be unable to come with me due to work, what if I got lost how was I going to find my way back, what happens if you cant find the girls, bla bla bla, and so it went on until I find myself buying a ticket to go see a band I never even heard of!
So, the Sunday arrives, and I am so pleased that we managed to get there, queue and get into the venue without any troubles at all, the girls disappear into the crowd of girls and go to do their moshing thingy, and I stand at the back of the room with two other parents, I felt a bit silly with my stick and there were lots of wires so I folded it up and tucked it under the bar, planted my feet, and told myself I was not going to move until the gig had finished. One of the parents disappears and leaves me with someone's Dad, who was frankly pissed out of his brain, and thought that because I carry a white stick, it must make me deaf as well, as he kept getting right in my face and screaming questions at me. The first set comes on, does their thing, and leaves the stage. I have no idea what they look like as the stage is too far for me to see it, next thing, a group of lads is standing beside me, I have a little chat, and they move on, then a different group, so I chat to them too, then this little lad named Robbie Coles is there, so I have a little chat with him too. Unbeknown to me, all these young men are band members. At the end of the evening, I am saying goodbye to my new friends and my girls are horrified that I have been a groupie with out knowing it! So one daughter either side of me they march me out of the venue, through the rush at the tube and onto a train at kings cross, where I sit to catch my breath.......where is my stick? still under the bar at the venue!
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