approaching then I can honestly say that things are not going to get
any quieter any time soon.
For me, the last few days have been a case of "when I have the time to
write then I have nothing to write about, but if I have something to
write about I'm too busy doing it to find the time to write".
I have got a few things that I really want to write about, but they
cant really be fitted neatly into one blog entry, and if i tried to
keep them short enough for one entry then I doubt that I do them any
justice at all.
However, I feel that I have to try or else admit that my dream job of
a travel writer is no more than that, a dream, so here I go.
Last weekend I was invited to a work colleagues 40th birthday party in
Essex. Despite being the furthest away geographically from her house
or the party venue, I was the ONLY person from work who attended.
This fact did not surprise me, as not only is she notoriously known
for not attending the parties of anyone else, but neither is she the
most liked of all the staff's directors.
However what did surprise me is that a) she invited lots of others
even though she knew they would never come; b) the people she invited
said that they would come even though we all knew they would let her
down at the last minute; c) she got upset over how few actually turned
up on the night; and d) that not one member of staff ( other than
myself ) though of actually trying to break the mutual deadlock.
Everyone is running the same sort of mental program "well she didn't
turn up to mine so I won't turn up to hers" - the ideal of turning the
other cheek or trying to reach out with an olive branch never seems to
even enter their heads.
Despite the fact that it took me a lot of time and money for me to get
all the way over to Essex, for only a couple of hours actual partying
then having to spend the night in a nearby Premier Travel-Inn, I was
glad that I went.
Firstly, it I always try to open myself out to new experiences, and as
she had invited her entire Salsa dance class ( including teachers )
this promised to be much more than your ordinary 40th party.
Secondly, with great free food and drink, of enough different
varieties to please any palate, it was certainly not a party where it
would be hard to stuff yourself if you were hungry or bored at any
time.
Thirdly, about two/thirds of the way through, her dance teacher
decided to try and get everyone up and dancing by holding an impromptu
Salsa lesson. Having only had a few drinks, I was not too far gone to
be able to form part of the circle and having no partner with me, I
ended up dancing with none other than the birthday girl herself.
Salsa may look simple to start with, and if I could leisurely study it
privately I am sure that I would pick up the basics soon enough, but
with the dark disco lights and part way through a birthday part, well
... I was not in danger of winning any "Come Dancing" trophies that
night.
Towards the end of night I decided that I would not stay to be the
very last out the door and went to fetch my coat, only to then be
faced with this darling little girl called Aisha guarding the coats
and carrying her pale blue teddy bear under one arm.
Before I could explain why I was going and allowed to take my own coat
to this most unlikely of monitors, her mother came up and started
chatting with me.
Which very soon became chatting me up. The lady in question was the
girls mother and an old school friend of the birthday girl.
She was quite taken with my laid back manner and after admitting that
I was waiting for my girlfriend to come here from the Caribbean she
said that she was quite disappointed with the modern English girls if
"available and pleasant" English men feel that they need to look
abroad for future partners.
After an hours natter I politely extricated myself with the minimum of
fuss and made my way into the night, towards where a warm bed
beckoned.
The following morning I overslept just a fraction, but was early
enough to learn a valuable lesson. Travel-Inn's have a policy of 100%
refund if you are not completely happy with your nights sleep, but I
never knew how easy it was to claim it and get a full refund.
While I was waiting to go, a guy came up to reception and mentioned
that during the last night the people in the room above started a
party at 2am and woke him and his entire family up.
When quizzed as to why he did not try to contact the night porter, who
could have sorted it out, he rather off hand that, "well i got my kids
asleep see, didnt want to leave them on their own".
And with no more than that they then offered to give him a full refund
and in cash, then let him leave. I could not believe that it was that
easy, or that his reason was so transparently a lie yet they did
nothing to argue the case.
I guess this is just another case of upper management having no touch
with reality, and political correctness taken that one stage too far
... again.
Oh well, despite not liking the look of the guy, as he was doing his
own bit to bring strike a blow against the corporate machine, I could
only smile, look on, and plan to spent my next hotel visit in another
Travel Inn hotel, this time perhaps not costing as much as my last one
had.
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