I meant to go to Leeds
but I think I might be going to Hull.

On a train to Leeds yesterday, I was sat at one of the tables. I had the table to myself until we got to Derby, at which point a teenage girl and her mum got on. The girl was on crutches, I assumed with a broken leg. However when I looked over I realised that she had lost one of her legs, just below the knee. I found it pretty shocking - after all, this was a pretty, trendily dressed 15 year old, not a war veteran. She sat in the aisle seat and spent the the remainder of the journey playing with her i-phone, as teenagers do.

The time came for me to get off the train and I thought I'd better give her plenty of advance warning so she could let me out. She sensed I needed to move and began to reach over for her crutches. As she did so I felt the words,

"Can I just hop past you there please..."

forming in my mouth.

I got as far as the "h" in hop then finished with a strangulated "mmmmmph". The idiocy of what I had nearly done hit me and I started to laugh. I sniggered all the way to the vestibule, continued to laugh as the train doors opened and was practically crying as I got off the train, mainly in shame and relief.

The next thing I knew I had lost my balance (ah, karma) and almost went crashing to the platform. When I looked to see what had caused my fall, I was faced with a young bloke, about 20 or so, carrying a 4 foot stuffed toy duck which in my hysteria, I had neglected to notice.

I just made it to the bathrooms before the wee came out.
(Rakky (forgot her password) The muffin maverick, Wed 28 Jul 2010, 10:13, Reply)