Today I did something I’ve never done before and it was good. I booked my place and bought the train tickets a few weeks ago and now it was finally happening. I was going to a briefing day all about the type of work I do and the changes the government are making this year that will affect how I do my job. I know, I know, thrilling stuff. So now to embrace today’s writing challenge and tell you about my day.
Manchester Road train station in Burnley has gone through a refurbishment recently and this was the first time I had needed to use it since it re-opened. I knew there was a fancy new car park, so I felt it would be fine for me to leave my car there all day, and it would have been fine if there had been any spaces left when I arrived at seven thirty this morning. Clearly this was not early enough as it was already full with the cars of serious commuters. No matter, as I knew there was a street I could park on just a couple of hundred yards away, although this did leave me rushing to get to the platform as I’d not left much contingency time in my schedule.
Got to the station and had four minutes to spare before the train arrived. Another first for today was taking the train to Manchester via Todmorden so I was looking forward to seeing some new scenery on my journey. There are beautiful hills and countryside in that direction which I got to see from a different perspective on my trip. Very sheer slopes with rippling lush green ridges where many years ago farmers built dry stone walls and sheep still graze.
I was sitting on the left side of the carriage and as we pulled out of Todmorden station I noticed some large white letters part way up one of the inclines. Sort of like a smaller version of the Hollywood sign, and it said “kindness”. I have no idea why it was there or who could have possibly erected it, but it made me smile. What a lovely word to see so boldly displayed as you go about your day.
The beautiful countryside turned into the urban outskirts of Manchester and the train was filling up. Not long to Victoria station now. Alight the train and join the mass of workers in their everyday routine. A quick journey on the Metrolink of just a few stops to the other side of the main shopping centre and I arrive at the hotel where the briefing day is taking place. I’m the second delegate to arrive, and we make small talk that I can’t even remember now, until it was time to start. The man presenting the guidance today was a tall, older man who was wearing a smart dark blue suit and a red patterned tie. He’d been talking for a few minutes when I noticed that the collar of his jacket was turned up slightly at the back and I could see the paler blue lining of the underneath. Once you notice something like that, you can’t un-notice it and every now and again my eyes were drawn back to the offending collar.
There was lots of information to take in, and it was helpful to hear the different, and also shared perspectives of other people in the same line of work. The morning passed quickly and as lunch was provided in the package, we made our way down to the hotel brasserie to eat. We were still a few floors up and there was a good view of Piccadilly Gardens to take in as we relaxed for a while.
Back to the briefing for the afternoon and again I saw the upturned collar. Clearly he hadn’t taken his jacket off to eat and he couldn’t have been to a bathroom either, or surely he would have noticed in the mirror and straightened it. I do wonder if any of the other people at the conference saw it?
The journey home was delayed a little due to the emergency services having to deal with an incident somewhere along the track. I have no more information than that, but it did mean the train home was six minutes late. I hope that is an indication that whatever caused this was not serious as it didn’t take long to deal with. The platform was full by this time and when the train pulled in, the announcer said that this train consisted of two carriages. You could hear the groans as people realised they would most likely be standing up the whole way back. However, being a woman of a certain age and with the confidence to give people the “I’m going first and you’re not going to get in my way” look, I managed to get a seat. Unfortunately, that seat was right opposite, and facing, the toilet door. I couldn’t even look out of the window as it was behind me. Good thing I had plenty of battery left on my phone so I could keep myself occupied with catching up on the important news of the day, like the article about the primary school in Scotland that cut obesity and improved behaviour by having the children run a mile each day, and the lady who halved her family’s grocery bill by living off out of date food, and not forgetting that Harry Styles had lunch in Malibu.
So, how was your day?
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