It was my final journey from the halls of Capernwray Bible School. After my German friend dropped me at the Carnforth train station, I took the train to Manchester. In Manchester I found (praise the Lord!) the coach station.
The National Express coach was taking me from Manchester to London. This was to be a 4 hour 30 minute drive down. I was expecting my own seat, time to read, think, and plan out my day and a half in London. The weather outside was HOT...well, for England. It was probably about 70/75 (Farenheit).
After putting my suitcase under the bus, I step aboard. I looked around and saw that I would not be in my own seat, but would have to share with a (GASP!) stranger.
After realizing this, I quickly glanced around the bus, looking for a smiling face.
A hairy man with his top shirt buttons unbuttoned smiled...he was too nice.
I continued to walk deeper into the bowels of the bus. With each step my choices were running out. I had to make my seat decision...and soon. In the very last seat, next to the toilet, sat a man. He smiled and waved.
I tried to look away, but I smiled instead.
I had no where else to go.
I was at the back of the bus.
If I turned around now he would know I was running away from him.
Bravely, I gathered up my bag and took the seat almost next to him. (It was a 3 seater, he sat next to the window, then there was an open seat, then I sat in the seat next to the toilet. That is what you get for 4 quid my friends! Value for your money on National Express!)
I sat down. The man (Robert) and I began to talk. He was not clean shaven, but looked very friendly. He wore a plan t-shirt and dark sweat pants. As we started talking I learned that his parents were both dying of different cancers and other illnesses and that he was living in Burnley, England. His parents had immigrated from Jamaica and he had grown up in London.
At the time of our meeting he was 45 years old. He was living in Burnley because he owed drug dealers in London thousands of pounds and they wanted to kill him since he couldn't pay.
I also found out that he needed injections to help him with his schizophrenia and depression.
He said that he belonged to the Church of England, but also liked to know what his horoscope was saying for the day.
He liked to talk.
For awhile I was glad that he could keep up the conversation...no awkward silences.
Some minutes later we were joined by another gentleman of the name of Omu. At the time, he was a lawyer from Nigeria, taking his exams in order to be a lawyer/solicitor (British term) in England. He told me that his name means "my God has come." ...He was the last child and only boy after 3 girls. Needless to say, his dad was very happy to have a son.
He really liked to talk as well.
He knew facts about all sorts of subjects.
He was journeying to meet his girlfriend in London and then they were going to Paris.
He laughed so loud and so wonderfully, it was great!
During our bus ride, the children in front of us kept coming to use the toilet. Omu had a huge bag and had to move it every time they wanted the door to be opened. We would spot them coming, Omu would squish closer to me so his bag could get out of the way, and then I had to get closer to Robert. While they were in the toilet, Omu would leave his bag in front of the door. There was one bathroom trip when he forgot about his bag and the person couldn't get out.
We were in the middle of laughing when his girlfriend called, checking to see where the coach was. She heard him laughing and wanted to know why he would be doing such a thing on the coach. He told her that he was leaving her and running off with a girl he had just met from the US and could give him his green card.
At this, his girlfriend commanded him to hand me the phone. He did. His girlfriend then started telling me that I should be careful because he likes children. I laughed and handed the phone back. When he heard what she said, he said, "Don't worry I am not Michael Jackson."
The rest of the coach ride was equally pleasant. We chatted and sweated a great deal together. Delightful!
While standing in line to check in at Heathrow Airport I stood behind a man who was going to Vancouver. He was dressed in a sort of "zoot suit" from the 90's. He wore a black hat, pink tie, white shirt, black jacket with pink lines, black trousers, pink socks, and black shoes. He told me that he had a mentally disturbed wife who was accusing him of stealing and was very emotionally damaging. I wondered if he wasn't the one who was mentally troubled. For awhile he kept going on about the problems with his wife. I eventually stopped talking to/with him. (The line was an hour long.)
The man behind me then started a conversation with me. I found that he used to be a professor at Cambridge and that he was back from Australia to visit his former students who are now professors at Cambridge.
His accent was lovely.
A posh Southern English accent.
He told me that he had practically traveled all around the world. He then said that he had yet to be to South America, Eastern Europe, or Africa. The question that then arose in my mind was, what part of the world HAD he traveled to?!!
Another amazing little bit was that he spent 300 pounds on the 5 star hotel he stayed in in London for the night! He was telling me that the quality for the price was getting a bit better in London, but still not as good as what you could get in other places. I thought, "You don't want to know how much I paid for my hostel last night!"
(32 pounds for two nights...a shared girls dorm. YES!)
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