We really shouldn‘t judge by appearances but as I approached the bus stop and spotted the elderly lady with a straggly greying ponytail and beautifully baggy purple dungarees, I have to confess that “aging hippy” sprang to mind. She was clearly having some difficulty understanding the timetable on the wall in the bus shelter but as the 350 bus for Ashton arrived she confidently told the youngish man with a couple of kids also waiting for a bus that this bus would not take him to Uppermill. I put them all wise. Fortunately the bus was early and the driver was prepared to wait while he and I explained the system to all these people.
She was waiting, she told us, for the 356 to Oldham. Unfortunately she was on the wrong side of the road for that bus. A 356 was due at our stop but heading for Ashton. She grew very confused about which road she needed to cross to catch the 356 to Oldham. Yes, there was the crossroads just close by but crossing ‘this road’ surely meant the road we were standing on. The penny dropped: she realised that she had watched the 356 to Oldham drive up the slope towards Delph village. Fortunately again, I was able to reassure her that there would shortly be a 350 to Oldham at the very stop where she was waiting. It is very confusing, I have to say, when there are buses pf similar numbers, both running in two directions!
People need to use buses more often so that they understand the system. (This is the person who managed to get on the wrong bus last week giving that advice - I am aware of the irony!) I hope the confused but grateful lady managed to reach her destination.
I was on my way to the small Tesco store in Greenfield. After completing my shopping I left the store, crossing paths with a gentleman who looked vaguely familiar. Suddenly a voice called out, “Anthea?”. With that I put a name to the face: Walter, someone I worked with 45 years ago. We congratulated each other on still being recognisable all these years on and spent a short while catching up on what we have been up to in the last almost half a century - going back to when we might both have been youngish hippies!
The other day I came across this article about children in Barcelona cycling to school - riding the “bicibus”. It seems like a quite successful project organised mainly by parents, encouraging children to cycle to school, accompanied by a small group of adults and escorted by a police car. Traffic is stopped at cross roads to ensure that all the children get across the road before cars start moving again. Excellent stuff! I was interested and amused to see that the children in the photo almost all wore helmets and reflective gear but that the accompanying adults did not. Clearly wearing cycle helmets is not very macho!
Meanwhile, a number of schools in France have been closed because of infestations of bedbugs in the school dormitories. Paris also has problems with the nasty beasts and hopes to eliminate the problem before they host the Olympic Games next year. Fingers crossed formFrance!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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