Geeks in grubby glasses, rather than knight in shining armour.....

Almost three and half years ago, I started university...which seems a whole life time ago now that I am coming to the end in about 2 months. I was determined to join a sports team when I started uni, so I picked Women's Basketball. It has a big bright ball, bigish hoop, and doesn't matter if you fall over into another player because you can just pretend it was slight barge.

One week into uni, I was still meeting people, still figuring out who is who, and also who to avoid. In the middle of all this uncertainty I couldn't find a single girl who would even consider joining Women’s Basketball, so I was going alone. All sports were held at Oxstalls Campus, which is different to the campus I lived on, which meant I had to tackle the bus ALONE! I have never really done the buses by myself before, at home everywhere was either close enough to walk to or I used a fabulous taxi service called “Dad’s Taxi”.

So the night arrived. I was ready, wearing sports kit, waiting at bus stop, timetable in one hand, and an old school Nokia mobile phone in the other. After 6pm at night there isn't a direct bus from campus to campus so I was required to walk a little at the end. I was ready for this, I knew what to expect or at least I thought I did....

The bus pulled up, I got on, gave the bus driver my money and said "to the bus stop nearest to Oxstalls please". After what seemed like an eternity he finally makes a face, mutters something under his breath and waved me on, which isn’t a great start to a bus journey.

I knew how long it should take (according to the timetable), so when I thought it was time to stop, I pressed the buzzer and got off. I did ask the bus driver to confirm, but again he just mumbled something which was inaudible to humans. I wondered in one direction for a few minutes, and then came to realisation I wasn't where I thought I was, at all. So somehow I had ended up somewhere in the vague area of Gloucester, in the dark, and all I had was now useless timetable and my pre-technology phone, that could barely make calls.

Now I logically came to the conclusion phoning my parents was not really a viable option. I didn't need to fuel their fear I was going to end up dead, like I am sure every parent has, when their child goes to uni…so I phoned my brother.

I very quickly explained to my brother what had happened, conscience that time is money when you are on pay as you go, and he said “I need road names or big places”. As a visually impaired person the best I could do was; petrol station, roundabout, and a massive building with a yellow logo, but couldn't tell you what the logo was for. With that he hung up the phone, (to save credit). I decided that staying put was the best option, and then what seemed like an hour later, because by now it was also quite cold, but was probably only 5 minutes later in reality, I got a phone call with some directions.

Now not even Google maps and street view is good enough to identify my location from the information I had given him, but luckily through random chance my brother shared a flat in Falmouth, with a born and raised Gloucester guy. (I had never been more grateful for a small world in my life.) Anyway, some 25 minute walk later I had made it, and did enjoy the remaining 15 minutes of training.

I thought I had learnt my lesson...I hadn’t. The next week the same situation took place; apart from I stayed on the bus too long, so again ended up phoning my brother. Him and his flat mate came to my virtual rescue – expect they were Geeks in grubby glasses, rather than Knight in shining armour.

After telling my parents this story a couple of weeks later, and after they stopped laughing at me for being a numpty, it was decided that I needed a phone with satnav and not on pay as to go. So naturally I used my charm, and parents blissful ignorance of technology and got a iPhone, and I would never ever go back to another phone.

Now, 3 years later, after using a careful combination of my iPhone and even more forward planning than just a timetable, I can successfully get off at the right bus…to everyone else that may seem easy, but to a visually impaired person that is a mini achievement, and should at least get a round of applause, if not a medal. So until next time remember to find the humour in whatever form it comes. @klang_28