I got kicked off a bleeding train!

My trip to Oxford has to be the worst journey of my life...well, apart from a certain plane ride to Nigeria where we were accompanied by a manic deportee and a British Airways hostess who absolutely believed we couldn't speak English. So yes, that was my worst journey, but first i met the most AMAZING person today...well, not in person, but I met her anyway. And it's not hard to tell how great someone is from the way they write, so you'd better check her blog out for yourself-

http://littlethings-littleminds.blogspot.com/

She's absolutely lovely, and we have so much in common- the kind of person the world should be filled with basically. Normal people. And no offence if you're not normal :) a
nyway, I mentioned earlier that I would blog about my trip to Oxford and this is it. So, I was eating breakfast in school when I casually said, "I'd better hurry up before I miss my 8 o'clock train" Alas, all my friends were staring wide-eyed at me. "You're going to miss it!" someone finally exclaimed- so i left my meal and ran the whole 10 minutes to the station. Panting and ranting, I finally arrived a minute before the train was to leave. I got in, settled in, and then felt I needed a mirror to recompose myself before i arrived at the university looking like a wanker, so I went to the toilet. When I re-emerged I went to another seat only to realise my ticket was no longer in my hand (both my going + return). I didn't even think about going to the toilet, I just felt I had left it at my old seat- so I hurried there. There was a man seated in the chair, and a ticket jacket in front of him on the table. So I asked like the lovely, little, polite girl that I am if they were his tickets. He hesitated and finally said no. So I checked in the pack and saw the card that had my name and address. Relieved, I went to my seat and began to stare out of the window into the boring emptiness of the outside world.

I don't know what made me to but I decided to check my tickets again, and suddenly realised that they weren't in the jacket. The card with my name and address was, the receipt was and the seat reservation was- but the return tickets weren't! I calmed myself down and hurried to the man who had hesitated. To my dismay, it wasn't a man there anymore, it was two old women! God, my heart fell flat on the railway line. I didn't even remember how the hesitating man looked like! At least I still had my receipt and everything else, so I rushed to look for the train manager. I found him soon and explained my story, fully expecting some kind of compassion. Instead, he stuck his finger against his head to signal I was crazy and said, "You're so stupid, how can you put your going ticket and your return ticket in the same place?" In confusion, I burst into tears.

He told me to buy a new train ticket, which would have cost me like 40 pounds i think. I had the money, but I was just not ready to buy a new ticket, especially when he had just called me stupid. So I said I didn't have any money, I had only ten pounds on me and that was for my lunch (God forgive me for lying). He said I should pay with my card. I cried harder and lied that I didn't have a card, "I'm only a child!" I bawled. Actually, I was taller than him- okay no, I remember now, he was taaaall and huuuuge. He said he had never met anyone in his life who got on a train without money an a card. I told him he had met one now. He said, "Right, you're getting off at the next stop" I started crying again, I was already getting a little late for my open day, anyway. I dunno if he felt a minuscule ounce of pity then, but he asked me where I was supposed to get off.I told him I was supposed to change at Didcot Parkway for a train to Oxford. He smiled, "Right. You'll get off at Swindon, the stop before Didcot Parkway, and explain yourself there." Then he marched off. I was as distraught as a mashed up tomato.

I managed to dry my tears and pray the whole way to Swindon. I really expected some miracle to deliver me, but no, didn't happen that way. The train manager kept passing by after every stop to remind me to get off at Swindon. In a while, we got to Swindon and as soon as I saw the train manager approaching me, to avoid further disgrace, I jumped off the train myself. I tried to explain to another man there and cried as hard as I could, but he couldn't help. Sent me to the ticket office. To get to the ticket office, however, I needed a ticket to get through the machine thingy. A woman-guard was there and so I went over to her and handed her the ticket envelope. She opened it just as I was about to explain myself and said, "Love, your ticket isn't here." It completely annoyed me that I started crying again. She let me through, of course. Then I went and cried for the ticket woman too. She said I could use my ten pounds to buy a ticket back to Cheltenham. I cried harder. She said I could use it to buy an 8.50 ticket to Oxford but I'll be stuck there. Realising how late I was, I said I didn't mind being stuck there. So I got the ticket and went to Oxford.

I couldn't find my friends at first so I made new friends :) and had a tiring day, then I found my friends and told them the whole story and wanted to cry but had run out of tears. At the end of the day, I was stuck in Oxford and am presently there, working as a cleaner in the university.

Actually, I took the bus back to Cheltenham with my friends.