Andy burns rubber
On a recent train journey I got talking to a woman who told me she was a life coach. When I asked what a life coach was she explained that it was someone who could help you make important decisions, achieve your aspirations and ‘move forward’.
Someone who is literally ‘moving forward’, not with a five foot two life coach but with a full-scale model with wheels and an onboard loo, is Bakers Dolphin sales and marketing manager Andy Manning.
It seems that Andy aspires to be able to do every job there is at Bakers Dolphin; we’ve already heard him answering the phones in reservations and now he has qualified as a coach driver and has a PSV licence to prove it.
My colleague Rick e-mailed a message on behalf of all the staff in our office to acknowledge Andy’s achievement. But Rick must have had other things on his mind, as he congratulated him on his PVC qualification, which, I imagine, is something else altogether, though at high speed, I’m sure Andy could heat rubber with the best of them.
Andy’s professional life is fast becoming one of those ‘in at the deep end’ reality shows. Now that we’ve seen him in the roles of marketing manager, reservations clerk and coach driver, we are very much looking forward to the next episode. Will he show us his skills as a chamber maid?
Jason’s got it mapped
JTA’s Jason Nagle called in this week to congratulate us on our sales. Looking around our newly refurbished office, he was struck by the large map on the wall.
“What a great map!” he said, as if viewing a piece of original artwork, “Where did you get it?”
Rick said it had come from a well-known Scandinavian store renowned for its modern style, affordable furniture and accessories. Jason’s eyes grew wider at the prospect of purchasing one of his very own and revealed that his passion was for maps and globes.
“I’ve got them all over the house,” he said enthusiastically. “If I got one of these, I could put coloured pins in all the places I’ve travelled to across the world…”
At this point, his eyes glazed over and none of us felt able to intrude on his reverie. “I could put a red pin in the place I’ve enjoyed myself most…”
I winced. “Make sure it’s somewhere you’ve been with Samantha,” I murmured, just in case he hadn’t thought about how his partner might feel if the red pin marked a lads’ weekend in Marrakesh. “We’ve been to some great places together,” he said, “the other weekend I treated her to a stay in London.”
“Lovely,” I said, “did you take in a show, do the art galleries and end up in an intimate restaurant?”
“No,” he replied, “I took her on the ‘Blood and Guts’ tour of the haunts of Jack the Ripper.”
Who said romance was dead? As well as maps and globes, Jason enjoys nothing more than a brush with the next world and the Blood and Guts tour, booked through the Visit London website offered him the chance to walk the cobbled streets where dastardly crimes had been committed. I asked if Samantha had enjoyed it.
“It would have been better if it hadn’t been raining,” he admitted, “also, she was wearing high heels and the cobbles were a bit of a problem. And to be honest, she was a bit scared in the graveyards.” So, an ideal date, then.
With Sweeney Todd back in vogue thanks to Tim Burton’s new film, I’m sure there will be more tourists than ever making the pilgrimage to the site of Mrs Lovett’s pie shop, so thanks to Jason for the top tip!
Jason has another supernatural event lined up for Samantha, as he’s booked tickets for the medium Colin Fry’s appearance at Portsmouth Guild Hall. I doubt the spirits will get a word in edgeways.
Curtain crisis
I’m thinking of compiling a book featuring all the ridiculous claims people are now making in their bids for compensation for holidays that don’t quite make the grade.This week, one client recently returned from China complaining that ‘nobody spoke English there,’ while another came in brandishing a photograph of a pair of curtains.
“What am I supposed to be looking at?” I asked. “The curtains,” she said triumphantly, “they didn’t meet!” I resisted the urge to tell her to pull herself together.
Maureen Hill works at Travel Angels, Gillingham, Dorset
