Commitment crisis
The new year is upon us, and, in spite of the credit crunch and endless talk of recession, there are still girls out there with high romantic expectations. If only they could see that the blokes they’re with aren’t ever going to live up to them.
Take the couple that came in to our shop recently. They’d had the discussion about marriage many times and he had promised her they would definitely, for sure, no doubt about it, tie the knot in two years’ time.
Now, you and I might raise an eyebrow at such a far-off promise – we all know a lot can happen in two years – why, we might even see house prices rise again.
The young woman, however, blinded by love and the prospect of a white dress, had decided to take action to make the promise more binding. She had dragged him in to see us to advance register for a wedding abroad.
Sitting in front of me, she was all beaming smiles and excitement as she handed me several wedding brochures in which she had circled various destinations and hotels. He, on the other hand, looked totally disinterested.
We discussed the wedding she had clear ideas about the flowers, photography, the decoration of the setting and even the champagne, but her fiancé’s input was negligible and he glanced theatrically at his watch on several occasions.
As the conversation slowed, he looked at me and asked: “Is the deposit refundable?”
When I replied that it was, I saw a smile break his lips for the first time since he’d entered the shop.
Something tells me the operators aren’t going to see the colour of their money, but I’d love to be wrong for that poor girl’s sake!
Foraging for a friend
I’m afraid I was wearing my cynic’s hat when another client called in this week. He put his head around the door and asked: “Do you provide companions?” I was unsure if he realised we were a travel and not an escort agency, and asked as much, at which he laughed.
“No, no,” he said, “it’s just that I’ve got an 80-year-old father wanting to go away but he can’t manage on his own.”
I asked if the gentleman in question needed assistance for a disability, but was told he was “just old and shy”. I explained that we send a lot of old people away, regardless of their age, and used as an example an elderly lady client of ours who, at 90, was indignant at not being able to buy insurance for a bungee jump in Australia.
“If he’s shy, perhaps he could start off with a coach tour which could pick him up from home,” I suggested. “He’d soon get chatting with the other travellers and they’d all be in the same boat. Or coach.”
I told him we could also arrange for him to meet another traveller with someone2travelwith.com.
“If he needs help with dressing and bathing, though, he’d really need to pay for a carer,” I said.
I got the impression that a paid carer was precisely the expense the son was trying to avoid. Trouble is, as I keep telling my daughter, an old person is for life, not just for Christmas. How long, I wonder, before she’s looking for a coach tour to send me on?
Pillow talk
I know the economic downturn has had us all turning to the old cookbooks and reverting to austerity tactics, but really, I wasn’t expecting my clients to completely eschew all things modern.
An older lady due to travel by coach on a spring break called me.
“Is it too late for requests?” she asked. “Only I don’t want a duvet I’d prefer a sheet and a blanket.”
I said I’d call the operator.
“Oh, and I don’t want one of those square pillows,” she added. “They might have square heads on the Continent, but I don’t!”
I refrained from asking if she had a more conventional rectangular head and agreed to make that request as well.
Hope for the new year
This will be a year when the family holiday will be more highly prized than ever and I’m optimistic that folk will cut back on unnecessary expenditure to afford it.
Women’s magazines are full of articles about thrifty living, so let’s hope that what they save on expensive face creams comes our way. Happy new year.
Maureen Hill works at Travel Angels, Gillingham, Dorset
