Presents

As an aside to my travel winge, I should mention that sat stationery in traffic is an awful lot more bearable with friends like Sally and Caroline at the other end of a mobile phone (hands free of course).

One such conversation between myself and Sally (midway into her drive), probably bears repeating:

L: So Sally, what have you forgotten to pack this time?
S: Nothing, I’ve been really good and remembered everything.
L: Really? What even a hairdryer?
S: Yes thank you.
L: Clean knickers?
S: Yes!
L: Hairbrush?
S: Yes. Look I’ve remembered everything for once. I even remembered the card for Pab and Emma.
L: Cool.
S: Yes I’ve got everyth….oh fuck!
L: What?
S: Oh fuck! I’ve forgotten your present for your niece…

Of course some readers will wonder why Sally has said item in the first place.

Well it goes a bit like this. Having been suitably chastised for forgetting adopted niece K’s birthday (see here for the humiliating tale), in the midst of all my pre-Greenbelt madness, I actually remembered to buy, wrap and pack birthday presents for the following:

• Belated birthday present for adopted niece K.
• The non-postable part of the birthday present for 'real niece', to be left with my parents so R could collect next time they visited.
• Birthday present for adopted niece R, whose birthday fell that week, so it could be sent back from GB with the rest of the Rabbit Corpse and Dog Collar family.

So the weekend before Greenbelt I left real niece’s pressie at my folks and when the Rabbit Corpse and Dog Collar family arrived on-site, I produced the present for adopted niece K and the present for adopted niece R.

Except the latter wasn’t.

It was the present for my 'real niece'.

Meaning that the one in my parent’s hallway was…oh bugger!

Still no harm done. I ring my folks and arrange that we’ll swap when we meet up in two weeks.

Except then I got home from Greenbelt and realised, I’d left real niece’s present in the Duty Manager’s Office.

Happily for me, but most certainly not for her, Sally is still clearing up on site and bless her, finds the present for me and agrees to bring it to this weekend.

Except she’s forgotten it.

I’m sure my niece will see the funny side…right?