Thursday 21 December 2017

#349 The bus to Clapham

"I wonder if your grip would go first or if your arm would dislocate". I was standing with my hoodie and jacket hanging off my right shoulder. The inside of my left elbow joint was locked around a vertical yellow bar.

To my mouth was a pint of semi-skimmed, my head tilted back as I glugged it with gusto. In my left hand was a half-eaten chcolate-coated cereal bar.

The position I was in had me wondering what would happen if the bus crashed, not so much to me but to your average person who was holding a handrail. I guessed that either one or both could happen.

I sometimes removed my outer layers partially by wearing them over my shoulder to cool down, as I often overheated when I walked anywhere. The milk helped as well. I was on the 185 to see Sarah, the career coach. It'd been about two months since I'd met her in person.

I was worried she'd be upset and angry with me. Two weeks had passed since our call and instead of focussing on the actions we'd agreed, I'd seen a job spec I liked and become sidetracked, seeking out any similar roles and the agencies that carried them. I'd been wrapped up in that and when she asked me about the coaching homework, I'd have little to report.

Bounding off the bus in Clapham, I made a beeline for the McDonald's next to the tube station. It was almost like a rule with me, if I passed a McD's at breakfast time, I made the most of it. A delicious bonus for having an unusual morning.

Satisfactorily stuffed with cereal, milk and Mcmuffin, I put my hoodie and coat on properly, entered Starbucks and took a seat. In a few minutes, waiting for the coach to arrive, to update her and find out her reaction.

2 comments

Fizzfan said...

Pretty sure she won’t be miffed. You’ve been doing really positive potentially life changing (in a good way) stuff.
Coaching offers support, but I think you’ve been going the extra mile by deviating and focusing on real change and have already succeeded with the house move.
All good stuff!

Profound Familiarity said...

Yes the house move was quite a stark deviation so it's good that Sarah was able to offer help with that too and then keep track of where things were, for when I was ready to focus on work again.