My random week

May Nan used to be fond of her little sayings any time anything strange happened to her.
"There's nowt queer as folk"
or
"It takes all sorts".
After some of the people I've spoken to this week I'm starting to think she may have had a point.



It started on Wednesday when an 87 year old lady rang me from her care home. She was on our mailing list and had just received a flyer we had sent out about some Fred Olsen cruises. This was how the conversation went..............

Lady: I want to book two cabins on the Balmoral, one for me and one for my carer to push my wheelchair, will that be OK?
Me: Of course. that won't be a problem.
Lady: It might be, you see you don't understand, she's not quite white.
Me: What!!!????
Lady: You know, she's not quite white.
Me: I don't understand, (I did, but I was still hoping at this point that I'd misheard her).
Lady: She'd be a darkie, you know.
Me: What!!!!???? Is this a joke? Because I don't really appreciate that kind of language.......
(It was at this point I realised she wasn't really listening to what I was saying)
Lady: Do you think they'd let her onboard?
Me: Of course they'd let her onboard, why wouldn't they? I! What? I can't believe I'm having this conversation!
Lady: Oh good, well I might ring back and book two cabins then if you think no one will mind but in future you might want to put that kind of information on your brochures .
Me:  ......................?

Any regular Fred Olsen passengers will be glad to know that she's yet to book anything so you wont be meeting her onboard any time soon and no, we wont be adding any 'extra' information to our flyers!

As if that wasn't bad enough I then took this call on Thursday..........

Lady: (A different lady this time). I've been reading your blog for awhile now and really trust your opinion, you seem to be really honest.
Me: (Actually I didn't say anything here but my head did get a lot bigger suddenly).
Lady: I was looking at booking a cruise on the Independence of the Seas but I'd be travelling alone and I'm a bit worried. could you answer some questions I have because I know you'll be honest.
Me: Of course, (at this point I was expecting something along the lines of, "will I be lonely" or will I fit in etc)
Lady: Will I be raped and thrown overboard?
Me: ......................................?

I mean seriously people have there been some news stories about cruising getting more dangerous that I've missed?
Ah well, all's well that ends well and I'm off for the weekend so I'll see you back here bright and early Monday.

Happy cruising