Sunday
Breakfast room is crowded. Everybody is on an “all you can eat for breakfast” package and
everybody aims for their money’s worth. Lots of big breakfasts. Some people
survey the cooked food before plunging in.
It is possible to have a nourishing, healthy, enjoyable breakfast or an
unhealthy pile of junk. Everybody has a
choice and nobody is assessed on how they do. Not initially. Maybe in twenty
years’ time a heart attack will be some sort of judgement.
The young well-dressed staff hover. They noiselessly keep
the bay maries full of food. They swoop on cluttered tables and clear away
dirty plates and cutlery. Quietly and
without comment. They do this as we go back for more.
We are off to the scenic railway. The departure place is crowded with glum
tourists who are controlled and managed by glum Red Coats. The Red Coats look like they have heard and
seen it all before. I’m challenged to say something they have never heard
before. I approach the nearest Red Coat
and ask her, “What happens when we see an elephant?”
“What?”
“An elephant.”
She can see a set-up and smiles as she says, “Run.”
I can see another Red Coat and I approach and earnestly ask
him, “What do we do when we see a lion?”
“On the train?”
“Yes what do we do?”
He grins broadly and says, “You won’t see a lion.”
He now has something to talk about after he has finished his
shift. We move from a cable car to the scenic railroad and back to another
cable car. We are in a crowd of
compliant tourists. The Red Coats tell us where to stand or sit and when. One announcer says the trees below us look
like broccoli. Later another announcer tells
us to look down and when you see something that looks like broccoli it is actually
trees. In one of the cable cars there is a final bump before we stop. A man
yells out, “Unbelievable.” The crowd
laughs. He wins and gets all the bonus points. What he said was unscripted and
far funnier than anything I said.
At tea I am told, “You’re looking tired.”
Somebody else also tells me I’m looking tired.
I’m upset because they are focusing on me because I’m old
and have been sick. Bloody hell. I’m just tired from a busy day. And proud of
it. Proud of my tiredness.
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