By: Blonde One

I feel that I am now ready to share with you my traumatic experience of taking the minibus out with a group of kids for the first time. Blonde Two and I had been on a practice drive to Princetown to test out my ability to negotiate narrow bridges, steep hills and small turnings and all went well. Blonde Two assured me that her singing was a result of being relaxed (she normally sings when she is scared). I was looking forward to my first ‘real’ drive out since the practice had gone so well, but I didn’t factor in the cheekiness of my passengers! The first thing that happened was that I was shown a photo of a particular cheeky youngster who was clad in full protective gear including helmet, shin pads and padded jacket. He suggested that this was the necessary kit for the journey! Throughout the journey I was subjected to a torrent of comments such as: Mind the bridge. Stop at the red light. Watch the pedestrians. Mind the wall. Check your blindspot. Etc, etc. It was all very unnerving. At one point on the trip one of my older teenage passengers checked with everyone to make sure they knew the brace position! He went on to explain that this position is the best way to preserve dental records in the event of a catastrophe! I think the younger passengers were beginning to get anxious at this point. Blonde Two and I had been trying to decide how to get our numbers down from 25 to 6 teenagers but I don’t think that this was quite what either of us had in mind. Despite the sarcasm about women (and blondes) driving, the journey went without a hiccup. I’m pleased that I didn’t manage to scrape the bus along a bridge, reverse into a sheep or take the wrong turning (I’ll leave that bit to Blonde Two!).

I will however confess to stalling once, but I totally blame a white van man for that (long story)!