Diary of a 21st Century nobody - Phewee!

A friend of my son's is very keen on photography and, as a part of his art studies, was required to produce artwork under the theme of 'hidden places'.

What a wide scope for art there is in a theme like that; secret woodland, alleyways on city streets, or shortcuts through fields or streets, old abandoned buildings etc etc. So, what does he choose? Hidden alleyways? Secret woodland? A secret den in a field?...... NO! NO.He decides on a Victorian sewer that runs beneath the city centre.... A sewer! Only a man would choose a sewer.

So on Saturday this friend, my son, and 3 others dressed themselves in old clothing, gathered up their cameras and commenced the 6.5 mile walk through the sewer to capture the photographs for the project.

It took a few hours to complete the walk. A few hours on a warm Spring day wandering through an old Victorian sewer....I do not think I need enlighten you about the sounds, sights and smells that they encountered on that walk! They returned to the surface in the city centre, and then went their seperate ways to return home.

Sadly for them, the tolerance level on public transport for foul smells is very, very low, and when they attempted to board a bus they were turned away. Now, my son had to travel home in a different direction from the rest of the group, so when the others decided to share the cost of a taxi (which, I may add, they were also turned away from!) he decided that the cost of a taxi was not one that he could bear alone.

Now, you KNOW where this is leading, don't you?? The bus will not let him onboard. A taxi would not let him get in. The train would not allow him on.

What do you do??

Of course, you would do exactly what my son did; you ring someone who loves you enough to ignore the stench of sewage eminating from you, allows you into their car, and drives you home, where another person who loves you takes the vile-smelling clothing from you, washes and dries it, and prepares a lovely hot and sweet smelling bath for you to soak in... Yes, the tasks of picking him up and cleaning him up fell to me and hubby!

Uugh! The smell hung around for quite some time I can tell you. And he's the one who complains that his sister smells of horses!! Ha ha - rather that than a Victorian sewer!

I just hope that that lad gets top marks for his project....