Is this a typical day for anyone else

[Jenasaurus]

Ok so I rarely go out but today I promised my adult DD I would go with her to London as she was having a surgical procedure and was a little nervous

So last week I had a cold (not Covid) but was still feeling a little under the weather. We caught the train and then went to have a meal but weather spoons and Prezzo said you had to book. Eventually we found that we could eat at Cafe Rouge. All good so far

Then we caught the tube to Oxford Circus. The tube was rammed full and my DD was away from me on the other side. When we arrived at our destination she looked worried and said “mum please come with me”. She took me on a very odd route out of the tube and then we got a bit lost. Eventually she told me that 2 men on the train were either side of her looking at her and then each other. One of them made a gesture with his hand and they followed her off the train. As soon as they saw she was with me they got back on the train. My DD was very aware they were targeting her

Then we walked to Harley Street. The plan was I was going to shop in John Lewis while she had her procedure and then she would meet me there afterwards but she wanted to show me the clinic first. Oj the walk I was aware of some men behind us, one was sort of yelling or chanting a song, possibly a football one. I was a bit worried as it felt quite threatening. When we got near a hotel I asked my DD to wait a while. She too had noticed the men and understood my concerns. The man passed us and then turned and looked at me while moving his head forward and yelling. His hands where making some weird sign. He went on, and eventually we continued walking. We then froze when we saw the same lad doing the same to another lad. I assumed they knew each other but then realised the lad he was yelling at hadn’t a clue who he was.

Eventually We carried on and then I fell heavily on my knee. I was in so much pain (photo below) I actually cried a little and felt sick. This man appeared from nowhere to check I was OK

As a result the plan changed. I decided to stay with my DD at the clinic while she had the 20 minute procedure. When we got inside I could barely walk on my leg and the knee had swollen. I realised the walk back to the tube and then catching the other train was going to be very hard.

I booked a taxi to come 15 mins after the procedure should have been over so 4.45. The taxi company quoted 164. It’s a lot of money but I just wanted to get home and put an ice pack on it

The taxi arrived at 6.10pm. My daughter was worried as she was meant to go out at 8 and unless we got back by 7.15 at the latest she would have time to get there

Now the journey home seemed to take ages. The driver was very friendly and apologetic. It appeared her shift had ended when our booking came in and she was forced by her company to take this one on

When waiting in traffic in Brixton a woman appeared at the side of the taxi and tried my DD door and then glanced at the car full of men playing loud music and thought better of it. The taxi driver seemed a bit awkward and shaken up. My DD said it’s a form of pickpocketing. I had never heard of that before

So the journey continues but we are still a long way from home and the taxi driver tells us her car only has 7 percent charge left and do we mind if she finds a charger and does a fast charge. We say that’s Ok and she plans a route to the nearest one. But that had a queue of 3 people waiting for it so she drives to another one but that had a van on a slow charge

Several more broken chargers and then she drove back to near her home and charged there (still on the outskirts of London). She was very nice and very apologetic. She gave me her phone to watch films as my own bad run out of data

Then we left and got home just now. My DD friend cancelled her from the birthday meal which initially upset her but she knew she want going to make it back by 8. Hopefully her friend will forgive
her but the reason she was late does sound so far fetched to be honest. My DD gave the driver a 30 tip in the end yet in the beginning of the journey home because she was so late she told me not to expect her to be very friendly or communicative with the driver who had arrived 1 hour and a half late

Got home and my DD boyfriend had bought us Macdonalds

Oh forgot to say the doctor that was treating my DD cleaned my wound and gave me some cream and bandaged it up.

So today had been a mixture of people being lovely and some very scary people. Not sure I’m going out again soon

I'm stressed out on your behalf. Phew.

Thanks for taking the time to read that. I am now in bed with my foot elevated and feeling more comfortable. The leg I fell on has been broken twice and still has a titanium bar and pins in it, one of the pins feels like its making its way to the surface so I may need to get it removed. I am 56 and felt so silly falling down like that over basically nothing.

I have developed social anxiety as a reaction to the pandemic and now feel even less likely to want to venture out :( I have too though as my son is getting married in Ireland this year.

Jesus sounds awful! Cant say I've ever experienced it but certainly doesn't sound normal and wasn't like it was once it was all day!!

Glad you're both home and safe!

Oh wow it nevers rains but it pours eh?
Just one of those things you probably could have coped with but all those together sound horrible xx

Gosh what a day I hope you feel better soon.

Much less eventful but after excitedly venturing out today after being very home bound i too came home after encountering unwarranted (driver) aggression and decided being home was better than being out. Worried I’ll stay here t b h.

@redandwhite1

Jesus sounds awful! Cant say I've ever experienced it but certainly doesn't sound normal and wasn't like it was once it was all day!!

Glad you're both home and safe!

Thank you for your kind words

I was saying to my DD that it was like something out of a soap or a dark comedy, where the sole intention was to get home by 7 and everything organised to make it happen goes terribly wrong

All I need now is to be pinged from the tube journey on the way there where we were all packed so tightly together

@Forgothowmuchlhatehomeschoolin

Oh wow it nevers rains but it pours eh? Just one of those things you probably could have coped with but all those together sound horrible xx

Yes I also think I wasnt meant to go today with my DD. I had been so unwell all week but she asked if I would as she was so nervous about this procedure she was having She came into my room as I was getting ready and noticed I was straightening my wet hair, she told me to stop as its really damaging, and not to worry as she would go alone as she could tell I was in a strange mood and may stress her out more. I could see she was only saying that to give me a way out but wanted to support her, and to be honest I am glad I went, despite the odd things that happened. If she had gone alone, would she have been hurt by the men on the tube, and she cried in pain too when she had the procedure done, so she did need someone with her.

Incidentally the procedure although may be considered cosmetic has been something she saved for herself as it had taken over her life, its just a 20 minute laser treatment to cauterise some veins and was told that it would just feel like an elastic band pinging, but she said it was very very painful, however, she has had an immediate result that she is pleased with and although I never really noticed them before she is so happy she has had this done and I am sure her confidence will improve. She is 26 by the way

@StrictlySinging

Gosh what a day I hope you feel better soon.

Much less eventful but after excitedly venturing out today after being very home bound i too came home after encountering unwarranted (driver) aggression and decided being home was better than being out. Worried I’ll stay here t b h.

I am so with you on this one.

I have a deep affection for my bed too :) Staying home, safe and warm with nice food, a glass of wine and a film sounds much nicer doesn it

No not a normal day and you've tracked most of London in a day. Sounds over ambitious to begin with!

@itwasntaparty

No not a normal day and you've tracked most of London in a day. Sounds over ambitious to begin with!

Maybe, I was only intending to go to Oxford Circus and then Harley Street too. The ride home in some areas was beautiful, I have no idea where we were in some parts. The places I do know, were Brixton, Bromley, Lewisham, Westminister, the rest I have no idea, but on a funny note, I counted at least 12 places with christmas lights/trees still up :)

Bloody hell. I’ve been working around Oxford St for 20 years and I’ve never had that much drama.

I hope tomorrow is more restful..

@Luredbyapomegranate

Bloody hell. I’ve been working around Oxford St for 20 years and I’ve never had that much drama.

I hope tomorrow is more restful..

thank you, the receptionist at the clinic was lovely too, she allowed us to wait in the clinic for the taxi and made us drinks and gave us biscuits. In the end we waited outside as the clinic closed at 6 but she was too polite to ask us to leave, she told us to ask for our money back and told my DD to update her at her follow up appointment in March. Having spoke to the taxi driver, I realised she had been pressured to take our booking on, she said she was almost home and about to charge her car overnight when they pleaded with her to take this one on.

We got home just before 11pm which means the poor taxi driver has another long drive home tonight back to London. Although where we live is only 37 miles from London it is 1 hour and 25 minutes by car on a good day without issues with the car needing charging or road closures etc. I hope she got home OK

Jeez that's a day and a half, no it isn't normal poor you

I haven't been to London in years, is it always stressful now? The men in the tube sound scary, what did your daughter think they might do?

She should report the 2 men on the tube to the British Transport Police. If she knows what time she got off the train there will be platform CCTV of them following her.

Honestly, OP, I’m sorry you had such a stressful and grim day — and your fall couldn’t have been foreseen — but if, as you say, you ‘rarely go out’ and your daughter sounds this easily frightened by entirely normal big city stuff, I do think a lot of this was avoidable.

Taking a taxi the entire way home to wherever you live from central London was a mad idea — you’d have got home far more quickly, cheaply and conveniently by taking a passing black cab to the railway station and asking for assistance onto your train if you needed it. Waiting for an hour and a half for a late taxi you’d pre-booked and then meekly sitting in it while the driver drove around endlessly looking for a recharging station is a bit crazy, especially if your DD had plans for later in your home town.

And I think your DD was stressing you (and obviously herself) out entirely unnecessarily. There are always a minority of people behaving oddly on the tube or in the street — what did your DD think the men could do, other than pickpocketing (which would have been discreet and not involved them looking and making gestures) in a crowded Oxford Circus tube on a Saturday that would have been deterred by the arrival of her mother? The guy shouting the football chant on the street was drunk or had MH problems. It’s not particularly pleasant, but it’s not that unusual anywhere. The woman who tried the cab door in Brixton possibly mistook it for an empty cab — sometimes drivers don’t turn the light off, and it’s not obvious there are passengers inside. Your DD was catastriophising.

I don’t understand why your DD then gave the cab driver a £30 tip on top of a £164 fare when she was an hour and a half late and was driving an electric cab with low charge on a pre-booked long journey?

Perhaps your DD was shaken up by her medical procedure, or an easily frightened person, or maybe she’s really not used to London, but a lot of this stress was self-inflicted and unnecessary. So no, it’s not normal!

Everything @Roosk said - you both sound like huge drama llamas!

This is why I never go to London.

The person trying to open the cab door whas
Standing and walking between the cars on the inside of the road so think 2 lanes of cars
And both sides waiting at the ligjhts. Why would the lady be standing in the middle of the
Road like that though. Surely if she wanted a taxi she would have been on the path next to the other side of the car but you could be right maybe she was confused.

@Jenasaurus

The person trying to open the cab door whas Standing and walking between the cars on the inside of the road so think 2 lanes of cars And both sides waiting at the ligjhts. Why would the lady be standing in the middle of the Road like that though. Surely if she wanted a taxi she would have been on the path next to the other side of the car but you could be right maybe she was confused.

Well look you were there, obviously, and no one on here was, but your DD does seem to interpret fairly ordinary events, like raucous men on a central London street, or someone drunk or with behaviour suggesting MH problems, in the blackest possible light, and as though she was being personally targeted by them.

madmomma

This is why I never go to London.

hilarious, you think this story is a) normal or/and b) true ...

I’m sorry you had such a stressful day- the knee fall in particular is awful. Done similar myself and it is so so painful and takes a fair while (weeks) for the knee not to be sore / stiff
However, if I may make a gentle observation- you by your own admission hardly ever go out and are anxious. It’s very easy to see things that arnt there or think things are worse than they are when in that state of mind. I’ve been there myself and often it’s easy to view strangers (particularly in London or a big city) as suspicious and up to no good.
There are a fair few drunk / people with MH problems I find roaming around. Most harmless but odd.
The two men were in all honesty unlikely to be up to something horrific although obviously you can’t rule it out as it does sound strange.
Lads shouting were probably drunk or showing off.
Girl opening the cab was also probably wasted to be standing in the middle of the road and just hoping the cab would open.
We went to London today and a weird older guy started rambling on in the tube and then grabbed on to my DH when it started moving. DH just said no don’t hold on to me. He moved off down the carriage. I did hear shouting / hollering but I think that was him getting off.
Lots of odd people about but also many many security / police ajd cameras!

Very sorry about your knee. The rest is drama. Even worst is the £30 tip.

Sorry you ended up with an injury but it does sound like both of you were incredibly anxious and interpreted every minor incident as something very threatening. Oxford St on an average Saturday afternoon really isn’t that scary!

thanks for the responses, I agree that a lot of this is made worse by my social anxiety and my DD was already worrying about her procedure so we were in a heightened state. I think I have read too many horrible things in the news too, so when I realise there are men behind us shouting etc it felt really intimidating, when I fell I was mortified due to falling in public, possibly ruining my DDs plans and the pain I felt at the time, its the same leg I have broken twice before in similar circumstances so I thought, Oh no not now, but today the bruising has gone down and I can straighten the leg. My DD is pleased with her surgery and I am going back out there again into the big wide world next month to watch an Arsenal game with my sons, so getting back on the horse so to speak :) Thank you all for replying