So Glasgow, what a place. I came up today for two meetings and then hung out in George Square, my first time downtown Glasgow. And what a great first impression.
Mind you the day started badly. I never even thought to check the weather forecast and assumed it was as warm as at home. What a typical southerner. Of course it was cold and raining. In a rush I did two things…
Firstly, I bought an umbrella. It broke. I went back to WHSmith and changed it. Then I took some cash out of the Travelex machine. Well, I thought I did. Actually I punched in my PIN number, chose my amount, then took back my card. And walked off. What a muppet.
This evening back at the airport I tentatively asked whether I could return my unused umbrella to WHSmith and get a refund. I could! A miracle! So thanks WHSmith, you have won tonight’s customer service award. Then I asked about my cash and discovered that after 30 seconds the cash goes back in. So need to check with bank tomorrow whether someone took it or the machine reclaimed it.
Now on my plane and preparing to fly south. So I escaped Scotland intact and I only had one embarrassing language situation. Ordering a coffee I really struggled to understand the girl; “d’yee wan a smorl oo reehglaar?”.
My pause while I tried to decipher her question was a little embarrassing, but it got worse as I paused for longer and longer. Never mind using encryption, I think we could harness a strong Glaswegian accent instead to keep our secrets secret.
Travel broadens the mind apparently…
Ade Clewlow MBE 