Blob Thing wants to apologise. He knows he wrote far too much yesterday. While much of the blame for that can be ascribed to his person wanting to discuss her own very real problems, he feels that he wrote too much too. Today he's going to try to write less and not get completely carried away with writing about things he wasn't planning on writing about in the first place. What was written yesterday was very personal to Blob and his person. Tonight he just wants to write about cake, ready for posting his words tomorrow.
In any case, as he writes this post he is very tired. Today he had lots of adventures during another ten mile walk with his person. They're getting good at ten mile walks. In the past few weeks they have completed a three walks of over ten miles, all of which started from exactly the same place, St. Peter's Metro Station in Sunderland. Blob would highly recommend all three walks to anyone with the ability to walk that far.
At the end of Blob's last post he and his person had just arrived at a cafe in John Lewis to exchange the voucher they had been given for a free hot drink and piece of cake. Blob shared this photo, just so that everyone would know that they did indeed receive these free items.
Blob was excited because this time he was going to be allowed to choose what cake they would share. He had never been in charge of cake selection before and wanted to be able to choose the very biggest slice of the very best looking cake. There was really no choice about the drink. They would have tea. The drink menu was quite limited. They could have tea. Or they could have coffee. Since neither Blob nor his person like coffee, tea was the choice. Unfortunately there wasn't a big tea selection. So they had to have tea. A pot of tea. That was sorted.
Blob stared at the cake selection. He had options. He could have a fruit cake. He could very easily and happily have decided that he wanted one of the cheesecakes even though he has never eaten such a dessert. They just looked good. But then his eyes settled on the chocolate cake. Chocolate. People go crazy about chocolate. In all honesty, Blob had never eaten chocolate cake either. But he knew about chocolate and had seen his person eating it.
Blob pretended to be indecisive for a while, to ramp up the suspense. Blob's person didn't appreciate that. After the stress of navigating the large shop in the large shopping mall all she wanted to do was to find the quietest seat in the place and sit in it and hope it was peaceful enough for her to relax.
With both cake and drink chosen, Blob and his person went to the counter to order and pay. Well, not pay. Just hand over a small piece of paper and claim the free treat. Exciting. Free treats are always exciting, even after navigating large shops in large shopping malls.
The woman behind the counter looked Blob's person up and down and said. "Hello Sir. What would you like?"
Now, Blob's person isn't a Sir. Blob's person is a woman. A transgender woman, yes. But the important word there is woman. She's a she. Not a he. And definitely not a Sir.
Ordinarily she would have just let the mistake go. She knew other women - not transgender women either - who sometimes get called Sir. Admittedly none of them are the kind of women to have long hair in a feminine cut. And none of them are as addicted to skirts as Blob's person is. In fact some of them dress every day in clothing bought from the men's section. Because they like it. And because they look good in it. And because ascribing a specific gender to a piece of cloth is objectively total nonsense.
Blob firmly believes this. He's a guy. And he wears a pretty flowery dress. He's not a cross dresser though. He is a free dresser. He doesn't believe dresses are just for women and he is very proud of his dress. It is his clothing, not women's clothing. Blob could write a lot about these things. Blob's person could write a lot more. But Blob promised not to write as much as yesterday. So he's going to remain silent.
Blob's person was tired and stressed from the crowds and so pointed out to the women behind the counter that she was a woman and so ideally shouldn't be addressed as Sir.
Ordinarily at that point, the person who has made the mistake - usually with no malice, it's just an honest mistake - says sorry. And then everything is over and everyone moves on and life is good. But not the woman behind the counter. Oh no. No apology from the woman in the cafe at John Lewis. She just stared at Blob's person. Glared at her. And made no response whatsoever.
Blob and his person decided not to press the point or ask for an apology. Even though an apology was merited. Even though it would be part of the very basics of good customer service. Instead they just ordered their tea and cake, handed over the voucher and went and found a seat. Later, Blob's person asked at the customer service desk how to lodge and official complaint. But, life being life and her executive function being as it is, she never got round to doing it. Never mind. There are plenty of more important battles to fight. Her energy is needed for those. Sometimes the battle is just to get through the day. And that's infinitely more important than one bit of bad customer service and misgendering.
Blob and his person sat down together in a quiet spot. This was good. Free tea. Free cake. This was how life should be.
They sat quietly together, hardly talking to each other. Both of them needed some silence. Reaching this point of rest had been difficult for them. But now there was tea and cake and they smiled at each other before getting on with the happy task of sharing the cake. Blob's person was pleased with Blob's choice even though it had almost certainly been the least healthy option. She confesses that she likes chocolate cake. Years ago she had a phase of eating hot chocolate fudge cake nearly every day.
Pretty soon, the cake was gone.
Blob thought the cake was acceptable. But only acceptable. It had been sweet, as a chocolate cake should be. But it wasn't very rich at all and in terms of being overpowered by the flavour that chocolate can possess, well, the overpowering didn't begin to happen. It was a little bland. And in terms of being wonderfully moist, it merited a D grade at best. It was, if the truth is to be told, a little dry. Quite how Blob got to be such a connoisseur of chocolate cake when this was the first one he had ever eaten remains a big mystery to this day.
Blob thinks that if ever he is given another voucher for free tea and cake at John Lewis he would go back. He would probably try one of the cheesecakes next time. But if he had to pay for the experience, he wouldn't go back there. It's too stressful getting to the cafe. The cake is dry. There are no really exciting teas to try. It's not cheap. The atmosphere is as thin as that of Mars. And the customer service was pretty terrible. Blob's person is inclined to bow down to the wisdom of her friend in this case.
Blob Thing would like to apologise. He knows that he has written far too much today.
[1321 words. During the writing of this post Blob's person applied for a John Lewis card. There will be more free tea and cake.]
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