I've been a member of this site for just over a year now, and of course, the name of the site is MeetAnOstomate. It wouldn't be much good if I didn't meet an ostomate. So far, I have met three people off this site, and in my next three blogs, I'm going to write about what happened both during and leading up to these meetings, and also some of the events that have happened since. Before I start, I want to say that I won't be naming any names for two reasons. 1. I haven't actually asked permission to post blogs about these people. 2. I thought it would be fun to keep people guessing as to who I'm talking about.
Ostomate1 joined the site in about April. I remember at that particular time the regular pattern with the chatroom was me, Ostomate1, and the FlirtyGirl (see previous blogs), and every so often the CrazyLady (I think everybody knows who I'm talking about) would come in and kick off. Needless to say, bad things were said, so me and the FlirtyGirl left the site for a bit. This was a shame because Ostomate1 didn't live too far from me, and I really wanted to meet him at the time. When I came back to the site, I found that everything had been resolved and the CrazyLady had left the site. At this point, me and Ostomate1 decided to finally meet.
We decided to meet at Wigan train station and find a pub with a beer garden. (That was the plan.) We exchanged our phone numbers and arranged a time: 2 pm on the 8th of July 2010 (yes, my memory is that good). This was the first time I had ever met someone off the internet, so I was a bit cautious. I brought my friend with me for backup, which, in hindsight, was a bit of a mistake because it made me appear a bit mob-handed. What I should have done is either got someone to come with me who could have left once I had met Ostomate1 or got someone to call me and make sure I was okay at the time when I was supposed to have met him. We arrived early, and so did Ostomate1, which was lucky. So off we went in search of a beer garden in Wigan. This was easier said than done because even though I've lived in Wigan for 20 years, I've spent the last three years in Manchester (Where the hell did that shopping center come from?!!!). So after we had given Ostomate1 the long pointless walk around Wigan, we decided to get in the car and find somewhere we knew. I have to say at this point that the area we chose to park the car wasn't exactly the most accessible place we could have parked. I'm sure at this point he was thinking, “Any minute now they're going to bash me on the head and put me in the boot.” There was a bit of an awkward silence. Then we got caught in a traffic jam in the car park!!! One and a half hours after we picked him up, we finally arrived at the Boars Head in Standish, Wigan. At this point, we had a couple of games of pool and finally things started to relax, and we got talking, much to the annoyance of my friend who was basically feeling a bit left out (guessing the topic of conversation was a bit much for him). After the Boars Head, we decided to go for a meal at the Red Robin in Wigan, which was very nice. Then it was time to drop Ostomate1 off at the train station. We got caught in traffic again, and Ostomate1 decided he could walk the rest of the way; unfortunately, he walked towards the wrong train station (oops).
All things considered, I think that meeting went well (not a complete disaster). Since then, I have not seen Ostomate1 because he has emigrated for a year. He is on my Facebook, and all going well, I will probably see him again at some point. As for my friend, we don't speak anymore, and one of the things he said bothered him about me was how he felt that day. Probably better off without him anyway.
Well, that was the first ostomate I met. Read my next blog to find out what happened with the second…
Ostomate1 joined the site in about April. I remember at that particular time the regular pattern with the chatroom was me, Ostomate1, and the FlirtyGirl (see previous blogs), and every so often the CrazyLady (I think everybody knows who I'm talking about) would come in and kick off. Needless to say, bad things were said, so me and the FlirtyGirl left the site for a bit. This was a shame because Ostomate1 didn't live too far from me, and I really wanted to meet him at the time. When I came back to the site, I found that everything had been resolved and the CrazyLady had left the site. At this point, me and Ostomate1 decided to finally meet.
We decided to meet at Wigan train station and find a pub with a beer garden. (That was the plan.) We exchanged our phone numbers and arranged a time: 2 pm on the 8th of July 2010 (yes, my memory is that good). This was the first time I had ever met someone off the internet, so I was a bit cautious. I brought my friend with me for backup, which, in hindsight, was a bit of a mistake because it made me appear a bit mob-handed. What I should have done is either got someone to come with me who could have left once I had met Ostomate1 or got someone to call me and make sure I was okay at the time when I was supposed to have met him. We arrived early, and so did Ostomate1, which was lucky. So off we went in search of a beer garden in Wigan. This was easier said than done because even though I've lived in Wigan for 20 years, I've spent the last three years in Manchester (Where the hell did that shopping center come from?!!!). So after we had given Ostomate1 the long pointless walk around Wigan, we decided to get in the car and find somewhere we knew. I have to say at this point that the area we chose to park the car wasn't exactly the most accessible place we could have parked. I'm sure at this point he was thinking, “Any minute now they're going to bash me on the head and put me in the boot.” There was a bit of an awkward silence. Then we got caught in a traffic jam in the car park!!! One and a half hours after we picked him up, we finally arrived at the Boars Head in Standish, Wigan. At this point, we had a couple of games of pool and finally things started to relax, and we got talking, much to the annoyance of my friend who was basically feeling a bit left out (guessing the topic of conversation was a bit much for him). After the Boars Head, we decided to go for a meal at the Red Robin in Wigan, which was very nice. Then it was time to drop Ostomate1 off at the train station. We got caught in traffic again, and Ostomate1 decided he could walk the rest of the way; unfortunately, he walked towards the wrong train station (oops).
All things considered, I think that meeting went well (not a complete disaster). Since then, I have not seen Ostomate1 because he has emigrated for a year. He is on my Facebook, and all going well, I will probably see him again at some point. As for my friend, we don't speak anymore, and one of the things he said bothered him about me was how he felt that day. Probably better off without him anyway.
Well, that was the first ostomate I met. Read my next blog to find out what happened with the second…
