Spirited Adventurer

Eight weeks of ups and downs, outbursts of anger and laughter, and wonderful performances. Just what you would expect from the typical Sydney Community College Acting Basic Techniques class.

It is with great sadness and maybe a little happiness that Brendon and I had our last drama class last night!

If you have seen Cosi (an Australian film which has Ben Mendehlsen teaching a play to a group of mentally ill patients), then you will understand what the last eight weeks have been like. At times quite ridiculous with people making comments about their ‘core body temperature’, to their ’adrenalin in their legs’ (actually that was the same guy), to a teacher with a thick Polish accent who thought my giggling fits were because of that!

Little did he know there was too much else to laugh at and having Brendon sitting next to me probably didn’t help either.

(And for the record Brendon’s and my performance last night was great. And Brendon’s monologue – fantastic.)


It was hilarious, every week we would meet on a Tuesday night, and have dinner. For six of the eight weeks on Tuesday nights it rained. Of course on the last night it didn’t. And every week neither of us would want to go, but then turn up and I can honestly say that on only one occasion did we walk away thinking it was crap. So that’s not too bad. Most nights we would walk away saying that was weird instead, and weird/funny I can cope with.

They were actually a nice bunch and I don’t think anyone had big acting aspirations and if they did they should definitely ask for a refund. I did it because I enjoyed Drama at school and wanted to do something that was out of my comfort zone and doing the performances every week certainly did that.

Also, you can’t buy the entertainment value we got from the class from week to week. It was worth giving up Survivor on Tuesday nights for ‘live’ reality viewing.

And now it’s over and life will take on some normality on Tuesday nights – and last night was my final curtain call – no more drama in my life (yeh right…)

I have just spent the weekend with my two sisters (both older than me), and had a great time. There is something about women getting together and being able to discuss everything from bikini lines to abuse at meal time, and having cellulite show and tells afters dessert.

And not being a shopaholic myself I am amazed at my middle sister’s ability to shop/try on clothes and purchase faster than a speeding bullet. Truly I am not kidding, and add to that her shopping stamina – the woman is unstoppable. My biggest purchase for the weekend was… wait for it ….make-up. For those who know me, you can pick yourself up off the floor now.

Not because of animal testing but for another humane reason – the fact that you have to apply and REAPPLY this stuff on your face a few times in the day.

But I have given in! That’s right, I have given in and you can laugh at me when you see me next with make up on, playing at being grown ups! I am not sure who was more shocked, my sisters because I bought it, or me when I looked in the mirror with LIPSTICK on! I almost fell off my chair at the Clinique counter in Myers. The makeup lady started justifying the colours she had chosen, and my sister explained how it wasn’t the colour it was the fact that I had make-up on which had shocked me so much.

I have to say that I enjoy the company of both of my sisters and I am lucky to have 2, so we can bounce off each other and all take turns getting teased by the others. And I never laugh so much and in such a ‘I can’t control’ myself way as I do with my sisters. It is crazy, I was literally in tears on the bus because I let out a big “oh!’ when a lady accidentally tripped up the stairs. And I don’t mean tripped – she fully stacked it. And that set my sister off which had me laughing uncontrollably and very inappropriately. But hey if you can’t behave like a 5 year old with your own sisters then there is something wrong with the world.

There were a lot of stories from that weekend, but best I’ll keep them to myself – after all that’s why they call it ‘Secret’ women’s business.

Ever had one of those things happen to you, and afterwards you think – did that just happen to me?

One night, while I was waiting for my train to arrive when I had a blind man ‘dropped’ off by one of his work colleagues on the Platform next to me. I had overheard that he was waiting on the same train as I was and I knew that I just had to help him get on the train. I mean this is peak hour and I had no idea how he would get on the train otherwise (like he hadn’t done it every other day of his life!!) So clearly it was going to be my good deed for the day.

Now I have to clarify that it wasn’t that I didn’t want to help him. Just that I was feeling self-conscious about what people would think if I walked away from him.

So as the train was approaching I said ‘Are you catching the next train?’ as though I hadn’t been eavesdropping or sweating on having to help him. At that one simple question he grabbed my elbow (as many vision impaired people do), and started to introduce himself. Let’s just call this gentleman Ben for the sake of the story. (‘Trust me to get a Blind man who loves a chat!’ was my first thought). So I introduced myself.

It was just like playing the ‘pregnant lady’ card when the train pulled up. I pushed my way through the mob, with ‘Excuse me- Blind man here, people’ (actually I didn’t say that but with the tone I took I may as well have).

So he sat in the vestibule area (the open part of the train near the door for those of you non-seasoned train travellers). And then the games began.

Ben was very chatty and whilst he chatted he would play with my hand. Not in any dirty way, but he ran his hands over mine as he talked. Now it wasn’t necessarily awkward, and as I didn’t get that ‘irky’ feeling, but I was aware that this was ‘funny’ and was becoming self-conscious because of onlookers. So I did the only thing I thought was appropriate, I kept chatting as though nothing was happening and asked Ben whether he had been born blind.

We discussed his life, and I provided some details about my life. Okay maybe I changed a few details – you never know who was listening in that train (maybe saying I was a Nobel Prize winning author was a bit far fetched but hey when you’re on a roll….)
So I thought maybe Blind people do that – feel the hand of the person they are talking to, and maybe that was their way of ‘looking’ and getting to know the person. If that isn’t the case then I he was trying to crack onto me J

It was interesting hearing how he now worked, and started at a school for kids with disabilities but in highschool was integrated in a ‘normal’ highschool which he preferred much more.

And Ben had an uncanny way of knowing when his station was approaching, and could tell me exactly where we were as the train slowed down. He was spot on every time. I started testing him to see how good he was.(why not?? Train trips are normally so boring).

It was almost freeing to have a conversation with someone so openly, especially someone I had just met. And I didn’t speak with him because he was Blind, (although the fact that he kept playing with my hand meant that I couldn’t walk away discretely) this guy was really friendly. And I suppose the conversation and the ‘touchy feely’ stuff made him feel comfortable.

To imagine that for many of us we would be out of our comfort zone with the conversation and physical contact, and that he would be out of his comfort zone without it!

And yes, if you are wondering I did ask him if he watched the football and did you see….etc. I didn’t even realise at the time, only after Ben had left the train. I am not sure that he even realised.

Then when Ben got up to get off the train the weirdest thing happened. We gave each other a kiss on the cheek goodbye and acknowledged that our paths may never cross again. Weird hey. But it seemed the most natural thing in the world. Like we were old friends saying goodbye – but I had met this guy just 20 minutes ago. Now a guy who could see would never have been allowed to be so forward with me I am sure.

Once he left I sat down and thought ‘that was a really weird experience’. And once again to qualify that comment, not weird in an ‘uncomfortable threatening way’, just one of those once in a lifetime experience.

It had me question what concessions I had given him because of his ‘disability’. It was a really interesting experience.

And I haven’t seen Ben since. But I am sure he is chatting to other people on the rail system every day!