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Dedicated To A Real Friend
As my illness started to affect me, there was one Friday early evening that I and a good friend and colleague will both look back on and laugh. I was trying to fix a scissor lift in a small loading bay down the side of a large department store in Oxford Street. The engineer whose job it was left me to sort it out on my own because he had another job to go to. Before he left he removed some parts for the job he was doing from my van, which was parked in a side road, very close to me.
That evening I was supposed to be taking my son to football training. I fixed the scissor lift and told the store employees that they could get their security to lock the loading bay behind me.
I was beginning to struggle to walk. So I staggered to my van with my toolbox, rushing so I could get home to collect my son.
When I got to my van I felt the pocket I keep my keys in and I could not feel my keys. I thought my colleague who removed the parts from my van must have taken them with him. After a few phone calls I got hold of him and he said he returned them to me. I thought they must be somewhere near the lift I was working on.
My office had just closed and I am next to my van with my tools, but unable to open it and I don't have the energy to walk to the front of the store with my tools.
I was lucky I managed to contact a good friend and colleague who was passing me on his way home. He had bumped into a friend that he was giving a lift to. He came over to me and got the store security to open the loading bay. He could not find my keys, but thought they may have fallen in the lift pit.
The store manager had since come in and parked his car half over the scissor lift and disappeared. He waited till the manager returned then crawled around the lift pit looking for my keys.
After no success he explained to his friend that he would have to take me home. I had been lucky and managed to get another dad to take my son to football training. Whilst my friend saw his friend off to the tube I thought I would empty my pockets out and to my amazement and embarrassment, there were my keys wrapped in my handkerchief!
As you can see the bunch is small enough to miss! WHOOPS!
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