The Little Blue Bus

To order a repeat prescription from our local medical centre you either have to fax in the request or take it up in writing to the centre itself.  I have never been able to isolate the Fax function on my printer, let alone use it.  In fact, who does use faxes these days except for poverty stricken advice centres with their steam driven technology?  Do any of you out there use faxes for personal communication?  I would be interested to hear and maybe look into it in more detail.

There is a little blue bus, the Number 38, which goes up our road at quarter past the hour and returns the other way just before the hour.  It zigzags its way through side streets between three main shopping centres.  It can be stopped at any point for people to get on and equally for people  to get off.  Mostly, but not exclusively,  the users are pensioners who travel free on their bus passes.  As the bus fills up there is a great sense of community and much exchanging of gossip and information.  It’s a wonderful resource even if the bus driver is morose and grumpy and can’t give you details about his timetable.   So, in the pouring rain, I wait with a neighbour.  We hail the bus like a taxi and it takes me to the door of the medical centre.  My neighbour carries on to the local shopping market.  By the time I have left my request for the repeat prescription (prescription to be collected on Thursday) it has stopped raining and I walk home but I could have waited for the little blue bus on its return journey.   I don’t know who runs this excellent service and am frightened to ask in case it goes away.