Goodbye till next year

 

Departure from the Isle of Wight is always a ticklish commitment.  It has to be timed meticulously but even then unexpected complications intervene.

 

First, we arrange a search.  After the early morning stampede to the dining room for breakfast, the Angels visit as many chalets in each of their territories as possible.  In most of the rooms all is tidy and shipshape;  Many of the beds are made as though the next guests will be using the same bedclothes.  The tops of the bedside tables, the dressing table tops, drawers and cupboards are all empty and only small scraps of paper or foil scattered on the floor or in the waste paper baskets.

 

This appearance of abandonment can be a dangerous illusion.  All the searchers have specific instructions.

 

Look in all the drawers and cupboards; pull out the bottom drawer and run your hand along behind it.  Bend down to look under the beds.  Pull articles of furniture away from the walls and look behind.  Strip off the bedclothes one by one and ensure that socks, tights, scarves and cold hot water bottles are not mixed up in the clothes, - especially hot water bottles.

 

All sorts of articles come to light.  As a bed is stripped, there is a dull watery plop, a hot water bottle.  Bed socks wrap themselves under the bottom sheet; headscarves fall from a tangled drawer full of miscellaneous trifles and travel behind till they reach floor level;  On one occasion we were told from a somewhat irate daughter that her mother’s gold chain had disappeared.  The tone of the message implied that all of the rest of the party were under suspicion.  Weeks later, a contrite message was received that Mum’s gold chain had been found in the soap dish firmly attached to the remains of a pink tablet of soap.

 

All the mislaid articles are put into plastic bags with small white labels attached and the chalet number written on them ready for possible return to the right owner.

 

The system is not foolproof but it is the best which can be done in the short time between the exodus of the guests and the arranged departure from the Camp.  Even then messages are frequently received.  A headscarf which had been a present from a recently deceased mother is missing, it’s not valuable but…

 

Surprisingly, there has never been any proven cases of theft from among the guests.  There was, one year, a case of shop lifting.  It might never have been discovered, except that one lady, attempting to smuggle out a few small fabric articles under her coat which she was carrying over her arm, had inadvertently, allowed the coat to slide and the stolen goods fell to the floor in front of the startled shop assistant.  The appropriate cost was demanded and was paid forthwith and the information passed onto the organiser.  No one had had the audacity to demand the name of the thief and none was sought.  Just a very stern warning to the assembled company in the dining room at the next meal time was delivered with a threat that identification would be established another time and the miscreant taken home by car forthwith.  The action seemed to cure the problem.

 

Not that suspicion is always avoided.  Some poor old dear with an unexpected freedom with her funds, complains that her money is disappearing ‘very fast’ so calculations are initiated.  Payment for a bingo ticket; how about ice creams, cups of tea and perhaps one for a friend; presents from the shop; purchases of treasurers from the shopping trip; It is all put down with prices alongside and added up.  The deprived guest is rapidly enlightened as to the high cost of holiday enjoyment.  This is most likely to occur among our most disabled guests.  They have no opportunity of handling their own money for the rest of the year.  Their accumulated saving give an impression of wealth and they realise that if they are to be able to exploit their funds, it has to be during their one short holiday week.  Fortunately, it is known that there are considerable balances left behind in the hands of their care staff so they are allowed to borrow to tide them over the rest of the holiday without feeling deprived.  So long as a simple receipt is collected and presented to the officer responsible after the return home, the loan is always readily forthcoming.