Aren't coincidences funny?

Last week I was working on my checkout when suddenly I saw Rosaleen and my brother Bob in Asda.

It was a shock as they actually live in Brighton.
They laughed when they saw my face as I just looked in total shock!

Well, they came to the shop because they were going to Birmingham to see some friends. They had lost their son, in Afghanistan a year ago in a road side bomb. As you probably remember bob and rosaleen lost their son, sean, in a road side bomb attack, also in Afghanistan.

I was finishing at I p.m. and as it was about 12.45 they waited for me to finish and we went for a coffee in the town.
We were laughing and chatting away, and they were openly talking about sean and what he had done whilst there in Afghanistan,and how he helped a lot of the children as there was no schooling, and how the soldiers all gave them books to read and just generally helped them in any way they could.

Suddenly rosaleen said about how sometimes she stands in the living room and cries for her son and wonders why it had to be him.
Well, yes, we can all sympathise with that.

She said that on one occasions she was feeling particularly sorrowful and was just sitting on her own in the living room thinking of sean when she had noticed a robin in the garden.She stared at it thinking how beautiful it was when suddenly it seemed to turn and look at her and then, quick as a flash, it flew off.
She didn't see it for a few days and really had forgotten all about it.

One sunday they were both doing the gardening when suddenly a robin flew down and landed on a tree they have in their garden.
It took her breath away, and she stood their staring at it as she remembered when she had seen it before.
She didn't say anything to bob and carried on doing the gardening and every now and then she would turn and look at the robin, watching its every movement, suddenly after about half an hour, it chirped, flapped it's wings, and flew off.

That night bob knew something was bothering Rosaleen and he asked her what was wrong. At first she was a little hesitant about telling him about this robin as she was worried bob would say that it was just a robin and that was that.

After a couple of hours they were sat in their living room having a well earned cup of tea when rosaleen just came out with the story about the robin.Bob, being bob, asked why she thought it was important that a robin had come into the garden, and she said she wasn't sure exactly but it wasn't the first time, and she had seen it before.
Days went on and no more was said.

On the friday of that week rosaleen had just finished work and was walking towards her front door when a robin flew over her head.
It made her jump because it came so close.
Thats when it hit her, she had seen this robin so many times, and on occasions it got quite close to them.
She looked at me and said:
"I swear thats sean."

Well, I sat there and I felt quite strange to be honest. I wasn't quite sure what to say. I asked her if she thought it possible to which she replied:
"Oh, I don't know, it's just strange that everytime I think of sean, this robin appears."

Where's the coincidence I hear you ask?

Well, there is a lovely lady called sheila who I have known for years. She comes to Asda first thing in the morning to collect her bit of shopping before going to work.
Sheila, who is in her fifties, came in one day looking particularly unwell, I asked her what was wrong and she said she had lost her husband suddenly a week before.

There was tears all around.

Now, I have never met her husband, but she told me he had cancer but he doing so well with the treatment, that the consultant had praised him only 2 weeks prior, saying just how well he had done and they were thinking of realising him from the hospital.

Although he would be an out-patient there was no need to keep him in anymore.

They were both delighted with this news.

Unfortunately, just after being released he died unexpectedly.

She was devastated.

A few weeks went by and she came in to Asda, always putting on a brave face but you could see that she just couldn't really come to terms with his death.

One day, she turned to me and asked me if she could tell me something that had happened, I ,of course, said yes.

I thought perhaps I could help her in some way.

She then went on to explain that since her husbands death they've had a robin in their garden every day. At first she took no notice of it but after a while she realised she was looking out of the window waiting for this robin to appear.

And it always did.

I saw her last week and I asked her about the robin, I think I was expecting her to say it had gone, but, no, it was still there.

In her back garden.

She swears that it is her husband come to see if shes o.k.

So you see, thats two people telling me about robins in their gardens, who they believe to be their loved ones.

I know a lot of people will say it is a coincidence and you see a lot of robins everyday and because of whats happened you put too much of an emphasis on it.

But, it just makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Last week geoff had his usual annual anti-flu jab.
He's now got a stinking cold.
So have I and the cat, Snowdrop.
Last friday geoff said how ill he felt, he was dizzy and hot and cold and kept sneezing. I reminded him that every year when he has his jab, he always feels ill for a few days afterwards.
On saturday he woke up and nearly blew the house down with his sneezing, and thats when we realised he had a cold. He was rough for the weekend but felt better by monday.
Or so we thought.
Monday night he went to bed and he didn't get up until wednesday.
Luckily tuesdays is my day off, so I could see to him. Geoff asked me to ring the doctors and check that it wasn't going to effect his heart problem,and also to ask if he could have some anti-biotics for his chest. I spoke to the doctor and he told me he wasn't happy giving geoff tablets without seeing him, well, geoff could not gte to the surgery that day as he was too ill.
The doctor did not offer to come out and see him.
Although geoff wasn't very happy with that, but as I said, it was just a cold, nothing too serious.
So, all day I made cups of tea and only cooked a little dinner for him tuesday night, as he wasn't very hungry, and believe you me, that must mean geoff is ill for he never gives up his food.
Tuesday night I went to bed and woke up wednesday morning, and felt dreadful!
I had picked it up, thanks geoff!!!
I rang in sick for that day and went back to work on thursday,as you can't have a lot of time of sick at Asda,but I was still feeling rough.
Everybody was asking me how I was, in particular Matt, who is new to Asda but we are really good friends and we have a good laugh.
When I got home, geoff sad he was worried about Snowdrop as she wasn't eating.She was also dribbling like mad from her mouth. I told him that she hadn't eaten a lot on wednesday but I admit I was too ill to worry too much about her.
We tried to feed her again, just to see what she did, and she sniffed it and walked away.
Well, you can't leave that alone, so a trip to the vet was in hand.
Getting her basket out of the cupboard I picked her up and of course, she struggled. She scratched me which made me jump, then she struggled and manage to jump out of my arms and she ran away.
She was gone for over an hour!!!
We ran the vets and explained and they told us to wait and see if she comes back, if she does, then just bring her down.
She did come back, very slowly, and a little on edge.
However, we did get her in her basket and took her down to the vet.
They were laughing when we got there, because, once you get Snowdrop in the basket, she is so docile!!! they couldn't believe she would react the way she did.
The vet examined her but couldn't really work out what was wrong, her temperature was a little higher than normal, but nothing to worry about.
The vet examined every inch of her to see whether she was in pain, but she didn't flinch, which meant she wasn't in any pain at all.
While we were there I sneezed a couple of times and apologised for doing so. So did geoff.
The vet then announced that she thought Snowdrop may have a bit of a cold herself!
This surprised us as she has her yearly injections for the cat flu etc.
The vet explained that she could still get a cold,and thankfully we brought her in straight away so they could deal with it quickly. She gave Snowdrop an antibiotic injection and gave us 10 tablets to give her twice daily for a week. She is making good progress now, and beginning to eat again.
That will clear everything up, she explained.
We laughed actually because as I said to geoff, that is exactly whats happened to him. He had his antiflu jab and still got a cold. He gave it to me and then gave it to Snowdrop.
So, what a week it's been.
All three of us bad and what about matt, you may ask.
You've guessed it:
I gave him my cold now!!!!
Well, theres nothing like share and share alike between friends, is there?

If you have a few minutes then please listen to this, it is so relaxing and peaceful, and the music is beautiful.

Here's a few jokes for us to enjoy:

A married couple in their early 60's were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic restaurant.........
Suddenly a tiny, beautiful fairy appeared on their table.
She said:"For being such a wonderful married couple and for being loving to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish."
The wife answered:"Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband."
The fairy waved her magic wand and-POOF!- two tickets for the Queen Mary 11 appeared in her hands.
The husband thought for a moment:
"Well, this is very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I'm sorry, my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than I."
The wife, and the fairy were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish.
So, the fairy waved her magic wand and- POOF!- the husband became 93 years old.

The moral of this story:
Men who are ungrateful bastards should remember fairies are female!!!

A Frenchman, an Englishman and a New Yorker are exploring the jungle and are captured by a fierce tribe.
The chief tells them:
"The bad news is that we've caught you, we're going to kill you, and then use your skins to build a canoe. The good news is that you get to choose how you die."
The Frenchman says:
"I take ze poison."
The chief gives him some poison,and the Frenchman says, "Viva la France!" He then drinks the poison.
The Englishman says:
"A pistol for me please."
The chief gives him a pistol, the brit points it at his head and says:
"God save the queen!" He then blows his brains out.
The New Yorker says:
"Give me a fork."
The chief is puzzled, but he shrugs and gives him a fork. The New Yorker then stabs himself all over-the stomach, the sides,the chest, everywhere. Blood gushes out from every hole.
The chief screams:"What are you doing?"
The new Yorker turns and looks at the chief and he says:
"So much for your canoe!"


A lady calls the police to report her husband is missing.
The police arrive and asks for a description.
"He's 6ft 2ins tall, blonde wavy hair and has a smile that makes everybody love him."
She says.

The police then go next door to verify this report and the lady next door tells the police:
"You can't believe her. He's 5ft 4ins tall, has no hair and he wears a perpetual frown on his face."
The lady then goes next door and asks the lady why she had given the police such a false description.
She replies:
"Just because I reported him missing, does not mean I want him back!"

Well, I returned to work after my hols to uproar.
There had been a noticed put up on the notice board that all persons who normally work on mondays would be expected to work on monday 28th December 2009 and we would be on normal pay, not time and a half and no day in lieu.
Now,this is a bank holiday because christmas day is friday and boxing day is saturday. sunday is a normal working day and monday is the bank holiday.
We all agreed that if they did this we would not turn up for that monday.
We have not been told this officially by the management by the way, it was just a notice and it has now been taken down.

Everyone, and I mean everyone is in uproar about this.

I am in the union (GMB) and I rang them and spoke to Andy, I asked him if it was possible they could do this and he said: YES.
It was possible.
I explained that we had all said we would not turn up for that day and he was silent for a few seconds and then he advised me not to do that as we would be 'awol' and it will lead to serious disciplinary action.
He explained that of course they knew what Asda was doing and they were in negotiations with them to stop them from doing this.

Asda has tried this once before, with the bank holidays.
I have worked there for 19 years and they tried to get us to work at least 2 bank holidays a year. When before it was purely voluntary. But if you did work a bank holiday, you got time and a half and a day in lieu. They have stopped that now and only pay you normal hours and no day in lieu.
The union was in negotiations with them and they stopped us from having to do any bank holidays. It is voluntary, like it was before.

It's only been a couple of weeks now and nothing has been said by Asda about the monday, and we are waiting to hear from the union.

We work hard enough as it is and I'm sure you can imagine what it's like at christmas time, and they want to take away our holiday.
How dare they!!!!

So, I will let you know what happens when we hear from them.