Give....and Take
"Erin Go Braugh" I said to myself while walking to the internet cafe early one morning in the beautiful, sunshine filled, green land of shamrocks, Sean Connery, a few little people, Lucky Charms, and a famous Blarney Stone to quickly check my emails before boarding the bus on my first tour of Ireland. "Dear Ms. King, we regret to inform you that your return flight from Dublin to Edinburgh has been cancelled, please visit our website www.ryanair.com for refund and rebooking options"...I read in an email 4 days before I was scheduled to fly back to Scotland from Ireland. Four bloody days, how can they predict that far in advance? Stupid volcano. I'd had just about enough volcanic ash as I could handle. And it's amazing how one natural disaster can single-handedly unite the ENTIRE rest of the world to hate a country they've never been to, Iceland. And don't get me started on how Ryanair is my favorite airline. Other airlines were operating limited flight schedules, but not this budget airline. I thought, well, I need to go meet my tour group now; I'll just deal with this later today when I get back to the hostel.
"Card-declined, did you want to try another credit card Ma'am" the lady at Tesco's asked me on day 1 of my Paddywagon tours in Ireland. We'd stopped for a quick coffee and restroom break on our way to visit the Giants' Causeway. "What do you mean card declined, I have plenty of money in that Barclay's account. Can you swipe it again please?" "Sure no problem. Hmmm, declined again, do you have cash on you?" I panicked, what was wrong with the card? Yes, I had 30 British pounds on me, but that was IT! "Yes, but I don't think I can pay for this chai tea. I'm so sorry. There's something funny going on with my bank account." I left the store extremely embarrassed and immediately got on the phone with my bank while reboarding the tour bus. "Yes Ms. King, your current balance today in your account is 17 pence. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"...the cheery bloke from Barclay's asked me. "17 pence?!? There's NO WAY I only have 17 pence left in my account. Someone's stolen my identity, gotten access to my account, and run up a bunch of charges. Would you be able to read back the last month of charges to me please?" "Yes Ms. King, no problem." Well, the mystery account info stealer was definitely none other than yours truly. Another very important learning lesson was in progress. Credit/debit bank account cards can fool you. Well, they won't fool you if you learned the lesson your mother taught you about writing every expenditure down in a balance book. But who has time for that, really? And why was I, 27 years old and STILL making gigantic mistakes in life? Well, I can't do anything about this now; let's just try to enjoy the tour. And I did enjoy the tour, especially the part about how my tour guide was quite good-looking. But my mind was too preoccupied with my 17 pence bank account balance to even contemplate letting my hair out of that pony-tail and batting a few eyelashes. And had I even taken the time to research my Paddywagon tours before coming to Ireland like I normally did before each new adventure? No, I ran out of time as usual. I might have noticed who my tour-guide was on the website whilst exploring the sites I'd be visiting during that research. Later I would find out that my Paddywagon tour guide was none other than Mr. Ireland himself, literally, the country's sex-symbol. Well, from the rumors. He'd been all over Rick Steve’s programs, television interviews, had started a travel company when he was 25, was single, extremely successful, and quite funny as he explained the legend behind Giants' Causeway to a bus full of 32 passengers. He said he liked my cowboy boots.
"The balance for the next 3 nights' stay at this hostel is 27 euro." "Ok", as I handed over my 30 British pounds. "We don't accept British pounds, this is Ireland." "Well, can't you just change the money please as this is an international hostel?" "No, we can't, and you must pay in advance to sleep here." You've got to be kidding me I thought as I stared at my watch reading 10pm, all banks were closed to exchange money, and that whole "not researching Ireland before travelling here" was biting me in the rear-end....again. Panic. I didn't know what to do. Not only did my bank account balance read 17 pence, my pre-paid return flight to Scotland had been cancelled, and the only way I could pay for a place to sleep was in the wrong currency. I begged the hostel staff to just let me sleep one night, and I would promise to get to the bank and change over the money first thing in the morning. "I'm sorry Miss; it's not up to me." Well then who is it up to?? The three essentials you need in life: food, clothing, and shelter become extremely apparent when you're stranded in a foreign country under volcanic ash skies. "Hi, I'm David; I have some Euro and can change your British pounds for you if that would help." I hadn't even noticed another person enter the hostel. "Oh my gosh, yes please. You're a savior, I would be forever grateful to you if you could." "How much do you need?" "Well, I need 27 euro for 3 nights' stay." "Oh, I actually don't have that much on me, but let me run to the ATM, and I can get some for you." "Seriously? “Sure, it's not a problem. Just hold on." Unbelievable. I stood there mouth hanging open as this stranger, was going completely out of his way to help me. "Well, I hope he gets back fast, I'm locking the door in 20 minutes"...the hostel staff remarked to me. Really? I was about two shakes away from socking it to the hostel staff at that point. And David returned, euro as good as gold, to exchange British pounds with me so I could have a place to sleep.
"Can I just cancel my final tour day and get refunded please? I'm REALLY in a money emergency situation, I need to pay for a bus/ferry combo ticket back to Scotland as I have a job interview on Friday, I don't have money to even afford dinner, and let's face it, every morning I've been putting as much of your hostel's "free breakfast" in my purse as it can possibly hold.".....I implored the hostel staff after having just returned from kissing the Blarney Stone on day 3 of my tours. "No, Miss, that's not possible, sorry." Apparently I had NOT received the "Gift of the Gab" earlier that day from smooching that stupid Blarney Stone. I was out of options. I had no choice but to call my parents and ask for their help. I was going to have to use my US bank account credit/debit card and negative withdrawal to pay for a bus/ferry ticket back to Scotland. I needed them to just put a little cash in my account to get me back out of the "red-zone". Yes, I should have called them earlier to ask for help, but I was just still so shell-shocked that my UK bank account stated a 17 pence balance. Pride and embarrassment, two of our biggest enemies. I knew where I could get money if I ever made it back to Scotland as my landlord still owed me a 300 pound rental deposit and Ryanair owed me a flight refund. And for the record, I'm not an extravagant wasteful money spender; it's just pretty difficult living on a student loan budget and especially in the UK. Knowing close to everything about every species on the planet (or at least having to take a test at one point on them), check. Balancing a bank account, no check. "Here, please take this 30 euro from me." "What?" It was Dawna Pike, the lady who'd been on my tour bus earlier that morning down to Blarney Castle handing me 30 euro. "No, thank you, but I can't possibly take that from you." "Please, take it. You need it." Extremely grateful, desperate, yet embarrassed I took the 30 euro from her. "Can I have your address please? As soon as I get back to America in a month, I'll send you a check in the mail." "No, that's not necessary. Just pay it forward. I have a daughter. And if my daughter was stranded in a foreign country, I'd hope someone would help her out too." "Thank you so much Dawna, but please let me have your address?" "Alright, you can have my address, but do NOT send me a check in the mail. Seriously, just pay this forward."
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