CLIC Awards: The Hitchhiker
Sub-Ed Note: Before we even start with this let me quote the info section on hitchhiking which states "If you are ever in doubt about someone offering you a lift, don't take it. Trust your instincts and never put yourself in a dangerous position" and "Hitchhiking can be risky as you do not know who will pick you up. If you are going to hitchhike, make sure you do it in pairs or as a group". So there!
So, we all know that the CLIC Awards 2011 is happening on Saturday 19th November. But do you know what’s the most important thing we need on that night?
Yes okay, food. We can’t invite 200 guests and not feed them, so we will definitely be providing some grub to get them going, but no, that’s not the answer. What? A hat? Yes, alright, the dress code is wear a hat but no, that’s not the most important thing we need though, really...
Okay, fine, you give up so I’ll tell you.
See, everyone will be travelling from all over Wales to be gathered at the National Museum Cardiff to find out who the nine awards go to. So surely, the most important thing we need that evening would be the awards themselves?
You know, like one of those things they give out at the Grammys or Oscars. Well except ours will be more amazing of course.
Yes so in an effort to hunt down these amazing awards for our nine deserving winners, I decided to check out a trophy superstore in Taff’s Well. Yes, these places actually exist!
I have never been to Taff’s Well before and I am so terrible with directions and these eventually led to me being lost.
It all began when I got off the train at Taff’s Well and found myself standing in the middle of an industrial estate. I unfolded my map and directions but they made no sense to me so I stood on the pavement hoping I would meet a passerby.
But after standing there for a while, I realised I was going to be stuck there for a long time waiting for someone to come along.
So I walked into one of the large warehouses at the end of road and asked the receptionist for directions. “Walk straight towards the traffic lights and then turn left,” she said.
Sounded easy enough for me so off I went. I found myself walking up a hill when I turned left at the lights. The motorway was below me and huge trees lined the one-lane road I was walking on. There were no other pedestrians nor traffic. Surely this can’t be the way to the trophy warehouse, I thought. What? Through a forest?
Suddenly a white van pulled up next to me. The door opened and I heard a man ask, “Are you lost?” I took a quick glance around the messy interior of the van and saw a very kind face staring at me. “Erm yes, I am looking for the trophy warehouse,” I replied. “Oh I know where it is, it’s not far,” he said.
He explained the directions to me a few times but was met with a blank look on my face each time. I’m not dumb, I’m just not very good with directions. Okay, maybe I’m a teeny bit dim.
He gave up and said, “Look, never mind, jump in and I’ll give you a ride.” I was so embarrassed and flustered at my incompetence and replied, “No, it’s okay, erm really... are you sure?” “Yes, I’ve got nothing on this afternoon, I’ll take you there.”
So I hopped in, had a nice little chat with the kind stranger and within a few minutes we had arrived at the trophy warehouse.
The guys were really helpful at the warehouse and in no time, I managed to pick out a suitable trophy for the purpose.
Then came the tricky bit. Getting back to the train station. I wasn’t planning on hitchhiking again.
But this time I had clear and simple directions from the friendly guy in trophy warehouse. “Turn right, walk past two industrial estates, a bus stop and you will come to a path with some trees. Follow that path and you will be at the station,” he said.
Well it didn’t sound very hard to me so I managed to retain all that information and within 5 minutes, I was on the next train back to Cardiff.
All throughout the train journey, I kept wondering if it had been a good idea to just jump into a random stranger’s car. It probably wasn’t, but I was completely overcome with determination to source out the best trophies for the big night to think sensibly.
If you want to be one of the nine lucky winners who can take this beautiful trophy back with you on Saturday 19th November, submit your entries now!
And for the rest of you, well, you've gotta come along to the CLIC Awards now to see what I've put myself through to get these done for our winners!
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