Yesterday I went to Poole to the Lush factory for a tour. The journey took hours and we got to stay in a nice little hotel called The Antelope. We got there quite late due to delays so we managed to grab a beer and a burger from a Wetherspoons just before it stopped serving. I had a long shower and some tea and wrote a letter I probably won't send and had a not too great nights sleep. I did take a photo for my 365 project but I looked like a pervert, I blame the glasses. I didn't really see the point, I was annoyed because I didn't get the chance today or yesterday to eat anything proper but instead spent 5 hours on a train each way, and I
hate traveling on stinky British trains.
I've always wondered what the Lush factory would be like. In a fantastical view I imagined it to be a bit like a yellow brick factory perched on the coast, with big chimneys like the Battersea power station and a huge lush sign with all sort of magic going on inside. Realistically I imagined it to be happy and a bit more colourful, and still by the sea. I imagined it to be like this focal point of Poole. I imagine the factory workers to almost be like the shop staff and for the tour to be this organised trove of fun. It in real reality, was a bit dull. I was intrigued to see the size of machinery and the strength it takes to actually make some of stuff, but it gave me a true insight into the workings of a factory, and whether your packing meat or making shampoo, it's still a factory, and it made me feel horribly lucky that I have worked in a selection of good places and at least got a chance to go to university and can technically in time have my choice of a career that'd I'd be interested in. I sometimes feel helpless in that arena and am quick at dismissing myself as useless and always bad at any job I've done, but a lot was put into perspective. I feel bad for this because it sounds like I've looked down at people to make myself feel better but it hasn't. We all get paid the same, they probably actually get more. It just made me see stuff I was blind to about myself before.
Anyway, I'm back now. Poole is really unimpressive and dull. The harbour wasn't that great. What I saw seemed to be just an uninteresting, typical coastal town with some really ugly brutal 1960s concrete buildings. But I can hardly talk... being from Birmingham (sort of).
I've also decided to write a handwritten diary again. It helps to clear my warped mind.
