The STF Factor

I owe this blog post (unreservedly) to the lovely CA for her invention of The STF Factor, a measurement I will always be grateful for.

The STF (or Stressed To F@ck) Factor is measured on a scale of one to ten. It started off as a measurement of house selling and buying stress, but has become very useful in a variety of situations.

On a recent visit to Hull, for example, my STF Factor reached 50 out of 10. Yes, I am fully aware that this is off the scale. Allow me to elaborate. I had to make a train journey in two parts, changing at York station. I had to leave the office at 4pm to catch the 5pm train, picking up my tickets on route. The commute from my office to the station is around 30 minutes. Due to a variety of unnecessary interruptions about lottery tickets, places to eat and such like, I did not escape the office until 4.15pm. I marched my way to the metro station, only to be stopped there by an elderly woman needing directions. Whilst swearing on the inside, I allowed my nicer self to give directions. I ran to the platform. It was 4.25pm. The metro was running late.

By this point, my STF Factor was around 5.

I panicked all the way to the train station, but managed to get there in time and get my tickets and hot chocolate (with marshmallows and whipped-cream) before walking hurriedly to my train.

My STF Factor reduced to 2. The chocolate helped.

It all went horribly wrong after the train passed Darlington. The train began to slow down. I thought we weren't quite at York, but did not think that we were stopping at any other stations. The announcement was inaudible. So, I asked the woman sat next to me which station we were pulling into. This was my first mistake.

My second mistake was assuming that the two people sat opposite, or any of the people walking past would have taken pity on the girl (ie. me) who was screaming "I didn't think we were at York yet" whilst trying to throw all my things in my bag.

My third mistake was trusting these people. I rushed off the train with my hands full of things, which I shoved in my pockets whilst putting on my coat and moving away from the train. It was a comedy moment. The doors closed. The train pulled away. I turned ...

This was when I discovered I was not at York. I was at Northallerton. For those that cannot comprehend the horror of this, let it suffice to say that Northallerton is the middle of nowhere. The station is, in fact, a hut with a toilet and a lone ticket machine. York on the other hand is large, full of places to eat and drink and, most importantly, the place where I was meant to be catching my connecting train. The next train from Northallerton to York was 45 minutes away. 

My STF Factor was off the scale. 

I called Mr B and screamed. I don't know what I thought this would achieve. He is not superman. He was very sympathetic, but unable to pull a train out of a hat (or out of anywhere else for that matter).

Needless to say by the time the train arrived in Nowhere-ton, I had missed my connection. I had to get the next train to York. Then wait. Then get another train. Then wait. Then get on a bone-shaker train to my final destination, where I drowned myself in the largest chocolate pudding known to man - but only to reduce my STF Factor to a more manageable level you understand.