Bobby Moore ... or shall we say Bobby wants more?

My years in the field of learning disabilities were emotional, daunting, rewarding, frustrating ... and most significantly ... entertaining! So many mistakes to learn from ... and most of them seemed to be mine!

Bobby, was a very lovely little man. He stood at a full 4ft 10 in his cuban heels, he had no teeth and gurned like a true west country Farmer. Butter wouldnt melt in his mouth. He was, without doubt, a cuddly steriotypical innocently contented man with downs syndrome....
That is ... until food was served. Part of bobbys condition was his inability to identify when he was full up. When i first was told this, i have to admit that I didnt think much of it; after all I am pretty confident I have the same condition when it comes to cadbury's Fruit and Nut Chocolate! I am not sure i have ever located my "stop" button ... there has never been enough chocolate available for me to know if i have a maximun consumption limit.
So, as much as knew that the golden rule was never to offer Bobby seconds or he would think that there was a never ending supply of food and become agitated, i didn't really comprehend quite how significant this golden rule was until the fateful day that i broke the rule...
Anyone old enough to remember the film Gremlins will fully sympathise with the error of my lackadaisical ways .... When you are in the company of a cute cuddly gremlin you cannot comprehend how important it is that they don't eat after midnight!
Well, as a special treat, i decided to take Bobby and 3 other residents from the care home i worked in, to an 'All you can eat Buffet lunch' at a well known Pizza chain. I had a first year student nurse with me .... Apparently i was a skilled professional she could acquire new skills and knowledge from! Well BOY did she get an education!
Hindsight is a fabulous thing ... If only i had piled Bobby's plate high on the first visit to the buffet, he would have relished the experience and wolfed down the plateful and accepted that the meal was over. But no, i gave hime just two slices and then the Gremlin changing phrase left my lips
"Bobby, would you like some more?"
I don't think that particular food chain had any comprehension of quite how financially crippling the term 'all you can eat' can be...
Bobby took on the identity of that famous football legend and between each mouthful he shouted "BOBBY MORE??"
I have to confess that for the first 13 platefuls i was winging it, acting casual in front of the student nurse and praying that Bobby would locate his FULL button.... Nope. All other diners had finished and departed ... The staff clearly wanted to close up...
Knowing it was all going to go horribly wrong, i then disbanded the student nurse with the other 3 residents back to the house to send reinforcements.
By the time by lovely assistant arrived the whole of the interior of the Pizza place looked as though it had been through a food blender! On the suggestion that the meal was over Bobby had made a slow -mo -action -movie dive for the buffet bar. As i attempted in vain to restrict his access to all the Margaritas and meat feast the carnage ensued - Pizzas were hurled like missiles at anyone attempting to restrict him as he repeatedly shouted BOBBY MOORE like some kind of demented sports fan.
Finally exhaustion got the better of him and in the absence of anything identifiable as food remaining, he lethargically took my hand and we both left dripping in tomato paste and pepperoni.
"So sorry" didn't really cover it as the staff resurfaced (they had all made a run for the kitchen at the height of Bobbys outburst) but at the tender age of 21 that was as much of a recompense they got from me ... But i did leave a decent tip!!!

Another life lesson learnt .... If you are given guideline ... Always best to not think you know better. Learning from those that have been there before you is always a good starting point.
Luckily with Elsie i have had lots of lovely ice cream knowledable folk who have helped me learn from their mistakes . Since having Elsie the ice cream van i have developed a network of us eccentric vintage ice cream folk who all help each other out now. So wherever you are in the country - if its too far for Elsie, she has plenty of friends we can recommend.