Say What You Mean

It took her a long time – 52 years, to be precise – but Fiona Gibson has finally started to say what she actually wants to

- Fiona Gibson

When I was younger, I used to look forward to being confident enough to speak up in any situation. And yet, when I reached adulthood, with a demanding full-time job, and by my mid-thirties, a mother of three, I still frustratingly reverted to being a tongue-tied teenager in times of stress.

Take, for example, the new neighbour I’d regularly see in the street. Although we’d always say hi, and she had introduced herself, her name had promptly fallen right out of my head. ‘Hi, Fiona,’ she’d say cheerfully. ‘Hi,’ I’d reply, aware of an embarrassing void where her name should have been.

As time went on, this became even more awkward. ‘Just follow her up the street,’ my husband Jimmy advised, ‘and shout out random names. You’ll know you’ve hit on the right one when she turns around.’ How ridiculous, I scoffed. ‘So, just ask her, then.’