Starting
a New Job ©
By
Michael Casey
My
daughter started a new job today, or rather she started as a volunteer at a
local Charity shop, so she’ll be working but not getting any pay. Its ood
experience of the real world for her. I told her I used to clean toilets and
then talk to millionaires, in whatever order. I was everything at the CPNEC
Birmingham, I’m very flexible, though not so much now thanks to my arthritis.
That’s the thing with a job, be flexible, don’t say it’s not on your job
description, though the ardent union people reading this will be angry by my
attitude. While people argue the toss mess festers and worse, so I say just be
flexible.
Can
you remember your 1st ever job? Mine was walking the streets, yes I
was a prostitute, are you shocked or worse? You cannot imagine women wining and
dining me etc. Well you are wrong and I’m pulling your leg, but at least I know
the measure of my audience my readers. What kind of boy do you think I am? Say
Sorry or I’ll stop writing and I’ll never talk to you all again. Six hours later and you only now say sorry.
What were you all doing, you went out to dinner with your girlfriend and then
watched the MU match on tv. Then you etc and etc. Ok no need to carry on, well
just stop carrying on, this is not a Carry On film. Google Carry On films if
you have never heard of them. Carry OnUp the Kyber might be a good start.
Ok
so where was I, I was walking the streets, it was first ever job. No I wasn’t a
prostitute, I was a MARCH Assessor.
Which means Men Are Right Clumsy Hooligans, ok I’m joking again, it
meant Maintenance and Repair and Costing for Highways. Which meant I walked the
streets all day. Thankfully I did not walk the streets at night. Though I do
have great legs and look good in drag. OK, enough of this maybe a bit of that
or even the other later, which means something else if English is not your 1st
language, maybe Korean or Polish is your 1st language. At least
learning English with me is much more entertaining than what you learn at
school with Miss Smith from Leamington your exchange English teacher. My accent
is much nicer, you can tell just by the words on the page. And if you
understand that then you are far too good to be reading this you should be a
writer.
So
there I was with a clipboard in my hand walking all over the Black Country streets looking at the roads for Wheel Track Deterioration.
This is like the marks on the road surface caused by the traffic, eventuation
you will get rutting and holes. So by sending an idiot out with a clipboard you
can see how worn down the roads are and decide if you need to resurface them.
Yes I was that idiot, and it happened to be the hottest summer in decades. One
day I walked 26 miles, as much as a Marathon, in 90degrees plus of heat. My face changed from white to brown, I have a photo
somewhere of me with my new suntan. Yes I was young and fit then, years later
in Ireland I walked a marathon in a day too, from Killarney to Cromane Lower.
Now I’m still fit but only with encouragement. As I talk to you I again
realise I am Ronnie Corbett and Joyce Grenfell’s lovechild, but maybe you have
to be a Radio 4 producer to recognise that. But I’ll work for Capital Radio too, if they are inspired
enough to use my 1200 or so short pieces.
Walking
the streets meant I learnt the value of good shoes and decent socks, and of
washing my feet as soon as I got home. Just as my dad did, though he came home
from Hell every day, a 400degree+ steel works, the District Iron and Steel in
Brasshouse Lane Smethwick. This was another thing that bonded me and my dad, we
did physical work.
You
get strong legs if you walk all day, ask any policeman or prostitute you may
know, both would be arresting experiences, but I jest. Little did I know that I’d
spend a lot of my life on my feet running around. In computer rooms and print
rooms, or all around the hotel CPNEC Birmingham. Though all this standing DID
save my life because when I needed veins I had them in my strong legs ready to
be transferred to my heart for my unplanned quadruple heart bypass. So was God
saving my life by having me walk and stand all my life? And as a writer I have
to be quick on my feet to get the words on the page all lined up like soldiers
to march across the page and into your hearts and minds. Then again I could
just be talking a load of silk stockings, like I wear for 50 Shades of Michael.
All
this started with me talking about my first job, now our worker has just returned
home and I’ll ask her how her day went. I might help her celebrate by buying
Dr.Pepper, she will be Dr.Casey in future after all.
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