99) Time Step Alley
I had begun looking for a job and Pat Thompson rang me to tell me that she had been asked by a customer of hers if she knew of anyone who wanted work selling advertising. I was not very sure that I could do this but Pat thought that I could and set up an interview with him. He was Bob O’Keefe who edited a local newspaper called the Hilltop Herald. We had a very interesting interview, well interesting for me that is. Bob was very keen on the history of the area and had edited and published a book called “Pioneer’s Progress, Early Natal” so he was able to tell me a great deal about the history of Hillcrest. He did think that he could teach me to sell advertising in his newspaper but thought that it would take up more of his time than he wanted to spend on it. He asked me for time to think about it, which I was pretty sure was a way of gently refusing me the job but as I was not sure I could do it I was not too disappointed. He said he would ring me in a day or two. Two days later I received a telephone call from his wife to tell me that Bob had been taken ill and that he had asked her to ring me and say that he would be in touch when he was well again. A few days later he died. Some people who knew I had been to see him about a job said that they thought it was a very drastic way of getting out of giving me a job.
A little while later, one Thursday when I was in Hillcrest doing some shopping I called in to see Pat at the hardware shop. She told me that she had seen a notice on a board outside a shop on the other side of Hillcrest saying that they were looking for a sales assistant. I thought it might be worth a try so I went across to have a look. The shop was called “Time Step Alley” and it sold all things dancing. I felt a little nervous but took a deep breath and walked in. I told the lady there that I had come about the job and she asked a few questions and hired me on the spot. Her name was Merle and she was hiring me on behalf of her husband Fred who owned the shop. She asked me if I could come in the next day so that she could show me the ropes and then I could start properly on Monday morning. The hours were 9.00 am to 4.30 pm, five days a week with no Saturday work and that suited me. When I went home and told Jonny I had a job he was very surprised, but I think I was even more surprised than he was. The next morning I was there on time and had to wait a little while for Merle to come and open up the shop. We spent the morning going over the routine, the prices, the banking and that sort of thing. She also showed me how to fit ballet shoes and impressed on me how important it was to make sure that they were the right size as it could harm a little girl’s feet if they were wrong. We had gone though it all by about 1.00 pm so Merle asked if I minded if she went off. She explained that she owned a pre-school and she needed to go and sort out a number of things before the new term opened next Monday morning. It was only then that I realised that right from then on I would not be working with Merle, I would be on my own and why Merle had employed me so quickly and easily. She needed to open her school and could not be in the shop. Later when I knew her a little better I told her she only employed me because she was in a hurry to get back to her school that was called “The Little Red Hen”. Merle always denied it and assured me that she just knew as soon as I walked in and asked for the job that I was trustworthy and just the person she was looking for, but I think that I was the only applicant anyway, she did not have a lot of choice. Merle gave me my set of keys, told me what her telephone number at the school was and said just to phone her if I had any problems and I was on my own.
The shop was small, but attractively decorated with very pretty stock. It sold, dancing shoes, tights, leotards, and leg warmers. It also sold hats, bags, gloves and other accessories but it was not a very busy shop and I read a lot of library books while I worked there.
On Monday morning not long after I opened up I got a telephone call from Fred, my new boss. He introduced himself and told me that he would try and call into the shop some time that day to meet me. He also gave me his phone number and told me to call if I needed him. The next morning Fred phoned once again to apologise for not managing to meet me but he would try to be there some time that day or the next. Fred was apparently having a busy week, as we did not get to meet until the Friday of that week. It seemed strange to be working for someone who was only a voice on the phone. I was not happy with the low takings of the week but Fred explained to me that that was normal for the shop and that was why he was not working there himself. When he had first opened the shop about a year previously he had worked there himself but it was not turning out to be a very profitable business. He had put it on the market but he did not want to close it down, as he would not be able to sell it then. He was sure that with a new owner and some new ideas it could be turned around. It was not making enough for him to support his family so when he had been offered a job with a large theatrical outfitter in Durban he had decided to sell Time Step. He wanted me to keep the shop open, not to worry too much about the takings but to keep the place clean and attractive and not loose the customers that they did have. Fred was a very voluble character, he had lots to say and said it along with a great deal of gesticulations and so we gave him the nickname of Frantic Fred.
The biggest sellers in the shop were leotards and tights for dance or exercise classes. We sold a great deal of tights that had no feet. They were used by the dancers when they were preforming in their bare feet. I am not sure why but most people called them ‘legless tights’ not footless tights. This always reminded me of the expression – legless - meaning drunk and I could imagine a pair of ‘legless tights’ causing havoc in the dancing school. Many of our customers were the teachers in dance schools in the area. Ballet classes were very popular with the little girls in the area and with their mothers too. The little girls would do exams each year which were very rigidly controlled. To sit the exam their dresses, hair and shoes all had to comply with the regulations. The lessons, the clothes and the exams were all fairly expensive but Hillcrest was a mostly affluent area so that was not too much of a problem for the parents. Most of our goods were high quality expensive goods and we did not have many African customers but one afternoon an elderly black couple came into the shop. They were well dressed and were obviously interested in our leather handbags. I left them to look around while I finished dealing with another customer and then approached to ask if I could help them. The gentleman said, “I am afraid that this shop is very segregated”. I got a bit of a shock as these were rather sensitive times in South Africa and was worried that he was going to make a complaint about something. I said “I am sorry, I don’t know what you mean, how is this shop segregated?” The elderly man had obviously seen the shock on my face, he had got the reaction that he had wanted so he laughed and said, “There is nothing here for men, you only serve the ladies”. Relieved that he was joking I told him that there was no segregation whatsoever we were quite happy to take money from his wife or from him. He bought an expensive bag for his wife and became a fairly regular customer buying, scarves, gloves and hats for his wife and his daughters but he always complained that I did not have any gifts for his sons and he had to go elsewhere to buy things for them.
The shop next door to Time Step Alley was a coffee shop run by an English man named Brian Draycott and his German born wife Sybella. They were very popular in the area and their coffee shop was the ‘in’ place to meet. They became very good friends of ours. They had met in Germany when Brian was working for the American forces there. Brian loved Germany and all things German, particularly the beer, the food and the Octoberfest. He was very nostalgic about Germany and hoped one day he would be able to go back and live there. Sybella meanwhile loved England and thought that if they ever left South Africa she would like to go and live there.
I liked my job at Time Step Alley, I liked Fred and Merle and they were always very kind to me. The only problem was that there was not enough to do. I would clean up the shop, rearrange the stock, re-dress the window and tidy the stock room but I still had too much time on my hands and began looking forward to the shop being sold. Jonathan had written to say that he and Sian were coming to visit us at the end of the year and I wanted to be at home when they were with us.
A little while later, one Thursday when I was in Hillcrest doing some shopping I called in to see Pat at the hardware shop. She told me that she had seen a notice on a board outside a shop on the other side of Hillcrest saying that they were looking for a sales assistant. I thought it might be worth a try so I went across to have a look. The shop was called “Time Step Alley” and it sold all things dancing. I felt a little nervous but took a deep breath and walked in. I told the lady there that I had come about the job and she asked a few questions and hired me on the spot. Her name was Merle and she was hiring me on behalf of her husband Fred who owned the shop. She asked me if I could come in the next day so that she could show me the ropes and then I could start properly on Monday morning. The hours were 9.00 am to 4.30 pm, five days a week with no Saturday work and that suited me. When I went home and told Jonny I had a job he was very surprised, but I think I was even more surprised than he was. The next morning I was there on time and had to wait a little while for Merle to come and open up the shop. We spent the morning going over the routine, the prices, the banking and that sort of thing. She also showed me how to fit ballet shoes and impressed on me how important it was to make sure that they were the right size as it could harm a little girl’s feet if they were wrong. We had gone though it all by about 1.00 pm so Merle asked if I minded if she went off. She explained that she owned a pre-school and she needed to go and sort out a number of things before the new term opened next Monday morning. It was only then that I realised that right from then on I would not be working with Merle, I would be on my own and why Merle had employed me so quickly and easily. She needed to open her school and could not be in the shop. Later when I knew her a little better I told her she only employed me because she was in a hurry to get back to her school that was called “The Little Red Hen”. Merle always denied it and assured me that she just knew as soon as I walked in and asked for the job that I was trustworthy and just the person she was looking for, but I think that I was the only applicant anyway, she did not have a lot of choice. Merle gave me my set of keys, told me what her telephone number at the school was and said just to phone her if I had any problems and I was on my own.
The shop was small, but attractively decorated with very pretty stock. It sold, dancing shoes, tights, leotards, and leg warmers. It also sold hats, bags, gloves and other accessories but it was not a very busy shop and I read a lot of library books while I worked there.
On Monday morning not long after I opened up I got a telephone call from Fred, my new boss. He introduced himself and told me that he would try and call into the shop some time that day to meet me. He also gave me his phone number and told me to call if I needed him. The next morning Fred phoned once again to apologise for not managing to meet me but he would try to be there some time that day or the next. Fred was apparently having a busy week, as we did not get to meet until the Friday of that week. It seemed strange to be working for someone who was only a voice on the phone. I was not happy with the low takings of the week but Fred explained to me that that was normal for the shop and that was why he was not working there himself. When he had first opened the shop about a year previously he had worked there himself but it was not turning out to be a very profitable business. He had put it on the market but he did not want to close it down, as he would not be able to sell it then. He was sure that with a new owner and some new ideas it could be turned around. It was not making enough for him to support his family so when he had been offered a job with a large theatrical outfitter in Durban he had decided to sell Time Step. He wanted me to keep the shop open, not to worry too much about the takings but to keep the place clean and attractive and not loose the customers that they did have. Fred was a very voluble character, he had lots to say and said it along with a great deal of gesticulations and so we gave him the nickname of Frantic Fred.
The biggest sellers in the shop were leotards and tights for dance or exercise classes. We sold a great deal of tights that had no feet. They were used by the dancers when they were preforming in their bare feet. I am not sure why but most people called them ‘legless tights’ not footless tights. This always reminded me of the expression – legless - meaning drunk and I could imagine a pair of ‘legless tights’ causing havoc in the dancing school. Many of our customers were the teachers in dance schools in the area. Ballet classes were very popular with the little girls in the area and with their mothers too. The little girls would do exams each year which were very rigidly controlled. To sit the exam their dresses, hair and shoes all had to comply with the regulations. The lessons, the clothes and the exams were all fairly expensive but Hillcrest was a mostly affluent area so that was not too much of a problem for the parents. Most of our goods were high quality expensive goods and we did not have many African customers but one afternoon an elderly black couple came into the shop. They were well dressed and were obviously interested in our leather handbags. I left them to look around while I finished dealing with another customer and then approached to ask if I could help them. The gentleman said, “I am afraid that this shop is very segregated”. I got a bit of a shock as these were rather sensitive times in South Africa and was worried that he was going to make a complaint about something. I said “I am sorry, I don’t know what you mean, how is this shop segregated?” The elderly man had obviously seen the shock on my face, he had got the reaction that he had wanted so he laughed and said, “There is nothing here for men, you only serve the ladies”. Relieved that he was joking I told him that there was no segregation whatsoever we were quite happy to take money from his wife or from him. He bought an expensive bag for his wife and became a fairly regular customer buying, scarves, gloves and hats for his wife and his daughters but he always complained that I did not have any gifts for his sons and he had to go elsewhere to buy things for them.
The shop next door to Time Step Alley was a coffee shop run by an English man named Brian Draycott and his German born wife Sybella. They were very popular in the area and their coffee shop was the ‘in’ place to meet. They became very good friends of ours. They had met in Germany when Brian was working for the American forces there. Brian loved Germany and all things German, particularly the beer, the food and the Octoberfest. He was very nostalgic about Germany and hoped one day he would be able to go back and live there. Sybella meanwhile loved England and thought that if they ever left South Africa she would like to go and live there.
I liked my job at Time Step Alley, I liked Fred and Merle and they were always very kind to me. The only problem was that there was not enough to do. I would clean up the shop, rearrange the stock, re-dress the window and tidy the stock room but I still had too much time on my hands and began looking forward to the shop being sold. Jonathan had written to say that he and Sian were coming to visit us at the end of the year and I wanted to be at home when they were with us.
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