111) Ballard’s Stationers
Towards the end of September 1992 I got a phone call from our friend Brian Draycott, who I had first met when I had been working in the dance shop, he and his wife Sybella owned the coffee shop next to the dance shop. He told me that one of the young women that worked for Ballard’s Stationers was leaving and they would be looking for someone to replace her. He said that if I was interested in the job I should call on Mrs. Ballard and ask her about it. Straight away I went into the shop and told her I was interested in working for her. She was very kind and friendly but said that she had already filled the position. She took my name and telephone number and said that if another vacancy occurred she would contact me. I was disappointed as I have always loved stationery shops and would have enjoyed working there. I did not expect any of the staff would leave for quite a while.
A day or two before Christmas I got a call from Di Ballard, she said that Pam, the girl that she had hired in October had had an accident and broken her leg. She wanted to know if I would like Pam’s job as Pam had decided that she did not want to come back to work even when her leg was healed. Di asked if I would be willing to start on the day after Boxing Day. I said that I would love to and so I started a very happy six years in the stationery business.
Before I go any further I must tell you about Pam’s accident. She had gone with her family to a resort in the Drakensburg Mountains. It is a very picturesque area; popular with tourist and a great place for long brisk mountain walks. When Pam was out walking with her husband, son and daughter she fell and broke her leg very badly. They were in such an inaccessible place that the rescue helicopter had to be called out to get Pam to hospital. The helicopter landed a fair distance from where Pam was laying and two young medics had to put her on a stretcher and carry her to the helicopter. Pam had already been seen by a doctor who had given her some sort of painkiller so although she was rather drowsy she did hear the medics talking when they arrived. One said to the other, “it is a fifty year old woman with a bad break” Pam was furious and shouted at them “I am not even forty yet so don’t be so cheeky” I thought that was very funny, can you imagine, being carried down the mountain, to a waiting helicopter, with medics, a doctor and obviously a great deal of fuss and being so concerned that someone had got your age wrong. We teased her about that one for ages. But she thought that it was quite natural, how could she let anyone get away with such a huge insult. She was on crutches for a very long time after the accident, so could not have come back to work very quickly. When I spoke to her about taking her job she assured me that she was just about to give in her notice when the accident happened. The accident just meant that she could not work out her notice after all.
I worked mornings only, from 8.00 am to 2.00pm and every alternate Saturday morning. The first day I started Daphne Mayhew who was the afternoon sales assistant came in to work with me as Di Ballard had gone on leave. As it was over the holiday period there was just Daphne myself and the African stock room assistant called Dora working that first week. Daphne and Dora showed me where every thing was kept and how the system worked. There was quite a lot to learn but they were patient with me. Dora had worked for the Ballard family for about 20 years, starting as Di’s maid and then coming into the business when they were short staffed. She had got to know the stationery business very well and had a good memory when it came to prices and numbers, something that I was battling with.
At the end of the first week Daphne gave me a set of keys and told me that it would be up to me to open up on Monday morning as she was going back to her afternoons only position. I was not sure that I would cope but at least Dora would be there if I got stuck. When I opened up on the Monday morning an elderly man introduced himself to me, he said he was Jim and he was the shop bookkeeper and he worked mornings only until 12.00 noon. About 11 o’clock Di and her husband Geoff arrived for work. Geoff would do all the deliveries and Di did all the ordering and managed the business. So in all there were six of us, by the time the business was sold six years later we were down to a staff of three. Trying to do all the same work and give the same service, but more about that later.
A day or two before Christmas I got a call from Di Ballard, she said that Pam, the girl that she had hired in October had had an accident and broken her leg. She wanted to know if I would like Pam’s job as Pam had decided that she did not want to come back to work even when her leg was healed. Di asked if I would be willing to start on the day after Boxing Day. I said that I would love to and so I started a very happy six years in the stationery business.
Before I go any further I must tell you about Pam’s accident. She had gone with her family to a resort in the Drakensburg Mountains. It is a very picturesque area; popular with tourist and a great place for long brisk mountain walks. When Pam was out walking with her husband, son and daughter she fell and broke her leg very badly. They were in such an inaccessible place that the rescue helicopter had to be called out to get Pam to hospital. The helicopter landed a fair distance from where Pam was laying and two young medics had to put her on a stretcher and carry her to the helicopter. Pam had already been seen by a doctor who had given her some sort of painkiller so although she was rather drowsy she did hear the medics talking when they arrived. One said to the other, “it is a fifty year old woman with a bad break” Pam was furious and shouted at them “I am not even forty yet so don’t be so cheeky” I thought that was very funny, can you imagine, being carried down the mountain, to a waiting helicopter, with medics, a doctor and obviously a great deal of fuss and being so concerned that someone had got your age wrong. We teased her about that one for ages. But she thought that it was quite natural, how could she let anyone get away with such a huge insult. She was on crutches for a very long time after the accident, so could not have come back to work very quickly. When I spoke to her about taking her job she assured me that she was just about to give in her notice when the accident happened. The accident just meant that she could not work out her notice after all.
I worked mornings only, from 8.00 am to 2.00pm and every alternate Saturday morning. The first day I started Daphne Mayhew who was the afternoon sales assistant came in to work with me as Di Ballard had gone on leave. As it was over the holiday period there was just Daphne myself and the African stock room assistant called Dora working that first week. Daphne and Dora showed me where every thing was kept and how the system worked. There was quite a lot to learn but they were patient with me. Dora had worked for the Ballard family for about 20 years, starting as Di’s maid and then coming into the business when they were short staffed. She had got to know the stationery business very well and had a good memory when it came to prices and numbers, something that I was battling with.
At the end of the first week Daphne gave me a set of keys and told me that it would be up to me to open up on Monday morning as she was going back to her afternoons only position. I was not sure that I would cope but at least Dora would be there if I got stuck. When I opened up on the Monday morning an elderly man introduced himself to me, he said he was Jim and he was the shop bookkeeper and he worked mornings only until 12.00 noon. About 11 o’clock Di and her husband Geoff arrived for work. Geoff would do all the deliveries and Di did all the ordering and managed the business. So in all there were six of us, by the time the business was sold six years later we were down to a staff of three. Trying to do all the same work and give the same service, but more about that later.
posted by MC at
12:31 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home