134) The Biltong Barrow
I had been looking for a job for quite a while but the only one I had been offered was as a receptionist in a doctor’s office. It was only one afternoon a week but I thought it would be interesting and could lead to more hours in the future. I had known the doctor’s wife when I worked in the stationery shop. She was sure that I could manage the job and just told me to come and work with the girl who was leaving so that she could train me. The practice had two doctors and a physiotherapist, it was pretty busy and most of the work was straight forward, except for the computer. I had been working on my computer for a while by then and managing the bookkeeping work without too much of a problem but I battled with the program on the doctor’s computer. It was the patient’s medical files, the doctor’s diagnosis, what treatment they were having and what medication he had prescribed. There was, of course, a great deal of medical terminology and one had to be able to read the doctors hand writing. As I would only be working one afternoon a week and I would be the only one on duty I was too nervous to take the job. I felt that if I was doing it every day I would get the hang of it, but what I learnt in one week I was sure that I would forget by the next time I was on duty. Also there would be no other experienced person that I could turn to for help and confirmation. I was afraid that I might make a mistake that would cause someone to get the wrong treatment or even to die and I was not prepared to take the chance.
About two months after Dominic left for Australia I was asked to contact a gentleman called Brian as he was looking for someone to work for him. I spoke to Brian and he explained that he wanted someone to run a barrow selling biltong that he was going to set up in the forecourt of the shopping centre where Ballard’s Stationers had been. He intended starting at the beginning of July if he could find the right person for the job. I had a few doubts about it but as there was nothing else going at the time I decided to accept.
In case any of you don’t know what biltong is I should explain. Biltong is a South African delicacy. It's dried or cured meat, usually beef or game of some kind with spices and flavours. The meat is first rubbed with spices and then dried and cured under controlled conditions for a few days. During the Boer War the Boer soldiers were constantly on the move and this dried meat kept well, could be transported easily and needed no cooking so they carried it with them most of the time.
July in Durban is not very cold, that is by world standards but to me it was freezing. The forecourt of the shopping centre was under a roof but it was open on three sides to the elements and very windy. The job was not hard, just to sell the biltong and to keep the barrow clean. There was another barrow there, it had leather goods and accessories and was manned by a young woman named Carol. What would I have done without her? She had been working there for almost two years. I don’t know how she had lasted so long. It was bitterly cold and not at all pleasant. Carol and I became good friends and looked after each other. We would help each other with change, and look after each other’s barrow if we needed to go to the bathroom and just generally watch each other’s backs. It was also good to have someone to talk to when business was slow and the hours dragged.
One morning I was standing beside my barrow having a cup of coffee and the next thing I remember I was flat on the ground with Carol bending over me. I just went clean out; I had not felt it coming and had hit my head quite hard on the tiled floor. Carol was an angel; she got me into a chair, phoned Jonny and Brian, closed up the barrow and took the float into her barrow for safe keeping. I wonder what would have happened if she had not been there. Jonny came and took me home and I spent the rest of the day in bed. The next morning I felt fine but thought a visit to the doctor would be a good idea. The doctor told me that my blood pressure was rather high. I thought that was odd as I usually have low blood pressure. We worked out that I was probably drinking too much coffee. It all seemed very odd to me but I cut out the coffee and when I had my blood pressure taken a week later it was normal again and I was fine.
One good thing about that job was that I saw many people who had been my customers when I worked at Ballard’s. It was nice to see familiar faces and to catch up on all their news. But it was not ordained that I would stay in that job long. I left at the end of August so was only there two months, the two coldest months of the year.
About two months after Dominic left for Australia I was asked to contact a gentleman called Brian as he was looking for someone to work for him. I spoke to Brian and he explained that he wanted someone to run a barrow selling biltong that he was going to set up in the forecourt of the shopping centre where Ballard’s Stationers had been. He intended starting at the beginning of July if he could find the right person for the job. I had a few doubts about it but as there was nothing else going at the time I decided to accept.
In case any of you don’t know what biltong is I should explain. Biltong is a South African delicacy. It's dried or cured meat, usually beef or game of some kind with spices and flavours. The meat is first rubbed with spices and then dried and cured under controlled conditions for a few days. During the Boer War the Boer soldiers were constantly on the move and this dried meat kept well, could be transported easily and needed no cooking so they carried it with them most of the time.
July in Durban is not very cold, that is by world standards but to me it was freezing. The forecourt of the shopping centre was under a roof but it was open on three sides to the elements and very windy. The job was not hard, just to sell the biltong and to keep the barrow clean. There was another barrow there, it had leather goods and accessories and was manned by a young woman named Carol. What would I have done without her? She had been working there for almost two years. I don’t know how she had lasted so long. It was bitterly cold and not at all pleasant. Carol and I became good friends and looked after each other. We would help each other with change, and look after each other’s barrow if we needed to go to the bathroom and just generally watch each other’s backs. It was also good to have someone to talk to when business was slow and the hours dragged.
One morning I was standing beside my barrow having a cup of coffee and the next thing I remember I was flat on the ground with Carol bending over me. I just went clean out; I had not felt it coming and had hit my head quite hard on the tiled floor. Carol was an angel; she got me into a chair, phoned Jonny and Brian, closed up the barrow and took the float into her barrow for safe keeping. I wonder what would have happened if she had not been there. Jonny came and took me home and I spent the rest of the day in bed. The next morning I felt fine but thought a visit to the doctor would be a good idea. The doctor told me that my blood pressure was rather high. I thought that was odd as I usually have low blood pressure. We worked out that I was probably drinking too much coffee. It all seemed very odd to me but I cut out the coffee and when I had my blood pressure taken a week later it was normal again and I was fine.
One good thing about that job was that I saw many people who had been my customers when I worked at Ballard’s. It was nice to see familiar faces and to catch up on all their news. But it was not ordained that I would stay in that job long. I left at the end of August so was only there two months, the two coldest months of the year.
posted by MC at
10:51 pm
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