Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 89]
said he. "Mrs ? is due for holidays and we have no one to take her place. I wonder would you take it over for 3 weeks?" No hesitation I said "yes I would be pleased to do that". So he signed me on and gave me a discount card for anything I wanted to purchase (except food). So when I went home that night I told Harold and all he said was "trust you, you just love shop work don't you?" "Yes" I said "but not only that, if I can do a bit of something a little bit extra will keep us going, as we are spending alot of money". So it turned out real good and not only did I do 3 weeks on that counter. Margaret on the Deli counter was due for holidays but I did not know at this stage so I was tidying up the cake counter and Margaret came up to me and said "Edith you are wanted in the boss's office". Great what have I done wrong. Well all it was! "Mrs Forshaw will you please do 3 weeks on the deli counter while Margaret has her holidays?' "yes" I said and when I went back I said to Margaret "you know what he wanted don't you?" "yes" she said. "are you?" "Yes" I said. "it is certainly filling time in for me. and with the things I have bought I will have to buy a new port to take them home in". So we got to talking and she said to me there could be another 3 weeks on the biscuits counter as she is due for holidays too. I said "that will have to be it because we will have some free time to sort ourselves out and to think about a booking to go back home". So I did take over the deli counter and then the biscuits, so I made an appointment to go and see the boss (The name of the store was Fitzgeralds. in the Cat & Fiddle Arcade). Well the boss must have talked to me for an hour and for me to convince him that we had to go home as my husband had his job and I had to talk things over with him, because the boss said "we have had a big chat about you and we have a new department going and we would like you to be in charge of it and join our staff". He then said "well we are having 3 monthly stocktaking will you stay Saturday afternoon and a couple of day next week and help with that". I said "yes only too happy to help out, as for the other offer I will talk it over with my husband, but I really think it will be too cold for him as he has low blood pressure", so he asked when we were sailing, I said "we're not (fib) we are flying", "oh what a shame we were going to give you a farewell party on the boat", anyway he believed me. but we did go by boat.
I am not sure of the year but I do remember it was 24th May, cracker night and all of the Beltz family came to see us off so Harold bought some cool drinks and biscuits, we had a very lovely trip home and Yvonne was at the Balmain Wharf to meet us so we had lunch at home at 'Mont Clare' everything fine. I had home made bread with that I used to make in Tassie plus some cold mutton bird. After that we went shopping and Margaret came for dinner also. Next day Harold had to report for work, he was not away very long and he was able to help sort things out.
Well time was going by and I started going back to my Stepmothers and she was not well and we were talking of selling the old home. My adopted brother Keith Hawkins we decided it had to be sold and we had to look for a unit for Stepmother (in the future I shall call her Essie). In the meantime I had been to see Ruby Looms whose husband had died earlier on and she asked me what a buffet was so I told her, and she asked me to go and look at it with her and for us to go as partners. I said "I don't think Harold will agree but I will go and look at it". I read all about it in the paper. it sounded alright so next day I went to see it with her. I had told Harold and he said "no. no more shops". So Ruby and I went and looked at it, well the