The children of ruling families are born in the purple. Those of Vaudevillians are born in a trunk. But families in the rag trade, what are we? Born in rags suggests merely poverty. Born in garments sounds clinically implausible. Growing up in north-west London, In Schmatters was the term I heard mo…
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‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
‘As I stood in front of the immigration officer, I was already worrying about my answers to the questions he might ask’.
I come from a generation which still, fifty-odd years on, looks up and once in a while thinks, 'Good, one of ours.'
‘There had been an unbelievable amount of talk about the weather, not to mention the end of the world and so on’.
The children of ruling families are born in the purple. Those of Vaudevillians are born...
