‘When young, we were impatient with our parents: now we want to atone for our callowness, to take measure of them, to understand which parts of them live on in us.’
The house my parents built for their retirement is now my sister’s. The last time I visited, in the spring, I went running on the Pennine Way, missed a signpost and ended up in a cul-de-sac near an isolated barn conversion, a mile from the village. Three Dobermanns emerged, more bark than bite but…
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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.
‘One by one they’re led into the box. They swear their oath. They confirm their name, their employment, why they were where they say they were, what it was they saw.’
‘When did you last see your father? Was it when they burned the coffin? Put the lid on it? When he exhaled his last breath? When he last sat up and said something? When he last recognized me? When he last smiled? When he last did something for himself unaided?‘
‘My hopes weren’t high, even to begin with, so I felt no bitterness when He didn’t reveal Himself’
The house my parents built for their retirement is now my sister’s. The last time...
‘I'd already begun to suspect that sex brought misery or death, and now I knew.’
‘There, behind glass panes separating you from the good children, from life itself, you are kept company by your dread.’
