Archives
08:47:00 o'clock BST
Honda Days
The Road to the Mountains Paul Henry
The matter of employment reared its difficult head and I signed on with an agency on Hammersmith Broadway. You would have thought that you were applying for lunar exploration with the all details that had to be answered. Most of the work involved was basic warehouse or bar and they wanted to know the colour of your eyes and your education down to play school. At last I was selected and a group us was picked up by mini-bus and driven to a warehouse of a large clothing chain store near Heathrow airport.
As soon as we arrived we were marshalled into the canteen and addressed by a manager type. The warehouse was full of all manner of clothing, shirts and trousers and tweed and leather jackets, and the manager warned us that if anyone were caught pilfering they would be immediately reported to the police and charged. We went to work in the warehouse and a large number of my colleagues packed underwear down their clothing and wore two shirts and a couple of jackets on the return journey to London. I had told a foreman that I found it difficult to count a container of trousers because a lot of the hangers had broken and I wanted to rehang them before checking. He interpreted this as being cheeky and told my supervisor that he did not want me back. I had worked diligently and got the boot and my fellow workers, who were ripping the place off wholesale, were welcomed back. Now that’s what you call good old British management.
When the mini-bus got back into London my supervisor took me into the Princess Victoria at the top of the Earls Court Road and commiserated with me and bought me a drink. He said not to worry that he would find something else for me and by a strange quirk of fate the next job I was offered was to last for fifteen years and many jolly times. Who said that getting the sack was bad news? I was sent to Honda in Chiswick and from the moment that I got off the tube at Gunnersbury and found my way along to Power Road I was interested.
The area was just on the edge of inner London and was pleasant with a suburban feel yet pacy with lots of life. I was brought to the packing department and we had to check and pack the parts for motorcycles before dispatching them mainly over the British Isles but also export and back to Japan as well. The old English foreman sat chatting most of the day to one of the female packers, who he fancied and she him, and the rest of the squad casually got on with the job in an easy going environment. I was working with the charge hand who was of Irish extraction and he could not have been more helpful or done more to make me feel at home. He treated me kindly and as it was nearing Christmas he encouraged me to become permanent to be in line for the Christmas bonus and free turkey and bottles of spirits, which were given out at that time.
The work was somewhat mundane and dirty but there was enough to keep your interest and the day whipped past and there always overtime in the evenings and on Saturday mornings. We had radio two on all day and it was music while you worked and we listened avidly to the chat and song programmes. I offered to go for the drinks at the tea breaks in the mornings and afternoons. Two of my fellow packers were Irish women and I was delighted to be able to bring a little lightness into their lives with their chocolate and tea drinks by having a chat and a laugh.
They on their part were very supportive to me and we worked well together making our lives as comfortable as possible. The rest of the people working in the stores were all men and they were the usual warehouse mix of floater, gambler, drinker and those who had not got an education or been able to develop a trade or skill. Very often they were just unlucky and the breaks in life did not fall across their paths. But again as is common in stores they made the best of it and there was good humour and cooperation and lots of laughs.
Written by liampu Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
A very interesting and informative entry from you as always Liam. Oh, did no-one notice that people were leaving much fatter than they had arrived due to wearing extra clothing???? There should have been some check. Being honest can often get you into trouble but it worked out very well in the end.
21/09/04 12:35
sighlemaccaba