Things got so bad they just had to get better and they did .
Things were going well for me and my family . We had managed to pay the rent and afford food . We even had a reasonable car that was a necessity to get around .
Yes for a while I thought we could get on our feet .
Then it happened . The downturn of work in the factory started .
At first our work hours were cut and then we all were placed on call .
Next came the friction between the workers and the administration .
I tried to pretend it was going to go away . But reality hit when I lost my job .
Things went from bad to worse .
Upset and angry about losing my job I drove around all day pretending I was still at work and during the first week I was booked for speeding three times .
I started to look for another job and even took on a very low paid casual position until I lost my drivers licence .
Then I hit the skids .
With no way of paying rent I ran off and became a beggar .
As one of the many homeless poor on the street , I had no where to go .
At night I slept on a park bench until the dawn slipped in and I slipped away towards the centre of town .
There I became a different person trying to forget why I ended up in this situation .
I asked for handouts from every church in town and from time to time I
Was given a large garbage bag full of clothes from which I pulled out
a Burberry jacket and a decent shirts and tie .
I must tell you I left there dressed like a king .
Now that I was in half decent clothes I started cold canvassing for work .
Before I walked down the tin-pan job alley I said a prayer .
The first day I had no luck .
It was a long day knocking the doors of cafes and petrol stations .
I returned to the park bench and started to think of my family and wondered if they could forgive me for running away .
Yes there wasn’t a night I went to sleep without that though .
Each tide had an ebb and each night has a dawn .
Next morning I shaved in the gents toilet at the railway station using a small blunt blade in my pocket . I used the soap that was there and promised that I would try to find a job today .
As I walked past a pub that was having renovations done I thought to myself I could do some painting for them and who knows maybe there might be some other work going .
So I went inside and asked for the foreman .
This fella called Trevor came over to me and I asked him if he needed a painter or a general hand .
He took a long look at me and then out came his mobile phone .
He pressed some numbers and made a call .
During his conversation on the phone he asked how much money did I want .
I said about fifty a day which was about the going rate for tradesmen on site .
He walked away for a few moments and then returned with a positive look .
“Can you start tomorrow morning ?”
“Yes . What time “
“Be here at 7 ”
“I’ l be here.”
For the first time in a long time things looked good .
I wanted to scream and shout to the world that I had a new job .
If only there was some one who could hear .
I had a job . I had new hope .
Anyway that evening came and I returned to the park bench and tucked myself up under the stars .
Haunted by the same thoughts I drifted off to sleep .
Next morning as I shaved with my soap and blade I looked into the mirror at the railway station and said ,
“Guess what . ?“ .
I looked away for a moment and then continued ,
“ I am starting a new job today .”
It was a happy day .
I slept well during the night and no one had urinated on me or hurt me .
When I walked into the pub the foreman made it a lot easier when he said ,
“Lets go have some breakfast before you start. “
Yes indeed everything was going to be all right .
“I’ll pay you back at the end of the week “
I said to Trevor .
“Yes I know but don’t worry . I’ll get a better days work out of you when you’re fed and watered . “
He replied .
He brought me out to his van and drove me to one of the cafes where I had asked for a kitchen hands job . They looked at me the same way as I sat down in a booth near the wall . Trevor sat beside me and ordered two huge cooked breakfasts and then listened to my story .
He seemed impressed that I was once a factory foreman .
He got up and went to the counter and returned with two trays .
He passed over a plate to me and said .
“Go on then . Polish that off .”
I ate like a animal and had the plate cleaned up in seconds . He handed me his own plate and watched me do the same with that .
His mobile phone rang and as he went outside to talk I sat there very content with life . I didn’t care about the looks people in the café were giving me .
I didn’t need it their negative feedback either because I had a job .
I drank my tea and when Trevor returned he sat down and ordered a toasted sandwich . We finish off the rest of our breakfast and made our way back to the pub .
The first day I spent stripping the old dirty black paint that covered the timber panels around the bar . Once I saw the oak timber underneath I called Trevor and showed him .
I told him that the panels were made of French oak and that they would look better polished that painted .
He asked what I would need for the job and I gave him a list of products .
Shellac and metho . Wood stain and some burnishing wax .
That morning he went with me and we purchased all that I had asked for .
He also paid for my pie at lunch and introduced me to the other lads .
I felt as if I had finally arrived . The day went in well with the fixtures and inlays stripped and ready for sanding . I had put in a good days work and was very satisfied with the results .
When evening came I had the first base colour over the wood panels .
The entire place looked well and there was no mess and no fuss .
The boss was very happy with me which made me proud and at ease .
Within two days I had sanded the entire bar and was ready to apply another tone to the light oak stain and build upon the first coat of shellac .
Trevor was watching me work and was very pleased with the job so far . Some of the patrons began to talk to me and offered to buy me a drink .
They seemed to admire the work which made me feel proud of my trade .
Just when I was about two days from finishing I had a small set back.
One morning as I went in I saw that some of the polished panels were badly marked and gouged from the night before . That meant I had to start the entire job from scratch again and strip everything back to bare timber .
Trevor wasn’t happy about it and asked the publican if he could shut up shop for a week or two until we got the job finished .
The publican laughed and said it was impossible to close the bar .
We would just have to work around the customers . After some grizzly huffs and puffs we agreed and the job was completed in just over a week which was pretty good .
I was paid up quite well and Trevor asked me to come with the rest of crew to do some other jobs that were lined up .
Before I said yes my immediate though was to ring my family .
That week returned home .
It was hard to say hello but somehow I found the words between my head and my heart .
I was accepted back again and we started with a fresh new look at life .
I looked forward to the future and the unknown .
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