35) Holding the Fort
Having Jonny so sick for six weeks during the lead up to Christmas was pretty hard. Not only could he not come to work with me he also was too sick to do anything except stay in bed. When I got home each evening I would have to look after him and do all my usual chores. Also when we worked together we both had our own tasks and got on with them so that the job went smoothly. With so many different helpers I had to tell them all the time what I wanted them to do and to work out sequences and routes for the deliveries without having Jonny to help. It wasn’t their fault, it must have been hard for them to try and get into the swing of things when they only worked with me for a day or two each. They were great though and it was good to get to know the people from our church a little bit better.
One of my most regular helpers told me that she felt that she at least had a little bit of experience in the delivery business. Her brother had once owned a nappy laundry service (before disposables) and she had occasionally helped him out, so she knew something about deliveries. Our cargo smelt a great deal better than the one she had been used to though as when she had helped her brother she had been the one who had had to collect the soiled nappies to take them to be laundered. She was good fun and we laughed a great deal about her antics when she had last been in the delivery business.
One of the days my daughter-in-law Siân helped me was the busiest day we had ever had during the whole time we had been running the service. I don’t remember the number but we worked flat out and both Siân and I were jolly tired by the time we finished. I only had a short journey to get me home but poor Siân still had to go all the way back to Cowan. Siân was very popular with our customers and she got hugged by a number of the old ladies, I think the old gentle men were very impressed with her too.
Another popular helper was my son Jonathan. He is quite like his dad in looks so when one elderly lady asked “And who is this young man?” I laughingly said “This is my husband Jonny, don’t you recognise him since he has been taking those Youth Pills”. From then on we kept the joke going and we all had a good laugh over it. All the customers wanted to know where they could get the pills. Oh to be able to look 30 years younger overnight.
One evening when I got home from work quite late, Jonny was asleep, as he had had a rather bad day. I started to do my computer work for that day’s deliveries and when the phone rang. On the other end was an oriental voice. I was tired and not in the mood for one of those telemarketing phone calls that we often got. They usually called just as we were about to sit down to our evening meal. I did not listen to what the oriental caller had to say. I just said “Sorry I’m not interested, I don’t want anything”. The voice on the other end of the line got a little more excited; he obviously wanted to get through to me. I started to repeat my self, telling him once again I was not interested in whatever he had to say when some word or other must have penetrated my tired brain. I stopped and listened to what my caller was saying. He was saying, “This is Doctor Lee here Mrs. Crowther can I speak to your husband?” I wished I could have just handed the phone over to my sick husband but I knew he needed his sleep so I had to apologise to our doctor and offer to take a message. I told him I was very sorry for appearing to be so rude but I had not been listening properly and I thought he was a telemarketer. I just wished the floor would swallow me up but he was very gracious and just laughed at my terrible blunder. Lets face it though, who would expect their doctor to ring at about 7.30 pm with the results of test that had been taken a few days before.
One of my most regular helpers told me that she felt that she at least had a little bit of experience in the delivery business. Her brother had once owned a nappy laundry service (before disposables) and she had occasionally helped him out, so she knew something about deliveries. Our cargo smelt a great deal better than the one she had been used to though as when she had helped her brother she had been the one who had had to collect the soiled nappies to take them to be laundered. She was good fun and we laughed a great deal about her antics when she had last been in the delivery business.
One of the days my daughter-in-law Siân helped me was the busiest day we had ever had during the whole time we had been running the service. I don’t remember the number but we worked flat out and both Siân and I were jolly tired by the time we finished. I only had a short journey to get me home but poor Siân still had to go all the way back to Cowan. Siân was very popular with our customers and she got hugged by a number of the old ladies, I think the old gentle men were very impressed with her too.
Another popular helper was my son Jonathan. He is quite like his dad in looks so when one elderly lady asked “And who is this young man?” I laughingly said “This is my husband Jonny, don’t you recognise him since he has been taking those Youth Pills”. From then on we kept the joke going and we all had a good laugh over it. All the customers wanted to know where they could get the pills. Oh to be able to look 30 years younger overnight.
One evening when I got home from work quite late, Jonny was asleep, as he had had a rather bad day. I started to do my computer work for that day’s deliveries and when the phone rang. On the other end was an oriental voice. I was tired and not in the mood for one of those telemarketing phone calls that we often got. They usually called just as we were about to sit down to our evening meal. I did not listen to what the oriental caller had to say. I just said “Sorry I’m not interested, I don’t want anything”. The voice on the other end of the line got a little more excited; he obviously wanted to get through to me. I started to repeat my self, telling him once again I was not interested in whatever he had to say when some word or other must have penetrated my tired brain. I stopped and listened to what my caller was saying. He was saying, “This is Doctor Lee here Mrs. Crowther can I speak to your husband?” I wished I could have just handed the phone over to my sick husband but I knew he needed his sleep so I had to apologise to our doctor and offer to take a message. I told him I was very sorry for appearing to be so rude but I had not been listening properly and I thought he was a telemarketer. I just wished the floor would swallow me up but he was very gracious and just laughed at my terrible blunder. Lets face it though, who would expect their doctor to ring at about 7.30 pm with the results of test that had been taken a few days before.
posted by MC @ 4:25 PM
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