Some highlights from my working life:
- While studying I did some agency work, mostly working in a hotel, but on one occasion I reluctantly agreed to go to work in a flour factory as a packer of flour onto pallets. I made the mistake of wearing all black, so of course came out obviously covered in flour. Apart from that, my slight frame made it hard for me to physically keep up with the packing. Terrible experience.
- I did a stint as a Events coordinator in a theatre, where interesting events included managing a show featuring Leslie Grantham (not long after he got into trouble elsewhere for doing naughty things on cam from within his dressing room) and trying to negotiate with a traffic warden to get Richard Gibson (Herr Flick in the classic sitcom Allo Allo) out of a parking fine.
While working as a Duty Manager in a multi-purpose Arts venue, myself and two colleagues were expected to bear the brunt of all sorts of weird and wonderful jobs, sometimes good and other times unacceptable...:
- Driving a Routemaster double-decker London bus (mobile art workshop) - this was my favourite thing ever, even when the brakes failed on me.
- Manually spinning a turntable for a charity auction of hand-painted 7ft high giraffes, in time with the music, without letting the damn thing topple over!
- Ignoring all health & safety guidelines and climbing up onto the roof of the venue (designed by Rafael Vinoly) to removed debris that had blown up there during a storm.
- taking on a last minute wedding for a couple who had been let down by their booked venue and literally combing the surrounding landscape for Ivy and other foliage to use to cover the makeshift arch we'd created for them to stand under!
- driving the works van - which was part Renault, part Vauxhall and the cab filled with steam whenever it went over 30mph.
- dealing with youths who used to congregate outside the venue - including calling an ambulance after one had an adverse reaction to an legal high.
- trying to remove pine needles and water from the top of an ancient Roman mosaic after the Christmas tree fell over onto the glass screen that covered it.
I could go on for hours - the photo library I have of various bizarre incidents is endless.....
Sadly the venue was controversial and failing, so I jumped ship when redundancies were announced.
My current job (managing a business centre) is much more secure, better paid, more sociable hours, good pension etc but you know what? I'd do almost anything to have my old job back again