The Mermaid by Xanthe Demiurge.

70’s Saturday Girl. 

MICHELLE SINNOTT·
SATURDAY, 11 MARCH 2017

Part 1

 I had a Saturday Job from the Age of Fourteen and that wasn’t unusual. It paid for my Horse Riding lessons and a few other things a Teenage Girl needs. My first job was in ‘Jacks’, a independent precursor of Poundland’. It had a very particular smell, like a Hardware store, mixed with Fag Smoke, Incense, Talcum and Mothballs. My job was to replenish and guard these mostly Plastic and Spelter items and assist any customers when needed. it was like working in a Corridor the way they crammed the place full of stuff. With nowhere to rest, it killed the Feet and Back.You got a Mug of Tea on duty, in the morning and afternoon, ½ hour Dinner Break and £1:25 for a Day’s Work. I looked for a new job every lunch time until I got one in ‘Martins’ the Newsagent. To begin with, I worked as one of the Saturday ‘Penny Sweet’ Dispensers. You needed patience for that one. Some girls just couldn’t stand the routine boredom interspersed with flurries of indecisive little kids, wanting to maximise on their 5p. The Till has a handwritten note stuck to it saying: “God helps those who help themselves, but God help those who we catch helping themselves.” I thought it was hilarious at the time, until an assistant got the Sack for taking ONE penny sweet! So the staff turnover was frequent. I was paid the local going rate of £1:50 for an eight hour day, with the standard hour break for Lunch plus two fifteen minute Tea Breaks. The Cigarette Servers had to be over sixteen and got paid slightly more at £2:00. The Ice Cream Seller got the most at £2:25. No one lasted long in that job, not even me. Maintaining and serving Walls Whippy Ice cream all day, was sticky and unrelenting in hot weather. Traipsing up and down a long Staircase several times a day, to the Manager’s Office, for more Liquid Ice cream, then again for Water to clean the thing at the end of a hot Summer’s day, that always felt like a slog. I looked for something else. It was easier to get Saturday Jobs at the beginning of the Summer. Mainly because those who had left School, went into ‘Full Time’ employment and so stopped working on Saturdays. Woolworths paid the same rate for their Saturday Girls, as I had got for being sticky all day, plus it had a Staff Canteen and Woman Manager. She had a ‘Purple Rinse’ I liked working in their Electrical Department, selling Lampshades, Plugs and ‘Contact’ by the Yard. It was fun using the Lift to the Stockroom, to refill the Shelves. Being a bit catholic and naive, I just got on with it, until this older Saturday girl, took me on a tour around the Stockroom and showed me how to nick things. I was both shocked and impressed! I used Harmony Hair Colour at the time. It came in distinctive triangular Box. I never paid for another packet while Jackie worked there. That was the extent of my pilfering. I’m not sure what happened to Jackie. I think, she was on more of an earner than me. Security started tightening up. The ‘Tea Breaks’ were more monitored for a while . My association with Jackie, had me under suspicion. But with only my ‘Auburn lights’ to give me away, I escaped their detection. Jackie left soon after. My Auburn Highlights faded. I’m not sure how long I worked there but I left Woolworths at the end of School for Batas Shoe Store, because they couldn’t offer me Summer Holiday employment. I lied to get the Bata Job. They were recruiting Managers, I said I wanted to be one. I was actually going onto Sixth Form in September, but needs must..