I'm Staying

  CHAPTER 31 ENGLAND TWO YEARS LATER Paddy sat at this gate for hours waiting for John to come home from work. He couldn't understand why he couldn't go with him We decided to set a limit to our search for the pot of gold. We gave ourselves a further six months to find our feet or return to South Africa.   Lack of work, on my part, and low salaries for John meant we were eating into our savings.   In spite of all the wonderful things on offer, the safety, the good roads, and the close proximity to Europe for holidays, Africa was still calling. There was something lacking there and it’s called warmth, not the sunshine warmth even, but the human kind, where people smile and talk to you whatever their race or class. There is human interaction in Africa which has been replaced by technology elsewhere. Yes there are many people who have made the decision to move away from South Africa and stayed; made it their home. Some have been successful and make enough money to ...

  CHAPTER 29 ENGLAND LIFE’S LESSONS   Where previously I had felt proud of what I considered to be a prestigious, indulgent lifestyle, I became somewhat embarrassed when I looked back at our achievements which now looked to have been made on the backs of those less fortunate than ourselves in Africa. If nothing else, our two years in this new country showed me where and how we had gone totally and utterly wrong in our role as employers and home owners.   Having arrived in the UK with the superior attitude of a white man in Africa, we had been reduced to tenants and workers with a lowly status of being unemployed and living off Government benefits at times. But since my attitude has always been to find some good in every situation I managed to gain so much from this transition in that I learnt to swallow my pride and accept that we are after all, just human beings all trying to survive to the best of our ability on this planet. Because of this I no longer fee...

  CHAPTER 28 ENGLAND EARNING A LIVING Doing John's washing   We continued to search the internet for jobs. (There seemed to be so many!)   We registered with agencies and scoured newspapers.   Over and over we sent off our CV’s to companies in the hope of their spotting an eager employee.   My husband eventually resorted to writing letters offering his services for free in the hopes of an eventual job offer.   But we had no replies.   Things don’t work that way here.   You have to follow the correct channels, stick to the system.   After all, humans don’t read our applications, and there’s no point in appealing to the compassionate side of a computer! Not wanting to bore you too much I have set out below the incredibly long and intense process of procuring work in this country. Finally an Agent phoned John with an offer.   The position had the important sounding title of Horticultural Team Leader in a large Garden Centre. ...

  CHAPTER 25   ENGLAND   FINAL DAYS Growing Chrysanthemums for the house   Naturally the atmosphere became somewhat awkward between us and Sir Duncan after our dismissal.   He obviously didn’t want us on the estate anymore but due to the labour laws he was forced into giving us notice and paying us for work done.   His way of dealing with this situation was to issue lists of duties via email and then send his wife out to ensure that we completed them as quickly as possible.   Working in the cold mist Lady Felicity took her new role very seriously and hounded us throughout the day holding her lists in her hand as she marched around the estate in her wellington boots and tweeds. She must have given up all her normal country lady activities in order to perform this job for her husband.   There was no avoiding her now.   If she couldn’t find us she would call relentlessly on the two-way radio and then the questions would start: “I h...

  CHAPTER 15   ENGLAND   STORIES FROM THE STAFF In the village   From the Handyman Eric: “I didn’t live on the Estate but on one of Sir Duncan’s farms about five miles away. At one time my name was at the top of the list for security call-outs. One night the panic button was activated and I drove over to the estate to check that all was ok. The outside of the house appeared normal but the alarm continued to ring and so I used my master key to enter the back door. Having checked the downstairs area thoroughly and finding nothing at fault I decided to check upstairs. On entering his lordship’s bedroom I discovered him leaning face-first over the back of a chair, with the panic button hanging around his neck and being pushed by his chest into the chair. He was completely oblivious to this as he was somewhat the worse for drink. His wife lay in bed and on my entering the bedroom jumped up and embarrassedly began to fluff pillows and straighten the bed while...