What age were you when you started work? What jobs have you had?

Because I lived in the countryside I didn’t start working until I had passed my driving test. I was 18, and the first place I worked was a restaurant/bar at a caravan site near Kirkcudbright (pronounced Kirkoobree for those who don’t know!!) in SW Scotland. I was basically a general dogsbody and the wages were beyond awful! I waited on tables, I worked behind the bar, and I did washing up. I was only there for a couple of months, and by the time I finished there I had such bad dishpan hands that they were bleeding! That was the first time I discovered the wonders of E45 cream! It was a really crappy job.

The second place I worked was at the Co-Op in Dumfries. I was a checkout bimbo! I was also at uni, so I only worked at the weekends, and during the holidays. Occasionally I was asked to work Sunday, which was great as it was a relatively short day but I got paid double time. I worked there for about two years – it gave me enough money to go out every weekend, which was fine for me at that point!

I then got a job at a Mackay’s clothes store at the Gyle shopping centre in Edinburgh. It wasn’t the best job I have ever had, and the manager was an old harridan. Also, she insisted on shortening my name, which I hated and it irritated me beyond belief! The worst thing was that most of my time was spent folding up tops as customers love to come in and just mess things up! Sometimes I would have to work in the teenage section of the shop which was great. All the things in there were trendy – the adult section was dull! The baby section was great too because a lot of the people who came in were excited about new babies – that was fun.
I worked at Mackays during the week while I was at uni in Edinburgh, then at the weekends it was back down to Dumfries so my mum could do my washing and I worked at the Co-Op on the Saturdays!

Not surprisingly, my uni work suffered because I was working too much. I hated university anyway, but I liked living in Edinburgh. I got a full time job at a pub on the outskirts of town – The Fairmile Inn – and quit the Co-Op and Mackays. Oh, I also quit university as I hated it. I couldn’t afford to stay at university anyway without working full time, and I liked working. I started at the pub as a waitress, but quickly moved to the bar. I really loved that, although it was hard work with late finishes. But, my social life and my work life were one and the same and it was great. After a while, due to staff shortages, I ended up working in the kitchen and within the year I was the Head Chef. This was when I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I had always been a very good cook, I was taught by my mum from a young age, and cooking under pressure was such a buzz for me. I stayed there for two years, and the only reason I left was because we got a new manager who brought his own Head Chef with him (who liked ordering pre-prepared meals, not making fresh food) and he wanted to cut everyones’ hours back to 20 a week. At that point I was working about 70hrs a week, and could barely afford the childcare on that. So, I spent a day looking for another job in local pubs, and got one just down the road at the Stable Bar as 2nd Chef. I was happy enough with that, but I was only there for about three months as it was around that time that things went wrong in my life and I moved to France.

The ease of finding jobs was over.

When I got to France I tried very hard to find a job, but after three years of no practice my French wasn’t exactly tip top! I did eventually find a job though, as a barmaid and waitress at a local restaurant. Most restaurants around here are straightforward, serving local produce with no pretensions. This was a very pretentious restaurant, and very expensive. I started on one day at about 10am. There was no discussion about wages or hours, but I assumed they would get around to it. I didn’t have the French to argue at that point. I didn’t get home until 2am. The next day was the same – still no word about money or hours. I went home at about 2am again, and cried all the way home from sheer bloody agony because my feet were red raw and bleeding from blisters. Even working 70hrs a week in a kitchen with lots of responsibility was not as hard as this. I never went back, and never got paid.

The next job I had lasted for two years, despite the fact that I hated it. It was a doddle really, I taught English to kids from 8 to 16 in a variety of local schools. It was great money for the amount of hours I did, but after two years, I really didn’t want to do it any more.

After that, I worked for a friend of ours who had bought a house to renovate and then sell. I painted windows, walls, shutters, you name it – if it stood still it got painted! The money was fantastic – I had never earned so much in my life. I worked for him for probably about 3 or four years. Eventually I had other worked, so gradually stopped working with him. Also, around that time France started to attract the Czechs and Slovaks who came here for work, and were extremely cheap labour.

Two years ago I started working for a local estate agent – part of a massive global chain. This too was short lived. It was commission only. I thought I’d give it a go, but I did not realise it would be so expensive. The company did not pay fuel allowance, even though their staff have to take clients out and about to view properties. In a very rural area you cover a lot of miles. They also did not give any allowance for mobile phones, although they had to be used. In short, there were no allowances for anything, and after I figured out that those three weeks had cost ME €300, I decided it was not worth it. It might be a good job if you have a few thousand behind you to start with, but not for anyone else. Even if I had sold a house within those three weeks, no money would have come through for at least three months.

Anyway, shortly after I left I broke my leg. Lucky I left when I did otherwise it could have cost me even more to earn nothing!!

In between all these jobs I was still doing decorating and gite changeovers with my mum, so there was a little money coming in.

Since the estate agent job that is pretty much what I have been doing, and it now includes gardening as well, which I really quite enjoy. I have been lucky enough to get a few photography jobs – mainly photographing gites for websites, and doing a few portraits.

So, now I am a chef/gardener/cleaner/decorator/photographer. Oh, and a short film maker, but that’s for another post!