A lady was waiting at the bus stop as we approached. Which meant the bus was on its way and had not been missed.
Laughing Anna and I discussed the weather, we included the bus stop lady in our discussion.
Our conversation took on another story when I asked, "Have you always lived here?"
She had lived in London most of her life and had worked in Selfridges for 40 years, starting as a very junior trainee sales girl.
She amused us with a glimpse of the morning inspection.
"You had to show your hands and nails, have your makeup and hair checked. Before being turned round to have stocking seams inspected to make sure they were in a straight line and no ladders. They were very strict, mind you, it has given me a lifetime’s pride in my appearance."
"Telling you all this has reminded me of a very silly thing. I worked in the store for 40 years and never found the staff canteen in the basement. We were only allowed a ten-minute break and by the time you got down there, it was time to go back. I could have asked the senior staff if I was brave enough, but I wasn’t. There were a lot of doors in the basement, I was scared to open them and waste time looking."
I laughed and said "I would have to have found it, after working there all that time, curiosity would have killed me."
She was such a kind lady and permitted me to write up this bus stop conversation.
I do hope we meet again, to fill in the gaps in her intriguing story.
2023 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen
Photo: Pixabay License
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