Chapter 22

The next morning Janet took Florence straight to the school, and marched with Florence to the head teacher’s office, or rather to the school secretary’s office outside it. Janet told the secretary that she was considering Florence Glasgow for employment, but that the girl had not received her results. This implied they had been lost in the post.

“If you don’t mind, could we have a copy, or a sight of the results for each subject, so that we can proceed with our consideration of her abilities? We have given her a test at work, and she looks competent so far. I have brought Florence along with me so she can sign for the copy, if her signature is required.” This sounded so official that the school secretary was impressed and looked carefully at Florence’s face.

“Oh, yes, you are Florence Glasgow all right. I have seen you in trouble with the school several times for missed attendances, so I know your face. Let me have a look at our records.” She went off to examine pupil documents in a filing cabinet, and finally pulled one out with a happy exclamation. “Ah, here we are. Not bad, I think. This is our school copy of the certificate, but I can do you a photocopy of this certificate. I have to charge you for the photocopying, though, madam. I doubt if Florence could pay.”

“That is fine by me. I know the costs of photocopying, as we have a copier for the business.” The secretary went to the machine and copied the certificate before placing it in a brown manilla envelope. When she handed this over, she commented, “A photocopy has no legal validity, of course. Only the original is legal, stamped by the examination body. They might be willing to issue a second certificate to replace a missing one, if that is required by your company, but they would want to charge even more.”

Janet informed her, “No, we simply need to be sure of the facts to assist in our judgment, and the photocopy will suffice, as I have witnessed you copy it. I am thus the guarantor of its genuineness for our records.” With a word of thanks from both Janet and Florence, the pair left the school and returned to the car. Florence was buoyant and giddy with relief, so could hardly sit still for a moment.

“Janet, you are a marvel! Thank you so much for helping.” “Helping should be standard for all reasonable people, Florence. In this case it was needed, so it got done. Now, your results: leave it unopened for now. Once we get to the cafe you can open the envelope and read your results in a calmer environment. I hope they are satisfactory. By the way, have you ever had experience of looking after babies or young children?”

“Only my pal’s baby brother, a few months ago, but that was just for an hour or so, on two occasions. I didn’t even have to change his nappy before my pal got back from the shopping trip with her mother.”

“Pity. It would be nice to have an extra experienced babysitter available.” “You have a baby, Ma’am?”

Janet stated, “I have two youngsters, Fenella and her young brother John. They are beyond the baby stage but still not reached school age; though Fenella is not far from it. The nursery enables us women to have careers at work and not be tied down with looking after our children all the time. Naomi is a great help.” “So you and Phyllis are the bosses at the Antiques Market? You run the Cafe and she runs the Market? That must be important work.”

“It is, but work builds up in importance of what you do as you gain experience and knowledge, Florence. I started out as a waitress at Cafe Continental, and Phyllis was a housewife with an interest in antiques, and it all developed from these small beginnings. If you have a good starting point, such as decent O-level results, you can build on that to become competent at some job or career. Bob is gaining experience of the law at his father-in-law’s legal business, and as well he has learned how to sell houses for an estate agency group.

Much of it is done by knowing your subject, plus being able to present your facts in a personable and friendly manner. He gets a payment for every house he persuades people to buy, so it is in his interest to make the house as desirable as possible, yet never to tell untruths about the house, for that would give the agency a bad name.” Florence offered, “I thought that passing exams at school and passing exams for your profession was the most important thing.”

“Let me make this clear, Florence: Passing exams proves that you have learned important things about your subject, but that does not make you a good representative of your profession. Every doctor has to pass exams, but that in itself does not make a good doctor. A good professional medic has to have a good bedside manner, be amazingly clever in making an accurate diagnosis from available symptoms, and stay up to date with new ideas and techniques; and if he works in a hospital, also be competent in surgical procedures. So you see, the exams are the starting point, not the peak of a career.”

They arrived at the Market, and Janet led Florence to the Cafe, and sat her down at a table in a quiet corner to open her large A4 envelope. Florence edged the flap open with trepidation and slid out the sheet of thick paper, and read it. She halted, went back to the beginning, and read it again in amazement. Janet, watching, asked, “Well, what does it say?” “I passed all of my subjects!”

“Wonderful, Florence! That is great! Is there an indication of how well you did in each?” “I expect so. That is not what caught my eye; it was pass or not! Let me see ... oh, I am in a reasonably high category for most; not the top, but fairly good, except for mathematics. I didn’t rank very high there, but passed, only just.”

“I am happy for you, Florence. That achievement gives you a head start in applying for a job.” “You think I can get a job, ma’am? At my age?”

“Florence, lots of girls your age get jobs, but many of the jobs are menial in the extreme, with no prospect of advancement. With your good O-level results, you have a chance at a job with opportunities.” As they stood up, with Florence looking for a safe place for her certificate copy, there came a rumble of people exclaiming at something, and Janet made a quick check that it did not directly affect her cafe operation. No, it came from the market stalls by the sound of it.

Janet summoned her staff for a quick update, asking if anyone knew what had happened. One of the women said she heard that someone had collapsed, but that was all, and then the kerfuffle developed to the point that nothing could be heard clearly. “Right,” said Janet authoritatively, “Get some fresh tea ready to dispense to people in shock, if they turn up here. Give them the tea for free as a support treatment. I’ll go see Phyllis and get a proper update on the situation.” Janet charged off towards Phyllis’s office. She was not there, but another Market lady was manning the desk. “Ah, Janet. Phyllis said you might appear. The disturbance seems to be one of our dealers having a stroke or heart attack or something serious. We have already phoned the emergency services, and police and ambulance are on the way.” “Thanks for letting me know, Jean. Should I wait here or not? I have my staff prepared to hand out restorative cups of tea in cases of shock.”

“In that case go back. I’ll report this to Phyllis when she appears, and she will know where to find you. We will send any shocked people to see you. You seem prepared for panicked people. Well done.” Dismissed, Janet shrugged and departed. Back at the Cafe, she prepared her staff for a variety of scenarios, but gave priority to the likeliest event: a single casualty, with some distraught onlookers.

Before long, the bells of the police car and ambulance announced their arrival. The ambulance men rushed inside and were directed by Phyllis in the direction of the incident. Five or so minutes later, they were departing with the casualty after loading him inside the ambulance, and shortly thereafter were off to Greenock Royal Infirmary, which dealt with emergencies. As the Market settled down after the upsetting scenes, some customers flocked to the Cafe for refreshments, where they were quizzed about why they were at the Cafe. The staff determined which were there to wind down and which were genuinely disturbed, and catered accordingly, giving priority to the casualties suffering from shock. Phyllis appeared eventually and gestured to Janet for a cup of tea or coffee. Janet arranged that and went to sit with her.

“So what was the panic, Phyllis?” she asked. “One of our dealers took either a heart attack or a stroke, I was not clear which, and the ambulance men were too busy to talk to anyone not directly involved. By the looks of him on the stretcher, he was already dead by the time they got here, or as near it as makes little difference. I got the dealers on either side to go in and close down his booth and make it as secure as possible, and I have stationed a person on guard to prevent intruders getting in, until we close for the day.”

Janet poured their coffees as she listened to this litany, and expressed her concern. “Sounds like the end of that dealership at least,” she remarked. “Presumably once you hear about the man’s health, you’ll be able to make a disposition of the booth’s contents. Probably you’ll move it all to storage in the short term.” “That’s my thought too,” Phyllis agreed. “I daren’t rush things, in case he survives and wants someone to take over his business as an ongoing concern, but I should make preparations for a possible replacement dealer as soon as is practicable, even if he survives.”

She sipped her drink as she pondered the possibilities, and Janet suggested, “If he doesn’t make it, and his family don’t want to continue at this market, you’ll have to work out the best solution for the antiques he has on his stall and in the storage area.” “I suppose so, but first things first. Before we close today I must phone the hospital and ask after him, as his titular employer. That way I can get them to tell me, claiming I need to know the prognosis for my business to adjust to the circumstances.”

“Yes, I have heard that they will only give a telephone report on a patient to a direct relative, but the employer probably comes into that category.” This event was reported to me after I got home, and I asked if the infirmary had come through with information. Phyllis informed me, “They did, Bob, but just to confirm that he was deceased and that his body would be released to the family – or actually the undertaker acting for the family as he is not local – once the hospital’s death certificate has been handed over to the next of kin.”

“Oh, yes, I think you can’t conduct a burial without the death being registered first, and the registrar requires the production of a death certificate from a G.P. or a hospital doctor. I remember that happened when my Mum died.” “Oh, sorry if I revived that bad memory, Bob. It was not intentional. I had forgotten that you lost your mum.”

“It is okay, Phyllis. It happens to us all, at some time or another. You had to cope too when your husband died, as I recall.” “Gosh! I had almost forgotten about him. I look on you now as my one and only husband, what with our lovely Karen and my new baby; and I have my Antiques career as well. Everything is so different today, marvellously different.”

I advised, “Let’s get back to the subject of the Market. One assumes that someone is in charge of your dealer’s main base, wherever that is, but it is unlikely that they will want to keep up this booth in Gourock now that he is dead, unless they have staff to spare, which I doubt. Assume that his family doesn’t want to go to the expense of transporting all his stock here back to his main base, and then having to find storage space for it when it arrives. What will they see as the best option? I wonder ... What if you can offer a cheaper and simpler alternative for them to look at?”

“Pardon?” “Look at it this way: an offer of a sale of all his Gourock stock at much reduced prices, but giving the relatives cash in hand without any trouble for them. It might be you buying it all on behalf of the Market, or it might be the other dealers in the Market each buying some of his stock, and you buy out the remainder at a clearance price; you can afford to wait for these to sell in the future. The price for each item has to be low enough that the dealers will be able to see a profit for them when they later sell it on, but they will be showing their respect for the deceased dealer by taking on some of his assets on spec. Other advantages with this idea are that the stock doesn’t have to move much at all, just within the Market, and will be an almost immediate disposal of the stock of the defunct.”

“That’s a thought, darling. You are sure you are not a budding dealer yourself?” “No, just a thinking man trying to be practical. Sudden death can be a damn nuisance to your relatives, for nobody anticipates dying that soon!”

“Hmm ... anyway, I’ll look into your suggestions. First thing is to check on who is running his main operation; I think it is in Edinburgh, but I may be wrong. My records should show me something about his background.” “Fine. How did Janet get on with young Florence?” “Oh, she managed to get a copy of the girl’s results. It seems her father was sitting on them and she didn’t want to broach it with him, so Janet took her to the school and got their copy certificate photocopied. Janet is good at sorting things out, isn’t she?”

“She is that, and so are all my wives. So are we going to see Florence employed at the cafe, or what?” “That is up to her to seek employment. I think that with her disturbed family situation, she hasn’t looked that far ahead, but she really has to start thinking about her future, and specifically about employment. She doesn’t have much experience in any type of work, but Janet’s colleague thinks Florence is a quick learner and could do well at the cafe. You know that being able to cope with people of all kinds is a useful talent in the restaurant business. The other requirement is recognising customers, so that if they return she will know them as past visitors and greet them accordingly. Ar least, that is what I would hope for.”

I murmured, “Ah, yes. If only I had that ability! A small point: if Florence is being considered for a position, does she need her father’s signature on her documentation, as parental confirmation for a minor? I heard that used to be the case, but I think it was being dropped, generally; a sensible move.” “Oh? Well, possibly for some organisations still, but for Janet and I, we rely more on our own approval than that of a ne’er-do-well. Parental authority is so old-fashioned these days, when teenagers are treated as adult enough to join the Army and fight for the country.”

A couple of days later, Phyllis told me that the dead dealer’s brother had come to Greenock with their family undertaker to collect the body for interment in their home town, so he had called in at Gourock to speak with her about his brother’s stock in the Market. She described her conversation: “I explained our thoughts about local disposal, and he was delighted at the idea, as he would not have to pay for a furniture removal firm to carefully load all the stock and cart it back to their base for future sale. I told him we were thinking of offering first dibs to his colleagues in the Market at whatever price he had bought the goods at, in order to sell them fast to the other dealers. Whatever was not sold by the end of that procedure, the Market would take over that remainder, at a price ten per cent lower than his recorded buying cost, on the assumption that they would be slow to sell, and the Market might make a loss with them.

He accepted my logic, and we made a formal agreement, for me to send him an accounting and the net proceeds, after a small charge for administration. So everything is now in place for me to offer his stock to the other dealers on that basis. I have noted that a few items did not appear in his records with a buying price, perhaps where the item was part of a job lot, so I have made a business decision and placed my own assessed buying price on them. I hope I made the right judgment.” “I am sure you have, Phyllis. You have learned enough to be able to do this wisely.”

Janet next came to me with a query, so I listened carefully to what she had to say. “Bob, some of our cafe customers come to eat here solely because of the cafe’s good reputation locally, and know little about the Antiques Market, what it does and how it operates. I was wondering if the Market might be able to offer some sort of short tour, a few dealers telling visitors about their goods and their pricing, and how they source their material. For adults, this could be at a small charge to cover costs – fees to the dealers for their expertise - but for schoolchildren it could be free as an educational tour, with the costs absorbed by the Market. I didn’t want to suggest this to Phyllis before first running it by you and Sandy, as you were the primary investors. I want to leave you to talk it over with Sandy and let me know your assessment.”

I reported this to Sandy and she grinned, “Good for Janet! That sounds right on the money! I’ll tell Phyllis what Janet had suggested to us, and that we think it is a ‘go’ idea. Adult visits might even be profitable, if we can get groups like Rotary, men’s clubs, women’s groups, and retirement clubs to accept. They can all afford a small fee, and the total income may be enough to give a profit overall. As well as that, some of them may come back as customers, as many of these organisations are not made up of poor people. Rotary and other groups might tell other branches wider afield, and these might arrange to come at some future date.”