Raise the scarlet standard high (Ste Therese's)
The CBB -> Starting again at Sarres...
#1: Raise the scarlet standard high (Ste Therese's) Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:20 am

I'd got the first bit of this ready to post just before the evil hackers struck Crying or Very sad , and I was going to leave off posting it until everything was up and running again but then I thought I might as well post it anyway! Thanks to the people who made suggestions about a sequel, and please tell me if you think I'd be better leaving the rest of it until all the houses are back.


“Has everyone got a cup of coffee now?” Hilda Annersley asked, looking round her study at the seven other people gathered there. Nell Wilson was there, of course, along with Jeanne de Lachennais, Nancy Wilmot and Ruth Derwent as three of the most senior mistresses and Anna Mieders who, as the domestic science mistress, was probably better acquainted with the workings of kitchens in general than anyone else on the teaching staff. Also present were Biddy Courvoisier, whom she’d asked along because it had occurred to her that someone who was no longer actually at the School might be able to see matters more clear-sightedly than those who were, and Joey Maynard who, as ever, was there for reasons of which no-one was entirely sure.

Hilda took a sip from her cup and sighed. The coffee that one of the maids had just brought up from the kitchen wasn’t quite as hot as it should have been, and the plate of cakes that would have accompanied it had Karen had still been there was missing altogether; but then that wasn’t surprising. Nothing relating to the domestic sphere of the School was quite as it should be any more. She wished that lukewarm coffee and the absence of her mid-morning cakes were the worst of the problems, but they were far from being that. What was more, the situation was going from bad to worse, which was why she’d decided to hold this meeting.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you all,” she began, “that we’re going to have to find a new cook to start after the Easter holidays.” It was accepted that by the term “cook” she actually meant someone who would not only be responsible for the cooking, but would also hold the position of head of the domestic staff with all that that entailed.

“I thought you’d only just got a new cook,” Biddy said in bewilderment. “Didn’t someone new start a few weeks before half-term? Heidi, was it?”

“Charlotte,” Hilda said. “Heidi was the one before her.” She tried hard not to grimace. Karen had left four weeks into the summer term which had seen the coming of age celebrations take place, and they were now well into the second half of the Easter term of the following year. It had taken a while to find a replacement for Karen – oddly enough, people hadn’t seemed to be as keen to work in the Chalet School kitchen as might have been expected – and then the woman they’d eventually taken on had walked out after less than a fortnight.

Since then, they’d had no fewer than five cooks, some of them better at the job than others but none of them, it seemed to Hilda, with very much staying power nor, now that she thought about it, with the strength of character that the position probably required. None of the previous four had lasted more than a couple of months; and Charlotte, who’d just announced that she would be leaving at the end of this term, had said that the only reason she hadn’t left earlier had been because she’d known how worried the Head had been about the recent scarlet fever epidemic and hadn’t wanted to give her any more trouble at such a difficult time.

Hilda couldn’t remember there ever having been any significant problems in the domestic department in all the time she’d been at the School, until these past ten months or so; and for once she was at an absolute loss as to what to do next.

Last edited by Alison H on Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:03 pm; edited 20 times in total

 

#2:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:25 am

Fabulous! A sequel!

Thanks Alison - please don't wait until we're on the new board before you post more.

 

#3:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:26 am

great to see a continuation.
They had just had Karen all the time and taken her for granted.
By the way , where is Matron?

 

#4:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:27 am

Oooh. This looks good.

 

#5:  Author: Alice, Location: London, England PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:22 am

Interesting to see how difficult they're finding it without Karen. Thanks Alison, I'm glad you decided to post this now.

 

#6:  Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:36 am

Yay for new drabble. Thank you Alison

I can't help but think they have brought these problems on themselves, and I don't feel totally sorry for them!

 

#7:  Author: Liseke,  PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:50 am

Joins the chorus of cheers.

Thanks Alison.

 

#8: Re: Raise the scarlet standard high Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:05 am

Alison H wrote:
and Joey Maynard who, as ever, was there for reasons of which no-one was entirely sure.


Love that bit!

Actually I do feel sorry for them - sure they took Karen for granted - but she could have done as these other cooks have done and voted with her feet - if she never said anything about the conditions then how were they to know different?

Thanks Alison, really pleased to see this. Laughing

 

#9:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:23 am

Hehe thanks Alison. Revolution at the Chalet School Laughing

 

#10:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:46 am

Hurrah! A sequel

Thanks Alison Very Happy

How many more 'cooks' will they go through I wonder!

 

#11:  Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:45 pm

Lovely! Thanks Alison!

 

#12:  Author: KathrynW, Location: London PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:50 pm

Ooh...lovely new drabble Very Happy

Thanks Alison...I can see why the job at the CS would be so unappealing, they didn't realise how lucky they were with Karen.

Kathryn

 

#13:  Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:28 pm

Yay a sequel! Very Happy I'm glad you decided to post this instead of waiting, it's lovely to have a good read, the evil hackers will not defeat us! Thanks Alison, I look forward to seeing lots more of this! Very Happy

 

#14:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:07 am

A fabulous beginning, thanks, Alison. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the school resolves this problem! Perhaps they need some gorgeous, temperamental French chef!

 

#15:  Author: Identity Hunt, Location: UK PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:38 am

oooh, thank you Alison !
A great start - how will Hilda find another willing slave to the CS , I wonder ? Perhaps Joey should take it on, Wink

 

#16:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:46 am

Thanks for the encouragement! Keren, I don't think Hilda wants Matron ("the School's beloved domestic tyrant" Rolling Eyes ) at the meeting because she suspects that Matron's nagging might be part of the problem Wink !

“Quite frankly, I just don’t know what to do any more,” Hilda said. “None of the cooks we take on seem to want to stay for more than half a term, if that; and I don’t have to tell any of you that standards seem to be slipping.”

“I honestly don’t think it’s a case of the domestic staff not working hard enough,” Ruth Derwent said, “but … well, meals never quite seem to be ready on time any more; and items of clothing are getting mixed up in the laundry, which I suppose isn’t surprising with such a large number of people in one place but which never happened when Karen was here.”

“Peggy Burnett went to take a P.T. lesson first thing yesterday morning only to find that the gym was still being cleaned,” Jeanne de Lachennais added. “The same thing happened with the sewing room when I was due to take Inter V’s embroidery class on Monday, and apparently one day last week the Sixth Form splashery somehow got missed and never got cleaned at all.”

“Kathie found two of the laundry maids in tears in one of the corridors earlier today,” Nancy Wilmot said quietly, “but, when she asked them what the matter was, they wouldn’t tell her.”

“I know,” Hilda said, a worried expression on her face. “Without a doubt there are some serious problems to be addressed. The reason that I’ve asked you all here today is to find out if any of you have any ideas as to what might be going wrong, and to ask if any of you have any suggestions as to how we can put it right.” Nell gave her a supportive smile and she smiled back gratefully.

“It was never like this when Karen was here,” Anna Mieders said. It was something that everyone at the School seemed to be repeating like a mantra at the moment, and Biddy couldn’t help feeling that it couldn’t be doing much for the present cook’s confidence.

“How is Karen?” Nancy asked. “Does anyone on the Platz hear from her, do any of you know?”

“My Anna does,” Joey said. “In fact, she had a telephone call from Karen a couple of days ago. I know that they write to each other quite often but I was very surprised at Karen ringing from Austria, given the cost of international phone calls. They were talking for ages as well. I was getting quite annoyed about it, to be honest, because Anna was supposed to be taking Bruno and the twins for a walk and all three of them were getting impatient. I did try to find out what it had all been about later on, but Anna wasn’t very forthcoming. She seemed very pleased about something, though.”

 

#17:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:49 am

Thanks Alison - good to hear that things going well with Karen - at least Joey proved she had some use at the meeting, if only to let us know that Laughing

 

#18:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:54 am

Wouldn't it be lovely if Anna was pleased because she was off to work for Karen - decent money and reasonable hours!
Thanks, Alison, I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

 

#19:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:39 am

Er, why didn't Joey take the twins and Bruno for a walk then, if they were getting impatient? Another that doesn't appear to appreciate just how much their servant does. Will we see Anna moving over to Karen and Rudi's hotel in a better post soon?

Thanks Alison.

*Hmmmm, Matey, eh?......*

 

#20:  Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:01 am

It's not surprising that the school management doesn't seem to know what to do - they didn't really pay too much attention to things domestic, unless they went wrong.

Is Matey's nagging getting out of control?

 

#21:  Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!! PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:28 am

Fatima wrote:
Wouldn't it be lovely if Anna was pleased because she was off to work for Karen - decent money and reasonable hours!
Thanks, Alison, I can't wait to see how this unfolds.



That was exactly the thought that crossed my mind! Very Happy

 

#22:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 10:32 am

Maybe they need to pay someone a lot more,
What fun if they advertise and a man applies Smile

 

#23:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:21 pm

Thanks, Alison, it's great to see the much-wanted sequel. i do hope Anna has the offer of a new job.

It seems as though the CS is running on mantras nowadays, but they don't get the work done, do they?

 

#24:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:58 pm

Hurrah. An update. Thankyou Alison

 

#25:  Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:30 pm

Yeah! I was hoping Alison wold write a sequel.
Maybe some of the staff should get off their butts and help the dom.staff out.
Why couldn't Joey take the kids and the Bruno for a walk?
Hands up who thinks that Anna is going to leave Joey?

 

#26:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:49 pm

Er ... sorry to disappoint everyone, but Anna will be staying with the Maynards for the time being - would spoil the rest of the story if she didn't!

She may have been looking pleased because of some personal news from Karen, rather than because of anything job-related Very Happy .

 

#27:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:55 pm

Alison H wrote:
Er ... sorry to disappoint everyone, but Anna will be staying with the Maynards for the time being - would spoil the rest of the story if she didn't!


Pity - but could we see Joey panicking because she thinks Anna is going??

 

#28:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:29 pm

*has an idea why Anna might be pleased*

I definitely think Joey should be made to panic though! That's always fun Twisted Evil

Thanks for starting a sequel Alison.

 

#29:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:45 am

I thought it might be personal news from Karen as well Very Happy

Please share it with us soon, Alison

 

#30:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:48 am

There may well be rebellion and panic later on Wink , but not yet! Thanks for the comments Very Happy .

“They were probably just exchanging gossip,” Nell, who had a pile of letters to deal with as soon as this meeting was over and didn’t want the conversation to get too far off the point, said.

“Quite possibly. Karen must see Anna’s family quite often now that she’s back in Tyrol, whereas Anna hasn’t seen any of them for months,” Biddy remarked pointedly. She looked directly at Joey as she spoke, but Joey whether deliberately or otherwise didn’t seem to understand what she was getting at. Could Anna’s employer honestly not see how tired her faithful handmaiden was looking these days? Or did she just not see what it suited her not to see?

“To get back to the subject in hand, what are we going to do about the problem of the domestic staff?” Nell asked, looking at her watch and hoping that someone had something constructive to suggest.

“Have you tried asking any of them what the matter is?” Biddy asked. Her mother had been a lady’s maid and, although as such she’d been considered a cut above kitchen maids or laundry maids, Biddy as a result had slightly more empathy with the domestic staff than could be said of anyone else who’d ever taught or been taught at the School. “Who’s the oldest of them? It’ll be Gaudenz’s wife, won’t it – the housekeeper at St Agnes’s? Lisa. And what about asking Charlotte exactly why she’s decided to leave? It seems to me that everyone here knows that there are problems but that no-one seems to have any idea what’s causing them and, with all due respect, you won’t find out without asking the people concerned.”

“I must say that that hadn’t occurred to me,” Hilda said thoughtfully. “That’s not a bad idea at all, Biddy. In fact, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

“Well, good luck!” Joey said. “I must go now, I’m afraid! I don’t envy you these problems, Hilda, I must say. What a good job that I don’t have anything like this to worry about. I rarely have the slightest trouble with Anna or Rosli: they’re both impeccably well-trained!”

*****************************************

It was no good: she was going to have to sit down for a few minutes. Anna sank wearily into a chair and thought back wistfully to those long ago days when she’d first worked for the Maynards. Back then there’d only been the triplets to look after (it wasn’t that she didn’t adore all the children, but having so many of them in one family made for an awful lot of work, especially since Fraulein Marani had left and not been replaced), when Robin and Daisy had always been willing to help out around a house that had been far smaller than Freudesheim was and when Frau Doktor Maynard had shared the task of cooking with her. She heaved a deep sigh and took out of her apron pocket the letter she’d received that morning from Karen. Their friendship had never faltered even though Karen was now living three hundred miles away and her life had changed so much - and would be changing even more come the autumn.

 

#31:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:11 am

Well done, Biddy!

Ooooh, is the change what I'm thinking it might be? Very Happy

Thanks, Alison

 

#32:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:14 am

Yes, good for Biddy. I hope Karen's news is what I think it is! Thankyou Alison!

 

#33:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:23 am

Well done Biddy - at least she could see the obvious route - and at least Hilda listened to her.

As for Joey - hammer such a condescending attitude - she deserves all she may get!!

Thanks Alison. Laughing

 

#34:  Author: Cryst,  PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:06 am

Quote:
"I must say that that hadn’t occurred to me,” Hilda said thoughtfully.

Shame on you, Hilda Annersley - a leader like you not appreciating the value of the exit interview.

Quote:
I rarely have the slightest trouble with Anna or Rosli: they’re both impeccably well-trained!”

And that'll be down to you then, Joey, not them? Grrrr.

Thank you Alison.

 

#35:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:11 am

Just had a thought - Karen wouldn't be getting 'busy' in the Autumn would she??? Shocked

 

#36:  Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:23 am

Oh poor Anna, no wonder she's tired! And I wonder what Karen's news is?
Thanks Alison.

 

#37:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 12:27 pm

Thanks, Alison. I'm also hoping that Karen will be 'busy'.

 

#38:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 2:19 pm

Let's hope Karen is going ot be busy in the autumn, and let's pray for a miracle, - Jo gives Anna a holiday and stops taking her for granted.

 

#39:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 8:07 am

“Dear Anna

“I hope you-know-who wasn’t too annoyed about me keeping you talking the other day when I don’t doubt she had piles of work waiting for you to do, but I really wanted to tell you myself rather than putting it in a letter. It probably wouldn’t seem particularly exciting to her with her long family, but it means so much to Rudi and me. We’ll start telling everyone else in another few weeks, God willing … although I think everyone at the hotel will have guessed by then if Rudi keeps being so protective of me. I never thought I was the sort of person whom anyone would think needed looking after, but he does, especially now, although thankfully I feel all right so far.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Anna? You sounded very tired, considering that it was the middle of the afternoon. She works you and Rosli too hard; she really does. I assume that when Maynard number ten arrives in early summer you and Rosli’ll be expected to look after him or her as well as looking after all the other children who aren’t away at school, on top of having that great big house to clean and all the cooking and the washing and ironing to do, not to mention walking the dog; and you hardly get any time off. It’s too much.

“I saw your aunt at the weekend, and she’s worried about you as well: she said that your mother’d shown her your last letter and that they both thought you sounded very tired and downhearted. We’re all concerned about you, Anna. We went to visit her when we were in Briesau to see Rudi’s parents. It tends to be easier if we go there rather than them coming to Mayrhofen to see us: every time they come here, they find something to criticise about the way we run the hotel, usually that we’re “too soft” on our staff and we don’t keep a “proper distance” between them and us! Still, we get on better with them than we used to; and we’re not really that bothered what they say about the hotel because we want people to be happy working here, and the winter sports season’s gone really well so far, touch wood.

“We saw Eigen at the Kron Prinz Karl: your aunt’s so pleased that he’s got a job back at the Tiernsee. He sends you his love. Jockel was there as well. He was telling us all about when he left Austria before the war and took Rufus with him. Then Eigen came out with the tale of how he and “Fraulein Joey” (as he called her) rescued Rufus when Rufus was a little puppy who’d been left to drown. I’d forgotten all about that. It’s so strange to think that the sort of girl “Fraulein Joey” was then’s turned into the sort of woman she is now.

“Your aunt was so lovely. I’m sure she’d guessed about the baby and she realised that I was a bit nervous. She didn’t actually say so directly, but Rudi asked her about her children and she was telling him that her youngest children were younger than her eldest grandchildren, and that led on to her saying that she had her last baby when she was forty-five. A good few years older than me. Then she said something about Rosa looking after all the Russell children and Lady Russell being well over forty when Kevin and Kester were born. I’ve felt much happier since then.

“I’d better go now, because the menus for next week need sorting out, but please do think about what I’ve said, and think about asking Frau Doktor Maynard if you could at least have a holiday. It probably isn’t even legal for you to be working all hours with so little time off. I never really thought much about there being employment laws when I was at the School (although at least there we could have some time off during the school holidays). I was just so glad to have a job and a roof over my head, and, anyway, we were brought up not to question what our employers and supposed betters told us to do, weren’t we? But Rudi says that there are laws in a lot of places about employers having to give people a certain amount of paid holiday time every year, and imposing limits on the number of hours per week that people can be asked to work.

“You know that you’d only have to say the word and you could come and work here, but if you don’t want to do that then at least come for a break. We’d love you to come and stay with us, and time, and I know that your family in Briesau would love to see you as well.

“Give my best wishes to Rosli, and to Lisa and Mechtilde and Vreneli and the others when you see them; and look after yourself

“Love,

“Karen.”

 

#40:  Author: ali, Location: medway, kent PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 8:59 am

Go on Anna, you'll be much happier.
Congratulations Karen and Rudi, hope everything goes well!

 

#41:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:29 am

Oh I'm so pleased for her! Hmmmm, so are we to be privilged to see the scene when Anna asks for a holiday? And not a holiday with the Maynards - which, less face it, is not a holiday at all!

Thanks Alison.

 

#42:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 12:28 pm

Ooh, I can see the start of the rebellion. I'm looking forward to it.

 

#43:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:25 pm

Alison H wrote:
I never really thought much about there being employment laws when I was at the School. I was just so glad to have a job and a roof over my head, and, anyway, we were brought up not to question what our employers and supposed betters told us to do, weren’t we?


I think this is the root of it all. They were all so poor that any job bringing in money was better than no job at all, so they would never have questioned the conditions. There's a lot of that here, with the workers from India, the Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh and other such places; they work all hours for such little money, but it's better than living at home with no money and no job. It makes me realize how lucky I was to have been born English.

 

#44:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 3:55 pm

What a lovely letter - and shows how close a friendship Karen and Anna had and still have.

Thanks, Alison Very Happy

 

#45:  Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 7:52 pm

I'm very pleased for Karen as she sounds so happy, but Anna really does need a rest... Sad
*thinks that the school really should have a male chef!*
Thanks Alison, its great to see a sequel Very Happy

 

#46:  Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 11:15 pm

How lovely for Karen. Hmm, can see a domestic storm-cloud developing for Joey!

 

#47:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:52 am

Thanks for the comments Very Happy . It seems to me that the School's attitude towards the domestic staff stayed stuck in the past. In the early days, there was a lot of poverty at the Tiernsee, Eigen was working at the CS when he was only 10 because the Pfeifens needed the money, and Marie was glad to get a job there because she felt that she was better treated there than she would've been working in a private home (fair enough given that Gertlieb, the Mensches' maid, was only allowed a few hours off to see her family on Christmas Day if she'd got everything done by then), so it was realistic that they would've put up with a lot ... but surely Switzerland in the 1950s is a different ball game from the Tiernsee in the 1930s, so a cook from a different background might be much more inclined to lead a rebellion Very Happy .

Hilda reconvened the meeting two weeks later, by which time she’d spoken at length to both Charlotte and Lisa, and two of the maids had announced that they were leaving to work at a hotel in Grindelwald which offered higher wages and shorter working hours.

“From what’s been said, it appears that there are several main problems,” she began. “One is that we really don’t have as many maids as we need. Unfortunately, we just can’t afford to do anything about that without economising elsewhere; and I hardly think the parents would be very pleased if we cut back on replacing games equipment, for example, so that we could employ more domestic staff.”

She paused, mindful of the fact that Joey was present and that it therefore might not be a good idea to sound too critical of the Russells. One of the reasons that the Tiernsee had been chosen as the original location for the School was that the cost of living there had been so much lower than in Britain, and that was something that definitely couldn’t be said about the Gornetz Platz. The Bernese Oberland wasn’t as expensive a place to be as Geneva or Zurich or even Berne itself, but nowhere in Switzerland was exactly cheap. Sometimes Hilda couldn’t help thinking that the decision to move here had been taken on the basis of what was best for the San, with the School just following because it had been taken for granted that the main branches of both institutions should be in the same place. She and the others most closely involved with the running of the School had been given very little chance to have their say in the matter at the time: the Russells had made the decision whilst they’d been away in Canada.

It was all very well for Swiss finishing schools. The whole point of those sorts of schools was that they were supposed to be exclusive; and therefore parents expected to pay high levels of fees for them. The same couldn’t be said of an ordinary school, even one as prestigious as the Chalet School: they couldn’t really charge that much more than the U.K. branch did or the parents of some or all the British girls might well decide to send their daughters back to Carnbach.

Then there was the fact that servants’ wages had risen considerably in recent years, not just in Switzerland but elsewhere as well. It was causing problems even for people who were far wealthier than the School was. Look at the number of aristocratic families back in Britain who were having to close parts of their stately homes, or open them to the public as tourist attractions. Look at Marie von und zu Wertheim and her husband, who were now having to let their Schloss be used for conferences for American businessmen.

She’d tried saying something about this to the Russells in a letter when she’d first started looking into the practicalities of the move to the Oberland. However, Jem Russell, who regarded domestic matters as not really being worth his notice, hadn’t wanted to know; and Madge had just suggested that the girls be asked to dust their own cubicles and help clear the tables – which really made very little difference to the domestic staff’s workload whatsoever.

 

#48:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:32 am

Thanks, Alison

What a shame Jem and Madge didn't pay a bit more attention to what was needed.

 

#49:  Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:34 am

Fascinating - I loved Hilda's niggling suspicion that the school was second fiddle to the San, and yes the comments about how the decisions were made and implemented do ring true.

 

#50:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:53 am

Hmmm, wonder how much more to the point Hilda's comments may have been if Joey had not been there? And could we see a meeting without her?

Thanks Alison - does ring true.

 

#51:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:04 pm

Fascinating, so much is based on out-dated assumptions.

 

#52:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:29 pm

Lesley wrote:
Hmmm, wonder how much more to the point Hilda's comments may have been if Joey had not been there? And could we see a meeting without her?



I think she invited herself to every meeting they ever had Laughing !

 

#53:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:41 am

Hope this bit isn't too boring - it's just leading up to the new cook arriving.

“We don’t have any fewer staff than we’ve done ever since we moved here, though,” Ruth Derwent said, “and we never used to have all these problems. Why’s it all started going wrong these last nine or ten months or so?”

“We had Karen before,” Hilda said. “It’s always difficult replacing someone who leaves after a long time, whatever their position; and none of the cooks we’ve had since she left have stayed long enough to settle in properly or to get used to the way things are done here. Also, I don’t think we ever appreciated just how well Karen organised the domestic work. That just isn’t happening any more. The cleaning isn’t being planned properly, so rooms aren’t being cleaned at the most convenient times for the people who use them and occasionally some rooms are being missed out altogether. The meals aren’t being planned in advance as well as they used to be, so sometimes changes are having to be made at the last minute when it turns out that there aren’t sufficient quantities of the right ingredients in stock, which helps to explain why the food isn’t always ready on time.

“Also, whilst Lisa assured me that all the maids work hard, without Karen there to make sure that everyone knows exactly what has to be finished by what time and that they’ll have her to answer to if it isn’t, the work isn’t being done as efficiently as it was before. Both Lisa and Charlotte said that a lot of the problems are arising due to a lack of time because we just haven’t got enough domestic staff but, as I’ve already said, employing more domestic staff just isn’t possible at the moment.”

She didn’t add that morale was low because the wages offered were so much lower than those offered by the hotels in the region. Some of the teaching staff weren’t paid the wages that they might get at a comparable school, and she didn’t want to go putting ideas into anyone’s head about asking for a pay rise. “There’s also the question of … well, of attitudes towards the domestic staff,” she went on.

 

#54:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 7:34 am

Alison H wrote:
“There’s also the question of … well, of attitudes towards the domestic staff,” she went on.


Too right there is. This is really interesting Alison!

 

#55:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 7:54 am

Fantastic!

Thanks, Alison Very Happy

 

#56:  Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:34 am

So the teaching staff are underpaid as well!

They really need to look at what the staff (domestic and teaching) are being asked to do, and how feasible it all really is.

 

#57:  Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:23 pm

I find it interesting that the staff and the domi staff aren't paid very well

 

#58:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 2:55 pm

Hmmm, well at least Hilda has recognised that Karen was the reason everything went well before. As to these attitudes - wonder if the main problem is from the girls or the Staff???

Thanks Alison.

 

#59:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:10 pm

At least Karen's getting her due - if a late!

Thanks Alison

 

#60:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 6:45 am

“It does appear that there’s something of a lack of consideration being shown towards the domestic staff, or at least that’s how they see it. According to Charlotte, there’s never a day goes by that the girls from at least one dormitory don’t turn up late for breakfast and at least one form doesn’t turn up late for all the other meals. So the kitchen staff have then either to wait for everyone to arrive and consequently end up running late, or else serve the food at the proper time in which case the latecomers complain that it’s gone cold. There’ve also been several cases of people expecting the domestic staff to clear up spillages of ink and similar mishaps, whereas beforehand they were always told to ask Karen for cloths and water and clear the mess up themselves.

"Then, and this is not to be discussed with anyone else, it appears that Matron is being rather severe with the laundry maids. She can be quite exacting, it has to be said, and apparently she’s been speaking somewhat forcefully to anyone responsible for items not cleaned and ironed to her satisfaction.

“When Karen was here, so Lisa said, she always stood between Matron and the maids; and no-one dared turn up late for meals or expect the maids to clear up anything that they weren’t supposed to because they knew that she’d give them short shrift if they did. I’ve been unable to persuade Charlotte to stay on, but maybe that isn’t a bad thing. The sort of person we need as a cook and as head of the domestic staff is someone very strong-minded – someone who’ll take control and stand no nonsense.”

“I’ve also decided that we should try employing someone British this time, as long as we can find someone suitable who speaks a reasonable amount of German. All the cooks we’ve had here since Karen left have been from the local area. They don’t seem to have felt any particular affinity to the School and have been more than happy to leave to take jobs at hotels or other institutions, or even to go back to their families whilst they looked for alternative employment. Someone British, who doesn’t know Switzerland or anyone in Switzerland, might be much more inclined to stay. What’s more, I’m going to insist that they sign an agreement saying that they’ll stay for at least one full term. That way, even if they decide not to remain here any longer, at least we’ll have the long summer vacation in which to make alternative arrangements.”

Get somebody with a forceful personality, and make sure that they couldn’t just walk out – that was how to deal with this, Hilda had decided. That way, the problems with the domestic staff would soon be resolved. She was sure of it.

 

#61:  Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:15 am

It sounds like they need at least two people to replace Karen - a cook/kitchen manager to deal with the food end, and a household manager to coordinate everyone, deal with the nitty-gritty of the daily planning, act as an intermediary between the household staff and Chalet staff, and handle disputes and complaints.

 

#62:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:39 am

*sends a militant union member to apply for the post*

Thanks, Alison Very Happy

 

#63:  Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:11 pm

Now I have this strange image of Chef Alex Ramsey from Hell's Kitchen at the school Smile

 

#64:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 5:35 pm

I don't think Hilda's addressing all the problems though - what about speaking with and issuing orders to the Staff, girls and Matey???

Thanks Alison. Laughing

 

#65:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 6:47 am

Thanks for the comments Very Happy . Hope this isn't too bad - I've never tried writing a sequel to anything before!

“I wouldn’t disagree with any of that, but how do you propose to go about recruiting someone suitable?” Jeanne de Lachennais asked doubtfully. “You’d want to meet the person to ascertain that they had the necessary qualities, I assume; but it would hardly be practical for you to go back to Britain for the Easter holidays, just to interview potential cooks.”

“I’m going to ask Dollie Edwards at Carnbach to do the interviews,” Hilda explained. “I’m sure she’ll be well able to choose exactly the sort of person we need.”

*******************************

“I don’t believe this!” Dollie exclaimed when she received Hilda’s letter asking her to advertise for a cook/head of domestic staff for the Swiss branch of the School in some suitable publication or other, and then to conduct interviews to find somebody who met with Hilda’s requirements. As if she didn’t have enough to do running her own branch of the School.

She was still smarting over the fact that, although Old Girls who’d had nothing to do with the School since the day they’d left had been invited to the coming of age celebrations the previous summer, it appeared that no-one in Switzerland had even thought of asking anyone from the Carnbach branch. Not even members of staff like herself who’d been with the school for years and years. She was sorely tempted to show Hilda Annersley a thing or two this time. Hilda wanted someone with a forceful personality? Well, she’d do her best to find her someone with a forceful personality all right.

******************************

Encouraged by Karen, and after receiving letters from her mother and her aunt both saying that they were concerned about her health and that they hadn’t seen her for too long, Anna finally plucked up the courage to ask Joey if she could have a week off over the Easter period. The triplets would be off school and therefore at home to help Rosli with the younger children, so surely the Maynards would be able to spare her that week, she reasoned. She was hoping to be able to spend a few days in Briesau with her family and a few days in Mayrhofen with Karen.

 

#66:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 6:49 am

*hollow laugh*

I bet she won't get it though. Poor Anna

 

#67:  Author: alicat, Location: Wiltshire PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:46 am

Ah dear, Anna has forgotton that school holidays are much busier times for Mamas than when they're all at school......

 

#68:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:57 am

Thanks Alison. I can't wait to see who Dollie chooses...

 

#69:  Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:02 am

Mwah hah hah!! The evil side of Dollie Edwards is coming out...
Good on Anna, I hope Joey lets her have a holiday!! Very Happy
Thanks Alison, this isn't boring Very Happy

 

#70:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:52 am

Let's hope Anna gets her holiday, though I can't see Jo agreeing to it. So what else does Dolly Edwards have planned? Awaits developments with an evil grin.

 

#71:  Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 12:41 pm

Evil!Dollie Edwards sounds interesting.
Poor Anna i can already hear Joey's lecture

 

#72:  Author: Chalet_school_lover, Location: Gloucester PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:30 pm

Oooh, I've just caught up on loads of this! I'm so happy for Karen and Rudi! Very Happy I hope Joey let's Anna have time off, although I have to say I'm doubting it! Thanks Alison, I'm interested in seeing what happens with the new cook and everything! Very Happy

 

#73:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:44 pm

That is an interesting point
we hear about ex pupils, but what about the staff in england?

 

#74:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:25 am

It wasn’t quite so bad for Rosli, Anna thought. Rosli at least had her family and friends living nearby, so she could go to visit them when she had an afternoon off. There was so little to do around the Gornetz Platz that all Anna could really do in her half days off was to go for a walk … and if she said that she was going for a walk then the Frau Doktor would be sure to say that she might as well take Bruno or the children or all of them with her; and it was very difficult to say no. She thought with a slight pang of envy about her cousins who worked for Sir James and Lady Russell. The Russells had only two children, their twin boys, living at home during term-time, and with only six children in total they used far fewer rooms that the Maynards did; yet they employed Marie, and Marie’s husband Andreas, and Rosa.

Then again, very few people worked for a family who had nine children (and another one due in the summer, two if it turned out to be twins again as the Maynards seemed to be hoping), and lived in a converted hotel.

She really did feel in need of a week away.

“Go to Tyrol for a week?” Joey asked, genuinely bewildered. “But why? I can understand that you want to see your family, but we’ll all be going to stay at Die Blumen in July or August, after the new baby’s born, so you’ll be able to see them then. I’m sorry, Anna, but it’s out of the question for you to disappear for a week at the moment. I can hardly start doing the cooking or the housework in my condition, can I? There’s no way I’d be able to manage without both you and Rosli here. It’s just not feasible. You’ll be getting a holiday when we go to the Tiernsee in the summer: it’s hardly that long to wait, is it?”

Anna muttered something about there being laws regarding employers and workers, and Joey looked at her in utter bemusement. “Well, of course there are laws, Anna. If there were no laws, people would still be sending little boys up chimneys, or using children of Mike’s age to work in cotton mills or go down the mines. That’s hardly got anything to do with you wanting to take yourself off to Tyrol for Easter, has it? I’m sorry, but the answer’s no. I just can’t spare you for a week: there’s too much to do here. I’ll tell you what, take the afternoon off tomorrow. I can’t say fairer than that, can I?”

She was quite shocked at having heard Anna talk like that. She was also really rather hurt by it. Laws about employers and workers? Anna lived with them. They all counted on her. She was almost like one of the family. Talking about “laws” made it sound as if Freudesheim were some sort of factory, rather than a happy family home.

 

#75:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:12 am

Hope Joey is shocked enough to think a bit harder about how she treats this 'one of the family'

Thanks, Alison

 

#76:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:29 am

Just how much of a holiday will Anna be getting when they go to Tiernsee in the summer? She'll just be doing the same things but in a different place - hardly a holiday.

Think Joey needs a sharp shock about just how much she relies upon Anna.

Thanks Alison.

 

#77:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:05 am

Grr at Joey- she's so selfish. Grumble.

 

#78:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:05 pm

Grr, Jo needs her head examining. Let's hope Anna gets a job somewhere else, and leaves that selfish madam to cope.

ETA: 'We'll keep the Red Flag flying here.'

 

#79:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:00 pm

Jennie wrote:

ETA: 'We'll keep the Red Flag flying here.'


Laughing Sorry, I should have said that that was where the the title came from Laughing !

 

#80:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:07 pm

Blushes, it's taken me all this time to twig the origin of your title.

 

#81:  Author: Becky, Location: Newport, South Wales, UK PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:27 pm

Just caught up on loads of this - thanks Alison Very Happy

Hope Anna gets her very well-deserved holiday!

 

#82:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:57 pm

Phew! Just caught up. Thanks Alison, this is really interesting and I hope Anna rebels soon. *pokes Joey*

 

#83:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 9:30 pm

Thanks Alison!

 

#84:  Author: BethC, Location: Worcester, UK PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 9:36 pm

*can't believe I've managed to miss this until now*
Thanks, Alison!

 

#85:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 7:40 am

Thanks for the comments Very Happy . Going by the age of the triplets, this is 1954, so Easter is the 3rd weekend in April like it is this year - can't believe I was sad enough to look that up Laughing !

“Is it time to get up yet?” Karen asked drowsily, as she lay in her husband’s arms on a warm mid-April morning. It was the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They’d been married for seven and a half very happy months, the hotel was doing well and their much-wanted baby was due at the beginning of October.

Rudi turned his head briefly to look at the clock. “Not for another quarter of an hour or so.”

“Oh good.” She was much too comfortable to want to move just yet.

“Are you all right?” he asked anxiously. “I keep telling you that I’ll supervise breakfast if you’re tired or you’re not feeling well in the mornings. I promise faithfully that I’ll even make sure that everything gets cleared up and put away properly!” Karen had given up telling him that she didn’t know how he worked at a desk with papers strewn all over it, but she was never very pleased if she found the kitchen looking less than immaculate.

“I’m fine. Stop worrying so much! Anyway, I can’t be up late this morning: as soon as breakfast’s over I want to make a start on getting things organised for tomorrow.” With it being Easter weekend, traditionally a family time in Austria, the hotel was fairly quiet for once and they were managing with as few staff as possible. Those who were working over the holiday period were mostly people who lived in and didn’t have families living nearby, and she and Rudi had asked them all to join the two of them for Easter Sunday lunch after the guests had eaten. “You might even find that the Easter Bunny’s called.” She’d got a supply of chocolate hidden in one of the kitchen cupboards, waiting to be made into chocolate eggs as a treat for everyone who was working tomorrow. “And you will come to church with me in the morning, won’t you?”

“Of course I will.” Unlike Karen, he’d never been much of a churchgoer before their marriage, but somehow it was different now that he was back in Tyrol. They both liked living in Mayrhofen. It was a friendly community and they’d settled in here very quickly, and they both agreed that they felt more at home living here, after little more than half a year, than he’d ever done in America or she’d ever done in Switzerland.

******************************

“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” Rudi asked when they were in their private sitting room that evening. They both worked hard for much of the day, but it was understood that, whilst whoever was working the night shift was free to call on them if there was a problem, under normal circumstances they both finished work once the last of the evening meals had been served and cleared away. It was still a long day, but the two of them both took breaks during the day and none of the staff were supposed to work for more than four hours without a break or eight hours a day in total; and he’d insisted that she was to start taking things easier in another couple of months’ time.

He’d been reading the newspaper: it seemed hopeful that Austria would finally regain full sovereignty before long, probably sometime the following year, and that their baby would be growing up in a free and independent country. Karen was leaning against his shoulder with her eyes closed. He kissed the top of her head. “You seem worried about something.”

“I’m all right, honestly,” she said. I’m just worried about Anna. I was really hoping that she’d be able to come for Easter, but of course Frau Doktor Maynard said that she couldn’t spare her.”

“What’s she like?” Rudi asked curiously. “Frau Doktor Maynard, I mean. My father always speaks so highly of her, and of the Chalet School. He was quite excited when the School’s pupils all came to the Tiernsee last year and stayed at the Kron Prinz Karl, especially over the visit of the group that was escorted by “Fraulein Joey” and her friends; but I get a completely different impression from what you and Anna say from the one I get from him.”

 

#86:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:11 am

*eager to hear what Karen has to say*

Thanks, Alison Very Happy

 

#87:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:06 am

Sitting next to Liz, waiting ......

Thanks Alison - lovely that Rudi and Karen are so happy.

 

#88:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:42 am

Whilst I am not surprised at Jo's refusal to let Anna have a holiday, I do think it's sad that she considers herself such a kind employer. I really hope someone manages to wake her up to herself and her attitude towards these 'faithful' servants.
Thanks, Alison.

 

#89:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 12:54 pm

The irony of it is that Jo thought only of children being abused by uncaring employers, not of herself as someone selfish who takes advantage.

 

#90:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 1:00 pm

I think the problem isn't that Joey is being deliberately nasty - she's just not thinking about things thoroughly - and she may also be stuck in a time warp rather - because in the 1930's people in Austria were so desperate for a job that they accepted conditions that 1950's Switzerland do not have to accept.

In this case it seems more thoughtlessness that is the problem - she needs someone to open her eyes to the conditions.

 

#91:  Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 1:44 pm

I think that Joey probably *does* regard Anna as part of the family in a way, but it's like a teenager who never thinks about the fact that their mother may want a break from the daily routine, and that going to a cottage to cook, clean, watch children and do laundry in a different place (with fewer amenities) isn't really a vacation.

It's ironic that the school, which was known for treating its household staff very well in the early days - Marie is spoken to politely by the girls and treated fairly - hasn't updated their consideration to more modern standards.

 

#92:  Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 2:59 pm

I have just read all of this--I like it very much!

Where is the first part, the part to which this is a sequel? Is it still existing?

Thanks,
Chang

 

#93:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:15 pm

Thanks, Alison. I've just caught up on reading this - I can't believe I've missed this until now. I'm very angry - words are undescribable - about how I feel about Jo's attitude. I hope that Anna will get her holiday soon. I'm sorry that Dollie's holiday is being taken over as well.

 

#94:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:35 pm

Changnoi wrote:
I have just read all of this--I like it very much!

Where is the first part, the part to which this is a sequel? Is it still existing?

Thanks,
Chang


Thanks Very Happy .

The first one got eaten by the hackers Crying or Very sad poke , but I've got it saved as a Word document - I could e-mail to you if you'd like to read it Very Happy .

 

#95:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:12 pm

*sits down next to Lesley and Liz, and hands around cups of tea*

Am also intrigued as to what Karen has to say.

 

#96:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:16 pm

Thanks Alison. I hope Jo changes her mind...

 

#97:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:33 am

One of my all-time favourite scenes is the one in Joey Goes To The Oberland when Karen finds out that it was Joey and Jack who left the school kitchen window open in the small hours of the morning and she tears a strip off them both and they just stand there and take it Laughing . That's the way to deal with Joey!! This was meant to be a short update but it kind of turned into a long one Rolling Eyes .

“Your father was the landlord, not the cook: he was bound to’ve seen things differently, “ Karen said drily. She touched his hand to let him know that that hadn’t been meant to sound insulting.

“Anyway, your father’s image of the School is of the way it was during its first few years in existence. He wouldn’t know it for the same School if he were to visit the place now. It was much smaller to start off with, of course, so everyone knew each other far better than they do now. Marie and Andreas even invited all the teaching staff and pupils to their wedding reception. And even when the number of pupils increased, it was very much part of the local Briesau community. A lot of the pupils were Tyrolean; maybe that made a difference; but it wasn’t just that. Now it’s like some sort of outpost of the British Empire – very little contact with local people except as domestic staff!” She smiled. “Well, maybe it’s not quite that bad; but it’s certainly not like it was in the Tiernsee days.

“I suppose Anna and I looked at things differently back then as well. Maybe we still look at things differently from the current School domestic staff. Things were so bad during the Depression, especially around the Tiernsee where it’s always been a struggle at the best of times, that we were just grateful to have jobs at all. Eigen was only ten when he started working at the School; but the Pfeifens were delighted that he was earning, even if it wasn’t much. And in those days working conditions at the hotels or in private homes in the area were far worse than they were at the School. No offence, but I preferred working at the School to working for your parents, I can tell you!

“But times are different now. The War’s done a lot to change people’s attitudes, I suppose; but the School’s attitudes towards the domestic staff seem to be stuck further in the past than ever. It’s not a bad place to work - they’re never usually rude, or unkind … but I can’t tell you how patronising they can be. Miss Annersley, the Head, was convinced that the reason I sent cakes up with her mid-morning coffee was because I hero-worshipped her in some way and wanted to look after her. I was just doing my job! And the level of understaffing’s appalling: they won’t pay for the number of domestic staff they need but they make very few allowances for the fact that there aren’t enough people to do the work. And when people leave to work at the hotels they see it as ingratitude, as if people should be grateful to have a job and just accept whatever pay and conditions are on offer, and show undying loyalty to the wonderful institution that is their School! They’re not bad people: they just have a very out-of-date pre-war British way of looking at things.

“It’s the same with the Maynards. Frau Doktor Maynard’s a lovely person in some ways, although she was much easier to like when she was younger, which was when your parents knew her. But she’s another one who thinks that her domestic staff hero-worship her, and she would certainly never stop to think that maybe their lives shouldn’t be entirely dictated by hers.

“She was brought up to rely on her domestic staff, I suppose, and to be fair she’s not one of these women who just go about visiting their friends or having their hair done all day. She works as well, she’s an author. And she’s got a very big family. She seems to think that she has to have more children than anyone else she knows, for some reason, and she’s always saying how wonderful it is to have hordes of children. That upsets Anna sometimes: she loves all the Maynard children, but she says that Frau Doktor Maynard wouldn’t talk like that if she knew how some of the families around the Tiernsee when we were young struggled just to feed and clothe all their children.

“So there is genuinely a lot of work to be done at Freudesheim … but that’s the problem. And it just doesn’t occur to her that either Anna or Rosli are entitled to better treatment that she gives them. If she realised how tired Anna was, then she’d be genuinely concerned, and she’d send her here or to Briesau for a few days, albeit at a time that was convenient for her; but it wouldn’t occur to her that her staff should actually be entitled to holidays as of right. It’s the same attitude at the School: they might give the domestic staff an evening off if there’s some particular event on or all the girls are out somewhere, but it wouldn’t occur to them that people should have set working hours.” She smiled. “I’m sounding like you now, but it’s true!”

“My parents are the same,” he said. “If someone tells them that there’s an elderly person living nearby who’s in need, they’ll send them some food from the hotel at once; but if I say that people who’ve worked all their lives should be entitled to more help from the state in their old age, they go mad.”

Karen nodded in agreement. “That’s the School’s attitude and the Maynards’ attitude exactly. It’s like when they raise money for the San, but they won’t accept that the best treatment should be available to all TB patients whether they can afford to pay for it or not. In the same way, they won’t accept that their staff actually have rights which should be agreed and abided by, rather than just concessions granted as they see fit. Well, I really hope that Anna stands up to the Maynards over needing a holiday because I’m worried that she’ll end up being ill with exhaustion if she doesn’t; and Anna says that a new cook’s starting at the School after Easter, so I hope she stands up to Matron and the others because the domestic staff’ll be walked all over if she doesn’t.”

 

#98:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:42 am

I like this analysis and the way that she says that joey is a lovely person.
This Joey is not totally bad just misguided

 

#99:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:10 am

A wonderful, thoughtful analysis of the problem. I suppose it's on a par with the rest of the CS, they don't want to bring themselves up to date with employee relations. They need to wake up and smell the coffee.

I think Jo is just selfish and thoughtless in this, perhaps Kare and Rudi could offer Anna a job?

 

#100:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:18 am

Thanks Alison - a very realistic view from Karen - and one that I think is very true-to-life.

Thank you.

 

#101:  Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:49 am

That was very well explained, and puts the whole thing nicely in shades of grey rtaher than black and white. The trouble is that when it's pointed out that a long-held idea or belief could be re-examined, those holding it tend to become defensive - or cross.

Thanks Alison.

 

#102:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:45 pm

Oh that was wonderful, thanks, Alison. How nice Karen is, understanding both points of view so well. No wonder people like working in their hotel. Now all she has to do is tell Anna all about it and then we hope that Jo gets enlightened.

 

#103:  Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:18 pm

That was well said Karen!!!
Thanks Alison Very Happy

 

#104:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 6:21 pm

Thanks, Alison. Karen explained it in just the right way.

 

#105:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:23 pm

Good to catch up on lots of this, Alison.

I'm waiting with baited breath to see what paragon of virtue Dollie Edwards picks out for Hilda!

 

#106:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:46 am

Thanks for the comments Very Happy .

The new cook was due to arrive shortly, so as to be settled in for the start of the summer term; and Hilda was hoping fervently that this time they would have found the right person. It was always a source of anxiety for those in charge when someone new took up an important position (and over the course of the past year she’d come to realise just how important the position of cook/head of the domestic staff was), be it in a school or any other sort of organisation. If the person didn’t fit in with the culture of the place or proved to be unsuited to the role, it could end up being very difficult for all concerned. That was why she preferred to fill vacant teaching posts with Old Girls whenever possible. Still, she was sure that Dollie Edwards would have done her best to find them someone suitable.

She skimmed through Dollie’s letter again. Yes, everything sounded satisfactory. “Dear Hilda … new cook/head of domestic staff … name is Elsie Bradshaw … comes from the North of England …considerable experience working in a factory canteen … used to cooking for large numbers and overseeing staff … learnt some German at night school … able to start in time for the summer term … have read her references so see no need to spend money on postage sending them on to you … most certainly has a very strong personality as you specifically requested. Regards to everyone at the Gornetz Platz. Yours sincerely, Dollie.”

 

#107:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:25 am

*giggles*

This sounds hopeful!

 

#108:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:01 am

*waits eagerly on the arrival of the new cook*

 

#109:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:45 am

Oh excellent *settles down to watch the potential fireworks*

I like Elsie already Smile

 

#110:  Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:20 am

*joins Mia to watch the fireworks* This will be interesting... Laughing
Thanks Alison Very Happy Very Happy

 

#111:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:59 am

Wonders about the very strong personality

 

#112:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:13 am

And the fact that Dollie hasn't sent the references - wonder what had been said about Elsie?

Laughing

Thanks Alison.

 

#113:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:17 am

Thanks, Alison. I look forward to meeting Elsie.

 

#114:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:10 am

Puts the kettle on for tea and coffee and settles on the drabble sofa to watch the fireworks.

 

#115:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:36 pm

Lesley wrote:
And the fact that Dollie hasn't sent the references - wonder what had been said about Elsie?


Just what I was thinking!

Thanks, Alison

 

#116:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:05 pm

*Squeezes in on the end of the drabble sofa and accepts tea whilst waiting for fireworks*

Thanks Alison.

 

#117:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:29 pm

What a great cliffhanger to come in at. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this one goes!

 

#118:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:02 pm

*sniggers in anticipation*

I cannot WAIT to meet this Elsie woman.

Thanks Alison

 

#119:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:51 am

Hope this doesn't sound too OTT, but I thought it'd take someone with some very definite views to give the Chalet School's attitudes towards the domestic staff the shake-up they need Wink !

Life could be a lot worse, Elsie supposed. She’d never imagined herself ending up working in a fee-paying school, of all places - that sort of thing went totally against her principles - but you had to be practical as well and beggars couldn’t be choosers; and she was glad to have found another job at long last. She had the distinct feeling that she’d been blacklisted in her home town as far as jobs were concerned, which was perhaps inevitable after she’d earned herself such a name for being an agitator.

No-one there had wanted to take her on after her last employer had conveniently made her redundant – she knew and he knew she knew that it had just been an excuse to get rid of someone he’d considered to be a troublemaker (that was what you got from some folk for standing up for your rights!), but she hadn’t been able to prove it. Then she’d seen the advert for this job in Switzerland and decided that working abroad for a while and seeing a bit more of the world might make a nice change.

She paused from her unpacking to take a good look around the room that was traditionally occupied by the head of the Chalet School’s domestic staff and of which she was the eighth occupant in less than a year. Not a bad view out of the window, she thought to herself. Mind you, she hadn’t expected the School to be quite so much in the middle of nowhere; but it wasn’t that far from Interlaken, so she’d be able to go down there during her free weekends, and maybe some evenings as well when the nights got lighter. She was hoping to be able to see some other Swiss cities whilst she was here, as well. Especially Geneva. She couldn’t wait to see the city where Lenin himself had lived and worked before his return to Russia.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. She opened it to find a young girl standing there, alongside a small, wiry-looking woman who looked as if she’d left her clothes standing in starch all night before putting them on. “Good afternoon,” the starched-looking woman said. “I am Matron Lloyd, the Head Matron of the School. Miss Annersley wishes to see you in her study now. Vreneli here, who’s one of our maids, will show you the way.”

“Elsie Bradshaw. Pleased to meet you both,” Elsie said, holding out her hand. The girl shook it warmly, the older woman less so. She wondered briefly why it should have taken two people to come to tell her that the boss wanted - presumably to finalise and formalise the terms and conditions of her employment - to see her, but then she followed Vreneli along the corridor and assumed that Matron Lloyd had just come along in order to introduce herself.

“Don’t forget to curtsy,” Vreneli whispered as the two of them arrived outside the Head’s office. Elsie wondered for a moment if she’d heard aright. Curtsy? In the second half of the twentieth century? Bloody hellfire, who was this woman supposed to be - a school headmistress or a member of the Royal Family?!!

She grinned to herself. This place seemed to be stuck in some kind of time warp. Something told her that working here was going to be a quite a challenge … and she’d certainly always relished one of those.

 

#120:  Author: Identity Hunt, Location: UK PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:56 am

Laughing Shocked Laughing
I am giggling furiously as I read this !
I **like** Elsie !

She will certainly bring them to full understanding of "Workers of the world unite!", and I am sure her militancy could spread to the teaching staff too ........

 

#121:  Author: Ally, Location: Jack Maynard's Dressing Room!! PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:19 am

Elsie sounds like just/ exactly what the school needs. I can wait to see what happns. Thanks Alison. Very Happy

 

#122:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:21 am

Like Elsie a lot!

Thanks Alison!

 

#123:  Author: JenniferG, Location: Durham PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:20 am

They even make the domestic staff curtsy to the Head? How shocking! No wonder they need a shake-up.

Looking forward to seeing how Elsie gets on.. Very Happy

-Jennifer

 

#124:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:26 am

If she is good at her job and gets things organised there and the work gets done, then she earns the right to change things.

 

#125:  Author: Nell, Location: London, England PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:40 am

This could be very interesting!!! *g*

 

#126:  Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:42 am

Oh fantastic!

Starts humming The Red Flag...

 

#127:  Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:22 am

So she's expecting enough time off to visit nearby cities on the weekends and get to Interlaken during summer evenings? Doesn't she know she has to be on hand to provide impromtu late night feasts for the girls?

 

#128:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:29 am

I think watching Elsie settle in and sort things out is going to be FUN!

Thanks, Alison Very Happy

 

#129:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:54 am

Thanks, Alison. I am really liking Elsie so far.

 

#130:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:21 am

So exactly why did Matron Lloyd go along? She didn't like shaking hands did she?

Think Elsie will provide a number of shocks. Laughing

Thanks Alison.

 

#131:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:42 pm

Thanks Alison.. I'm loving this

 

#132:  Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:31 pm

Go Elsie!

 

#133:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:12 pm

Oh the sparks are going to fly! How fabulous!
Thanks, Alison.

 

#134:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:14 pm

*bounces with glee*

I DO like Elsie.

 

#135:  Author: Changnoi as guest,  PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:35 pm

Oh, this is going to be great! I can't wait. Maybe Elsie can finally persuade Anna to leave Jo and go to work for Karen and Rudi. Or, as someone has suggested, spread her sentiment to the mistresses--or the students. The students can hold a clean-in or something on behalf of the domestic staff....

I had no idea that staff had to curtsey to the head as well.

Chang

 

#136:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:49 pm

OK, I'm hooked. I love Elsie, can't wait to see what happens.

 

#137:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:46 am

Thanks for the comments Very Happy !

Once Elsie and Vreneli were well out of the way, Matron slipped inside the cook’s bedroom. Might as well have a look round and see what she could find out about the woman. She’d usually ended up on the losing side in arguments with Karen – of which there’d been many – but she hadn’t had that problem with any of the cooks they’d had since Karen had left. The more she knew about this latest recruit, the more chance she’d have of continuing to be able to keep the upper hand in such domestic matters as she considered to be her concern.

She noticed that there was some sort of framed picture lying on the bed, evidently waiting to be put up on the wall. Karen had always insisted on having religious pictures on the wall: maybe this Elsie Bradshaw was equally devout. Or maybe it was some sort of embroidered sampler. Then again, it could just be a photograph of the woman’s family, she supposed. She walked over to the bed, took a good look at the picture, and was completely taken aback. It was a large photograph of what she could only describe as a group of rabble-rousers, waving placards outside what looked like some sort of factory building. What was more, she could swear that the woman standing right in the middle of the front row of the protesters was none other than the School’s new cook herself. What on earth … ?

She looked round the room. Books, she thought to herself. Were there any books in this room? You could tell a lot about a person from the sort of books they read. Yes: there was a pile of them sitting on the dressing table. Probably some of those dreadful trashy romantic novels that most of the domestic staff were so fond of. But no, these didn’t actually look like romances. She peered closely at them. “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin – The State and Revolution,” she read. “Sylvia Pankhurst – The Suffragette Movement. Friedrich Engels – The Condition of the Working-Classes in England.” The rest of the books seemed to be more of the same kind. Good Lord. She sat down on the dressing table chair. What sort of person had they employed here?

Should she say something to Hilda, she wondered. No, she couldn’t really do that: she could hardly admit that she’d been snooping round the new cook’s room. Snooping through the pupils’ belongings – euphemistically described as “drawer inspections” or “locker raids” – was considered acceptable, but going through the domestic staff’s things would probably be seen as taking things a step too far.

Oh well, she comforted herself, it probably wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked. Dollie Edwards had interviewed the woman and read her references, after all; and surely Dollie, who’d worked for the School for years, would never have offered a position at any branch of it to anyone who wasn’t likely to fit in with its time-honoured ways. Besides, Elsie Bradshaw would be at this very moment in Hilda Annersley’s office; and, whatever strange ideas she might have arrived at the School with, Hilda would very soon be able to put paid to them. Wouldn’t she?

Last edited by Alison H on Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:54 am; edited 1 time in total

 

#138:  Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:28 am

ROFL

I think Matey might have met her match!

 

#139:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:48 am

I hope she has!

Thanks Alison.

 

#140:  Author: alicat, Location: Wiltshire PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:28 am

has the immovable force met the irrisistible object???

 

#141:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:22 am

*boing*

This looks BRILLIANT. I cannot wait to hear Elsie give Hilda what-for.

 

#142:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:33 am

I hope Elsie discovers that Matey has been snooping and raps her knuckles for her. The cheek of it!

I'm looking forward to seeing the redoubtable Elsie in action. She seems the polar opposite of Elsie Dinsmore.

 

#143:  Author: Guest,  PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:42 am

Roughly when would this be set?

 

#144:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:45 am

I cannot wait to see the inevitable clash between Elsie and Matey...

 

#145:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:56 am

Jennie wrote:
I hope Elsie discovers that Matey has been snooping and raps her knuckles for her. The cheek of it!


Yes, I was hoping she would have turned round and gone back for something!

Thanks, Alison

 

#146:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:59 am

Anonymous wrote:
Roughly when would this be set?


In terms of books, it's now the summer term during which Theodora is set. In terms of dates, the triplets are currently 14 and will be 15 in November, so, going off the fact that they were born in 1939, it's 1954.

(It's the year after the coming of age celebrations which would mean that the school was founded only 6 years before the Anschluss which doesn't work at all, but EBD's dates never quite seem to work Rolling Eyes !)

Last edited by Alison H on Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

 

#147:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:01 pm

Yah, boo! I was hoping that was more of this.

 

#148:  Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:10 pm

Oh this is going to be so interesting when Matey and Elsie clash

 

#149:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:56 pm

Well Matey is a rotten snoop! I hope Elsie doesn't discover she's been prying, or it will be war right from the start between them!

Thanks, Alison.

 

#150:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:03 pm

And Matey will deserve everything she gets.

 

#151:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:12 pm

Alison H wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Roughly when would this be set?


In terms of books, it's now the summer term during which Theodora is set. In terms of dates, the twins are currently 14 and will be 15 in November, so, going off the fact that they were born in 1939, it's 1954.

(It's the year after the coming of age celebrations which would mean that the school was founded only 6 years before the Anschluss which doesn't work at all, but EBD's dates never quite seem to work Rolling Eyes !)


Erm, Alison, you do mean triplets there don't you? Wink

How dare Matey look through Elsie's things? I was another hoping that Elsie would return and catch her at it.

Thanks Alison.

 

#152:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:17 pm

Thanks, Alison. I also hope that Matey has met her match in Elsie.

 

#153:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:18 pm

Oops, yes Embarassed - I'd just been thinking about Jennifer's quiz question about twins so I must've had twins on the brain!

Have edited the original post now Embarassed Laughing .

 

#154:  Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:32 pm

Awww I thought that was an update!!!
I am looking foward to a full scale war between Elsie and Matron but, meanwhile, how is she getting on with the Head?
Thanks Alison Very Happy Very Happy

 

#155:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:52 am

I think that Karen was more than a match for Matey, but that since Karen’s left Matey’s got used to having things all her own way!

“Come in,” Hilda called in response to the knock at her office door. Elsie winced. What an awful voice. Talk about talking like cut glass! Oh well, she supposed that that was what you’d to expect in a place like this. She’d get used to it soon enough. She pushed open the door, and took Miss Annersley’s measure immediately from the patronising smile on the headmistress’s face. Here was one of those women - sorry, “ladies” - who thought it behove them to be graciously polite to those whom – quite evidently including the new cook – they considered to be beneath them when things were going according to their wishes, and would reprimand them in exactly the same way that they would reprimand a naughty child when things weren’t. Elsie gritted her teeth. If there was one thing she couldn’t be doing with, it was being patronised.

“Good afternoon,” Hilda said. “I’m Miss Annersley, the Headmistress of the Chalet School. I don’t normally have a great deal to do with members of the domestic staff, but as it’s your first day here I thought I’d make the time to see you so as to explain a few things.”

“Elsie Bradshaw,” Elsie said, holding out her hand. Better be polite to the boss: she wanted to make a success of this job when all was said and done. “Very pleased to meet you.”

Hilda frowned slightly and shook the proffered hand gingerly. Saying “Pleased to meet you,” rather than “How do you do?” was hardly the done thing; but that didn’t bother her nearly as much as the woman’s rather forward manner did. Still, it was early days yet. Plenty of people, including several pupils she could name, arrived at the Chalet School with manners that left something to be desired, and took a little while to settle into the School’s ways.

“Do take a seat, Elsie,” she said.

Oh yes, Elsie thought. She didn’t know much about the ways of folk who thought they were posh, but she did know that they were supposed to address cooks as “Mrs” (even when, like herself, they’d never actually been wed) rather than by their first names; and doing otherwise seemed to her to indicate a distinct lack of respect. Well, they’d soon find out that nobody got away with taking any liberties with her. “Oh,” she said, in what she hoped was an innocent-sounding voice. “I’d assumed that all the formalities would be observed in a school like this one. Still, if you all prefer to use first names then you’ll not find me arguing about it. Sorry love, I forget what your first name is now. Hetty, is it?”

 

#156:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:29 am

Laughing One up to Elsie there already, then!

Thanks, Alison.

 

#157:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:35 am

This is great

 

#158:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:06 am

Go Elsie! Laughing

 

#159:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:14 am

Alison H wrote:
“I’d assumed that all the formalities would be observed in a school like this one. Still, if you all prefer to use first names then you’ll not find me arguing about it. Sorry love, I forget what your first name is now. Hetty, is it?”


*splutters*

Well done Mrs Bradshaw (not sure I dare say 'Elsie' now) - start as you mean to go on!

Thanks, Alison Laughing

 

#160:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:44 am

Hetty!

*sniggers*

I do hope Hilda has a cutting comeback for that one, so we can see Elsie squish her.

 

#161:  Author: Elle, Location: Peterborough PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:45 am

I have just discovered this Alison, and it is excellent, thank you.



I'm slightly ashamed to ask this but what is it a sequel to? Embarassed Embarassed

 

#162:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:56 am

Elle, it's a sequel to 'The Light That Never goes Out'

One up for Elsie! Er, will she mind if we call her that, or do we have to say Mrs Bradshaw?

 

#163:  Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:48 pm

What WILL Hilda say now? Confused
Thanks Alison Very Happy

 

#164:  Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA PostPosted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:56 pm

I am going to say, "Go, Elsie!" because she can call me "Chang" any day. Also, I don't expect her to cook for me, though if she wanted to clean my kitchen, it'd be appreciated, and I could pay her in used books (not, of course, CS books). But I think I have some socialist stuff from university lying around somewhere...

Chang

 

#165:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 6:12 am

Ouch! Ducks and runs.....

 

#166:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:48 am

Hope this bit isn't too silly - once Elsie's meeting with Hilda's over it'll get back to the more serious issues about the School's attitudes towards the domestic staff!

“It’s Hilda,” Hilda said faintly. “You address me as “Miss Annersley”, though; and you address the rest of the teaching staff in the same manner.”

“Oh,” Elsie said innocently. “Forgive me, but if you prefer things the formal way then isn’t it usual for a cook to be addressed as “Mrs” in this sort of place? You fair threw me when you used my first name. I assumed that everyone would be sticklers for protocol somewhere like this, if you don’t mind my saying so.”

Hilda was flummoxed. They’d never referred to their cooks as “Mrs” at the Chalet School, but she hardly liked to say that they didn’t abide by the proper rules of etiquette. That would give the wrong impression entirely. “Er, quite. Of course,” she said. She was beginning to get the feeling that this was going to take rather longer than she’d anticipated, and she decided that it might be an idea to ask for some coffee to be sent up from the kitchen.

“Would you like a cup of coffee, El …ah, Mrs Bradshaw?” she asked.

“Tea for me, please,” Elsie said. She smiled pleasantly. This was better. She’d not had a drink since arriving at the train station in Interlaken and she was gasping for a brew.

“We don’t have tea here,” Hilda explained. “Would you perhaps like a glass of milk if you don’t care for coffee?”

Elsie looked at her blankly. Milk? What would she want to be drinking milk for? What was she - a cat? “You what? You don’t have tea here?” she asked in bemusement. She knew that tea wasn’t as popular on the Continent as it was at home; but this was a British school, wasn’t it? How could they not have tea? She’d never heard the like.

“Er, no,” Hilda said. “Well, not at the School. Mrs Maynard, who lives in the house next door, has tea. She invites people round in the afternoons sometimes. I’m afraid she doesn’t ask the domestic staff, though.”

Elsie was beginning to wonder if Hilda Annersley was quite a full shilling. Who the heck was Mrs Maynard; and were people supposed to go next door – by invitation only - every time they wanted a cup of tea? Well, she’d soon have this matter seen to: she made a mental note to order several large packets of tea at the first possible opportunity.

However, she was supposed to be sorting out the terms of her employment, not spending half the afternoon discussing hot beverages. “I suppose I’d best have coffee for once, then, please,” she said briskly. “Now then, Miss Annersley. I’m sure you’ve a lot to do and I’m sure there’ll be plenty for me to do an’ all, so shall we get down to business?”

 

#167:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:56 am

Oh, it will be interesting when Elsie meets Jo. I hope she becomes friendly with Anna, too - if Anna has time to be friendly, that is!

 

#168:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 8:11 am

I'm looking forward to Elsie's response when she is reprimanded for making her own choices of cleaning materials....

 

#169:  Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 8:39 am

I think part of the problem is that their staff have typically been people who have been there forever - Matey, Karen and so on, who have power and have helped shape the school traditions, and what appears to be a succession of local teenage peasant/country girls who are young and inexperienced enough to be easily cowed, or who will just leave rather than stay and fight for their rights.

Think of how even Miss Slater and Kathie Ferrars were treated for not following some of the unspoken traditions of the school (must locally stay with the school until you marry and must love Mary-Lou respectively).

 

#170:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 8:49 am

Oh how fine. I love this. I cannot wait for more. Thankyou!

 

#171:  Author: Le Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:49 am

Else- oh sorry Mrs Bradshaw- can start her own tea emporium now! A rival to Joey Maynard!!! Laughing Laughing
This is indeed very fine, thanks!! Very Happy

 

#172:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:18 pm

Well done, Elsie, er, Mrs Bradshaw, Ma'am. That told her! Now, please let's see her tackle Matey!

 

#173:  Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:03 pm

Alison H wrote:


“Elsie Bradshaw,” Elsie said, holding out her hand. Better be polite to the boss: she wanted to make a success of this job when all was said and done. “Very pleased to meet you.”

Hilda frowned slightly and shook the proffered hand gingerly. Saying “Pleased to meet you,” rather than “How do you do?” was hardly the done thing;


OK, this is a question from the mannerless Yankee.

Are you still supposed to say "How do you do?" in response and not
"Pleased to meet you" when you're meeting someone? What's wrong with saying "Pleased to meet you"? Is this only the case when the meeting is between people of two different social classes?

(I say "Pleased to meet you" all the time; now I am worried that I have no manners...)

In need of an etiquette lesson,

Chang

 

#174:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:33 pm

In the 1950s, saying "Pleased to meet you," instead of "How do you do?" wouldn't have been considered appropriate by "posh" people of the sort attending the Chalet School, but I think it's seen as being OK now, and it was never not OK except with people like those at the Chalet School who were keen on observing proper etiquette and so on - as indicated by some of the stuff in Problem.

I always say "Pleased to meet you" and usually get the same in response, and I didn't actually realise that it was regarded as being inappropriate by posh people (of which I am definitely not one anyway, especially by CS standards Laughing !)in previous generations until I read it somewhere!

Sorry for the confusion, Chang Rolling Eyes ! It was just meant to show a bit of a culture clash in that Elsie thought she was being polite but Hilda took it differently.

 

#175:  Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:55 pm

And I was all excited because I thought that was an update. *sulks*

 

#176:  Author: keren, Location: Israel PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:09 pm

It is funny that there was no tea, even in the staff room.
Hope she teaches Anna her rights!

 

#177:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:42 pm

Going back to the post before this latest one - a little inverse snobbery there from Elsie - Hilda can no more help the way she speaks than anyone else. That her accent reflects a different class is not her fault.

And yes, of course I'm biased, but I think justifiably in this case! Wink

As to the whole addressing the cook by her first name - I think that was a hold over from the Tyrol when the maids and kitchen staff were all very young Austrian girls none of whom would have considered it unusual to be addressed by their Christian names. Elsie was right to correct Hilda there.

Wonder why the Staff never had tea? It can't have been difficult to do as Elsie plans, and bring some over with their luggage?

Thanks Alison.

 

#178:  Author: Becky, Location: Newport, South Wales, UK PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:59 pm

Thanks Alison, this is great. Looking forward to hearing how Elsie gets on at the school - and how long she lasts!

 

#179:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:50 pm

I hope that Elsie can talk properly to Hilda at some time and explain her point of view and philosophy. An intelligent, fairminded, sensitive woman such as she would want to understand, and none of us is aware of how much cultural baggage we tote round with us until someone questions it.

Isn't it strange, my background is Welsh mining working class, but I never realised as a child that Miss Annersley and Miss Wilson were well-off and 'posh' in my terms, though of course they must have been. EBD wasn't, either, of course ...

 

#180:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:34 am

Hopefully they will get to talk properly at some point at the future, but I think Elsie's arrived with the attitude that members of the middle and upper classes are the "opposition" and doesn't particularly want to get on with them except insofar as she has to to do her job.

This is the last update before the Board closes for rebuilding. I'm away Bank Holiday weekend so I am hoping to return to find a shiny new Board - thanks to the lovely clever people who are rebuilding it! Please can (or even may!) this go in Ste Therese's on the new Board?

Twenty minutes or so later, Hilda’s head was spinning and she was experiencing very mixed feelings about her new employee. On the one hand, “Mrs” Bradshaw had assured her that she would soon have the domestic side of the School running like clockwork, and Hilda believed her. She was quite sure that before long Elsie Bradshaw would have everything almost as organised as Karen had done, and even more sure that she would stand no nonsense from anyone. On the other hand … well, some of the ideas she seemed to have were odd in the extreme.

For one thing, she seemed to have some very strange notions about working hours. What was it she’d said? Something about quite understanding that a boarding school wouldn’t work nine to five (or “seventeen” if Miss Annersley insisted on calling it that) but assuming that some sort of shift system were in place. Then something about accepting that sometimes it might be necessary to work extra hours and being quite willing to do that, provided that overtime was paid accordingly; and realising that of course meals would be required on Saturdays and Sundays, but expecting that time off would be given in the week to make up for any time worked at weekends. On top of that, Hilda had got the impression that the woman might be rather less than amenable to being told that she would need to make changes to her arrangements with no prior warning on days when sunny or snowy weather resulted in outings and sporting activities being organised at short notice.

All that had been cause enough for concern, but worse had followed. When Hilda had asked her if she were a Protestant or a Catholic, she’d raised her eyebrows and said that she never set foot in a church except for christenings, weddings and funerals, and that, with all due respect to Miss Annersley if she were of a religious turn of mind, in her view religion was designed mainly to keep working folk in their place.

Hilda had been too shocked to say much after that; and for that reason she had a horrible feeling that she hadn’t made it quite clear enough that all that nonsense about set working hours and time off in lieu wasn’t the way that things were done at the Chalet School and would most certainly never work here. They didn’t have enough domestic staff for it to work, apart from anything else; and, as she’d said at the meeting last term, they couldn’t afford to employ any more as things stood. It would, of course, help if so many of the School’s places weren’t taken up by the Russells’ non- fee-paying relations; but that was just the way it was.

Oh well, at least Mrs Bradshaw had signed the agreement guaranteeing that she wouldn’t leave the School before the end of the term … even if she had, before so doing, insisted that the document be amended to state that the School in turn guaranteed to retain her services at least until the end of term, insisting that that was only fair. Hilda, who prided herself on her strong sense of justice, had found herself unable to argue with that, especially as time had been pressing on and she had an extremely large pile of correspondence waiting to be dealt with. She was now beginning to feel that it might not have been the wisest decision she’d ever made … but it was done now.

Still, the new cook would soon learn. People who came to the Chalet School, whether as pupils or as staff, always did.

Well, nearly always.

 

#181:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:36 am

Fantastic!

Thanks, Alison - shall be eagerly awaiting more when the CBB returns Very Happy

 

#182:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 11:40 am

I'm going to miss this when the new board is being built. Thanks, Alison. I wonder who will win?

 

#183:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 1:03 pm

Well, I'm cheering for Elsie!

Thanks, Alison. Have a good bank holiday weekend.

 

#184:  Author: Sarah_L, Location: Leeds PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:30 pm

Just out of interest, does anyone know how boarding schools these days manage their staff? I imagine they will get the equivalent of two days off a week, but are some staff expected to work extra hours as they have the long holidays?
Really looking forward to seeing how Elsie and Matron get on.

 

#185:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:40 pm

Thanks, Alison. It's great to see the talk between Miss Annersley and Miss Bradshaw.

 

#186:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:12 pm

Thanks Alison. Nice to see Elsie standing up for herself and her rights. I just want to see if she'll make all the maids think the same way now!

 

#187:  Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:24 pm

I strongly suspect that this is definitely going to be an exception! Laughing

 

#188:  Author: Cathy, Location: Sydney, Australia PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:37 pm

I can't wait for her and Anna to meet. I have a not so sneaking suspicion that Elsie may make Anna's working conditions a bit of a personal crusade. And good luck to her!

 

#189:  Author: Elle, Location: Peterborough PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:19 am

Hee hee!


Thanks for the update.

And thank you for telling me what it is a sequel to Jennie.

 

#190:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:45 pm

I'm betting 10 to 1 on Elsie winning the battle. Hilda is just assuming that things will go on as before, and hasn't learned anything from the last few cooks.

 

#191:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:48 pm

I'm betting on Elsie leaving after, say, a year but everyone having learned a lot...

 

#192:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:03 pm

Seeing as we're still here, thought I'd post a bit of "background" info leading up to Elsie's first clash with Matron Wink .

The other members of the Chalet School domestic staff were all rather apprehensive pending the arrival of yet another cook. The head of any department in any workplace made a big difference to those working in it, not only to their own work but to the way in which the department was perceived by those outside it. The few of them who’d doubted that in the past did so no longer.

The School prided itself on the high standards of conduct of its pupils and mistresses. New girls were frequently told how “every farthing of twopence” was put on good manners, little old-fashioned courtesies such as pupils curtsying to the Headmistress were observed by all concerned, and anyone using inappropriate language or behaving in an ill-bred way such as making unkind personal remarks to another pupil would soon find herself being sharply reprimanded.

In the same way, anyone caught being rude to any member of the domestic staff would be told icily that it ill became a lady to be rude to anyone and that one should show consideration to those less fortunate than oneself; and would probably be made to apologise forthwith. Consequently such unpleasantness was rare and most of those involved with the School would not have hesitated for a moment, if asked, to say that the domestic staff were well treated.

However, along with those ideas went the idea, equally based upon the standards of the upper social echelons of an earlier age, that the domestic staff, as servants, were there to serve. There was no concept of legal rights, agreed working hours, conditions of employment or set job descriptions; and the Chalet School certainly wasn’t an easy place to work if you were a maid or a “handyman”. It didn’t help that most of them were young, that most of the more confident and assertive of them tended to leave to work elsewhere after finding the culture at the Chalet School not to their liking and that, in an environment where great importance was placed on length of service, none of them had been there for longer than the few years for which the School had been at the Gornetz Platz. Karen had been the only member of the domestic staff to have been with the School in Austria and Britain as well as in Switzerland.

 

#193:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:34 pm

I'm so glad we're still here!

Thanks, Alison.

 

#194:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:16 pm

Thanks, Alison. I'm sorry that they are all treated in such an unfair way.

 

#195:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:26 pm

I don't want to start a discussion if it has been done to death in the past, but do you really think you can judge fairness by 2006 standards?

 

#196:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:46 pm

No, you can't, Ibarhis, but please don't forget that it took almost a century, and perhaps longer, (I'm not a historian) to get fair treatment for working people.

 

#197:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:56 pm

I don't think we can - but we can judge it according to the working conditions in Switzerland in the 1950s, and even by them the CS staff don't get an ever remotely good deal.

I hope Elsie will be able to change things, I have a feeling that she'll soon change the attitudes of the domestic staff!

 

#198:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:56 pm

Tolpuddle Martyrs was in the 1850s iirc.

I suppose my point is that yes, the CS was out of date by the 50s but nowhere near as much as now...

I'm really enjoying the drabble by the way... CS meets The Angry Young Men (or women in this case!)

 

#199:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:39 pm

The Tolpuddle Martyrs were exiled in 1834 (excuse the waffle - I have had a boring day of accounts and the 19th century is my pet topic !). The first Factory Acts came in in Britain at about the same time - Switzerland and various other European countries followed later in the 19th century. The first employment legislation was aimed at factories, mines etc, so domestic staff got left out for a long time.

By the 1950s things'd obviously changed a lot, but the C.S. and Joey still seemed to have this view of the domestic staff as members of the household rather than as employees, if that makes any sense! I'm quite sure that they (because obviously they are all real people Wink ) genuinely thought that the way they treated them was great e.g. they let them have a sitting room ... but because they had this old-fashioned "upstairs downstairs" attitude it never occurred to them to let them use the same staffroom as the teaching staff.

However, as ibarhis said, even "up-to-date" views in the first half of the 1950s would probably seem outdated when judged by today's standards, and, for example, a lot of the parents of the C.S. girls would probably have had the same attitudes towards the domestic staff as the School did. I was watching something on the '80s the other day and feeling really old thinking how much everything'd changed just since then!

Sorry for droning on Embarassed ! Will shut up now Very Happy .

 

#200:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:47 pm

Many apologies for being 20 years out... my brain is somewhat fried at the moment and I should have checked my facts.

 

#201:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:54 pm

Didn't mean it like that, sorry. My university dissertation was on the cotton industry in the 19th century and I can still remember most of the dates relating to things like 19th century trade unions and Factory Acts ... although I can never remember very much to do with accounts which is what I'm supposed to do these days!

The main point was that things were better when Karen was in charge because people knew not to mess her about, partly because the C.S. was so obsessed with people who'd been there since Tyrol days!

 

#202:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:04 pm

No, I was entirely serious. I should have checked my facts...

 

#203:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:02 pm

Reading all this, an interesting point occurred to me. I used to be a Head of Year in the Sixth Form at our very large local comp, wonderful young people who were, on the whole, my joy and my delight. The only time I remember really losing my cool and throwing a major wobbly was when I was sitting in my office, invisible from the outside, and overheard a group of them being abominably rude to one of the cleaning staff, along the lines of, we aren't picking it up, that's your job, what do you think you're here for etc. Upset and furious, I erupted, breathing out threatenings and slaughter and annihilated them (also astonished them, as I didn't normally raise my voice -didn't need to), but what's happening here? With all the rights and decent working conditions and everything else, they're still being treated like some sort of inferior being, there for the use of their masters. At least the kids wouldn't be allowed to behave like that in the CS. All I'm saying, I think, is that it is still more complicated than just employment regulations.

 

#204:  Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:02 am

Although the CS people may treat their domestic staff better than some modern day people treat janitorial workers or other cleaning staff, I think the rationale behind the action of the CS is problematic. The CS would treat the domestic staff kindly out of some idea of noblesse oblige--"ladies are not rude to their inferiors"--sort of thing. When modern people are rude--and this is not excusing it, I despise it--I think there's more of a presumption of equality, just less of a presumption that anyone, equal or not, deserves consideration.

I don't know which world is better to live in.


I still like this story very much. I wish they taught American children about such things as the Tolpuddle Martyrs in school, so that I didn't have to consult reference texts so frequently in order to understand an argument, though Sad .

Chang

 

#205:  Author: Mia, Location: London PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:16 am

I think this reads quite realistically ! But then my Commie parents would have made Elsie look like Margaret Thatcher, lol

 

#206:  Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:01 pm

This one is definitely the last update before the Board goes down - I need to get ready to go away over Bank Holiday weekend and have a nasty pile of ironing to do before I can pack! Thanks for the comments.

One or two members of the domestic staff had thought that their lives might become easier when Karen, who’d ruled them with a rod of iron, left. The rest of them had realised that the opposite would be true; and had been proved right. Karen, partly because she’d been with the School so long and partly because of the force of her own personality, had commanded a certain respect from the teaching staff and pupils, and, as a result of that, when she’d been in charge of domestic matters no-one had dared to turn up late for meals or expect the maids to clear up any mess which was the pupils’ own fault. Also, she’d made very sure that everyone in her department had known exactly what they were supposed to be doing when.

In addition to that, whilst Karen might have been very strict and prone to scold people severely when she thought they deserved it – although any of them who’d ever been ill or unhappy during their time at the School knew just how soft she was really - she’d been fiercely protective of “her” staff and had always defended them against Matron or anyone else when the need had arisen. None of the cooks they’d had since then had been able to command the same sort of respect from “upstairs”, and that had quickly filtered through to the way in which the domestic department in general was perceived.

Their initial reaction to Elsie Bradshaw’s arrival was mixed. She made it clear from the start that she wouldn’t be messed about by anyone and that she expected hard work and plenty of it; she made numerous changes to their daily routine; and she did all that without displaying any of the maternal attitude towards the younger maids that Karen had shown. However, she made sure that no-one worked more than a certain number of hours in a day, and she also made it very clear from the start that she intended to stand up to the School authorities. Even those members of the domestic staff who weren’t convinced about her to start with began to see her more favourably only a few days into the term, when she clashed head-on with Matron.

 

#207:  Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:05 pm

Alison, no! Tell us about Elsie vs. Matron before you go!

Thank you for the update - glad Elsie seems to be doing theings her way.

 

#208:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:12 pm

Oh look, a cliff - nice one! Laughing

Thanks Alison.

 

#209:  Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:12 pm

please Alison, tell us about the clash between Matron and Elsie. Offers chocolates has a bribe

 

#210:  Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:20 pm

That's a rotten place to leave it Alison!

 

#211:  Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:21 pm

Offers to do the ironing if it means we get to hear about Matey's clash with Elsie before you go!

Thanks, Alison.

 

#212:  Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:30 pm

Fatima wrote:
Offers to do the ironing if it means we get to hear about Matey's clash with Elsie before you go!

Thanks, Alison.


Couldn't do mine while you're at it, could you? Wink

 

#213:  Author: ibarhis, Location: London PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:40 pm

You are a wicked woman... hanging over the edge of that cliff is going to become very painful after a while!

Adding my chant to the others on the list!

 

#214:  Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:56 pm

Thanks, Alison. I'll offer to help with the ironing as well. I wonder what is going to happen with Matron.

 

#215:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:37 pm

*stealths quietly past the chanters to claim a ringside seat*

Looking forward to seeing the clash!

Have a great weekend away, Alison Very Happy

 

#216:  Author: Mrs Redboots, Location: London, UK PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:53 pm

Changnoi wrote:
Although the CS people may treat their domestic staff better than some modern day people treat janitorial workers or other cleaning staff, I think the rationale behind the action of the CS is problematic. The CS would treat the domestic staff kindly out of some idea of noblesse oblige--"ladies are not rude to their inferiors"--sort of thing. When modern people are rude--and this is not excusing it, I despise it--I think there's more of a presumption of equality, just less of a presumption that anyone, equal or not, deserves consideration


Oh, I don't know, Chang - I was at school probably less than ten years after this story is set (mid-1960s), and we were certainly required to treat the domestic staff with the same courtesy that we were required to treat any other staff member (or, indeed, older girl). Not from any thought of "noblesse oblige", but simply because they were older, and therefore deserving of respect. And woe betide you if you didn't!

The central kitchens were ruled by a Matey-type (or, indeed, Karen-type), with a heart of gold....

I am enjoying this story, thank you very much Alison. But I always think of Joey Bettany's "Red peril" sunshade when I see the title!

Have a fantastic weekend, and I'll enjoy reading the rest of it when you are back. Or, ideally, before you go away, but I know that's not realistic, alas.....

 

#217:  Author: Alice, Location: London, England PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:39 pm

Just caught up on lots of this, thanks Alison. Looking forward to more next week.

 

#218:  Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:04 pm

Come on, Alison! You know that you really do want to tell and us, and it would be cruelty to poor dumb CBBers if you left it hanging like that....

 

#219:  Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:31 pm

Alison! Am speechless. You wouldn't be so cruel - would you?

Have a good weekend, and don't let the thought of the misery you have left behind spoil it for you ... Wink

 

#220:  Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:25 pm

Have a good holiday Alison; I would volunteer to do your ironing (it's actually a job I quite enjoy as it gives me plenty of thinking time) - but it's a long way from Australia.... Very Happy

 

The CBB -> Starting again at Sarres...


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