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Raise the scarlet standard high (updated 05/06/06, p.25)

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#1: Raise the scarlet standard high (updated 05/06/06, p.25) Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 10:52 pm
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Hopefully the first part of this, and \"A light that never goes out\" to which this is the sequel, will have been archived from the old board Very Happy

, so here's a new bit.

Raise The Scarlet Standard High - Part One
Ally

Matron was never at her best during the first week of term. There were invariably problems with the unpacking – it was amazing how many people managed to forget crucial items time after time - and it always took the girls a few days to settle back into the routine of school life. She’d been looking forward to a quiet Saturday evening recovering from it all, and instead she’d been told that half a dozen members of Upper IV b had been misbehaving and would consequently be missing Saturday evening’s dancing and coming to her to spend the time hemming sheets instead. Why she was always the one who was expected to spend Saturday evenings supervising miscreants, she didn’t know.

So she was in a bad enough mood as it was, and when she found that a pile of sheets hadn’t been ironed to her exacting standards she marched down to the laundry room and demanded that they be ironed again at once. “I trust that you will see to it, Mrs Bradshaw,” she said icily to the new head of the domestic staff, who was in there at the time. “These sheets are to be ironed again immediately and brought up to me for inspection as soon as they are ready. This level of work simply isn’t good enough, and I would be obliged if you would try to ensure that things are done properly in future. We have high standards at this School, as these maids ought to know and as you will very soon find out if you haven’t done so already.”

“Don’t you take that tone of voice with me, lady,” Elsie said furiously. Who did the woman think she was, coming down here shouting the odds like that? She hadn’t been keen on Matron Lloyd from the start - some of the items in her room had seemed to have moved about slightly when she’d returned from that first day interview with Miss Annersley and she’d had the distinct feeling that Matron had been in there snooping – and she certainly wasn’t having anybody ordering her or anyone else in her department around in that manner. Did she think they’d nothing else to do with their time than iron a pile of sheets that had been ironed once already?

“Let’s have a look at them sheets,” she demanded. She took them out of Matron’s hands and ran her eye over them. She could quite honestly say that they looked perfectly all right to her. “Nothing wrong with them,” she sniffed, handing them straight back. “Now, if that’s all, I’d be obliged if you’d take your sheets back upstairs and let us get on with our work.”

“Mrs Bradshaw,” Matron said. “I don’t think you quite understand the position. I am the Head Matron of this School, and as such I am responsible for the dormitories and therefore for the state of the bed linen.”

“Yes, and I’m the Head of the domestic staff of this School, which makes me responsible for the ironing. If I say those sheets are all right, then they’re all right. Unless you want to iron them again yourself, of course.”

“Well really!” Matron said in disgust. She stood there and glared. Elsie stood there immovably, her arms folded in front of her; and the maids, who’d been watching the exchange with interest, moved to form a line behind her. Matron sniffed loudly, turned her back and left, taking the sheets with her.

The laundry maids were quick to tell the tale to the rest of the domestic staff, most of whom had fallen foul of Matron at one time or another, and Elsie soon found that publicly getting the better of Gwynneth Lloyd had been a crucial turning point for her - winning her the backing of her colleagues to an extent that no cook had enjoyed at the Chalet School since Karen had left, and strengthening her position immeasurably. Things couldn’t have gone better if she’d planned the incident with the sheets herself!

Last edited by Alison H on Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:54 am; edited 37 times in total

#2: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 11:03 pm
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Twisted Evil

At last someone has stood up to the 'domestic tyrant'!!! Good for Elsie!

#3: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 12:24 am
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Well done Elsie! As for Matey - has she ever told anyone that she doesn't like losing her Saturday evenings? Or does she just like playing the martyr?

Thanks Alison.

#4: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 3:14 am
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Oooohhh! Isn't it going to be a wonderful battle between the two of them! Thanks, Alison!

I wonder if anyone would have taken over Matey's job of looking after the miscreants on a Saturday evening, though; it's not the sort of school where one could just say "Oh, I think I deserve some time off on a Saturday night", either.

#5: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 4:58 am
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See, it was not only the cook who was expected to be permanently on duty.
Matron was always expected to be on duty, to get up in the night etc.
If she is not there it is because she went over to another house, or was ill. So are staff generally. There is not someone whose turn it is to get up if there are noises in the night Smile

What I mean is that the expectation to be always on duty was not confined to karen

Last edited by keren on Tue May 02, 2006 6:40 am; edited 1 time in total

#6: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 5:01 am
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Oh, lovely, lovely.

So you can stand up to Matey and not die a slow and agonizing death. I had no idea.

Chang

#7: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 9:07 am
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Thanks Alison - about time someone told her off!

#8: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 10:27 am
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Thanks, Alison. I'm glad that Elsie told Matron off.

#9: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 10:43 am
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Hurrah! Well done Elsie!

But poor Matron with the Saturday night thing

Ironing sheets! Good grief, it's unlucky to sleep on ironed sheets anyway Wink

#10: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 11:05 am
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Maybe other members of staff will start to stand up for themselves - including Matron! There is always more than one point of view!

#11: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 3:40 pm
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Mia wrote:

Ironing sheets! Good grief, it's unlucky to sleep on ironed sheets anyway Wink

*giggles*
I shall have to remember that one!! Wink

Thanks Alison, methinks this will not be the last clash between Elsie and Matey!

#12: Author: La Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 4:48 pm
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I see Mrs Bradshaw's point of view exactly. If the sheets are reasonably clean and smooth it doesn't matter, they just get slept in anyway! Very Happy

Thanks Alison!

#13: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 5:34 pm
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*giggles muchly*

Thanks Alison, it was great to see the confrontation between them. I'm definitely on Mrs Bradshaw's side! You would have thought Matey would have better things to do with her time...

Kathryn

#14: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 7:47 am
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Thanks for the archiving, Ally Very Happy

.

“How’s the new cook getting on?” Joey asked when Hilda and Nell joined her for English tea at Freudesheim two weeks after the start of term. “The girls tell me that she’s causing all sorts of trouble, but Rosli seems quite taken with her.”

“Rosli?” Hilda asked in bemusement. “When did Rosli meet Mrs Bradshaw?” Surely Joey hadn’t got Elsie Bradshaw taking food parcels over to Freudesheim as Karen used to do – she couldn’t imagine that!

“Last week. I told Anna to make a big batch of lemon biscuits but she said she was running short of flour and hadn’t had chance to see about getting any more – it’s not like her to be so disorganised, I must say! – so I sent Rosli over to get some from the School kitchen. She said that your new cook was very pleasant, and that she’d said that it was nice to meet the neighbours and then something about sticking together. My daughters don’t seem very impressed with her, though.”

Hilda wondered about the “sticking together” comment, but decided to concentrate on answering Joey’s question. “How’s she getting on? Well, no-one turns up late for meals any more - but that’s because she’s told the maids that all the meals are to be put on the tables at set times and cleared away at set times, so anyone who arrives late gets their food cold and finds themselves having to clear their tables before they’ve finished eating. Nor are the maids spending their time mopping up spillages in the classrooms any more - but that’s because she’s told them that if anyone asks them to do so then they’re to ignore the request completely.

“She’s got the cleaning rota organised properly, so rooms aren’t ending up being cleaned when they’re meant to be in use any more - but most of the rooms aren’t being cleaned as often as they were previously. She says that people should only have to work so many hours in a day and that it’s not her fault or the maids’ fault that we haven’t got enough staff, and so she’s worked it all out so that none of the domestic staff are working more than seven hours a day. That’s also meaning that we’re only getting very simple meals – even though there’s nothing actually wrong with them - and that we’re sometimes having to wait several days for items to come back from the wash – even though when they are ready they always come back to the right people.

“Then, last Sunday, she refused to make picnics for the girls’ outing to Mahlhausen. She was told about it on Saturday night, but she said that she had nothing ready because she’d been given no notice, and that it wasn’t “on” to expect her to get up at “crack of dawn” to start making meat pies and lemonade for hundreds of people. We didn’t think she was being serious, but on the Sunday morning we found that there was nothing ready apart from the usual lunchtime cold meats and salads – so they had to take those, share them out as best they could and buy drinks there. Also, although I don’t know all the details, during the first week of term she was rather rude to Matron over some sheets that needed ironing – and in front of the laundry maids as well.”

#15: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 8:50 am
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Thanks Alison. Looking forward to see what happens next - is Elsie going to encourage Anna and Rosli to only work 7 hours a day?

#16: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 9:37 am
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Very good.
The thing about these drabbles is that it makes you think about general things happening in the CS.
Did She give Rosli flour, more interesting, did Joey/Anna return the flour, or did they consider that what was the school's was theirs.
Also, presumably the staff knew about the trips in advance, why only tell the kitchen at the last minute?

#17: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 10:10 am
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Thanks Alison, this is great. I do like Elsie, she's wonderful

#18: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 12:06 pm
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I don't know enough about working conditions in boarding schools to know if Elsie would have been considered completely unreasonable in the 50's, or even now. Surely some consideration would be expected a. because the girls are there 24/7 (not like canteen conditions after all) and b. because of the long holidays.

That doesn't excuse plain bad manners (not giving enough notice for example) or indeed bad management and I am being picky I know... but only because I'm really enjoying this and am getting involved with the issues.

#19: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 1:56 pm
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Thanks, Alison. I'm glad that things are running more efficiently with Elsie being in charge.

#20: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 3:03 pm
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Thanks Alison...Elsie is definitely making some interesting changes to the regime in the CS and not before time Very Happy

Kathryn

#21: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
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This is absolutely fabulous, Alison. It's nice to hear that Hilda has noticed the good side to what Elsie...sorry, Mrs. Bradshaw, is doing. She sees the clothes coming back to the right person, the girls not being late for meals...all positive things. However, I'm sure the others don't feel quite so positive about it!
*Whispers 'What about matey?'*

#22: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 3:58 pm
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Wonder if Anna deliberately ran out of flour? Would love to see if Elsie had influenced Anna and Rosli.

At least she means what she says - in future they will give proper notice for outings. And the fact that rooms are being cleaned and laundry going back to correct people has also been noticed.

Thanks Alison.

#23: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 4:13 pm
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Well I for one am glad to see that Hilda, for all that it's obviously annoying her, can appreciate what Mrs Bradshaw is doing.

Thanks Alison

#24: Author: Sarah_L, Location: Leeds

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 8:49 pm
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And at least she's stuck to calling her Mrs Bradshaw, even amongst friends. When is the Joey/Elsie confrontation going to happen btw?

#25: Author: MaryR, Location: Cheshire

Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 9:07 pm
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Thanks, Alison. I felt as breathless as Hilda sounded when she recounted all that. Laughing

#26: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:19 am
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Thanks for the comments Very Happy

!

Nell took up the tale at this point. “It’s a very difficult situation. We don’t really want to have to start looking for yet another cook, and from what I’m told there’s no denying the fact that in many ways things are running more efficiently than they’ve done at any time since Karen left. However, her behaviour and some of the working practices she’s introduced are completely unacceptable, especially this notion of only working so many hours a day regardless of what may or may not need doing; and, quite apart from that, we can’t have anyone, especially a member of the domestic staff, just doing things as she personally sees fit.

“If we’re seen to be accepting of one person making changes unilaterally and setting their own standards, sooner or later other people will want to do the same and then there’ll be chaos. She already seems to have the full support of the rest of the domestic staff. Incidentally, we’ve also found out that she lets them stay out until all hours – she’ll give the key to the kitchen door to any of the maids who tells her that they’re going to be late in.

“We’re also concerned that she might be unsettling some of the junior mistresses. Hilda heard Kathie Ferrars and Sharlie Andrews muttering something the other day about it not being at all convenient having lessons cancelled to make way for trips down to Lake Thun, especially during this term when there are public exams, and not being happy about being expected to give up their evenings to help with school plays and other activities; and that as you know is not the sort of attitude that we expect at the Chalet School.”

“Well, she sounds like trouble to me,” Joey said frankly. “We’ve been going for twenty two years and our systems work perfectly well as they are, and even if changes were needed it certainly wouldn’t be for someone who’d only been at the School for a fortnight to start making them at will. It sounds to me as if, on top of being workshy and generally obstructive, she’s only interested in making life easy for her own department rather than being concerned with what’s best for the School as a whole. That sort of attitude isn’t what we want at all. You can’t have one person pulling in a different direction from the School in general – and fancy her being rude to Matey, of all people! I think you should tell her to leave. It’s what Madge did with Miss Bubb, and with Matron Webb and Matron Besly; and it was for the best every time.”

That, Hilda reflected, was all very well for Joey to say. She wasn’t the one who’d have to try to find yet another replacement for Karen. Also, sending Elsie Bradshaw packing might not be all that easy, especially given the terms of that agreement that’d been signed. She decided that, for the time being, it would be best to wait and see what happened. Hopefully, once the new cook got used to life at Chalet School, she would settle down and accept the way that the School worked, and all the problems would resolve themselves.

#27: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 8:57 am
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Very nice.
The Chalet School above it all.
Give up your own good for that of the collective.
Is there a name for that?
Why should mistreated dommy staff, be expected to accept the ways of the school?
re the teachers, surely extra hours in the evening etc should be part of the terms of their employment. and as a result of the wages too.
In my daughters high school there are often evening activities that the staff must come to.

#28: Author: Liseke,

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:35 am
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Quote:

The Chalet School above it all.
Give up your own good for that of the collective.
Is there a name for that?

Keren - I was thinking along the lines of "Resistence is futile"

Thanks Alison, this is a great way to start my day in the office.

#29: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:39 am
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I think the expectation at the school has been that the school should be its staff's life - for both teaching and domestic staff. In a day school, there is an expectation that a staff member will spend some time on extracurricular activities - sports, clubs, etc, but there is some personal discretion in how much time they devote to it. They also don't have evening and weekend supervision duties. It's also not mandatory where I was educated - I went through several bouts of 'work to rule' job action - the teachers did their teaching, marking and preparation, but no extracurricular activities (sports teams, extra bands, clubs, student council etc).

In Prefects Miss Ferrars' activities are listed: teaching geography and math, teaching cricket two evenings a week and tennis on another, and prep duty on a fourth - so she had one evening a week and maybe one day of the weekend as personal time - the rest seems to be teaching, marking and preparing lessons and supervising, with occasional coffee/tea breaks.

Now if their contracts specify that they get, say, two evenings a week and one weekend day as free time, then it's legit, and they need to renegotiate if they want a better deal. If there is a general expectation that their free time belongs to the school, they can rebel.

#30: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 9:53 am
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I get the impression that the expectation is that the school should be like a family - why would you want/expect/need time off from the family? Particularly when the holidays provide it anyway.

#31: Author: Ally, Location: John Bettany's Cabin!

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 10:15 am
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Oh yes, they can't possibly change because of an outsider! Rolling Eyes

I wonder if they ever had the chance to listen to themselves, they would realise how they sounded.

I agree though that at a boarding school the staff do have to put in that extra time, but perhaps they should be starting to think about employing more purely pastoral care for the girls?

Thanks Alison

#32: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 12:12 pm
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I think that they'll find that Elsie has right on her side. Why should she not be given notice that picnic lunches are needed on the morrow. Surely everyone can see that some advance notice is needed if all those meat pies need to be made.

And Matey was behaving in a very overbearing way, treating Elsie as if she were an inferior. Matters such as that between Heads of Department are dealt with in private, not in front of the Staff of one of the departments.

#33: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 2:17 pm
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I think it does get very interesting towards the Late Swiss Period, when the school is so large, yet we STILL see classes cancelled so the girls can go on a ramble or down to Lake Thun or skiing. In the Tyrol days, the school seemed "family"-like enough that it was easy enough to change. Also, the surrounding conditions--both since it was a different location and an earlier time--seemed more primitive, so it did seem more necessary to take some of those days out-of-doors when it was possible to do so.

By the time the school is in Switzerland, however, it's grown so larger that the practice of just taking random days off has become unwieldy. In addition, they've introduced public exams, which they didn't have in Tyrol, so there are standards independent of the school that the girls will have to meet and prepare for. Also, although reportedly they are tied to the house in winter, they're rarely so geographically isolated (I think) as they were in Tyrol. I remember that in Tyrol, various modes of transportation--the ferry? the railway?--stop running when the tourist season is over. In Switzerland, the only time they're ever really *cut off* is during that flood, I think, when they have to eat lots of vegetables.

My point is that it seems like the practice of doing these unplanned rambles, trips to Thun, days skiing, etc., have really outlived their need and also outlived any point at which they were feasible. For me, the thought of rearranging lessons for the girls at a moment's notice would be a logistical nightmare. The thought of preparing five zillion meat pies in two hours sounds like something out of an I Love Lucy episode.

So. My question to Joey: has this system really worked for 22 years? It sounds like it's limping along at this point, really, with a lot of people making unnecessary and difficult sacrifices to ensure its success.

Chang

#34: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 2:57 pm
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I agree that Elsie should have been given more notice about the trips and the need for picnics; how can you be sure you have all that amount of extra ingredients? But I do think that at a boarding school there is the whole point that the girls are there 24/7 and so need to be cared for at odd times of the day and night. Perhaps Matey could claim to be having a night off next time someone sleepwalks or whatever. It is part of a teacher's responsibility to give extra time to things outside of their contractual commitment; don't doctors at the San do just that when they are on their day off and end up rescuing large parties of girls and ministering to them?!

#35: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:20 pm
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Thanks, Alison. It's very interesting to read everyone's comments. I'm afraid I can't think of anything to add!

#36: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 6:59 pm
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Hmmm, wonder if things are quite as rosy as Joey imagines? Also don't think they can get rid of Elsie - that contract works both ways!

Thanks Alison.

#37: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 7:07 am
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Thanks for the comments. I usually write about people I completely sympathise with, but I'm quite enjoying writing about someone "controversial" for a change Laughing

!

“I’m very glad to be finished for the evening: it’s not half been busy in here today!” Rudi said, sitting down next to Karen. He was half-expecting a telling off for not having let her know that he was going to be finishing late – a problem with a mislaid key had ended up taking much longer to sort out than he’d expected, and he hadn’t realised what time it was – but she said nothing and just snuggled up to him. He put his arms round her. “Are you tired, my love? Please tell me that you haven’t been overdoing things. You promised you were going to start taking it easier until the baby’s born.”

“I don’t get chance to overdo things!” Karen retorted. “Everyone makes sure that I don’t lift anything heavy, and they’ve even started keeping asking me if I want to sit down! You wouldn’t have been telling people to keep an eye on me by any chance, would you?”

“I wouldn’t, as it so happens; but I’m very glad to hear that people are keeping an eye on you all the same, seeing as you tell me that I’m being overprotective if I keep coming to ask you if you’re all right!” He looked at her affectionately. “Everyone who works here thinks an awful lot of you, you know.”

“I think a lot of every one of them. And they all think an awful lot of you too.” It was true. There were disputes from time to time; but there was rarely anything that wasn’t speedily resolved and, more importantly, there were no marked divisions here in the way that there were at the Chalet School. “And I’m not tired. Just thinking that I’m very, very lucky to have you and to be here.”

“Oh, I think I’m the lucky one,” he said, stroking her hair. “What’s made you … ah, a letter from Anna.” He’d just noticed an envelope with a Swiss postmark on it lying on the table. “How is everything at the Gornetz Platz?”

“No better at Freudesheim, I’m afraid; and once the Maynards’ new baby’s born there’ll be even more work for Anna and Rosli to do. I don’t know what to suggest to help: I wish I did. Things seem to be getting better at the School, though.” She told him briefly everything that Anna had written about the latest goings on in the Chalet School’s domestic department.

“This latest new cook certainly seems to be shaking things up a bit,” she said. “She must have plenty of nerve: I’ll say that for nothing! So often when someone starts a new job they do everything that’s asked of them because they’re anxious to make a good impression, and then afterwards it can be very difficult to start saying no.”

She sighed. “Maybe in some ways both Anna and I made rods for our own backs in the early days, me at the School and Anna first at the School and then with the Maynards … but we were so glad just to have jobs, with things as they were; and we worked as hard as we could, partly out of gratitude, and partly because we were frightened that we might lose our jobs if we didn’t. The Chalet School doesn’t like people who don’t fit in with what it wants.” She paused for a moment, remembering, then snuggled closer to him and carried on speaking.

“Two Matrons got the sack whilst the School was at the Tiernsee. The first one admittedly treated one of the young pupils badly; but Miss Bettany, as she was then, had already decided to sack her – after deciding that it was her fault that some of the girls were speaking too loudly! Then the second one was told to go after being frightened during a thunderstorm! Admittedly neither of them were very nice people nor particularly good at their jobs, but basically they were both dismissed because they didn’t fit in with the School’s ways and demands; and it made those of us on the domestic staff feel very nervous. We felt that we had to be seen to be making the maximum amount of effort at all times, and we certainly wouldn’t have dared to refuse to do anything we were asked to. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens with this Mrs Bradshaw, who’s obviously got a very different outlook on things – but good luck to her!”

Madge's reasons for sacking people were definitely original Rolling Eyes

#38: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 7:20 am
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How lovely to have a snapshot of Karen's life - and a thoughtful analysis of why the school originally developed the way it did.

I'm beginning to wonder if it wasn't partly rooted in the relationship between Madge and Joey. Madge could never treat the school as simply the school because her sister was there.

#39: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 8:37 am
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Thanks, Alison, it's lovely to see how happy Karen is now, and how thoughtful Rudi is. Wouldn't it be nice to see Anna so happily settled (hint hint)?

#40: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 8:43 am
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The discussions this drabble have provoked are certainly very interesting

#41: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 1:16 pm
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Great, Alison. I love the way that we can all see the problems with the outdated attitudes and discuss them. This is really thought - provoking.

#42: Author: La Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 4:55 pm
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Interesting as always Alison. Thanks! Very Happy

#43: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 6:33 pm
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Thanks Alison, it was great seeing an insight into Karen's new life and her opinions on the changes which Elsie has brought to the school. I'm really enjoying this Very Happy

Kathryn

#44: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 7:27 pm
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Go Elsie!

#45: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 7:40 pm
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Hmmm, I think it was more than just being frightened in the storm that got matron Besley the boot - but perhaps none of the domestic staff saw any of the other problems she had and caused.

Thanks Alison.

#46: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 10:11 pm
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Thanks, Alison. It's great to see more of Rudi and Karen - I always enjoy hearing their thoughts.

#47: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 11:49 pm
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In fairness to Madge, the matrons were sacked because they were uncaring and totally lacking in understanding, and were treating the girls badly and causing them distress. The storm episode with Matron Besley was the last straw because she put her own fear before the needs of the girls, who were also frightened, and needed her care and support.

Staff are certainly expected to adopt the school's ethos completely, but this is true in all books of that era. It's interesting that some questioning is allowed; Miss Slater leaves because she wants to do things differently and feels her ideas won't be acceptable. Granted, this is regarded with some disfavour, but her point of view is justified - when we hear of her years later she has done very well, is a Head, and has no hankering for the CS at all. A small incident, but significant.

#48: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 8:13 am
—
To be fair to the CS in general, I suppose a lot of employers don't like it if people question the way things are done. My boss freely admits that several things that I've suggested would enable me to work more efficiently, but says that I have to keep doing things the way my predecessor (who's a lovely person but is 30 years older than me, isn't used to using computers, and therefore did things in ways that are now really rather outdated) did just because they don't like changing anything. Like hand-writing letters and getting someone else to type them, and then checking that they haven't misread my awful handwriting, even though I have Microsoft Word on my computer and always did all my own typing in my old job Rolling Eyes

! & expecting people to work late etc and put the job first certainly isn't unique to the CS either - my brother-in-law's boss rang him on his mobile on holiday last year and asked if he could come back early! Anyway, enough waffle!

“Well, I hope for her sake and the rest of the domestic staff’s that Mrs Bradshaw doesn’t meet the same fate as those two Matrons did,” Rudi said. “So many employers don’t like having staff who don’t share their views and don’t toe the line; and anyone standing up for employees’ rights can easily end up being labelled as a troublemaker and being dismissed. That’s certainly what happened to me when I was working in Wien before I went to America. Anyway, you were saying?”

“Well, after we left Austria, not that either of us regretted doing so, we were even more worried about what’d happen if we were to lose our jobs – could you imagine if either Anna or I had ended up having to look for employment in a country where we didn’t speak the language properly, and at a time when many people there were hostile towards Austrians? We were desperate to be seen to be doing a good job … and once people get it into their heads that you’ll do whatever they ask, they just expect more and more of you, and it’s very hard to change that. And I liked to feel that the School was my home, and Anna was and is even more emotionally involved with her job: she adores all the Maynard children –she’s like a second mother to them, after all - so she doesn’t like to refuse to help with them, and she’s fond of the Frau Doktor and the Herr Doktor as well.

“Oh well, you never know – maybe things will change at the School, and maybe then there’ll be changes at Freudesheim as well: Frau Doktor Maynard takes a very keen interest in what goes on at the School, after all. I’ve got a feeling that I may be being rather over-optimistic there, though.”

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

Before long, Hilda, who’d been hoping that the situation would soon settle down, had a feeling that she’d been being rather over-optimistic. Everything seemed to be conspiring against relations between the domestic staff and the rest of the School “settling down” at all. On the Monday after she and Nell had paid their visit to Freudesheim, the Lower Fourth formers were caught in a sudden shower of rain whilst out for a walk. (Despite all the fuss that was made about ensuring that umbrellas weren’t left behind on trains and coaches, none of the girls seemed ever seemed to take them with them when they went out.)

When they got back to the School, rather wet, Matron insisted that they must all go to bed for the rest of the afternoon and that their damp uniforms must go in the wash. It was a Monday so most of their uniforms were clean on, having only just been washed and ironed. Matron, suspecting that the chances of some of the girls keeping both their remaining uniforms clean and tidy for the rest of the week were remote, summoned one of the laundry maids to collect the entire set, with instructions that they were to be washed and ironed again as soon as possible, preferably –she was still smarting over the incident with the sheets and was determined to make her authority felt – by the end of the following day. She also sent orders to the kitchen that mugs of hot milk were to be sent up at once, to all the different dormitories concerned, for the girls who’d been caught in the rain. She didn’t want to risk them all going down with colds.

#49: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 8:20 am
—
Surely the damp uniforms need drying - not a complete wash...

#50: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 8:33 am
—
Hmmm, cannot see Elsie accepting that - as ibarhis said - why not just dry them?

Thanks Alison.

#51: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 8:33 am
—
But if they had two other sets of uniform, that gives the domestic staff two days to get the wet set sorted out! Oh, I am looking forward to seeing Elsie's reaction to this request!

Thanks Alison.

#52: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 11:34 am
—
Thanks, Alison. I am also looking forward to seeing how Elsie reacts.

#53: Author: Sarah_L, Location: Leeds

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 12:06 pm
—
Elsie would have to do extra work even if it was only drying the uniforms, and the hot drinks seem a good idea. Whilst I agree it's excessive to wash the uniforms, I hope Elsie also recognises that some extra, unplanned work will always be necessary in a boarding school.

#54: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 12:29 pm
—
Agreed, but washed uniforms presumably then need ironing whereas dried uniforms don't.

Gosh, I've just thought... Do they have washing machines in the 50s or is it all handwash. I'm sure it must still be mangles...

#55: Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 12:41 pm
—

Alison H wrote:

[color=red][i]To be fair to the CS in general, I suppose a lot of employers don't like it if people question the way things are done.

I was working over Easter, and tidied bits up, to a degree on autopilot, but also because I actually couldn't see the desk for all the paper, and I just couldn't work in it. My colleague and I tidied up a bit but the boss was not impressed. The thing is, just because she knows where everything is doesn't mean anyone else can find anything. All her knowledge is in her head, and the rest of us are screwed when she is off sick/on holiday/not available.

Am really enjoying this by the way!

#56: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 1:01 pm
—

ibarhis wrote:

Agreed, but washed uniforms presumably then need ironing whereas dried uniforms don't.

Gosh, I've just thought... Do they have washing machines in the 50s or is it all handwash. I'm sure it must still be mangles...

I'm pretty sure it would still have been mangles in private homes, but they did have washing machines at the School by this time. In one of the Swiss books - could be Althea or possibly Summer Term - they talk about the possibility of having a rowing regatta at Lake Thun and say that they wouldn't be able to have the "tub races" like they did at St Briavel's unless they borrowed the tubs, because the School uses washing machines now.

(I did look into that for a reason, but it doesn't come up until later in the story!)

Must've taken absolutely ages doing all the washing in Armishire/St Briavel's when the School was bigger because there was only one branch of it, and they didn't have washing machines.

BTW, IIRC it also says in one of the Swiss books that Matey didn't like you changing your uniform more than once a week - forget exactly where it was but it was in the context of one of the Middles spilling paint down themselves or something. Or was it twice a week? Think it was once. Certainly no more than twice, anyway!

Last edited by Alison H on Sat May 06, 2006 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

#57: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 1:04 pm
—
Yes but washing machines were twin tubs and usually still had mangles as well! My mother still had a mangle in the early 60s.

#58: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 3:27 pm
—
Want to bet that Elsie wins this one as well?

#59: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 3:40 pm
—
I am so pleased to see this has been updated.

My hope is that Elsie's battle with the working conditions and with the Heads and Matron does not mean that the girls, who seem to be more or less innocent bystanders, do not need to suffer. After all, in EBD's world, if you get caught in a shower, at least one person will get pneumonia or start sleepwalking, which will mean that she will need hot drinks. So, as ibarhis pointed out, there is some unplanned work involved in a boarding school. But some of the demands that Matron especially makes are ridiculous.

I wonder if she's ever had this kind of position and knows how much work is involved? I don't know how you get to become Matron, but I'd think you have at least some familiarity with washing/ironing/cooking etc., since you have to be nominally in charge of it.

Chang

ETA: Other thought--girls could iron uniforms themselves in Frau Mieders' class. Surely not all will be able to afford domestic help when they leave school; therefore, they should know how to iron. Witness the sad example of Chang, who must have been expecting domestic help, because she never did learn how to iron very well.

#60: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 6:19 pm
—
My family were completely soaked through over the recent holidays (husband took them on a o trip to Jerusalem and left all the umbrellas in the car.
As a faithfu student of EBD I was sure they would get colds at least but nothing happened to them

#61: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 7:06 pm
—

Changnoi wrote:

ETA: Other thought--girls could iron uniforms themselves in Frau Mieders' class. Surely not all will be able to afford domestic help when they leave school; therefore, they should know how to iron. Witness the sad example of Chang, who must have been expecting domestic help, because she never did learn how to iron very well.

Oh, so that's the reason - I obviously was also expecting a live-in helper then! Wink

#62: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 10:17 pm
—
Alison, I cannot believe you have to handwrite your letters for someone else to type!!!! Shocked

And we think the CS is outdated!

I'd never noticed that

Quote:

none of the girls seemed ever seemed to take them (umbrellas) with them when they went out

They didn't, did they!

I'm sure the girls wouldn't have changed their uniforms more than once a week unless they'd had a dire catastrophe with them, but I certainly don't see why they couldn't just be dried (I think they'd still need ironing, though - they wouldn't be non-crease, presumably). Could everyone have their hot milk in the Speisesaal before going to bed?

#63: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 7:54 am
—
Er... guess who once burnt a hole in something with an iron in the school needlework room Embarassed

!

Elsie was not at all pleased to hear that Matron had demanded that a set of uniforms that had been clean on and had suffered no worse damage than getting a little bit wet be washed and ironed again, and furious that to hear that Matron wanted this doing by the end of the following day. She didn’t see why the damp uniforms couldn’t just be hung up to dry.

She supposed that they could be washed and ironed again, but it certainly couldn’t be done so quickly. The Chalet School laundry was a busy place, working to a tight schedule; and different things were dealt with on different days. Neither today nor tomorrow were days for washing uniforms, and gentian blue tunics and skirts could hardly be put in the wash with light-coloured bedding or table linen. The Lower Fourths’ uniforms would just have to wait for a couple of days: it was hardly as if the girls didn’t have any clean clothes to put on in the meantime.

She was equally unimpressed with the edict about taking drinks to the dormitories. Whilst she could quite understand that the girls might be in need of a hot drink after getting caught in the rain, the Lower Fourth formers were scattered across numerous different dormitories and it would take quite a while to take drinks round to all of them, not to mention collecting the empty mugs afterwards. She and the rest of the kitchen staff were in the middle of the preparing the food for that evening’s Abendessen, and they had Kaffee and Kuchen to see to as well. Why on earth did the girls need to spend an afternoon in bed just because of a bit of rain, anyway? Could they not just come to the Speisesaal for their hot milk?

“How many different dormitories are involved?” she asked Judy Willoughby, who’d been sent to the kitchen with the message.

Judy was suddenly struck by a brilliant idea. She could see that Mrs Bradshaw wasn’t very happy with the idea of dispatching drinks to all the different dormitories, and neither she nor any of her friends were very happy about the idea of being cooped up in bed all afternoon when there was nothing wrong with them. It wasn’t even as if she’d be able to chat to Janice and Ailie: the three of them had never been allowed to be in the same dormitory.

“Would it be better to send the drinks to our common room, Mrs Bradshaw?” she suggested. “We’ll bring the mugs back when we’ve finished with them. Then we can go to our dormitories afterwards.” A long time afterwards, she thought with glee.

Unfortunately for Judy & co, it didn’t occur to any of them that Matron might be concerned about them and come to make sure that they were all all right. On finding that none of them were in their beds, she headed rapidly for their common room, where she found all the Lower Fourth formers – those who’d been doubtful about the plan had soon changed their minds when the others poured scorn on them – either playing with the various games that were kept in the cupboards there or trying to get round the room without touching the floor. A tray of empty mugs was sitting on the table. Judy and Janice had been about to take it back but had been distracted by Tessa de Bersac’s attempts to walk along the window sill without falling off, and the kitchen staff hadn’t time to wonder why it was taking them so long to finish their drinks.

Matron was fuming. Whatever Judy had said, she maintained, the kitchen staff should have obeyed her orders and taken the drinks to the dormitories: surely one of the maids who’d been in the sitting room on their breaks could have been asked to deal with it so that the preparations for Abendessen need not be interrupted. She was even angrier when the uniforms weren’t returned by the end of the day after, and she stormed into the kitchen where she pointed out to Elsie Bradshaw in no uncertain terms that she, as Head Matron, was in charge of health and housekeeping at the School; and that it wasn’t for the cook to undermine her authority and disobey her instructions.

Elsie was so angry at being spoken to in that way that, instead of stating her own case clearly and calmly, she simply ordered Matron out of the kitchen. Realising that Elsie wasn’t going to pay any heed to anything she said, Matron left. Enough was enough, she decided. This state of affairs couldn’t be allowed to continue. She was going to have to speak to Hilda Annersley about it.

#64: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 8:14 am
—
Oh, ructions! I'm with Elsie here - Matron had no right storming into the kitchen to reprimand Elsie in front of her staff. Also why should the maids on their break have to interrupt it. At the same time matey's actions are because she cares about the health of the girls.

Hope Hilda's legendary calm and fairness ccan sort this out!

Thanks Alison. Laughing

#65: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 11:51 am
—
Oooh a battle!
This could be good.
Thanks Alison Very Happy

#66: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 11:57 am
—
Thanks, Alison. I wonder how Hilda will react.

#67: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 1:06 pm
—
The uniforms could just be dried out and pressed.

Strong women, not spineless jellyfish, so the girls aren't going to dissolve from a shower of rain.

I support Elsie in this, Matey is being absolutely pig-headed about the situation.

And Elsie is right to see that her staff get decent breaks.

ETA: I still want Elsie to meet Anna and encourage her to stand up for herself.

#68: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 3:43 pm
—
Yay for Elsie! I do think that Matey is a bit thoughtless about the kitchen staff's time, but then so are the rest of the school. I also hope that Elsie manages to 'infect' Anna with some of her ideas (and then that we get to see Anna and Jo discussing them!).

Thanks, Alison.

#69: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 3:55 pm
—
The problem is that no-one on the academic staff has ever had to cope with their own washing and ironing, and most of the girls come from families where servants are employed, so they don't realise how much work they're causing.

Matey is behaving indefensibly, the girls have clean, dry clothes to change into, so organising the work is up to Elsie.

Aren't we told somewhere that Matey allowed only two clean summer dresses in the week?

#70: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 4:57 pm
—
Well, it seems like Matron is making a tiny bit of progress. She used to think that the kitchen staff could miraculously be in five places at once. Now she understands that they do have pressing tasks at hand--preparing Abendessen--and is attempting to "solve" the problem by having other staff members interrupt their breaks. So...maybe it's some progress towards seeing kitchen staff as human? She doesn't see that they have rights yet, but at least she doesn't think they have superpowers.

I'm glad that the girls are vaguely on Elsie's side, although not for Elsie's reasons. They just don't want to be treated like spineless jellyfish.

Chang

#71: Author: Sarah_L, Location: Leeds

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 5:36 pm
—
I think Miss Annersely needs to sort out a clear responsibility/power structure. Matron seems to think of herself as Elsie's boss, which is causing some of the misunderstandings.

#72: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 5:48 pm
—
Sounds to me like a classic case of bad HR practice - Mrs Bradshaw believes herself to be in charge yet here is Matron Lloyd believing the same thing.

Hmm, HR... now just who would be in charge of that?

#73: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 8:38 pm
—
Well well well....who's head of which department?

Should be an interesting battle!

Thanks Alison

#74: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 12:31 am
—
Yes, they need to get their lines of responsibility sorted out.

Poor Hilda, I don't envy her having to deal with this one.

#75: Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 3:51 am
—
breaks out the popcorn and settles down to watch <b>the fight!</b>

#76: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 7:46 am
—
Hilda tried to deal with the situation as fairly as possible. Matron was the person primarily responsible for the girls’ health, and sending girls who’d been caught in bad weather straight to bed was, whilst it admittedly might seem a little extreme to some people, the School’s usual policy. However, she could understand that taking mugs of milk to all the dormitories would have been time-consuming, and Judy Willoughby had admitted that she’d given Mrs Bradshaw the clear impression that the girls would go to bed as soon as they’d finished their drinks.

She could also see why washing and ironing the uniforms – which she privately thought rather unnecessary anyway – on either of those particular days wouldn’t have been convenient. Matron wouldn’t have known that, though – but then it wasn’t as if any of the girls had been without a clean uniform at any time. However, it was accepted at the School that Matron, like the teaching staff and Rosalie Dene, was in a senior position to the domestic staff; and she could understand Matron’s concerns about having her authority undermined.

She gave Judy a thorough ticking off and the entire Lower Fourth a long poem to learn. Then she told Matron that, although her orders should have been obeyed, it would be preferable if she would try to avoid having any more public confrontations with Mrs Bradshaw; and that it might be better if she didn’t in future make stringent demands, such as that about washing the uniforms within a day and a half, unless they were essential. Matron supposed that she’d have to be satisfied with that.

Finally, she told Elsie that, whilst she’d asked Matron to try to be a little less demanding in future, Matron’s instructions were to be obeyed unless there were very cogent reasons why they shouldn’t be; and pointed out that it would have been more sensible to have explained the position regarding the washing from the start. In an attempt to pour oil on troubled waters, she added that all the domestic staff could take the day off that coming Saturday. The Tennis Six had an away match against an international school in Lausanne, and several of the mistresses and almost all of the other girls were going with them to watch.

It was over a hundred miles away and so they would be gone all day: they’d be leaving early and stopping for breakfast on the way there, the Lausanne school had promised to provide a large lunch for them all, and they wouldn’t be back until late and would stop for something to eat on the return journey. Those few girls who for one reason or another weren’t going could go over to St Mildred’s for the day.

Elsie had mixed feelings about what Hilda had said. She resented Matron’s having addressed her as an inferior and the way in which it seemed that the domestic department was the only one that was expected to take instructions from people, other than the Head, who weren’t genuinely part of it. On the other hand, she appreciated the fact that at least her comments about recent events had been taken notice of and acted upon, and that, she hoped, Matron had been made to realise that her behaviour hadn’t been acceptable.

As for the proposed day off, she might have interpreted it as an attempt to bribe the domestic staff into submission and said as much; but she could see that Miss Annersley genuinely meant well and she didn’t want to deprive the rest of the domestic staff of a day’s holiday – they deserved it, after all! – so she simply thanked the Headmistress as graciously as possible. The rest of the domestic staff were pleased by the news and they all immediately began planning what they were going to do on Saturday.

#77: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 8:09 am
—
Oh, this is getting interesting!!

I look forward to seeing what will be happening next. Hopefully Hilda is starting to realise that maybe things do need to change in the domestic section of the school?

#78: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 8:13 am
—
mm... no real clarification there but no-one can be said to have been treated unfairly...

but still, we haven't seen Mrs Bradshaw and Jo yet!

#79: Author: alicat, Location: Wiltshire

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 10:04 am
—
am waiting eagerly for the thunderstorm on Saturday which cancels the tennis outing...when all the domestic staff are not in school...will Frau Mieders turn to and make Abendessen???

#80: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 10:08 am
—
Thanks Alison - lots of updates to read. Am rather agreeing with alicat - something is going to go wrong.

#81: Author: Elle, Location: Peterborough

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 11:44 am
—

ibarhis wrote:

but still, we haven't seen Mrs Bradshaw and Jo yet!

Ohh... I hope we get to see that!

Thanks for the updates.

#82: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:16 pm
—
Yes, longing for the conflict between Jo and Elsie.

#83: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 2:12 pm
—
Well, as Elsie now has a day off, she could spend it at Freudesheim, getting to know Jo better!

I do agree that Miss Annersley genuinely means well, and so does Matey, I think, but hopefully they will soon learn more than just meaning well!

Thanks, Alison, this is brilliant.

#84: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 7:04 pm
—
Thanks Alison, it's really nice to see how things are progressing. I am eagerly anticipating the clash with Jo too...

Kathryn

#85: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 7:12 pm
—
Hmmm, cannot see Elsie accepting a subordinate position to Matron! Definitely feel that Saturday is going to go wrong.

Thanks Alison.

#86: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 7:17 pm
—
Somethings got to go wrong on Saturday Twisted Evil

It wouldn't be the CS if it didn't.

Thanks Alison

#87: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:08 pm
—
Or Jo will need to borrow one of the maids to do something...doesn't that happen sometimes, where Jo just borrows one of the CS staff?

Chang

#88: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:51 pm
—
Jo trying to 'borrow' Mrs Bradshaw anyone?

#89: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 7:54 am
—
Thanks for the comments Very Happy

!

All the girls were eagerly looking forward to the match. Before moving to Switzerland they’d regularly played competitive matches against other schools, but since the move Peggy Burnett, the Games Mistress, had found it difficult to find opponents for them; and matches in which their own girls just played against each other weren’t quite the same. They’d been assured that the girls from the Lausanne school were looking forward to the match just as much as they were.

On the day before the match was due to take place, Miss Turner, the games mistress of the Lausanne school, rang Peggy, full of apologies, to say that a pipe had burst outside the school and flooded the tennis courts. The Chalet School girls would still be very welcome to come for the day - there were plenty of things to see and do in Lausanne - but the tennis was definitely off: the courts were unplayable. Maybe they’d be able to rearrange the fixture, but with half term and then exams coming up they’d be looking at dates much later in the term. All her girls were very disappointed that the match had had to be cancelled, and she was sure that Miss Burnett’s girls would be too and she was really very sorry about it; but unfortunately it just couldn’t be helped.

Peggy, knowing how much the girls from both schools had been looking forward to the match, immediately suggested that they play at the Chalet School instead and, eager to reciprocate the hospitality offered by their opponents, added that the visiting team would of course be welcome to bring as many other girls along with them as supporters as they liked. The Chalet School girls would be only too pleased to be their hostesses for the day, and of course lunch would be provided. Miss Turner was delighted and thanked Peggy effusively. She would make the arrangements at once, she said. The weather forecast for Saturday was good, and she envisaged that a large number of girls would want to accompany their team to the Gornetz Platz.

They’d need plenty of sandwiches and cakes, Peggy mused. Cold meats and salads too, some fruit with plenty of whipped cream, maybe fruit jelly as well, ice cream as the forecast was for warm weather; and of course plenty of homemade fruit juice and iced lemonade, and coffee for those who preferred hot drinks. Also, she’d need Gaudenz and his assistants to put plenty of chairs outside for people to sit on, as they couldn’t all crowd round the tennis courts the whole time.

It wasn’t until ten minutes later, when she was informing Hilary Bennet, the Games Prefect, of the change of arrangements, that she remembered Hilda saying that she’d told the domestic staff that, as the School would be virtually empty almost all day and the girls wouldn’t need any meals providing, they could all take Saturday off. In her anxiety to prevent the pupils of both schools from being disappointed, she’d forgotten all about it.

#90: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 8:09 am
—
Oh, such a precipitous cliff....

#91: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 8:39 am
—
Oh dear. Is Elsie going to stand firm and take the day off, or is she going to realise that it was a mistake and help out?

#92: Author: pim, Location: Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 9:19 am
—
*ulp*

*waits for the fireworks*

Thanks, Alison.

#93: Author: alicat, Location: Wiltshire

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 9:31 am
—
well of course once Jo has offered Anna's services as temporary head cook, plus Freudesheim's beautiful gardens for a picnic for the visitors Rolling Eyes

there won't be a problem, will there? Laughing

#94: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 9:59 am
—
Oh, I look forward to seeing what happens next! I don't think that Elsie will be at all pleased if there is a sudden change in arrangments.

I was also amused at the wonderful list of things that was going to be prepared for lunch.

Shocked

#95: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 11:39 am
—
And never mind whether the school kitchen has them in stock!

ETA: Perhaps the V1 form and Frau Mieders could do the work?

#96: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:21 pm
—
Oh dear! So now we have a problem to solve! I think this could be an interesting dilemma for Elsie and her staff. Thanks, Alison, I'm really looking forward to see how they resolve this one!

#97: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:21 pm
—
Hehe I bet Peggy gets into trouble with Hilda!

#98: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:23 pm
—
Peggy was certainly somewhat rash in making the offer without checking first.

#99: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:24 pm
—
Uh-oh...silly Peggy. That was not a very clever thing to arrange. Very much looking forward to seeing how this all pans out...

Thanks Alison!

Kathryn

#100: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:26 pm
—
I don't know. Although I understand that Peggy had the girls' feelings in mind and not her own convenience, the offer that she made was rooted in the attitude that, I think, more than anything, is what Elsie is trying to stamp out: the idea that the kitchen staff are a set of robots who will be there to produce cold meat and salads and fruit on demand no matter what the conditions without being asked beforehand.

I remember being scolded as a child (age 6 or 7) for volunteering the services of my parents to drive one of my friends somewhere. Part of me thought, my parents like my friends and understand that my friends need to get home; they'll be happy to drive them home. This was true. But the other part of me thought, of course my parents can do this! After all, they don't have anything else that they would be doing; they just sort of fade into the woodwork when I'm not interacting with them.

I think this is Peggy's attitude.

Still love the story!
Chang

#101: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:31 pm
—
He He!

Such a CS thing to do! But in this universe I fear all will not go according to plan!

#102: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:37 pm
—
People do sometimes assume that staff will be available whenever it suits them ... my ex-manager once arranged for me and a colleague to do a job which meant staying away overnight for 3 days without checking first if those dates were OK with us. Much to the amusement of the rest of the office (the colleague was a bloke), one of the nights was February 14th Laughing

#103: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 6:40 pm
—
I think Chang has hit it on the head - while Peggy did just forget about the arrangements it was because, in the past, the Domestic Staff were there to do whatever was required of them. I'll be interested in both how Hilda reacts and how Elsie reacts to this.

Thanks Alison.

#104: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 8:23 pm
—

alicat wrote:

am waiting eagerly for the thunderstorm on Saturday which cancels the tennis outing...when all the domestic staff are not in school...will Frau Mieders turn to and make Abendessen???

So many things that can happen
*rubs hands in anticipation*

Thank you Alison

#105: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 12:37 am
—
Oh my goodness, here's a nice mess. Silly Peggy. Where does she think all that can be magicked from overnight? It's one thing for children to be convinced that the staff live in cupboards and are wound up each morning, but one would hope that maturity would have brought a little more sense.

Can't wait to see what happens.

#106: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 7:53 am
—
“It just went clean out of my mind,” she admitted to Hilary. “Well, I can hardly ring Miss Turner and withdraw an invitation that I’ve only just issued: it’d look extremely rude. Even if I did, I could hardly ask if we could all go there for the day after all, so meals would be needed as normal here anyway. I’m just going to have to go and explain to Mrs Bradshaw what’s happened. I don’t suppose the domestic staff’ll be very pleased, but it’s a case of either disappointing a small group of people who’ll hopefully be able to have their day off later in the term- if the away match can be rearranged - or else disappointing the whole of two schools and getting us a reputation for bad manners with the people in Lausanne.”

Elsie had already bought her train ticket for her eagerly anticipated visit to Geneva, and Gaudenz and Lisa were amongst several people planning to spend the day in Interlaken. Most of the younger members of the domestic staff were intending either to visit friends or family who lived nearby or just to spend the day relaxing in the grounds or around the Gornetz Platz. When Peggy and Hilary arrived in the kitchen to inform them apologetically that their day off was going to have to be cancelled, there was widespread dismay.

However, Elsie soon made it clear that a day off they’d been promised and a day off they were going to have. “A lot of us have already either spent good money on train tickets or else made arrangements which affect other people,” she pointed out. “I’m sorry, but it’s not our fault that you decided not to go to Lausanne and to invite a load of people over here. Miss Annersley did promise us a day off.”

Elsie refused to budge on the subject, and Hilda, when she was consulted, was loath to go back on her word and give Elsie’s department any more reason to feel that they and the rest of the staff were on opposite sides. All she could think of to do was to suggest to Peggy and Hilary that they ask if any of those of the maids and Gaudenz’s assistants who had no definite plans might be willing to help out, and see if anyone could come up with any other ideas in the meantime.

“It’s an absolute sickener,” Hilary said gloomily to the rest of the prefects. “We get so few chances to play against other schools, and then when we do all this has to happen! Most of the food’ll want making fresh tomorrow, and I can’t even suggest that some of us help because it’ll look pretty rude if Seniors who aren’t playing are hiding out in the kitchen; and I suppose we could ask Frau Mieders to help but she wouldn’t be able do it all by herself. Any bright ideas, anyone?”

They all thought for a few minutes, then the Head Girl gave a yell and jumped up. “Got it!” she said exultantly. “Whom do we always turn to when we’ve got a problem? Auntie Joey, of course! It might put her out a bit but I’m sure she won’t mind when it’s to help the School out – we’ll ask her to let us borrow Anna! She could make a start on things like the cakes today - Auntie Joey’ll have plenty of flour and butter and so on - and no-one’ll mind her using the School kitchen tomorrow. There’ll be stuff in the kitchen cupboards here, and if we tell her now she’ll have time to get any fresh stuff she needs. She’ll put on a wonderful spread for us! And I’m sure we’ll be able to persuade some of the domestic staff to help out if they’re not going anywhere in particular anyway.”

“Mary-Lou, I have to admit it – you’re a genius!” Hilary declared joyfully. “Trust you to come up with the answer! Well, everyone, it looks as if the tennis match’ll be on after all!"

#107: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 8:29 am
—
Anna's going to do it all on her own, is she? Rolling Eyes

Thanks, Alison. *pokes Mary-Lou* (what happened to the poking smiley?)

#108: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 8:33 am
—
I wondered if this would be the way that they would solve it. I am very interested to see how Joey handles this situation, given her previous comments about Elsie.

Looking forward to the next instalment!!

Laughing

#109: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 8:35 am
—
I'm sorry, was Mary Lou suggesting that, rather than have an entire Kitchen full of Staff, that Anna would manage with a couple of maids (if she's lucky) in between all the work she has to do for Joey? And when does Anna have any time off?

Really pleased that Hilda didn't go back on her word. Looking forward to stirrings of rebellion from Anna.

Thanks Alison.

#110: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 10:29 am
—
aha, but Joey has not yet promised Anna regular time off!
Also Anna has not been feeling well. Even if she complains Joey will say that we cannot let the school down.

#111: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 10:33 am
—
Good old Mary-Lou...hehehe.

Thanks Alison Very Happy

Kathryn

#112: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 10:53 am
—
I am soo looking forward to the first encounter between Jo and Mrs Bradshaw!

#113: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 1:26 pm
—
Well, Elsie won that round, but what comes next?

#114: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 2:16 pm
—
Yes, Mary-Lou, you're an absolute genius! Get Anna to cook for one hundred fifty people (assuming it's Seniors--~100 people--and mistresses and guests--~50 people).

She won't mind! After all, she's used to cooking for g-d-knows-how-many at Freudesheim.

I was so HOPEFUL that after Ailie et al's mini-rebellion against Matron, the girls would be more insightful into the needs of the staff. Alas, it does not appear to be the case.

Chang

#115: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 2:25 pm
—
So now Mary Lou is doing it.... Committing other people to doing things without thinking of the consequences, I mean. Ah well!

#116: Author: Elle, Location: Peterborough

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 2:48 pm
—

ibarhis wrote:

So now Mary Lou is doing it.... Committing other people to doing things without thinking of the consequences, I mean. Ah well!

"That's just Mary-Lou" surely?

#117: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 2:52 pm
—
Thanks, Alison. I wonder how Anna is going to react to this.

For a couple of years, I helped wash cups at a church fireworks party near the time of Bonfire Night. I didn't have to pay the entrance fee, but I spent the whole evening washing paper cups so they could keep on being used. I kept on getting volunteered, and I couldn't find a way out of it. The 3rd year wasn't so bad as a friend helped me and I got to see some of the fireworks.

On the 4th year, the lady also helping in the kitchen said was I able to help out again that year. I said I thought I was away that weekend, hoping that I would be away. The subject wasn't mentioned for a few weeks.

When the time came, the lady said, 'You said you would help at the fireworks party, didn't you?' I said that I was actually going away that weekend.

#118: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 2:54 pm
—
All my sympathies are with Anna (and Elsie) at the moment, I can't imagine Peggy would like it much if she was given extra work...

Thanks Alison

#119: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 4:02 pm
—
Oh, super Anna to the rescue! What a splendid idea! Now I long even more fervently for Anna and Elsie to meet and have a little chat! Thanks, Alison.

#120: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 7:59 pm
—
Oh nice one, Mary-Lou!!!!!!!

Thanks Alison

#121: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 12:04 am
—
It's all right, she can make a start on the cakes today, no problem! What happens when she collapses in a crumpled heap?

#122: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 7:47 am
—
Thanks for the comments. Elsie will be visiting Freudesheim very soon Wink

.

Elsie left for Geneva very early on Saturday morning. As no more had been said to her on the subject, she assumed - insofar as she thought about it at all - that the tennis match had been postponed and that either the trip to Lausanne was going ahead after all or else that some alternative all-day expedition had been arranged for the Chalet School girls. She was not at all pleased, when she returned to the School, to find that all sorts of ingredients earmarked for use on Sunday and Monday had been used up; and she and most other members of the domestic staff were absolutely furious to learn that some of their younger colleagues had been pressurised into giving up their day off and working instead.

Mary-Lou wasn’t the sort of person who would ever consciously have bullied anybody; but she did have a rather forceful manner, especially when she was convinced that she had right on her side. It had seemed to her that, as Peggy had said to Hilary, cancelling the match would both have damaged the School’s reputation and caused a great deal of disappointment to a lot of people; and that, set against that, it was little enough to ask that people who’d made no specific plans for the day anyway give up their time to help out.

Accustomed to being expected to obey orders and aware that the Head Girl and the prefects were regarded as having considerable authority in the School, a number of the maids, most of them only the same age or very little older than Mary-Lou and Hilary, had felt that they’d had little choice but to agree. They’d said nothing to Elsie before she went, realising that she’d be angry and not wanting to be caught in the middle of an argument.

Elsie immediately told those who’d worked on the previous day that they could take next Saturday off to make up for it, and went to inform Hilda that they‘d be absent from work on that day. Hilda, whilst she understood why Elsie had acted as she had done, felt obliged to say that that wasn’t acceptable. No-one had actually forced anyone to work the day before, after all; and mistresses often helped with school activities in their free time without expecting time off in lieu. Moreover, only she and Nell Wilson had the authority to grant extra days off, and she couldn’t be seen to be allowing other people to do so at will.

Feelings amongst the domestic staff over the whole affair were running high, and several members of the kitchen staff were venting their anger about recent events when Norah Fitzgerald arrived in the kitchen to ask for cloths to mop up some paint that she’d spilt in the art room. Norah, who’d recently been fined by Hilary for using English on a German day, lost no time in announcing to the rest of her form that Mary-Lou Trelawney and Hilary Bennet, with Miss Burnett’s approval, had bullied some of the maids into working when they were supposed to have been on holiday. The tale soon went round the rest of the girls, being elaborated upon along the way.

Almost all of the older girls and most of the younger girls accepted that much of what was being said had been wildly exaggerated, but the fact that the rumours were circulating at all made the matter a widespread topic of conversation. Opinion was split. There were those who supported Peggy, Mary-Lou and Hilary, saying that they’d only done what they’d thought was best for the School. Some of them said that those who’d given up their day off had been free to refuse to do so, and others said that all the domestic staff should have either agreed or been told that they had to work that day. Then there were those felt that what had taken place had been wrong and unfair, to Anna as well as those maids involved; some of them going so far as to say that they were quite disgusted by it.

There were several heated arguments about the issue, and a tense atmosphere pervaded most forms as a result. It was the first time that most of the girls had given the domestic staff’s working conditions any real thought at all, and it was certainly the first time that the School’s attitudes towards the domestic staff had been the subject of anything like so much discussion amongst its pupils.

#123: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 7:53 am
—
Well, it was always said that the CS should provide a rounded education!

#124: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 7:58 am
—
Hmmm, think Hilda was wrong to insist that the staff not have the following Saturday off. It would have shown she had some sympathy for them. The situation is rapidly racing out of control - I wonder if anyone has ever considered what would happen if the domestic staff just downed tools?

Thanks Alison.

#125: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 8:01 am
—
I suspect that Hilda is trying to retain or even retrieve control... I mean who would expect a member of the domestic staff to behave with a degree of self determination worthy of Jo or Mary-Lou? Very Happy

#126: Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 8:26 am
—
Ah. Someone is finally seeing Mary-Lou for what she is. Am interested to see how this develops!

#127: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 8:34 am
—
Just another little thought - would really like to see Elsie and Mary Lou meet up!

Mary Lou is one of those people that, whilst they don't feel they are bullying, is in fact doing just that - should like to see her try that on Elsie - among other things, her being known as Mrs bradshaw might impress on Mary Lou that Elsie has authority.

#128: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 8:55 am
—
Glad the pupils are starting to think about it. Thanks Alison.

#129: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 12:01 pm
—
Much to consider in this, thanks, Alison.

#130: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 1:18 pm
—
can we see what Anna thought of cooking for them?

#131: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 3:10 pm
—
Thank Alison, it's really interesting to see the affect of the domestic disputes on the girls and it's really good that they are starting to think about these things.

Thanks Alison, this is not only really well written but is really interesting too!

Kathryn

#132: Author: Lyanne, Location: Ipswich, England

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 8:33 pm
—

Quote:

only she and Nell Wilson had the authority to grant extra days off, and she couldn’t be seen to be allowing other people to do so at will

No, but she should have pre-empted it by telling Elsie that those maids should have the next Saturday off.

#133: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:01 pm
—
Strike!

That's what they need to do...

Thanks Alison

#134: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:49 am
—
Opinion in the staff room was also divided on the matter, along similar lines. It was clear that the domestic staff felt strongly about it; and those of the “upstairs” staff who sympathised with them said privately to each other that Peggy should have stopped to think before inviting a large group of visitors over for the day, even if she hadn’t forgotten about the promised day off.

Some of them were also of the opinion that Mary-Lou and Hilary should have been reprimanded for their overbearing manner towards the maids, and that Hilda should have given those affected next Saturday off herself. There were also a few murmurings about some people seeming to think that the School paying someone a salary meant that it owned them body and soul and was entitled to first call on every bit of time that they had. However, they felt that they ought to show a united front, and so none of them made their feelings known in public; which rather made it look as if none of them felt that what had happened had been in any way wrong.

There’d always been a divide between the “upstairs” staff and the “downstairs” staff, but there’d never been any obvious antagonism between the two groups before. Now, the cumulative effect of everything that had happened this term – the dispute between Elsie and Matron over the ironing, the changes Elsie had made to the domestic staff’s working practices and their effect on the rest of the School, the incident with the Lower Fourths and now the affair of the tennis match – changed that. If any mistress ventured to the kitchen or the laundry room, they found that everyone there fell silent as soon as they arrived. It was the same if one of the maids brought a message or a plate of cakes to the staff room.

The atmosphere in the School, one way and another, had very rarely been this bad before. Nor was the dispute confined to the School itself. Elsie had met Rosli but she hadn’t yet met Anna, nor had she met Joey who hadn’t been over to the School as often as usual this term due to being “busy”. However, on learning that the woman who worked for the Maynards had been in her kitchen on Saturday, making herself at home, taking charge of events and using up her ingredients, she stormed off to Freudesheim to make her feelings known. What she found wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting.

Rosli answered the door. “Oh - Mrs Bradshaw!” she said, wondering what the reason for the visit was. Karen had quite often popped in with portions of raspberry fluff or other treats - admittedly usually as a pretext for a gossip with Anna - but the latest school cook had never been round to Freudesheim before. “Come in. Is there something you’d like to borrow?”

“No, there is not,” Elsie said shortly. She forced herself to be civil: all this was hardly Rosli’s fault. “It’s nice to see you, Rosli. Is the woman who works with you here? Anna Pfeifen, isn’t it?”

“She’s not, I’m afraid,” Rosli said, wondering why Mrs Bradshaw seemed to be in such a bad mood. “She’s taken our four little ones out for a walk. Can I give her a message?”

At that moment, a large and obviously very badly-trained dog came hurtling into the hallway, nearly knocking Elsie over. Behind him came a woman clad in a lime-green smock, her hair arranged on either side of her head in a style that wouldn’t have flattered anyone. “Bruno! You bad dog! Honestly, the minute he hears voices in the hall, he’s up and away! I’m Frau Doktor Maynard, the mistress of the house. And you are …?”

#135: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:19 am
—
Alison, how could you leave it there? This is cruelty to us poor creatures who are eagerly awaiting this meeting!

Thanks, this is fabulous!

#136: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:22 am
—
Alison you must write/post the next bit! I sooooo want to see this meeting! Laughing

Think the description of the antagonism very realistic between stff upstairs/downstairs - in a way a pity that the teaching staff cannot show they have some sympathy for the domestic staff position.

(And Mary Lou and Hilary should have been reprimanded)

Thank you.

#137: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:30 am
—
That is just evil... Smile

#138: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 9:03 am
—
Alison! Come back and give as the next update!

#139: Author: pim, Location: Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 9:11 am
—
*sits down with the popcorn to wait for the fireworks*

Thank you Alison.

#140: Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 9:13 am
—
*nearly falls over the cliff*

Please post some more!

#141: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 10:56 am
—
Alison, come back!!
Pretty please?

#142: Author: alicat, Location: Wiltshire

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 11:41 am
—
Help! is wearing a smock part of being 'busy' because I have just bought a really pretty smock-type summer top and do not want anyone to get the wrong idea..... Embarassed

#143: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 11:54 am
—
Thanks, Alison. Is the start of the hoped-for fireworks?

#144: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 1:16 pm
—
Alison, as you are on-line at the moment,and you are currently bored - could we prevail on you for further episodes of this?

Thank you. Laughing

#145: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 1:19 pm
—
Sadly it's on my home computer and I'm (no wonder my "tag" is saying "Bored!") at work Sad

#146: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 1:23 pm
—
Well that's sad, isn't it? I'll just have to go and write more of Trust now! Laughing

BTW - invest in a memory stick - very easy way of transporting story with you!

#147: Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 2:13 pm
—
I am going to be out of the house and will not have any internet access this weekend. Is leaving me to hover on this cliff during my mini-vacation a nice thing to do? Because I don't entirely think that it is.

I hope that Elsie and Anna are able to establish a good relationship eventually, even despite the initial misunderstanding and despite Joey and her lime-green-ness.

Chang

#148: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 2:46 pm
—
Thanks Alison! Loving this so much Very Happy

#149: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 3:39 pm
—
Sigh...how can you leave us there Alison, especially after you've built it up so nicely!

Thank you Very Happy

Kathryn

#150: Author: La Petite Em, Location: Cheltenham

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 5:02 pm
—
What is going to happen next? - the question on everyone's lips.
Thanks Alison Very Happy

#151: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 6:10 pm
—
Thanks, Alison. I hope that Elsie will be able to stand up to Joey.

#152: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:43 pm
—
Alison ... please have mercy!

#153: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:00 pm
—
Alison- you home yet? Very Happy

Love this by the way
*does crawling work? Wink

#154: Author: Alice, Location: London, England

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:11 pm
—
I couldn't remember whether I'd read today's post or not. I was disappointed to realise that I had (enthralled though I was...)!

#155: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 11:28 pm
—
Such a lot of interesting and thought-provoking stuff in this, Alison.

Many years ago, I wrote a story about the kitchen staff going on strike - the teaching staff had to take over ... appealing thought!

Also looking forward to the Joey/Elsie conversation. Shocked

#156: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 7:49 am
—
Thanks for the comments. Here's the next bit. (The comment Joey makes about Karen is based on something that she actually says to Hilda in one of the later Swiss books.)

“This is Mrs Bradshaw, the new School cook,” Rosli explained. “She’s come to see Anna.”

“Oh,” Joey said, dropping into English. “Er … how do you do? I assume that you’ve come to thank her for stepping into the breach on Saturday.” She eyed Elsie disapprovingly. What the Chalet School required was a cook who was conscientious and hard-working, not someone who went off gallivanting when she was needed and seemed to cause no end of other trouble besides.

“Of course,” she added, “when our one and only Mary-Lou came over to ask me if she could borrow Anna for the day I said yes immediately. I would never think twice about suffering a bit of personal inconvenience when it was for the good of the School. That’s how we do things at the Chalet School, Mrs Bradshaw – and I’m still a Chalet School girl even if I am the proud mamma of nine, soon to be ten or hopefully eleven. Lady Russell is my elder sister and I was the School’s first ever pupil, you know. Well, of course, you must know.

“Anyhow, I’m sure you’ve been made aware that my Anna did you proud on Saturday. She’s an excellent cook, even if I do say so myself. Her pastries aren’t quite as good as Karen’s – I used to keep telling Miss Annersley that I was going to steal Karen from her one of these days, but then dear old Herr Braun’s son got there first – but otherwise I can’t fault her. She understands about loyalty, of course. She’s been with me since almost ever since I got married – she made her way out of occupied Austria and all the way to England so that she could work for me, and she’s been my faithful handmaiden ever since. She’s out with my four youngest children at the moment, but when they get back I shall certainly tell her that you called round to thank us.”

She looked at Elsie’s empty hands and was singularly unimpressed. Wouldn’t you have thought that she could have brought a basket of cakes or something similar with her by way of a thank you gift for everyone at Freudesheim? No wonder the triplets didn’t seem to think very much of her. Good manners cost nothing, when all was said and done.

Elsie was beginning to realise that she’d got the wrong end of the stick. She wasn’t forming an overly favourable impression of the unknown Anna, who seemed to let this self-satisfied woman walk all over her; but it was quite obvious that Anna had only been obeying instructions when she’d come over to spend the day working in the School kitchen.

She’d actually half-forgotten the original reason for her visit in her anger at the way in which Frau Doktor Maynard was speaking. “Borrow Anna for the day.” “Steal Karen from her.” “Even if I do say so myself.” “My faithful handmaiden.” Just who the hell did she think she was?

#157: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 8:01 am
—
You seem to be toying with us, Alison! What will Elsie say to all this? I'm so eager to find out!

Thank you. Very Happy

#158: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 9:19 am
—
I can't wait to see the next part of this!! (Hint, hint!)

Laughing

#159: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 9:46 am
—
Alison, I presume you're at home today, so can we have another update later?

*hopeful*

Thank you!

#160: Author: Sarah_L, Location: Leeds

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 1:14 pm
—
I have a feeling that Elsie's response will not be the response Joey is expecting.

#161: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 2:21 pm
—
Alison, please don't leave it there, come back and post some more.

#162: Author: JustJen, Location: sitting on the steps

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 2:35 pm
—
wow, isn't Joey just a real b*tch?

#163: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 3:10 pm
—
Well I'd be seething by now, don't know about Elsie! Laughing

Thanks Alison.

#164: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:00 pm
—
Joins Lesley in seething at Jo's sanctimonious, self-satisfied attitude.

#165: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 6:44 pm
—
Typical Jo!
*gets under the desk before Elsie explodes*
Thanks Alison

#166: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 6:59 pm
—
Thanks Alison, I have every confidence in Elsie to be able to put Joey in her place!

Can't wait to see it Very Happy

Kathryn

#167: Author: Ally, Location: John Bettany's Cabin!

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 9:32 pm
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Ooh err I can't wait to see what Elsie says in reply!

Thanks Alison

#168: Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster

Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 9:57 pm
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Alison? Isn't it time to update this?

#169: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 12:37 am
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Joey really does think she owns them, doesn't she. Horrifying. At least it's stopped Elsie being angry with Anna. Think we all ought to duck for the next bit?

#170: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:49 am
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Hope Joey didn't sound too OTT there. I was trying to go off things she actually says in the books - I've been trying to sympathise with her but she just gets so annoying in the Swiss books Laughing

!

“I’ll thank you not to go making so free with your assumptions about why I have or have not come round here, especially when you couldn’t be much further wide of the mark,” Elsie snapped. “Called round to thank “us”? I came round to tell Anna Pfeifen that I hope she was flaming pleased with herself yesterday, knowing that those young lasses she was busily directing were being done out of a well-deserved break they’d been looking forward to for days. Not to mention using up my ingredients and messing up my menus that I’d put time and effort into planning.

“However, I can see it’s not her I need to speak to you: it’s you. Did you actually ask her if she minded doing all that work yesterday, by the way? I bet it even never occurred to you to ask what she thought! Mind you, from the sounds if it she’d not’ve felt able to say no anyway. Shame you’ve not got that great horrible dog as well-trained, isn’t it? Tell me, do you always speak about other human beings like you’ve just done to me? As if they’re possessions, to be borrowed or stolen or whatever else? And what’s with the thanking “us” bit? What exactly did you do? Had to make your own coffee for the day whilst Anna Pfeifen was over at the School, did you? No, don’t tell me – you got young Rosli to do it instead! Well, I hope you don’t think you’re going to start “borrowing” me as and when you feel like it!”

“Borrow you? I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have working for me less!” Joey said furiously. “I’ve heard all about your carryings-on. Providing meals that aren’t up to standard. Taking days on end with the laundry. Encouraging the maids to take breaks umpteen times a day – and you needn’t think you’re going to start filling Anna’s head with any of that nonsense: she’s not an impressionable young girl like most of the School maids are and she’s got more sense than to listen to the likes of you.

“I hear about everything that goes on at the School, you know. I might not have been over there much this term, but Miss Annersley and Miss Wilson have been over here and told me what’s been going on. And I couldn’t believe what Mary-Lou told me on Friday, that you were willing to let down hundreds of girls who were all looking forward to their tennis match just to suit yourself! I told the Heads weeks ago that they should have sent you packing. It’s certainly what I would have done.”

“Sent me packing? I’d be out of here so fast my feet wouldn’t touch the ground if I had to work for you!” Elsie retorted. “And by the way, do you have any idea just how ridiculous it sounds for a woman of your age to say that she’s “still a Chalet School girl”? Shall I tell you something for nowt, Mrs Maynard? I was quite looking forward to meeting you. I wouldn’t read your books myself, they’re not my sort of thing; but I was quite impressed when I found out that you work, even if it is only in the comfort of your own great big house, instead of just swanning around being the wife of the Head of the San.

“But now … well, I can see what sort of person you really are! I can understand you wanting some help running a house the size of this one, but it sounds to me like you expect to be waited on hand and foot! “Personal inconvenience” – I’ve never heard such rubbish! My gran might never have had a big house like this to see to but she had a big family – you’re not the only one, you know! - and a job as well; and she never had anyone to run round after her, and nor did any of her neighbours who were in the same position!

“It just doesn’t matter to you that people missed out on the day off they’d been promised, after all the hard work they do for low wages and very little appreciation, does it? So long as a tennis match and a big meal for a load of guests invited at less than a day’s notice went ahead! Your sort think that people like me and this Anna are here for your personal convenience and that we should be so glad of our jobs that we not only accept that but worship the ground you walk on to boot! It makes me sick: it really does. Oh, you don’t have to tell me to leave. I’m going!”

#171: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:58 am
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Well done Elsie, very well done! That all needed to be said - Joey in this is really quite unreasonable - and no I didn't think you were OTT Alison - as you say, all the things Joey said have been said by her in the books.

Thanks! Laughing

#172: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 10:02 am
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*applauds*

Well said Elsie! Thanks Alison.

#173: Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 10:05 am
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*applauds*

Go Elsie. Now run. I'd have loved to have seen Joey's face. How much that she marches around to the Heads and demands that they sack her?

#174: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 11:02 am
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Excellent, thanks Alison

#175: Author: keren, Location: Israel

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 12:15 pm
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Maybe joey will think about things a bit?
That could also be an idea

#176: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 1:13 pm
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Thanks, Alison. Elsie was great at standing up to Joey!

#177: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 1:49 pm
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Thanks, Alison, lovely to see Jo get her needings.

#178: Author: Catherine_B, Location: London, UK

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 1:54 pm
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Hurrah! Well said, Elsie! Laughing

#179: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 2:13 pm
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Thanks, Alison, I really enjoyed that!

#180: Author: nikkie, Location: Cumbria

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 4:31 pm
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Wow! Shocked

Its about time someone stood up to Jo! Very Happy

Can't wait for Elsie to meet Anna.
Thanks Alison

#181: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 6:11 pm
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Thanks Alison - I don't think Jo was too OTT at all. And I'm *so* glad Elsie said all of that to her Very Happy

Kathryn

#182: Author: tiffinata, Location: melbourne, australia

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 12:46 am
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Don't we love it when Joey gets hers!

#183: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:14 am
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Thanks for the comments Very Happy

. I'm sure Elsie and Anna will meet up soon Wink

.

Elsie was shaking with anger as she marched out of Freudesheim, banging the door behind her. How Rosli and this Anna put up with that, she didn’t know. And what was all this about Miss Annersley and Miss Wilson going over there and criticising her work behind her back, after everything she’d done to get the domestic department running efficiently again? She clenched her fist in determination. She’d had more than enough of the attitudes that people round here had towards those who worked as domestic staff. Something wanted doing about it - that was for certain.

Joey was furious as well; and within seconds she was on the phone to Hilda Annersley, demanding that Elsie Bradshaw be sacked on the spot. She didn’t care about any stupid agreement about staying till the end of term that Hilda might have signed, she said angrily. She wasn’t being spoken to like that by anyone. And what if the dreadful woman went around speaking to other people in the same way? A fine name that’d get the School! “Mark my words, Hilda!” she said. “That woman’s trouble. The longer you keep her on, the worse things are going to get!”

That last sentiment was one that Hilda was beginning to share; and several of the mistresses were saying that they’d never had problems of this sort before and that quite frankly it was easier to cope with lukewarm coffee and slightly delayed meals than everything that had been happening this term. However, she did have to take account of that agreement, whatever Joey might say – and, anyway, where on earth was she going to find yet another new cook from?

Besides, she had the uncomfortable feeling that publicly dismissing Elsie might very well backfire on her. The woman was unlikely to go quietly, and she seemed to have the overwhelming support of the rest of her department. Deciding that it might be best not to share these thoughts with Joey, she just said that she was sorry that Joey had been upset, and that feelings were running high at the moment and she was sure that Mrs Bradshaw didn’t make a habit of being rude to people.

That didn’t stop Joey from ringing up repeatedly over the next few days and continuing to complain about the matter at length. Hilda was sorely tempted to point out that it was no more Joey’s place to demand that a member of the School’s staff be dismissed than it was her place to reprimand that member of staff for what they’d said off School premises to someone who wasn’t officially part of the School at all.

During the following week, the Headmistress spent a lot of time trying to decide what her next move should be. With Joey ranting and raving about Elsie Bradshaw’s attitude and behaviour, and Josette being a close friend of both Mary-Lou and Hilary who were at the centre of the row over the tennis match, if things didn’t calm down soon it could surely only be a matter of time before Madge Russell came to hear about everything that was going on. Then she’d be getting involved as well, or at the very least wanting to know what Hilda was doing about it. This was all rapidly getting out of hand. What was the best thing to do? Wait and hope that things settled down of their own accord? Or take some action and, if so, what?

#184: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:21 am
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I'm surprised Joey hasn't been put to bed with a small something in her coffee if she carried on like that; surely it isn't good for her to get so over-excited!

#185: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:44 am
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Thanks Alison.

#186: Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:46 am
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Typical Joey. Thankyou Alison.

#187: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:51 am
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And so the tension mounts...

Thanks, Alison.

#188: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 9:58 am
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Thanks Alison, I'm glad Hilda isn't listening to Joey!

#189: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 11:43 am
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Thanks, Alison. I'm still disappointed that Elsie hasn't managed to motivate Anna to speak up for herself

ETA: how about a large dose in Jo's coffee?

#190: Author: KathrynW, Location: London

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:41 pm
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Thanks Alison, Hilda is definitely in a really tricky position here and I can well imagine her not wanting Madge to hear what's going on.

Thank you Very Happy

Kathryn

#191: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:46 pm
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Actually Hilda is being rather a wimp here - why couldn't she tell Joey that it's not Joey's place to demand someone be dismissed? And as for Madge - if she had given suitable funding in the first place so that sufficient domestic staff could be hired this wouldn't have happened. |Perhaps Madge should be told - and told to fix it!

Thanks Alison.

#192: Author: Mia, Location: London

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:54 pm
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Isn't Jo still a shareholder? It would be hard for Hilda to tell her what to do then! But obvs that would mean she would have the right to say who should be hired and fired.... within reason of course.

Last edited by Mia on Mon May 15, 2006 3:58 pm; edited 1 time in total

#193: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:57 pm
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Certainly it sounds as though there may need to be an increase in the budget for the following financial year to fund an increased domestic staff.

#194: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:47 pm
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Joey's a shareholder, but I think the main problem is that she's Madge's sister and Madge is the majority shareholder and always seems to be regarded as the "owner" of the School.

I remember there being a discussion a while ago about EBD seeming to forget that the School was originally a partnership between Madge and Mlle Lepattre and that therefore the Lecoutiers should've been major shareholders too!!

Just to go slightly OT, seeing as I work in accounts I know that it is a v. v. boring subject, but no-one at the CS actually seems to do anything about keeping financial records - there's no bookkeeper or wages clerk (maybe the staff just don't pay any tax!), unless Rosalie had to do all that side of thing as well as everything else! Don't schools normally employ a bursar (is that the correct job title?!)?

#195: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 6:03 pm
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We had a bursar at my school (secondary school), in the 90s. Although it was state-run so the Local Education Authority actually paid the staff.
I guess it would fall to Rosalie. Again.

Loving this drabble (even if I can't quite bear to see Joey and all the rest being so evil).

#196: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:05 pm
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It was one of the areas in the Real Chalet School that i touched on - the RCS has a Bursar and financial section. To begin with I expect the School was too small to need anything like that - but even before the Anscluss it has grown significantly. I don't think EBD bothered about things like that - or thought her readers wouldn't be interested.

#197: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:06 pm
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I think that Rosalie's position must cut across a number of roles, including that of Bursar. I can't imagine anyone else dealing with eg. school fees. No wonder she is described as being overworked.

#198: Author: Chair, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:57 pm
—

I remember there being a discussion a while ago about EBD seeming to forget that the School was originally a partnership between Madge and Mlle Lepattre and that therefore the Lecoutiers should've been major shareholders too!!

Thanks, Alison. I am rereading 'School at', and I was thinking today actually that Simone and her relations should have gone to the CS for free if the Bettanys/Maynards/Russells were allowed to.

#199: Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:18 pm
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They don't just need a larger budget for the domestic staff, they really need an attitude transplant. The days of thinking that girls were willing to take jobs that demand heavy labour and long days because they are of peasant stock, 'uneducated' - i.e. have never been pupils at the CS, and are wiiling and adoring slaves was out of date by the time EBD died. So it's high time the school gave some thought to those who do the hard work. If a teacher does something slightly out of the way, as when Nancy Wilmot had to deal with Joan Baker in 'Problem', she's cossetted and left to have a sleep, but if Miggi or Karen had put themselves out, they wouldn't have been expected to take even a minute off.

#200: Author: ibarhis, Location: London and Hemel Hempstead

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:39 pm