Saturday 2 June 2018

Tea Lady

The street view of the building I will be based in. It looks better when embiggened.


After 6+ years of trying to have my own business, not doing very well, looking for other employment, failing and wondering what to do about it all, I was offered a job this week.

The Salvation Army in Australia is restructuring and their Sydney bible college is living through uncertain times. The college has two arms: one training future ministers and one offering vocational training (such as chaplaincy studies) to the general public. The training for ministers will all be done in Melbourne from 2019 and nobody is sure what will happen to the vocational training. The once bustling campus has empty buildings and a skeleton staff. A friend of mine is the Principal of the campus and asked if I would be interested in a role which mostly involves organising morning tea for the community. The position is really all about raising morale. There are people already on-site who could easily add morning tea to their existing duties or it could be done by roster but for whatever reasons, those things don't seem to have worked in the past and my friend was emphatic that an orderly morning tea area and a pleasant atmosphere is of huge importance to the team.
The position is for 15 hours a week, so not a lot of hours and spread over at least 3 days, it's the kind of thing most people just don't want to bother with but for me it will be a good thing and I would be able to take a day off to attend a birthing client, should it be necessary so I can continue with doula-ing to the extent that it is available to me.

One of my daughters asked if I was going to do "fun things" with the morning teas. I'm not sure what she meant but in a similar vein I had myself wondered if a little jar with a flower in it on each table would be over the top.

I'm really no food person but somehow it keeps cropping up in my life. You might remember  that I used to prepare the morning tea for the church play group. I also organised morning tea for the church congregation in the last days before we amalgamated. Now, this. And again in the last days.

The house I grew up in and my parents still live in, backs onto the campus. Dad bought the land from The Salvation Army before I was born. In my very youngest years the property was a children's home, closed when the care of state wards was transferred to family situations, in the 70s. The property was converted into the new bible college and I remember when the college was opened by the Governor General. I remember the matron in starched apron who ran the now deserted kitchen/ dining room with an iron fist. That area will now be my domain, used for occasional functions or team lunches.

When a couple of palings fell off the fence, I was able leave our place through a back gate, cross the college playing field and duck through the fence on a shortcut to primary school. I also walked around the edge of the playing field to my grandparents house.

I have had an on/ off association with the place for most of my life so it is a privilege to be there for this period. I hope these are days of transition, rather than death.


20 comments:

  1. Transition, and growth.
    And that selection of food is right up my alley and has me salivating.
    I hope it goes really, really well for you (and those you serve).

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  2. I see Ursula's flippant remarks about my dying mother "gave you a laugh on this dreary Saturday morning." Well, thank you for that.

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    Replies
    1. Sometimes bitterness is funny.

      I'm sorry your mum is in distress

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    2. Also, it was in no way flippant

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  3. Have fun with the new job. I would love to have a job like that!

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  4. Congratulations, Kylie,
    I think a flower on the table would be perfect. One of the church lunches I attend always has a flower or flowers in a vase/jar/glass on each of the tables. Sometimes, it might be weeds, like for fall. Occasionally, it is a bunch of silk flowers that have been stashed in the kitchen for these occasions. Ask her what she had in mind.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Linda!
      The way it has been presented to me, I can do whatever I want as long as there is a gluten free option and it meets budget (I'm assuming there will be a budget)
      I will be able to go to the shops or get an online order, whatever suits me and I have been given the all clear to work at a pace I can manage.

      I was in a cafe recently where they were using juice bottles as vases and just put a stalk or two of herbs in, not a flower in sight but very attractive

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    2. One place I went had a decoration on some tables and flowers on others. Greenery of some sort is as good as a flower. Any sort of ornamentation works, just something pretty or interesting. They may have a shelf of things used in the past. I would never buy vases since florist vases are abundant as are things like juice bottles.

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  5. Congratulations on getting this position Kylie. It seems so right for you. Like it was meant to be. Perhaps some suitable music playing gently in the background would help people to talk.

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    Replies
    1. Music is something I wouldn't have thought of! Thank you

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    2. Music in the background would often cause conversation to cease if I cannot hear!

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    3. That's a point, Linda!

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  6. Congratulations. I am happy for you that you will be employed doing something that you will enjoy doing too.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Ramana. I think I will enjoy it.I'll be doing what I do at home but getting paid and possibly more appreciated :)

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  7. This is wonderful! And I always appreciate little touches such as a flower or two, in a jar of any kind, at a community lunch. It's a simple but uplifting touch. From your descriptions of lunches previously, I think you will be a welcoming presence and a sensible overseer of these teas.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jenny. I will certainly be glad of a change!

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  8. G'day Kylie .... it's me Charlie!! You visited my post the other day. That was very nice of you .... thank you!! See how polite I am?? Is your Harry polite too. I bet he is. We hound blokes are good blokes. Even if we do poo a lot. I'd sure like to meet your Harry or see him on instagram but my Mum's computer skills aren't the best so that may never happen. She's going to follow you though so just maybe we will see Harry somewhere along the line, aye?? It sure is nice to meet you and I hope your new job goes well.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Charlie!
      Harry is mostly polite but he was a racer and didn't learn manners until he was quite big so he gets forgetful at times. He has made a couple of appearances here but not too many. He will be back or you could find a picture when you put Harry in the little search box at the top of the page.
      Harry has never escaped and I don't want him to start so I'm not going to let him read your story!
      Thanks for your good wishes, I'll make you a puppercino anytime you drop by :)

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