My first jobs in Canada, ............1959 ( Archived) (6)

Jun 10, 2018 11:07 PM CST My first jobs in Canada, ............1959
britishcolumbian
britishcolumbianbritishcolumbianunknown, British Columbia Canada153 Threads 894 Posts
Living in the middle of the fruit valley there where lots of packinghouses. I was hired in one, and given large rubber boots and an apron.

Tomatoes were the job for me here. Steaming kettles were coming down the line, the tomatoes just having been cooked so it was now easy to remove the skins.

A card was hanging on your apron and if the supervisor judged the pot full enough she would mark your card.

On my second day, my pot was 3/4 full when I was told to move over. I just stood there, as I had no clue what was meant by, moving over. Again, move!

The supervisor yelled it now. Move! I did not react I just stared at her.

She was now getting to look like the color of my tomatoes.

A lot of the women had stopped working. Shocked at the audacity of this new girl not to move when told to do so.

All of a sudden my kettle gets grabbed and shoved down the line.

"Heh, that is mine and I want the credit for it."

So I went after that pot, and of course that had been the idea all along.

I had learned another new word.

If you did more than your quota, you were paid extra.

I was over my quota in three days so they moved me to a table with green beans. The machine takes of the ends of the beans and it is your job, to find the ones the machine has missed. Can you imagine staring at green beans streaming past you for 9 hours at a time?

Most of the people working there were foreigners. They would shake their heads at me, and tell me that I was a bad girl that I should still be in school. I told them that I had left school six years earlier.

Well sorry, but we need to go back to those beans.

I found an apple box and sat down on it. This was better by far!

The women were hissing at me that I could not do that. What do you mean I can't, I just did!

I was never told to stand up and not one other woman took my example. Why were these women so afraid of authority?

My thinking was if I lose this job, there would be others, for I know that I am a hard worker.

Next we had to do apples. I lasted one day there. Rows and rows of apples pass you by, and you have to decide in a split second, what grade they are 1-7 different grades. The apples are then going down the line, to fall in a certain bin because of their size.

Then women wrap the apple in a tissue, to be put in a slot in a box, ready then for shipping.

I now was put in charge of weighting the apples and to keep score.

Up to 2 lb over was allowed but it was never to be under the weight it was supposed to be.

After the fruit was all done, I went to the employment office.

They told me to come back in two weeks. I was back the next day. They showed me on a calendar where it showed two weeks later. I was back the following day.

This went on for another day. By now all the people in the office knew me. "You really want to work don't you," Of course that is why I was there wasn’t I?

I was send to the five-dime store. They put me in the hardware department, $25.00 a week would be my wages.

Hardware is difficult even when your English is good.

Well I just had to play at being “stupid” a little more often. One day a couple came in asking for ornaments. I did not have the foggiest idea what they were. I would go to another staff member and tell them that I couldn’t find ornaments, trying to mimic the words as best as I could. “They are right there honey”

So “honey” would now know what ornaments where, never to be forgotten!

I stayed in that store about six months. Then we moved to Jasper, a National park, what a priviledge that was.
------ This thread is Archived ------
Jun 11, 2018 10:30 AM CST My first jobs in Canada, ............1959
britishcolumbian
britishcolumbianbritishcolumbianunknown, British Columbia Canada153 Threads 894 Posts
Living in a National Park is a priviledge. The Rocky Mountains, visited by people from all over the world.
I lived there 4 1/2 years, fantastic!
The wildlife, deer, elk, big horn sheep, mountain goats, bears, who came right into my backyard, trying to get the lid of garbage cans.
Before going to the garbage cans, I would get a stone, just to make sure no bear was sitting in the can..
Hello there lol wave
------ This thread is Archived ------
Jun 11, 2018 11:11 AM CST My first jobs in Canada, ............1959
Miwagi
MiwagiMiwagiFlyover, Kentucky USA47 Threads 2 Polls 1,753 Posts
Canada is lucky to have you Jenny. wave
------ This thread is Archived ------
Jun 11, 2018 11:40 AM CST My first jobs in Canada, ............1959
britishcolumbian
britishcolumbianbritishcolumbianunknown, British Columbia Canada153 Threads 894 Posts
Miwagi: Canada is lucky to have you Jenny.
Miwagi, and I am thankful to be here.
After the war the Dutch govnerment started to urge people to leave. Sever shortage of housing.
S.Africa, USA. Ausstralia, Canada, your choice, the gov. paid for it all.
Boat or plane. We took the boot as the culture schock seemed less severe.
Never been sorry to have chosen Canada.
I moved to the US, California for 11 years. (Family there)
Always wanted to come back to Canada.
I felt a bond with Canada, so much had happened here................good and bad wave
------ This thread is Archived ------
Jun 11, 2018 7:40 PM CST My first jobs in Canada, ............1959
britishcolumbian
britishcolumbianbritishcolumbianunknown, British Columbia Canada153 Threads 894 Posts
My ex-mother-in law was visiting in Jasper.
The front door stood open and a large elk came up the steps.
MIL runs away, I think because she is scared.
I quickly shut the door, just in time to prevent this elk from entering the living room
MIL comes back with a camera. She is furious that I closed the door as she wanted
to take a picture...........
Yeah right, this elk was going to pose for her.
I know that it would have destroyed my living room in its panic. wave
------ This thread is Archived ------
Jun 12, 2018 9:40 PM CST My first jobs in Canada, ............1959
britishcolumbian
britishcolumbianbritishcolumbianunknown, British Columbia Canada153 Threads 894 Posts
It never happened that an elk came to the house.
Deer? Yes. Not an elk they are more shy, larger and scary to get close too.
wave Jenny
------ This thread is Archived ------
Post Comment - Post a comment on this Forum Thread

This Thread is Archived

This Thread is archived, so you will no longer be able to post to it. Threads get archived automatically when they are older than 3 months.

« Go back to All Threads
Message #318

Stats for this Thread

456 Views
5 Comments
Created: Jun 2018
Last Viewed: Mar 25
Last Commented: Jun 2018

Share this Thread

We use cookies to ensure that you have the best experience possible on our website. Read Our Privacy Policy Here