Homework for July 2022 - "Working in the Seventies"
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:02 pm
Good thought-provoking prompt this month, Maureen. So many potential subjects to write about - but I settled on my early working years.
WORKING IN THE SEVENTIES
(c) Shelley Hansen 25/7/22
I finished school at “Junior”, started working right way –
began my long career at just fifteen.
So, now retired, I’m thinking back on over fifty years,
remembering the changes I have seen.
I started as “stenographer” and used the skills I’d learned –
took shorthand from the boss and typed it back,
sent letters and accounts in bulk by way of Aussie post.
The days flew by! So busy – never slack.
I typed with carbon paper – no “delete” key, or “undo”.
If “typos” happened, I would start again!
I clocked into a time machine each morning and each night –
No “flexi-time” or work from home back then.
No office-based computers, but there were some large machines –
address-o-graph which cut a metal plate,
and telex with its paper tape to send and to receive
fast messages relayed in coded state.
A “Roneo” machine would run off copies from an etched
impression typed on waxy foolscap sheets.
No emails then! The message boy would take the local mail
and ride his pushbike through the city streets.
All stopped for morning tea and sat together for a chat,
played table tennis on our lunchtime breaks.
A sense of camaraderie prevailed, to give support
when things got tough. We shared our joys and aches.
How times have changed! Technology has simplified some things
but complicated life in other ways.
And I can’t help remembering the feelings that I had
which makes me call those times “the good old days”.
WORKING IN THE SEVENTIES
(c) Shelley Hansen 25/7/22
I finished school at “Junior”, started working right way –
began my long career at just fifteen.
So, now retired, I’m thinking back on over fifty years,
remembering the changes I have seen.
I started as “stenographer” and used the skills I’d learned –
took shorthand from the boss and typed it back,
sent letters and accounts in bulk by way of Aussie post.
The days flew by! So busy – never slack.
I typed with carbon paper – no “delete” key, or “undo”.
If “typos” happened, I would start again!
I clocked into a time machine each morning and each night –
No “flexi-time” or work from home back then.
No office-based computers, but there were some large machines –
address-o-graph which cut a metal plate,
and telex with its paper tape to send and to receive
fast messages relayed in coded state.
A “Roneo” machine would run off copies from an etched
impression typed on waxy foolscap sheets.
No emails then! The message boy would take the local mail
and ride his pushbike through the city streets.
All stopped for morning tea and sat together for a chat,
played table tennis on our lunchtime breaks.
A sense of camaraderie prevailed, to give support
when things got tough. We shared our joys and aches.
How times have changed! Technology has simplified some things
but complicated life in other ways.
And I can’t help remembering the feelings that I had
which makes me call those times “the good old days”.