Tea lady brews her final cuppa
On Wednesday, Annette ‘‘Annie’’ Padlie poured her last cup of tea for staff at Fairfield College.
The Hamilton woman has been tea lady at the school for 21 years, but has decided to put her kettle aside and head into retirement.
Tea ladies are women employed to make and serve tea in a workplace.
Though positions for this job have declined in recent years, Fairfield College principal Richard Crawford said Annie provided much more than just a cup of tea.
‘‘It’s been valuable in terms of staff wellbeing. We’re going to lose someone pretty special to our school,’’ he said.
‘‘Teaching can be a very stressful occupation and whatever we can do to help reduce that stress is something we will seriously think about.’’
Annie began work at the school in February 1997, after her daughter directed her to the position.
‘‘I got all ready, with a long dress on and high heels, and I trotted in the door,’’ she said.
‘‘They said I could start straight away and I’m in my heels and long dress. I didn’t know what I was in for.’’
Her day typically began at 10am, and she served staff tea in their lunch breaks at 11am and 1pm. With more than two decades of experience, Annie can remember how everyone likes their cuppas.
She always poured the milk in first, tea comes after, then sugar, if desired.
But Annie was known to run a tight ship, and liked it when everything was clean.
She’d seen a lot of new faces come through the school in 20 years, as well as changes in technology too, she said.
Back when the college first bought a coffee machine, Annie found that none of the staff used it because they didn’t want to pay the 10 cents needed to run it.
‘‘There’s a saying that familiarity breeds contempt, and that you don’t appreciate what you’ve got until it’s gone, but I don’t think Annie has been unappreciated,’’ Crawford said.
‘‘I’d like to have somebody replace Annie but at the end of the day, it’s a budget thing - is there another way we can do it?’’
Annie, 75, said she’ll spend her days as a retiree watching sport on the telly... while her husband makes the tea.