Ann recalls fun times behind shop counter

Chairman of the Filey Ladies Monday Club, Brenda Sweeney, welcomed everyone to the meeting with several notices and reminders of the annual dinner and outing and requests for contribu-tions to the Memory Book which will be compiled to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary.

The usual list of past events were di s cussed. On this day, February 16 in 1 923 Howard Carter opened the burial chamber of Tutankhamun; i n 1971 Aretha Franklin recorded Spanish Harlem; it sold one million records.

Fellow member Ann Shipley was the evening’s s peaker and s hared experiences when she worked behind the counter of an off-licence shop where she lived. In 1998 she needed extra money to pay for driving lessons and so as a complete novice took up an evening job as a shop girl. There was no supervised probationary period and with much humour Ann described how she learned to manage the coded till, practise selling techniques, familiarise herself with the wide variety of stock on the shelves.

The customers varied too. There were regular, pleasant ones who became good friends, but also challenging ones, and frightening, threatening ones. Ann revealed how she coped with several such ordeals.

There was fun and reward in abundance and Ann recalled times when she decided to hold themed evenings and decorated the shop, the advertising board, herself and extra helpers in novel outfits, eg Indian, Disney etc and remembered that the St Trinian’s evening was the most popular.

It was all worthwhile. Ann paid for her driving lessons, but confessed that it took a dose of prescribed nerve-soothing tablets and two tries to pass the driving test and she did drive up from London to live in Filey as well. Applause for that too.

The next meeting will be on Monday March 2 in the community centre at 7.45pm.

There will be a sales table and the speaker will be Sheila Sutcliffe with ‘ If I were to say to you’. All are welcome.