New challenges! Finally I am spreading my wings,I couldn’t care if I was going to shovel shit but once I heard the incentives that came with the position offered to me there was no holding me back.I was determined to leave the mine dumps behind and make a new life for myself in the city of the sun. The position had been accepted, signed and come hell or high-water I was going to honour my decision.
I worked my last temp shift at the casino just after New Year 1988 and prepared to go back to teaching to work my months notice. My holiday romance was blooming but my beau never spoke of continuing the relationship so I kept the information that I will be returning to myself. I didn’t know then what I know now. The man is S-L-O-W in making any moves or decisions, even today 37 years later he frustrates me in this regard. Then I just thought he wasn’t that interested and although I felt rather sad I also realised that a relationship should come from both sides. I wasn’t interested in taking the romance to getting married therefore I didn’t think it necessary to give him any indication of my whereabouts once I left Sun City. What happens in Sun City stays in Sun City…
Upon returning to my old life I started the school year knowing I had a new life waiting, there was a great job offer and signed contract in my hand to prove it. My first day back at school was also my day of handing in my notice.My principal and fellow staff members were very sad when the news broke. My principal understood the motivation and was most supportive but when the news broke that I was leaving to start work at Sun City the school grapevine was aflame. It was by far the most exciting thing to happen in our community and the parents looked at me with a mixture of awe and disdain. I don’t know where I got the momentum to keep my eye on the prize and not let the small town mentality get to me but I soldiered on for a whole month.
My own parents were very distraught and I remember my dad looking at me and quietly asking:” Are you going to be a dancer?’ Me, the girl that has no co-ordination and had the rhythm of a broomstick in her…? Really Dad?!
A month later I found myself and my two cats, Snowball & Mischief, at the Sun City front gate, proudly using the staff entrance feeling like a million dollars had just landed on my lap. Unfortunately my employer, whom I still only knew as Gary, forgot to inform HR of my arrival and there was no flat waiting for me. Three hours later I found myself being a resident in the hotel, cats in tow. The hotel room became my place of residence and I stayed there for two weeks. I couldn’t let my cats out and they were very upset with being so rudely uprooted. They hissed and growled at me, hiding under the bed which distressed me even more. To add to my discomfort I found that doing the payroll wasn’t meant for sissies. My office was small, windowless and the woman I worked with could have gone for a course in basic people skills and probably would have flunked it. She was mean, the cats were pissed, I was staying in a hotel room living out of a suitcase, never saw the sun and hadn’t even had time to socialise. It was eat, sleep and work with no play. The folly of my hasty decisions started to highlight itself and I remember having a few good sobs at night. What had I done?!
My first break came when they called me in one afternoon and told me my flat was ready. The trek to the staff village was made in no time, cats and luggage in hand and when I stood in my fully equipped bachelor flat I felt like the queen of the world. It was very small. The lounge and bedroom was one room with a bathroom and a kitchenette attached. We lived on the first floor and as I was elevated I could see the majestic Pilansberg mountain range from my sliding windows. I had all I needed and I remember walking to work the next morning with a song in my heart. The bougaivillleas were in full bloom with colours of pink and purple everywhere lining the streets. It couldn’t get better but it did…
I had been at Sun City for nearly a month when one evening I quickly popped to a restaurant situated in the Main Hotel called the Callabash. I was meeting two friends there and the idea was to quickly have supper and then retire. Until then I hadn’t seen nor heard from my hot holiday romance ( hot by 1988 standards, just saying… ). Working shifts often meant people wouldn’t see each other for quite a time as some were catching up on sleep when others were working. I will admit that I had given him a lot of thought but I wasn’t going to open a door that he had no interest in knocking on. I walked into the restaurant, cast my eyes over the guests looking for my friends and my gaze fell upon the guy sitting at the table eating his supper dressed in full uniform. He looked up, our eyes locked and delight registered on his face. (I know he will tell the story differently but this is my story and that’s how I remember it.)
Ugh, so much for resolutions made when feeling discarded. They don’t last. This guy just got under my skin and like hookworm he stayed there. What the hell???
At first I tried to stay a little aloof but he was so genuinely delighted that he wore me down with his enthusiasm. He immediately tried to make some sort of date for the next evening but I was playing it cool and made some excuse for not being able to make it.
He never stopped trying, stopping by my windowless office in the day, popping by when I was having lunch and even stopping by my flat. I caved and our holiday romance became a work romance. When we were not working we went to movies, walked the golf course, went to supper and just hanged out. Life was great. Unfortunately I couldn’t say the same for my position as payroll officer.I had about 300 personnel on the books, everything was done manually and just balancing the food and drinks allowance at the end of the month was a problem. Like me all the staff were given a food and beverage allowance every month. When they exceeded the allowance the excess had to come from their salaries. The casino staff could DRINK! Dear Lord…
Every rand and cent had to be accounted for and had I had a more patient teacher with a human personality it would have been a little better but I had no such luck. I hated work and dreaded going in to the office except for month end when the salary of a thousand kings was paid into my account. That made life a little better and of course I had my Sin City romance which also smoothed the pain.
I kept my ear to the ground for a more acceptable job and I bided my time. My breakthrough came one afternoon when my boss’ boss called me into his office. I was shaking thinking I had done something wrong. Quinton’s office was situated in our office block but I had no contact with him. He was a big man with a big personality and I could hear his voice through the thin walls of the office partition when he was in office. He was the head of the Slots operation at Sun City, a formidable yet amicable man. My first visit to his office found me with quaking knees. He quickly came to the reason for calling me in. He was starting a Welcome Center for all the people that would be bussed into Sun City. It was a PR role and he offered me a position as one of the staff members that would meet and greet the visitors as they disembarked from the busses. At that stage Sun City was just getting into the bus passenger business and it seems it was a lucrative, untapped market. Shows featuring international artists were going big in the Entertainment Center where I would be based. This meant shift work but it also meant I would get away from my mentor that became a dementor and I would be free to see the sun and my new beau more often. Without a doubt in my mind the best move ever and I immediately accepted. Salary increase also included just added to the symphony of happiness that was me, Yvette.
Christopher was as elated as I was. I worked my last day as a payroll officer and remember dancing all my way to my flat after my last shift. Dancing in my mind, not my body as I would have scarred the staff and visitors.
Christopher had a two bedroom flat about two blocks away from mine.We made late night pancakes after shift in my flat and today Christopher maintains that his roll around his middle comes from those pancakes. I would walk to his flat and together we would explore Sun City, Mogwase ( nearby village) Sundown Ranch ( Rundown Ranch as the staff called it) Pilansberg , Rustenburg and on occasion even Sandton. Christopher drove a red beetle and that little car took us all over. I had sold my golf to pay back my student loan to the Department of Education as they were hounding me for their money. I didn’t really need a car and I was quite happy to be Christopher’s plus one in his beetle. Incidentally that beetle was bought from a car lot that is now the Total Garage belonging to the 4 Ways group in Vereeniging. Today I live not 4 km from that garage and I frequent the SPAR and garage daily.
Thats how small the world is.
In Afrikaans we have a saying that basically says every pot has a lid. I was starting to think I had found my lid.
To be continued….
” Every pot has a lid” amazing 🤩
” Every pot has a lid” amazing 🤩