Michael is a nice chap, and I'm looking forward to having him work with us, but I do hope he knows what he's letting himself in for. We start around the unearthly hour of 2.30 AM, getting out on the road with the big lorry to pick up gear from Leicester. There we have to pick the best, buy it, load it, take it back to Northampton around 5.00 - 6.00, then start unloading and setting it all out on display, making a nice 'Flash', as we market traders refer to it. You've got to have a good flash to attract people; good-quality bright fresh fruit and veg. nicely laid out and properly displayed. There are five or six stalls to flash, so there's plenty of work to get stuck into.
By the time the flash is set up we are starting to serve people, and the retail part of the day begins. There's no time to sit on your hands; as soon as a particular display starts going down we have to start topping up, and there are many of these displays, one for every kind of fruit & veg. on the stalls, so this goes on all day.
The customers can be less than polite too. Some are nice, many are reasonable, but some treat you like something the cat left on the step. Being polite to such people and putting up with their unreasonable demands is very tiring.
On top of all this we get the local nutters, who want to ask silly questions or just rant on about their hobby horse; they have all day to do this, but we don't have time to listen, but we still have to try to be polite.
Anyone not used to all this starts feeling shattered before 12 AM, so I very kindly told Michael to just turn up in the morning when it was convenient, as I would like him to last the day. It will be a long and tiring day for him as it is, even if he only works 9 AM to 5 PM.
We aren't going to molly-coddle him just because he's a MP, that's for sure. He'll have to dress like one of the lads in T-shirt and jeans and baseball cap, no pinstripe suits on here. He'll have to watch his accent when he's shouting the gear too, if he sounds too posh my customers will think I've got a hard-up public school type working on the market.
Old Girl customer: "Fitzy, 'ave you gotta banker working on your stalls?"
Me: "Whaddayasay Darlin?"
It's hard working on a market fruit and veg. business. After loading, unloading, moving gear around in sacks and boxes, stacking and unstacking, laying out displays, serving customers, topping up displays, serving customers, having a cup of tea on your feet, serving customers, taking down displays, putting the gear away, loading up what's left etc, Michael will probably be out on his feet before the day is over. Good on him for volunteering though; it will be a day he will never forget. He can be proud of experiencing something that most MPs, of whatever party, would shy away from. A long hard day of physical work, exposed to all the peculiarities of Joe Public at ground zero.
