Finding work
I wanted to do something in my life.
I wasn't content to sit around and breed, because that's what the stereotyped
Asian woman is, isn't it?
(First Generation Asian Woman, b.1961)
I decided to open a Continental Delicatessen.
We got the stock from another Polish man. These shops were just
like little clubs. Before they opened it was difficult to buy
the continental food. We got the first salami that came from France.
On Friday and Saturday the queue started at 8.30am and we had
it all day. Do you know we could sell anything.
(First Generation Polish Man, b.1913)
Relatives told me I would probably get a labouring
job, but my father was very strongly against this. He had had
a hard life and he was prepared to see me go to college so I wouldn't
have to go through what he was going through.
(First Generation Sikh Man, b.1953)
Well if you go back to the 1950s there was a
boom, especially in textiles, and they couldn't find enough people
to run the mills, so getting jobs were no problem you know. I
was five when I came across to England and I remember they used
to have big boards outside the big old factories saying 'Vacancies'.
And all you had to do was just walk down the street and say 'Oh
yes, there's a job there', and you would get a job. You could
actually pick and choose, work there one week and then say, 'Oh,
no, I'll got to another one'. And the jobs were mainly semi-skilled
labour work; you didn't need to be able to read and write really,
or even speak, you know, the task was so simple.
(First Generation Asian Man, b.1950)