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Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

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  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Back in the 70s, many of us found it hard to get work in the holidays, so a friend & I set up a little business, hilariously called 'Taskforce.'

    We used the college printing facilities to knock out some small handbills, which we shoved through doors in the rich areas of town. These offered people gardening, rubbish removal and small DIY jobs at an attractive hourly rate, We threatened to assume they required our services if the handbill wasn't showing in their letterbox the following morning. (;) Got most of them back!)

    Amazingly, we never ran short of work. Of course, we could vary the amount of handbilling to match our commitments, but we soon had quite a good thing going, especially people off on holiday who wanted the grass cut, weeding done etc. We even took on a week's work, painting a rental from top to bottom. It had housed a few alsatians, so I don't think the regular decorators would touch it!

    Of course, nowadays, you'd need to show your third party liability insurance before you could pull a weed and everyone would assume you were casing the place for a burglary. They certainly wouldn't hand you the shed key and say "The mower and tools are in there. We're off to Spain for a month.":rotfl:
  • lostinrates
    lostinrates Posts: 55,283 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Davesnave wrote: »
    Of course, nowadays, you'd need to show your third party liability insurance before you could pull a weed and everyone would assume you were casing the place for a burglary. They certainly wouldn't hand you the shed key and say "The mower and tools are in there. We're off to Spain for a month.":rotfl:


    This is the problem. I feel ingenuity and initiative are very stifled now. :(
  • Davesnave wrote: »
    Back in the 70s, many of us found it hard to get work in the holidays, so a friend & I set up a little business, hilariously called 'Taskforce.'

    We used the college printing facilities to knock out some small handbills, which we shoved through doors in the rich areas of town. These offered people gardening, rubbish removal and small DIY jobs at an attractive hourly rate, We threatened to assume they required our services if the handbill wasn't showing in their letterbox the following morning. (;) Got most of them back!)

    Amazingly, we never ran short of work. Of course, we could vary the amount of handbilling to match our commitments, but we soon had quite a good thing going, especially people off on holiday who wanted the grass cut, weeding done etc. We even took on a week's work, painting a rental from top to bottom. It had housed a few alsatians, so I don't think the regular decorators would touch it!

    Of course, nowadays, you'd need to show your third party liability insurance before you could pull a weed and everyone would assume you were casing the place for a burglary. They certainly wouldn't hand you the shed key and say "The mower and tools are in there. We're off to Spain for a month.":rotfl:

    Me and my mates did bob a job week in the Cub Scouts in the dim and distant past but I gather that the tidal wave of kiddy fiddlers and the resulting public awareness of same has since put a stop to all that. Yes, in the good old days we did all sorts of gardening and rubbish clearance and going to the shops for old ladies and the like. Did we get to keep the cash or did we have to hand it in to the Scout organisation? Can't remember now. I hope we got to keep it.
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I hope we got to keep it.

    Nope! We had a little card and people recorded what we'd done & how much they'd paid.

    We had to hand over all the dosh to Arkela.:( Knowing ours, she probably went straight to the pub with it.

    "Dib, dib, dib!" Oh, the memories! :rotfl:

    Actually, now I think about it, I hated cubs & always felt that there was something odd going on between Arkela & Brown Owl, but it was probably just my over-active pre-pubescent mind. :o
  • JonnyBravo
    JonnyBravo Posts: 4,103 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    Davesnave wrote: »
    Are there many students who don't work these days?

    When I was at uni, working was something done in the holidays, and then mainly in the summer, but both of my kids were into the world of work long before college. I think their experience is more like the norm, these days. Indeed, our elder daughter worked and studied at the same time, though the work was study-related.

    Likewise. Only job I had was during the holidays when I used to go back to the supermarket I'd worked in when in 6th form.

    Very different now. Eldest (at Uni) works, would be too poor for all the booze she "needs" otherwise. (Not degree related, just in a cafe or the like)
    Of course you are limited in the amount of work you can do if you're in full time education and there is no chance of a job involving getting up early. :D

    That shock is still to come.
  • lostinrates
    lostinrates Posts: 55,283 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    ne of the best jobs I had was also one of the worst paid...the person kept saying they'd pay me next week...and next week....and next week. In the end I asked my dad what to do and he made me stop working there. I enjoyed it though.
  • lemonjelly
    lemonjelly Posts: 8,014 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    ne of the best jobs I had was also one of the worst paid...the person kept saying they'd pay me next week...and next week....and next week. In the end I asked my dad what to do and he made me stop working there. I enjoyed it though.


    The job I've got the most personal satisfaction from, enjoyed & had benefits from was when I was a volunteer.

    I felt I had purpose. I felt I was contributing. I knew I was learning (what I didn't know then, was how much I had to learn!:eek:)

    I also had the best & most interesting workmates.

    In my working life, that 2 years has always been the time I have the fondest memories of.
    It's getting harder & harder to keep the government in the manner to which they have become accustomed.
  • lostinrates
    lostinrates Posts: 55,283 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    lemonjelly wrote: »
    The job I've got the most personal satisfaction from, enjoyed & had benefits from was when I was a volunteer.

    I felt I had purpose. I felt I was contributing. I knew I was learning (what I didn't know then, was how much I had to learn!:eek:)

    I also had the best & most interesting workmates.

    In my working life, that 2 years has always been the time I have the fondest memories of.


    Volunteering has a key thing work can never have...and that is simply that you are volunteering. You are choosing to get out of bed, go up go in and do it. work you HAVE to get up, go in and do it. Huge difference even if the role is identical.
  • Davesnave
    Davesnave Posts: 34,741 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I think I've written before about working as a volunteer in a children's home. It certainly was an eye-opener in many ways, but very enjoyable overall.

    I did it as an alternative to a long term child study, as I had no real-life children at home to observe. When I wrote it up, the result was a bit angry and political, so I was marked down for that.

    I didn't care. It was still more worthwhile than what most people did, which was to get a friend/sibling's photos and make the whole thing up!
  • lemonjelly
    lemonjelly Posts: 8,014 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Davesnave, loving the signature!:)
    It's getting harder & harder to keep the government in the manner to which they have become accustomed.
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