A Short Story
3 Weeks or 15 Working Days
By Gordon White

ISBN 9781909219823

This a true story, it all happened just as I tell it, nothing has been exaggerated or added, It happened in the late sixties when I was in my early twenties, between jobs with nothing to do, I was told that the local council was taking people on as they were going to be building a new road just on the outskirts of town. I will not name the town or any of the people in the story. The contract would be for six months, I managed to last three weeks, hence the title.
 
I presented myself at the council yard office to enquire about the work on Friday afternoon, I had what was probably the shortest interview I have ever had: I was asked my name, age, address and if I could start Monday morning. I said I could and that was that. It seemed that the fact that I had two arms and two legs was all the qualifications I needed. Please remember this took place in the sixties – there was no such thing as PPE: no high visibility clothing, no helmets, and the words 'risk assessment' had yet to be heard, we were supposed to use ‘common sense' but that didn’t seem to be very common.