A Gentleman's Game

It has been a long time since I last posted. I have found work. I work in a kitchen, a male-dominated environment in which the work is hard but I don't mind too much. It is interesting and busy enough that I don't count the minutes. This is particularly lucky as sometimes I work an 11 or 12 hour shift or 720 minutes. I wash the pots. In this respect I am the lowest of the low. The chefs tell me what to do, the waiters and waitresses tell me what to do. I am at the bottom of a very long ladder. But unlike working in an office I do have a certain amount of autonomy. In at least my space; the realm of the sink I am queen, and I can get a little grumpy and officious when people mess up my space or waste my time. I find it interesting that the component parts of the kitchen all need to be in place for it to run smoothly. The little bitty jobs that waste time and are unproductive but still need to be done fall to me frustratingly, but sometimes everything runs smoothly.

I do not like the pay. THE PAY IS BAD. It is disgusting, it has always been disgusting that the minimum wage is graded down based on age. Anyone who is old enough to be working full-time. Who is trying to support themselves beyond the aid of their parents deserves minimum wage. Whether they are 16 or 18 or 21. I am fortunate that I am 21. On October 1st the legislation will change I will earn the full minimum wage. 5.90 an hour. Hopefully by then my tax code problems will be resolved. As it is I am working for £4 an hour after tax. I am desperately poor. But it hasn't kicked in yet. Provided I can sustain myself for this month I should be able to support myself.

James seems to be unable to motivate himself to find work. Apart from getting press-ganged into an interview for telesales the progress is very very slow. He is afraid. He is so afraid that even if we designate a day to go into town and find work we will not arrive before around 2 and often it is much later, leaving little time to actually talk to anyone. He doesn't search online, he doesn't try and he is unafraid of abject poverty. I don't really know what to do.