Eve decided that it was my turn to write something. So I will.
We have got a work experience youngster at the law practice. It reminded me of our days at the Children's Home. The kids like us always got the worst jobs. The smart kids from nice homes used to get all the decent placements, some of them even got paid.
I always wondered why the disadvantaged kids couldn't have the best placements. The rich kids had enough help already but no, people like Eve and I were always pushed to the back of the queue - unless we pushed back of course!
We usually got something dull like working in the school library. Or if you were really lucky you might be helping a science technician. But never any of the high status jobs of course. Every year it was the same. Rubbish placements, complaints from the kids, promises from the school or the social worker and then next year it all started over again.
I can remember having to write my CV for holiday jobs. It didn't matter what I wrote because once somebody saw where I lived they didn't want to know me. The only place that didn't seem to care was the FE college. There it was only "bums on seats" that mattered! It was easy to get on holiday courses along with loads of our friends. Some of the lecturers got a shock when they realised how many A grade GCSEs I had got and that people from the Home could read and write unaided. Can you remember me Mrs W, stuck up horror that you were!
Once Eve and I had left "care" at 18 we had council flats. That was a much better address to have if you wanted a job. Less stigma than being in a Children's Home. When Eve was away at university I managed to get some OK jobs plus some extra qualifications. Enough to make my way into something other than shelf-stacking.
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