However, let's backtrack to Thursday so I can tell you about my day working with Gary. This is going to be a very long entry.
After going to bed at about 3am, I couldn't get to sleep till about 4am but I managed to get up easily and make it to town for 10am. I walked to the shop which was only a few minutes away.
Outside, there were two men sitting by a table talking. I thought they might work there, but neither of them were Gary. I went inside the shop. Inside was a ton of pine furniture. Mainly drawers and wardrobes. There was a hell of a lot of stuff in there though - too much. I called out Gary's name incase he was behind some of the furniture and couldn't see me, but I got no answer. I decided to call him.
"Hiya Gary, it's Neil"
"Alright Neil, you alright?"
"Yeah i'm fine"
"Where are you now?"
"Well i'm actually standing in your shop"
"Oh right. I'm next door in the cafe so come meet me in there and I'll get you a tea"
So, I went next door and met him. We shook hands and then he asked me if I wanted a drink so I said ok. After we got the drinks, he took me back to the shop and introduced me to the two men who were sitting outside. One was called Colin, the other Gary, but the guy named Gary didn't work there and soon left.
Once I'd been accquainted with Colin, Gary asked me if I'd help Colin with moving a few things and I said sure. So I went back into the shop and down some stairs into more of the shop, which was also part of what a customer would see. Again, it was packed down there full of furniture, this time moreso tables and beds, but you really couldn't walk around there comfortably.
Colin then said he needed help getting some stuff out of the car so he unlocked it and we began unloading some flatpack stuff. Most of it was pretty damn heavy for a weakling like me however.
After that, Gary asked me if I was up for putting a table together and then asked Colin to show me how so with one of the flatpack tables, me and Colin went downstairs and made a little bit of room to unpack the table and he showed me how to put it together. It was pretty easy to do, it just required a few nuts screwing on and that was it basically. However, it turned out to be the wrong table and it needed to go back to the warehouse so we ended up packing it up again a few minutes later.
Because it was pretty hot outside and because I was wearing a long sleeve tshirt and because I had been doing some carrying and lifting and stuff, I was sweating a hell of a lot and it was only about 11am at this point. The only comfort I had was that Colin too was sweating so it made me feel a little less unfit.
Since the table had to go back to the warehouse, Gary said to go with Colin to get another. Got the table, and made our way back to the shop in the car. On the way back, Colin asked me if I played any instruments I said no and then asked him if he did. He said he played anything. Guitar, piano, bagpipes. I asked him was he actually good at playing them and he said yes. It was strange to hear this, because looking at him, he looks like your typical brick layer kind of person, not someone who would be eclectic enough to enjoy playing multiple instruments. It was nice to know that he did.
Once back at the shop I asked Gary did he need anything doing and he said no, and that this is what most of the day would be like, just sitting around doing nothing. Of course, this is ok for most people, but I'd much rather be doing something, even if means sweating profusely by doing it. He told me to take a seat and relax so I did and he came to join me. We talked for a bit about various things such as my mum telling him about me being in college studying art and how he thinks it's good that i'm trying to make something of myself instead of wasting my life away. After chatting some, I began asking him a few questions about his life, since he seemed like a very interesting person and my god, this man's done everything.
A few facts about Gary that I learned:
He can speak 7 languages fluently.
He's made computer programs for two ships using a computer system called Honeywell, which I've never heard of, but he said I won't of. He had his own business going and had lots of contracted work and then his parter got him into debt or something and he became bankrupt.
He made some women's clothing designs and traveled to China to get the materials he wanted for the clothes. Gossamer silk, apparantly. "Fucking beautiful stuff", were his words. After designing them and even having them on a catwalk, Vidal Sassoon offered to buy the rights to the designs to stop him from going ahead with production and to stop competition from him so he accepted and got a ton of money for the designs. Came back to the UK after 26 years of living in Europe all over the place and bought a factory to make furniture. Sold the stock, furniture, bought some more and now owns five furniture shops along with investments in other areas of business.
Also, he said that he used to be very close friends with the head of directing of none other than Saatchi & Saatchi - The world's biggest advertising company. Of course, as soon as he said that ideas were popping into my mind about me and him and his contacts.
I learnt a lot about Gary and his past successes in life. I respected him before I met him, but this guy is such a nice person. Down to earth, but knows his stuff about a lot of stuff.
It was a pretty slow day according to him in the shop, as although a few people came in and had a look round, he only managed to make one sale.
I talked to Gary throughout the day, along with Colin. I didn't actually do that much, just sat on some comfy wicker chairs and the comfy leather chair at the desk. I felt very boss-like. If anyone came in and Gary had gone out of the shop for a moment, I'd just say hi to them and let them know there was more stuff downstairs - the stairs to get downstairs by the way are a certain death trap in the making. WAY too steep.
I didn't bother with lunch. I wasn't that hungry at all really. I just sat in various chairs, walked around the shop a little and watched Colin build a desk.
Around 3pm, Gary said that I could go if I wanted to and that he'd see me again tomorrow if I was sure I wanted to come back. I said I'd be there, and left.
I had to get my mum a card so I went into town to do so, but first went to buy a new tshirt for the next day, since I was going to be going out. However, I decided against it in the end and went to buy the card, before going into Sainsburies and buying about �6 worth of absolute shit such as a huge bag of crisps and five Mars Delights.
Went home, talked on the computer for a bit, got in bed for an hour, talked some more and then went to bed around 2am in preparation for the next day at work which I was actually looking forward to. However, that hour of sleep I had had in the day had made me very very much awake and as hard as I tried, I couldn't get to sleep until around 5am at which point I had given up on getting up at 8am for work. I reset my alarm for 9:45am, as I needed to call Gary to tell him I wouldn't be coming in. I felt SO bad for calling him to tell him that. I felt that I was letting him down, after he'd been so nice to me, but I knew that if I was to be going out that night, I needed some sleep so I could actually stay awake.
"Hiya Gary, it's Neil"
"Alright Neil, how are you?"
"Um, not that good actually. I don't feel that well and don't think I can come in today."
"Oh, right"
"I'm really sorry, but I just don't feel good. If I feel better later, I'll come in, about 1:30pm if that's ok?"
"Yeah, no problem mate"
I could hear the disappointment in his voice and I felt so bad. However, with that out of the way, it meant I could get some much needed sleep and sleep I did up until about 2pm in the end.
I managed to get to the shop around 3:15pm. I still wasn't feeling that good. I had no appetite at all, and yet I knew that I'd have to eat at some point, because I knew I'd be drinking later that evening.
When I got to the shop, I apologised again to Gary for not coming in and then asked him how the day had been. He said he'd had two orders or so. After a while, he said that he had to go out for a while to the bank and was leaving me in charge. He was only semi joking, which was quite daunting, when he's not told me anything about actually selling stuff to people and how to take an order and whether I was actually allowed to do so or whether only he took the orders.
While he was out, there was sudden rush of people. At first, they were happy to just look about and then some of them began asking ME questions. Asking ME questions about FURNITURE. I don't know a fucking thing about furtniture!
I asked Colin to help the people who had questions, but he didn't seem too sure about stuff either and when it came to someone actually wanted to buy something, I started to panic, as there was now two old ladies in the shop, and two other ladies looking about as well. Four customers in total who were not being served because Gary had gone out.
I called him on my mobile to ask for reinforcement and he said he'd be back in five minutes, but it was more like 15. Thankfully when he did arrive back, he took the details of the people who wanted to buy stuff and I watched him do it so if he's out again, I could take an order - if he wanted me to.
After that sudden rush, it was about 4:30pm and he said it was time to pack up so we got all of the furniture in from outside and locked up, before dropping Colin off somewhere and then me and Gary parked the car in town. On the way there in the car, he told me he wasn't feeling that good. You could tell really. I don't know why he decided to tell me he was feeling depressed, maybe my mum had told him that I suffer from it or something. I took an interest though and asked him how he was feeling and stuff. He said that he was going into town to get a card and present for my mum because he hadn't had time to do it.
He walked into a jewellery/cosmetics shop and looked around.
"Do you know what kind of things my mum likes?", I asked him.
"I know she likes jewellery, and perfume and..stuff", he replied.
"I know she likes Jade", I told him, "she's a big fan of Jade".
He was about to ask me something else, but I got a call from Stan, asking me about going out, making sure I still was and I said yes. He said he was looking forward to it. I was on the phone to him for about ten minutes, after which, I apologised to Gary and asked him to continue with what he was saying.
"So she likes Jade?"
"Yeah"
"But where am I going to find Jade? These don't have it"
"I know a place where, if you actually want to get it, that is"
"Yeah, let's go there"
So now I felt helpful, because I was helping him choose a good gift. However, the shop I remembered that had sold Jade was no longer there so I felt silly, but after he inquired in a jewellery shop as to where he could find it, I took him there instead and showed him the kind of stuff she'd like and what colours. Eventually, because I said she would like it, he chose a Jade bangle. We both weren't sure on the size of my mum's wrist, however, and stood there convering on whether this bangle was too big and this bangle too small. He decided to go for the smaller one.
"You're gonna kill me if she hates it", I told him, worried that he'd just spent �85 on something she wouldn't like.
After he had bought that, he said we were going the Post Office, which is actually the name of a pub that he and my mum go to a lot and all of his mates go to as well. In there, it was pretty damn full. Definitely not my kind of enviroment. Of note, however, was the fact that there were balloons on the balls and "Happy Birthday!" banners, because he had phoned them up the day before to ask if they could arrange it.
Just before we got to the pub, he showed me a Buddha he'd got as well as the Jade bangle. He said he had got it because he had asked the guy behind the counter if he got a discount because he was paying in cash. The guy had said no, but had thrown a Buddha in the bag. Gary called it his lucky Buddha, and he's quite superstitious it seems, as he doesn't like Friday 13th and guess what date it was on Friday...
Gary introduced me to some of his mates and he told them I was "Susie's son" - he calls her Susie, not Sue/Susan. He offered to get me a drink and at first I said no, but then changed my mind and I got a lime Bacardi Breezer, which was rather nice. Another thing I noted while at the bar was that the barmaid was rather hot. I later found out her name was Gemma.
It was about 5:45pm by this point and Gary said that my mum had been told by him to be at the pub for 6:15pm. Me and Gary stood at the bar, although he often went outside to either make a call or to talk to people. He bought me another Breezer and we continued to wait for my mum, along with my nana to arrive.
It got to 6:15pm and Gary asked me to call her to see where she was, but not to spoil anything. When I called, she said she'd be ten minutes, but she was actually more like 20. She arrived in a taxi with my nana and Gary paid the cab. My mum was sober, but my Nana was quite obviously tipsy. Very amusing.
Once my mum had entered the bar, and the barmaids had seen her, they started singing happy birthday, but no one was arsed and their efforts were kind of unnoticed by my mum and anyone else for that matter.
Once we'd all sat down, Gary pointed out the banners and balloons - which she's also missed - but was surprised by when she did see them and then my Nana pointed them out 30 seconds later, as if no one had mentioned them. She also kept saying hello to people more than once, which was funny. She also asked me how I was three times in the space of 15 minutes and didn't remember asking me the previous time.
Gary decided to give her her present. He handed her the bag with the boxed bangle in and the Buddha. She reached in and pulled the Buddha out first.
She looked melancholic.
"Aw, Gary", she said, solemnly. "You don't know how much that means to me".
I had forgotten that she would find that an emotional gift. My mum's dad died a few years ago and he was chinese and she was very close to him and Buddhas remind her of him. I guess it's because he was always laughing and full of life.
She struggled to hold back her tears, before reacing into the bag again to take out the green plastic box.
"Open that for me Neil", she asked me and so I did, carefully opening the box and removing the cotton wool so she could see the bangle inside.
"GARY!", she said, shocked, and excited. "Oh my god Gary", she said laughing. "What?", Gary asked solemnly in reply. "I LOVE it", she said, "Thankyou SO much".
He looked over to me and gave me a reassuring wink and it made me feel so good that I helped him get it for her and the wink was his way of saying thankyou to me and it felt so nice.
He gave her her card too, before he hinted to me that I should "put it with the other card, yeah?", meaning for me to give her my card too so I did. I wasn't actually going to bother until perhaps a little later on because I didn't want to interrupt Gary's limelight with the present and stuff.
By this time, it was about 7pm and I was meeting Stan at 7:45pm. Someone came over and offered to buy my mum a drink, along with me and although I said no, he got me one anyway so I drank it. I had still not eaten and although I was still not feeling hungry, I had to force myself to do so. Gary had said that there would be some sort of spread on at the pub at 7pm, but it didn't start up till 7:20 and I ate quite a fair bit in a short amount of time, since I had to actually leave the pub about 7:35.
Once I was ready to go, my Nana gave me a kiss and then I gave my mum a kiss and said happy birthday to her, before Gary gave me an extremely firm handshake.
"Thanks for coming Neil", he said to me, "I really appreciate it and so does your mum". That made me feel great, as I walked out of the pub to meet Stan to begin one hell of a night with my friends...
(Will continue the adventure tomorrow)
