T’Was The Days

T’was the Days1901-1914

Regienald PanganibanSocialStudies9.5

Wow, it is not a good feeling waking up to a Summers day.

New Year’s Day, A Federation, 6 British Colonies were now considered a Federation.

My name is Johno Anges and I live a hard life. After waking up I was already ready for work, I don’t have many outfits due to the money I’m paid but it does the job, I work under these conditions every time.

I face the same thing everyday on the way to work, I walk a mere 5kms just to go to a worse environment than home. There is an alternative rather than working, horses, but only the rich can afford it and they always pass me while I walk, and then later on I pass horse droppings that have been there for a while and the smell and insects absolutely dominate the area which means I am more vulnerable to diseases which is not a good thing.

Here I am at work, in a factory I spend more than 10 hours in with unsanitary conditions and toxic fumes emitting from machinery and we don’t even have any proper toilets around here! They expect us to dig holes and do us business in there, disgusting pigs. I am exposed to more illnesses. We have no guaranteed safety in this factory AND they all expect us to work in hot AND cold conditions! I have no alternative, this is my only income.

I’ve finished my shift and I am grateful, as I leave I am busting so much although I was stopped by one of my bosses telling me to do overtime without pay, stupid pigs. So I do for an extra 2 hours and there is no way I can tell my wife that I won’t be home for an extra two hours. Now that I’ve finished my shift I am really on my way home and I take the same road home from the same way I got here passing the same horse droppings and insects.

I open the door to my home and yell out, “I’m home!”. The wife named Sidney and kids Austin and Karen come out greeting me warmly and we have supper together, supper consists of the same as breakfast for them, but the first meal of the day for me that was kept in the Coolgardie Safe. It was a few slices of bread from a full loaf and half-eaten eggs. That was really enough for me, I have it nearly every-day.

Another day of the week, luckily its the end of the week, I get paid. Poorly paid for severely dangerous working conditions. I walked the same road as yesterday. Here I go 10 hour working shift, but this time I get stains on my shirt from fixing a machine that required oil, and according to my wife oil is hard to clean off. I am on the way to the exit and my boss stopped me again, but this time with my pay about 15 shillings, thank god. I took the same route back home but 15 shillings richer.

I came home earlier than expected because I did not work overtime and I caught the kids cleaning the house and the wife washing the clothes, on the way to greet her I saw a rat and I decided to catch it and throw it out far away, doing so I startled the kids and I threw the Rat out. The children asked me “Why?” I had replied “They can give you severe diseases, you should get rid of them.” The children then kept an eye out for them whilst cleaning.

As I greet the wife she notices the stains on my shirt, Sidney gets angry with me and then after speaking with her we and the kids have supper, the same thing as yesterday with a twist, the loaf is starting to go off so we pinch off the off parts and Sidney and the kids eat but I passed and went to bed early. Although I did not sleep because of the Summer heat, eventually I dozed off.

Waking up to another day of scraping of clothes and moving of furniture, but this time with a sickly feeling of vomit and cough, bad mix. I told Sidney and she said “We will have to cure that ourselves, it is too expensive to hire a doctor, but I do have a feeling it is the whooping cough, it is common around this time.” I still went to work the same route because I needed the money for the family, I could not miss a day off work, besides the route isn’t as bad anymore, I had gotten used to it but the insects are still sickening.

I woke up one very hot morning sweating and my wife was yelling out to me to dig a new cesspit, which was doing for our business, so I did. I was already late for work and I decided to take the day off and refuse pay for that day because I still have my 15 Shillings, my wife was angry and me and my children were curious as to why I was at home on the day.

During this day off at home which is really on a rare occasion I thought of entertainment, the only way I can entertain myself is playing card games.Somewhat 15 years later even if the family got older, work became easier and money started to roll in.