Speedy Withdrawal

Helen Markwick

1990

It was 4.45pm on a rainy November in the east end of Glasgow in 1990, and I had just come in from my teaching job in the nearby Barrowfield Scheme and immediately changed into my decorating gear: old track suit trousers splattered with various colours of paint, a t-shirt that sported the face of an imprisoned South African trade union activist, (used for painting now that he had been released) and an old crocheted cardigan I could not bring myself to throw out, even though it had morphed in the tumble dryer into a doily. I was on a mission to complete the painting of the living room in the flat I had just moved to in Dennistoun, and promised myself I would not eat until it was done. I got started immediately.

After about half an hour the phone rang. I sighed and put the paint brush down. It was my boss from work. He was sorry to bother me, but did I remember that charitable application I had made to the Bank to provide the school with laptops? Well, they had agreed and the laptops were now available, and could I collect them from the branch in town at 5.30pm? ... (continues)