Eye Candy - My Superstar System

The Coppers Are On Me Again!!!

Sunday, 19th February 2017 1845hrs

My shift started at 7 pm but I decided to enter the kitchen and began to work earlier and give myself 15 minutes to familiarise myself.

I looked at the mini dishwasher at the side and saw that it was being used for cutleries and tea mugs.

Then I moved on to the bigger dishwasher where there’s a conveyor belt and I deduced that the plates do not need much clearing since the food was served on some kind of baking paper.

When a customer had finished eating, the baking paper was disposed and all the plates would go through the conveyor and it would be sprayed with hot water, soap and then rinsed once more before it was blown dry.

Looks pretty simple to me since the job does not have much wet waste at all as the customers tend to finish everything that was served to them!

Before long, I was handling all the dirty plates and arranging them on a tray and pushed it down the ‘start’ of the dishwasher. I moved deftly on my feet and I managed the two machines as soon as I could and it is considered as easy-peasy for me.

During the closing period, which is close to midnight, the huge cauldrons, pots and pans were sent to me and this was soaked in hot water to get rid of the oil and such. All this time, my partners, the Bangladeshi guy and another Pakistani one were assisting to retrieve the clean plates at the end of the conveyor as they arranged them according to size.

Once the place where the plates had been cleared, it was stored inside one of the storerooms and they helped to clear the rubbish bins. I was then left alone to finish the pots and cauldrons and once I had done, I placed them upside down at the cooker hoods for the preparation of the dishes where the cooks would be coming in by 5 am in intervals.

The dishwashers had been cleaned by my two partners and once I had carried the cauldrons back to the cooking area, I sprayed the floor and squeegee the water off the floor to ensure it would be dry and free from any sludge.

“That’s it, I am done for the day! So this is what they called the closing. At least for this part of the day, I would know what to do. Phew! It is pretty hard work and I managed to clear off everything before 1 am. Now I just make one round to ensure that I do not leave anything behind and had cleared everything as clean as possible!”

I thought to myself and congratulate myself since I had done quite a decent job for tonight. Tomorrow would be different since I would be coming in by 11 am and have lunch first before I commence work from 12 pm to 6 pm.

Cool! I am ready to work as a dishwasher to get started in this life. I have no other choice since working here would take care of my meals and I do not have to spend a penny since everything is taken care except for sleeping. I wondered where I would be sleeping since I would be knocking off work by 2 am right after my supper.

After having another hearty supper that is considered as early breakfast for me, I changed into my day clothes and dumped my dirty workwear into the laundry basket and proceeded to leave through the back door.

Unknowingly, the restaurant manager, Mr Aziz was observing me through the CCTV and was satisfied that I had worked rather autonomously without much supervision.

I stepped out in the dimly lit alley and was hit by the chilly winds once I turned into the sidewalk. I stopped for a while and wondered where I would be sleeping tonight when I saw several rough sleepers had lain on some carton boxes to shield them from the cold.

I have no other choice but to follow their example as I went down to Trevor Square and found some unused carton boxes. I went to the playground and find that it was deserted and there was a tunnel playground and find that it was ideal for me to lay there and rest for the night.

As long as I can have some shut-eye, I should be fresh for tomorrow. Besides, it’s a work week tomorrow and the children would most probably at school and the nearest school here would be Westminster Primary School. I don’t think there would be any children coming to this playground in the first part of the morning.

I prepared the carton boxes and laid them inside the tunnel playground and I crept in. The tunnel was large enough to fit me and I lied down in a fetal position after I fashion a carton box to be a small makeshift pillow. Soon I was lulled to sleep and fortunately, the wind did not enter the tunnel playground as I slept peacefully like a baby!

The next day, I woke up by the sounds of scraping on the ground and I groggily woke up and found that the sounds came from a lone sweeper that was sweeping the grounds.

“Good day, mister. Could you let me sleep a little while longer and I will clear away all the carton boxes before I leave?” I rubbed my sleepy eyes as I called out to the sweeper of the grounds. He did not speak anything but he just simply looked in my way and then he continued his work. I guess he might be one of the players since he was wearing the same garb but had a long sleeve checked shirt over his t-shirt.

Hmm, I should get myself a sleeping bag or something, so I could curl inside and need not find any carton boxes anymore. At least the sleeping bag is more functional to keep me warm in this outdoor weather.

I wished I had a simple wristwatch and not depends on the lamp posts that had a clock face on it and I wondered what time it was since the sweeper had come to report for work. It’s still early for me and I laid down on the carton boxes but was unable to return to my snooze so I just rolled around on it.

“Wake up kid! Honestly! It is yer again, isit? lad! 'ow many times yer want ter be caught by me, eh? Yer want ter 'ave a piece o' lamp chop and spend the bloomin' nightin the bleedin' slammers, then, eh, kid? At least yer got a proper bed there, guv! Now git goin’ before we pull yer in for disturbin’ the peace round ‘ere.”

My GOD! Not the same police again?! It is been like three times he had been approaching me and it seems like I have a kind of homing beacon and can detect me from miles away!

“Alright, alright. I am going right now. Let me clear away these carton boxes first before I leave.” I grumbled this time and as I cleared away the carton boxes, the policeman suddenly called out to me, “If yer wants ter rest for the chuffin' night, right, yer can go ter 56a, 'ans Crescent just across Elan Cafe. Just 'ave right good care o' yor belongings. Yer can 'ave bed and breakfast for under 3 quid for rough sleepers like yer.”

I turned around and was surprised as the policeman was willing to help me. 56a Hans Crescent eh? Might as well I take a look since it is still too early for me to report for overtime duty.

“Thank you, officer.”