Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt
Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt
Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt
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couldn’t dress <strong>in</strong> sacks, so I went to work <strong>in</strong> July wear<strong>in</strong>g an oldovercoat that had no button on <strong>the</strong> bottom, had a rip <strong>in</strong> it, andwas done for.At that time, I worked at <strong>the</strong> dry cleaners where I drove a vanand delivered suits and dresses on hangers. I wore a peak cap<strong>in</strong>scribed with “The Ideal Cleaners” and now wore this old overcoat.My boss stared at me when I arrived to work, but he didn’tsay anyth<strong>in</strong>g.I don’t know if <strong>the</strong> boss was around when I came <strong>in</strong> that nightfrom my rounds, but <strong>the</strong> next morn<strong>in</strong>g, when I turned up aga<strong>in</strong>wear<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> overcoat, he said, “Look, if you are com<strong>in</strong>g to workwith that on, you are f<strong>in</strong>ished! You take your cards and go. Wecan’t have our representative go<strong>in</strong>g around raggy. I don’t understandyou. You’ve always been neat and tidy. It is summertimeand you don’t need that overcoat on. What is <strong>the</strong> matter withyou?”I didn’t want to tell him I was fast<strong>in</strong>g, because he was an unsavedman, so that brought me up to <strong>the</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ish of fast<strong>in</strong>g or else I wouldlose my job.I was very glad after that week to get out of it all. Like a lot ofChristians who are zealous (and sometimes overzealous), I believedit was <strong>the</strong> right th<strong>in</strong>g to do, although I’m not say<strong>in</strong>g I wasled of <strong>the</strong> Lord to do it. If <strong>the</strong>re was someth<strong>in</strong>g more, I wanted<strong>the</strong> someth<strong>in</strong>g more! If <strong>the</strong>re was a price to pay, I wanted to pay<strong>the</strong> price! When I came up to <strong>the</strong> po<strong>in</strong>t where my boss was go<strong>in</strong>gto sack me, I surrendered, learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> hard way that maybe Ihad my limit as far as <strong>the</strong> price was concerned.This would be my third time to be sacked. The first time, I hadjo<strong>in</strong>ed a chartered accountant when I left school and was sackedbefore <strong>the</strong> firm went bankrupt. The next time, I had a temporaryjob where ano<strong>the</strong>r lad and I were deliver<strong>in</strong>g groceries, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>gfruit and vegetables. A woman came <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> shop, compla<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gthat her delivery had been short. When she weighed her strawberries,<strong>the</strong>y didn’t come up to <strong>the</strong> demand.The manager of <strong>the</strong> shop reasoned, “They were correct when<strong>the</strong>y were weighed, so if <strong>the</strong>y were not correct when <strong>the</strong>y weredelivered, <strong>the</strong>n it is <strong>the</strong> boys’ fault.” My boss sacked me for steal-21