Cinderella and the forklift trucks

Knowing nobody who would be attending the ball, I was understandably nervous as I made my way down the stairs towards the function suite of the Peterborough Marriott. But, walking tall (helped immensely by a set of bronze heels to complement my turquoise silk dress, sequinned with bronze), I soon found myself at the door of a room bustling with Bucks Fizz, noise and hundreds of well-dressed people. Also at the door, peering in, were two other girls. They asked me what function this was, so I told them, and we went in together. It turned out that they were new, too – if relief wasn’t etched in my face, then I’m a better actress than I know. Soon we were joined by three other newbies, making our group almost complete… the seventh was on a plane back from New Zealand, so she had a good excuse! An evening of jollity, good food (but a most disappointing Crème Brulee – no crack of the sugar whatsoever!), getting to know each other, and dancing into the early hours ensued.

Sunday provided me with an excellent opportunity to drive into Cambridge to spend a couple of hours with my sister, and another couple with an old friend, before the working week began. It was wonderful to see them, but also to be outside in the autumnal weather.

Autumn is my favourite time of year: the rusty colours of the leaves, the evenings growing darker, the temperature creeping down to the point where it is perfectly reasonable to snuggle up in fleeces and slippers. I feel a little bereft of it in Spain’s eternal summer.

Monday and Tuesday were spent in the UK headquarters of the company that I work for in Spain, putting names from emails and telephone conversations to faces, and being introduced to different logistics roles – who knew that organising lorries could be so difficult?! I was also offered a tour of the factory… and I wasn’t about to refuse! So, high-vis jacket, blue coat and hairnet on and jewellery off, I was introduced to celery processing machines, radish packing machines, boxes of baby leaves piled ceiling-high, lorry loading bays, a warehouse full of packaging, freezing cold-storage areas, pallet prioritisation techniques and forklift truck charging docks. I came quickly to the conclusion that forklift trucks are possibly the most terrifying thing in the world – they’re so heavy and they move so fast… usually backwards. I stuck religiously to the designated walkways, but there was still nothing but air between me and the killing machines. Every time I heard one around a pile of pallets, I was on edge.

And, as it transpired, rightly so. The rest of the week was spent in Grantham on a training course (the real reason for me being back in the country), reunited with my new friends from the ball. First aid training, food safety legal awareness, health and safety seminars and far too much food were the order of the day. The images we were shown of forklift truck accidents – and the high percentage of accidents in the workplace that they are responsible for – were shocking and more than a little sickening… although 1^st prize for revulsion went to images of an arm that had been through a mincer after the owner of the arm had tried to remove a blockage while the machine was still running. Amid the intense training sessions there were occasional moments of calm, when we could sit and talk, have a drink in the bar or a cuppa in one of our rooms, finding out more about each other and how we were each finding our different roles – ranging from logistician to junior buyer to agronomist, and amusing the bar staff with our hilarity-inducing pen-and-paper games.

After a week of travelling around East Anglia (becoming a much more competent driver and map-reader in the process!), I returned home for a quick hello, and my family’s annual “Coffee Cakes and Crafts” at-home craft fair, where I met, greeted, socialised, made countless cups of tea, witnessed the demolition of many a cake, and collapsed contentedly onto the settee at the end of it all. Back to Spain. But really, not for long. Time’s going to keep on flying, and it’ll be Christmas before I know it!

Hasta Luego!