Writing for Fun
March 2017
More Than My Job's Worth - Jenni Bowers
‘Let you in lady? it’s more than my job’s worth,’ the pink faced man in the red uniform declared to Justine; she’d been hoping to get past him whilst he was chatting to tourists outside the Lloyds building but no – he’d spotted her attempting to slide past him. ‘You can’t go in there without a pass missus.’ Holding his arm across the doorway, he presented a formidable barrier to anyone with ill intents towards those busy, smart brokers who were racing to and fro with files under their arms.
The Lloyds Building, a futuristic steel clad, concrete edifice designed by Richard Rogers and granted Grade 1 listed status in 2011, had fascinated Justine ever since she’d worked for insurance companies during her long secretarial career.
This amazing structure with its exposed pipes, toilet pods, stairs and glass lifts co-existed with the Victorian and Edwardian buildings around it, yet stood out to be either admired or hated but never ignored, especially by photographers looking for yet another angle.
Retirement had come too soon, but had given her leisure time and a good lump sum from her pension pot had enabled her to purchase a beautiful Canon camera. She made good use of this wonderful item – belonging to camera clubs and indeed now Chairperson of the main local branch, she was again in the vibrant, exciting, fast moving city bent on capturing some good architectural black and white images.
She’d been into the Lloyds building twice whilst working for two of the large broking houses in the square mile, seen the silver collection and also the old boardroom with it’s huge table and chandelier and even exhibited paintings there as a member of staff of a Lloyds broking house in their annual exhibition.
She now hoped to get some stunning pictures of the escalators inside and the Lutine Bell, rung each time there was a maritime disaster. So, how could she get past this fine figure of authority?
She needed someone to take her in, but her son, a busy broker, was out of the country today – she’d have to waylay one of these handsome chaps racing towards the entrance. However, after an hour she had to admit defeat, not one of them would even discuss it, let alone escort her inside the hallowed portal – it also being ‘more than their jobs were worth’ to help a stranger into one of the iconic buildings at risk this days from terrorism.
No, she had to content herself with a slow walk around the outside, photographing the strangely attractive pipes, lifts and shapes and of course she just couldn’t go home without an image of the tall, middle-aged Englishman who’s job just wouldn’t be worth it to let her in today but he was no slouch and again spotted her, turned his back and walked inside his glass cubicle out of sight at the crucial moment!
