When I say looking for work, I’ve got to say I didn’t look very hard. I only needed a little bit of money, enough to get trashed with my mates. I realised no one was going to give me a job with a future. Because I had no future. I had no plans. At school there were supposed to be people who came around and gave career guidance but they never came near me or gave me any advice. The only thing I remember anyone telling me was to leave school as quickly as possible and get a job in a factory. No talk of university or extra study or anything. Just get a job. Didn’t matter what it was, just get a job. I think the teachers by this point just wanted me out of their hair and away from the school, as far away as possible. They’d done all they could. I was a lost cause. Reg didn’t want me to leave school without getting an apprenticeship. ‘Son, you’re going nowhere without a trade. I don’t want you to leave school without one. You need a job to fall back on when you are ready to settle down.’ He really didn’t want me to leave school at all.
