Changing Lives with a Stranger

What would it be like to live somebody else’s life for a day?

A	Mandie Currie, a zoo keeper, spent the day in the offices of the magazine Marie Claire. ‘Choosing what to wear for my day at Marie Claire was tricky because I normally wear a uniform at work. First, I went to a still-life photo studio, then to press reviews, all before lunch. The zoo is such a tranquil, peaceful place – and here I was rushing around when I could be sitting quietly giving an animal a cuddle. Some of the members of the fashion team seemed quite stressed – my job doesn’t really get pressurised. At a fashion shoot in the afternoon, it made me laugh to think that I’d usually be cleaning out cages or handling rats. I’m fascinated to see how magazines work, but I really enjoy my work at the zoo so I’ll stay put.’
B	Alice Cutler, a fashion assistant at Marie Claire, spent the day at London Zoo. ‘I arrived at the zoo in my leather boots and dark blue trousers. The zoo gave me a green polo shirt instead to work in – which was just as well, as I got very dirty. As I stroked one of the elephants, I reckoned Mandie would probably be packing up clothes in the cupboard. By five o’clock, I stank but I’d had such a brilliant day. When I retire from fashion, I could see myself working with elephants – but maybe in Africa.
C	Karen Hodson, a nurse at Hummersmith Hospital, went on location with the television gardening programme Ground Force. ‘I was extremely excited about meeting the team, and Alan Titchmarsh, the programme presenter, was really nice. One of the things I liked was the chance to be in the fresh air. Depending on my shifts, I sometimes never see daylight. Even though it was hard work, it was great fun. I thought I was pretty strong but I felt weak compared with the rest of the team. My romantic vision of landscape gardening had not included physical hard work or meticulous planning. I was more an enthusiastic than effective gardener, so I don’t plan to give up my other job. ‘
D	Charlie Dimmock, landscape gardener with the TV programme Ground Force, worked a shift at Hummersmith Hospital. ‘I made beds and handed out tablets. I expected to faint when I was doing some jobs, but I amazed myself by finding that it didn’t bother me. The friendship among the nurses is great, and it felt tremendously ‘girlie’ compared with my normal male environment. I feel my job is a real waste of time compared with nursing. My day at the hospital was not exactly pleasant but it left me with a great sense of satisfaction.’
E	Lucy Harvey, a personal trainer, spent the day with the airline Ryanair as a member of the cabin crew. ‘I changed into the uniform, and the moment I put it on I felt it completely different – people suddenly look up to you. Before the flight, our supervisor told us about safety, what to do if someone had a heart attack – which I knew about from my fitness training. When the passengers boarded the flight to Paris I gave out magazines. Everyone stared at me and I felt very self-conscious. On the return journey, we had 80 schoolchildren on board who wouldn’t sit still. I wished I was back in the gym with one sensible adult to look after.’
F	Sonia McDermott, an air hostess with the airline Ryanair, spent the day as a personal trainer in a gym. ‘I was dreading doing this swap as I don’t do any exercise. I was amazed at how much attention you give to one person. In my job you meet 130 passengers four times a day. I was very surprised at lunch to see that some of the trainers didn’t eat ultra-healthily, but they all drink lots of water. I wouldn’t swap my job for this. However, it has inspired me to join a gym and try to be a bit healthier.’

Task 2

For items16-23, read an extract from a novel and choose the best answer for the questions below.

	On Saturday mornings I worked in a family shop. I started cycling down to the shop with Dad on Saturdays as soon as I was big enough. I thought of it as giving a hand and so I didn’t mind what I did, although it was mostly fetching and carrying at a run all morning. I managed not to think about it as work and I looked forward to a bar of chocolate my grandmother passed me unsmilingly as I left. I tried not to look at her; I had reason to feel guilty because I’d generally already eaten some dried fruits or a silver of cheese when no one was looking. As soon as I was fifteen, though, Dad sad, ‘That’s it, our Janet. You’re of working age now and you’re not coming to work unless your grandmother pays you properly. ‘He did his best to make his chin look determined. ‘I shall speak to her.’
line AA line BB	The next Saturday, gran called me into her little office behind the shop. I always hated going in there. She had an electric heater on full blast, and the windows were always kept tightly closed whatever the weather. There were files of dusty catalogues and brochures on the floor. ‘You are wanting to get paid, I hear,’ Gran said. ‘Yes, please,’ I replied. It was rather like visiting a headmistress at school, so I was very quiet and respectful. Gran searched through the mess of papers on her crowded desk, sighing and clicking her tongue. Eventually she produced an officially-looking leaflet and ran her fingers along the columns of figures. ‘How old are you?’ ‘Fifteen… Gran,’ I added for extra politeness, but she looked at me as if I had been cheeky. ‘Full timers at your age get forty pounds for a thirty-five-hour week,’ she announced in such a way as to leave no doubt for me that she wasn’t in favour of this. ‘No wonder there’s no profit in shop keeping. So Janet, what’s that per hour?’ Questions like that always flustered me. Instead of trying to work them out in my head, I would just stand there, unable to think straight. ‘I’ll get a pencil and paper,’ I offered. ‘Don’t bother,’ my gran snapped angrily, ‘I’ll do it myself. I’ll give you a pound an hour; take it or leave it.’ ‘I’ll take it, please.’ ‘And I expect real work for it, mind. No standing about, and if I catch you eating any of the stock, there’ll be trouble. That’s theft, and it’s a crime.’
	From then on, my main job at the shop was filling the shelves. This was dull, but I hardly expected to be trusted with handling the money. Once or twice, however, when Dad was extra busy, I’d tried to help him by serving behind the counter. I hated it. It was very difficult to remember the prices of everything and I was particularly hopeless at using the till. Certain customers made unkind remarks about this, increasing my confusion and the chances of my making a fool of myself.
	It was an old-established village shop, going back 150 years at least, and it was really behind the times even then. Dad longed to be able to make the shop more attractive to customers, but Gran wouldn’t hear of it. I overheard them once arguing about whether to buy a freezer cabinet. ‘Our customers want frozen food,’ Dad said. ‘They see things advertised and if they can’t get them from us, they’ll go elsewhere.’ ‘Your father always sold fresh food,’ Gran replied. ‘People come here for quality, they don’t want all that frozen stuff.’
	Actually, she gave way in the end over the freezer. Mr Timson, her great rival, installed one in his shop at the other end of the village and customers started making loud comments about how handy it was, being able to get frozen food in the village, and how good Mr Timson’s sausages were. That really upset her because she was proud of her sausages and she ungraciously gave Dad the money to buy the freezer. Within a couple of weeks, she was eating frozen food like the rest of us.