The Fire Brigade Woman.
The young man had done a lot of trouble to apply for a job at the fire brigade. Positions for new applicants were advertised in the newspaper, and he applied along with everyone else. He did the necessary fitness tests, as well as the theoretical ones. He was a bright young white man, who had military experience, and who was still in good physical condition.
Now the time had arrived for the final interview with "the panel, which consisted of several high up officials of the fire brigade, and whoever else did the recruiting. They are an assortment of middle-aged black and white men and women. They sit around a large round table. At the head of the table sits a white middle aged woman with blond but greying hair. The applicant's seat is across from her, right at the other end of the table. The man sits down in this chair facing her in the distance. On either side of him sits the other men and women. A lot of heads have to come together to make such important decisions.
The young man sits casually in his chair and waits for the questions to begin. The 'leader of the pack', who we shall henceforth call; 'the iron lady', asks him a few routine questions which he answers. In the process she has already made up her mind. She does not like this guy's casual, or shall we say 'who-gives-a-fuck-attitude', and she is going to get rid of him. (This shows you, all the other heads around the table weren't really necessary, they were just there for effect, and maybe a bit of decoration. The heads on either side of the table moved to and fro as the young man spoke to 'the iron lady'. )
'The iron lady' asked him about his first aid certificates. (He had done a lot of effort to obtain these certificates. It had cost him money. And probably not many of the other candidates had level three first aid certificates.)
She said, "I see you have level three first aid? The heads moved to face her as she spoke. "Yes, said the young man, as the heads rotated towards him. The woman laughed long and hard, as the heads rotated back towards her. Then all the heads started to laugh with hers, as they rotated back towards him. Then all the heads were facing him and laughing. 'The iron lady's' teeth were yellow and crooked, and she wore a cruel expression on her ugly old face, as all the heads looked at him and laughed.
When they had their amusement and mirth under some sort of control, 'the iron lady' dismissed the young man by telling him that he will be informed by telephone should he get the job. The heads and 'the iron lady' were still laughing as the man left the room, and closed the door. The next candidate walked in to face the horror and the wrath of the heads and 'the iron lady'.
The young man knew that he would not get the job. But the story does not end here, no. Because a few years later rioters burned down the train station's main building three blocks away from the fire brigade, and the "new fire brigade was helpless, and stood and watched as it burned down. I'll tell you what, 'the iron lady' and them heads, they weren't laughing then...
