How many get to see their dad at work?
So I feel lucky to have done just that.
I doubt if it was typical, but still,
It was part of his duties with the firm
To organise sales stands each year for Trade
Events held at Olympia or Earls Court.
On two or three occasions he took me –
Presumably it was in school holidays –
To supervise construction of their stand
Inside an echoing exhibition hall,
Contractors’ lorries coming right inside
With kits of parts and furniture to build
A temporary shop-front for the wares.
The sound of hammering filled the hall all day
As stands rose all around the vast expanse,
And by the end there stood two hundred stalls
With so far empty shelves. The following day
Would come the items to engage the crowds
Who’d flood into the space in coming weeks.
My father’s stand would feature shiny gears
And patent couplings used in big machines.
In my career I also found myself
On numerous occasions ‘manning’ such a stand
To demonstrate the scope of our research.
I well recall the pain of aching legs
From standing long on chilly concrete floors,
Attempting to attract the interest of
The passing punters, not an easy job.
And then you’d reel one in, but he might be
A class one bore who’d talk about himself,
Ignoring what you had to tell the world.
And once, just days since I had passed my test,
I had to drive a van from Oxfordshire
To Shrewsbury for the Shropshire County Show
And single-handed, set up a display
Including, heavens above! a Magic Tap,
Which wasn’t quite the leading edge of science,
But certainly enthralled the customers.

February 2023

with acknowledgments to Wordsworth’s ‘The Prelude’