‘Leave things tidy’ I’m muttering at a motorway services halfway down France en route to Florence. I used to work at one of these places as a teenager. Nearly 40 years later, I still look with horror at the people leaving an unreasonable mess.
I’m on autopilot. Stacking my cup and plate neatly. Wiping the table with a napkin. Even straightening the chair before I leave.
‘Pot Wash and Tables’ the supervisor would say when I clocked on back then. Meaning I had 8 hours clearing tables in the restaurant. And when the tables were clear I’d load the dirty plates, pots and cutlery into the industrial dish washing machines – watching out for gusts of steam at the back end of the conveyor.
Best be quick, or Janice on tea point will come in shouting again for more saucers. Then back out to clear tables. I can still see my brown fingers at the end of every shift, stained by stubborn tea bags refusing to come out of their pots.
I can also picture the congealed egg welded onto the stainless steel cutlery. And smell the ashtrays. Restaurants were smoking back then. Hard to believe now.
On my way down to Florence, I stop every couple of hours at services like this AutoGrill near Piacenza. Somewhere to let the old Range Rover rest, have a pee and stretch my legs.
Services are great places for people watching. Which I appreciate, being on a solitary drive. Wondering where that family is coming from or where that chap is going to… and what they do in normal life. I used to ponder on that when anchored there for my shift as everyone else passed through.
If only they would clean up after themselves.
Andrew Greenhalgh 