Steam Powered Hearts
Chapter 3: The Well-Off Worker
The staff toilet door swings to a close behind me, and I return to the barriers with clean hands and a clean face. I see Grapes look over with concern as I had been away from my position for a few minutes too long. I couldn't help but sigh, thinking of the numerous mistakes I had made with that well-off.
The rest of the shift is uneventful, the well-offs I served acted as expected. Leering looks, sly comments and conversations about their numerous homes. I spent the whole time slightly absent minded- I couldn't shake off the experience with Edward, I was left wanting to know more.
Before the shift ended Potter, the stationmaster, came to the barriers with a new worker to replace Kelseigh, except this girl was clearly from the other side. No worker would have enough food to have that layer of pudge around her, and her skin was too well maintained to have been washed by the water the workers have access to. There was no doubt about it, she is a well-off, but why is a well-off working?
I didn't really want to know the answer, because aside from the dreadful inequality between rich and poor in this society, there is also a great deal of sexism. The well-offs were originally a band of rich boys, almost like a gentleman's society. They had no care for the worker men, and cared for the worker girls even less, seeing them as a snack if not something to look at.
This is how women ended up being taught sewing, cooking and personal maintenance at school, whilst boys were taught math, english and specialised in their future career: mining, fishing, engineering, sciences, whatever their hometown was famous for. Girls who scored well in personal maintenance (based on a combination of scores between beauty by gene, and beauty by other means) then had the chance to take classes that could lead them to future careers which involved being looked at, mostly as greeters but sometimes as maids and waitresses.
The rest were sent to the factories, traditionally. Over time however the position of women looked like it could possibly change. The original band of boys got married and had children and of course they didn't want their wives and daughters being treated as poorly as the worker girls. The small community of well-off women were a spoilt lot, being more extravagant and wasteful than their fathers and husbands. Though they were mostly kept at home, giving me the pleasure of not having to look at them come through the station.
Having a well-off girl, who could not be any older than 15, work was a shock. The well-offs are more heartless than I had realised, even their own daughters are being sent to be their slaves.
I look at the girl sympathetically, working at the station will be a culture shock.
"This is Perdita," Potter said, with his arm encouraging her, gently placed upon her shoulder. "She's joining the team, and will be joining you girls in the bunks as well."
"Hello Perdita, I'm Eli-" I start telling her my floor name, but remember now that she is one of us. "I'm Leilah, if you want I can show you the ropes."
It feels wrong being nice to a well-off. She has such an ungrateful look on her face, and clearly doesn't want to be here, when there are much worse jobs around. But then a part of me feels bad if I don't help her out. Her own father chose to send her into this life, casting her to the worker side. What father does that?
She didn't respond to me, or anyone else. Potter told her to observe me and Grapes working to get into the swing of things, and he headed back towards his office. "Wait!" I call out running to him.
Potter stops and turns to me, allowing me to catch up to him, I ask: "Why are they making the well-offs work? Is this new?"
Potter hesitates before answering, as if he is looking for the right words. "I don't like it. However, the mayor feels that there shouldn't be contact between workers and well-offs. Over the next few months there will be a reduction in workers on the well-offs floor, and efforts have to be made into improving the quality of current workers." I listen as the divide between the two sides grows larger and larger.
"Because of Kelseigh?" I ask, trying to understand where this abrupt change came from.
"That may have been the trigger." Potter quietly remarks, and carries on moving. I walk back to the barrier and find it much harder to smile at the well-offs. Every one I look at, I can only think of their daughters, sending them out to work just so that the men didn't have to even look at a worker girl. It made me want to be sick, they were as abusive to their kin as they are to the workers.
The bell rings for the end of my shift as I help an elderly well-off into the train. Once he is dealt with I return to the archway. I have 3 hours till my last shift of the day, and had plans to work in the yard and help out with the boys, but with Perdita's arrival I decide to introduce her to Grand Forlung Station.
"Perdita, let me show you round." I call out a few times and she ignores me so I grab her by the hand and pull her toward the bunks. She gasps out and tries to pull away from me, digging her nails into my wrist.
I turn and see a foul frown on her face. The lousy attitude breaks my patience, and her being a well-off adds cruelty into my tone. "You can't be a spoilt pig now," I taunt, "You've been demoted and are one of us now. Except by your attitude, you're far more pathetic. If you don't play by my rules, you'll find yourself in a fish gut factory."
My words are nasty, and have the wanted result, she loosens her grips so the nails don't dig in and I lead her round. I show her the well-offs hall, introduce her to the girls in the cafe who smile and wave, and I see the alarm in their eyes at a well-off girl being made to work. The two florists hand her a flower each wishing her luck here with a concerned look in their eyes, and the ticket booth girls and platform announcers lead us round their office.
In the office I look at Perdita, waiting for a glimmer of excitement to appear in her eyes, like mine had when arriving the first time. But she was completely dead inside. I saw her flinch as one of the worker girls tried to take her hand, as if to say we were too dirty to touch her.
The action turned the atmosphere sour, and one of the workers who had taken a dislike to the well-off suggested I throw her into the worker hall on the other side of the station. Another suggested that I desert her in the yard with all the train workers. They all cackled and laughed at her, whilst Perdita looked more and more miserable.
I pulled her out of the office fast and cut the tour short, leading her up to the bunks. "You don't have to 'play by my rules'" I say, as an attempt to apologise. She walks silently beside me. I feel stupid bringing it upon myself to care for the well-off girl. I have better things to do.
The bunk doors appear ahead. "Welcome to your new home." I say curtly, pulling the door open. I hop inside hearing the Poster blurt 'Urgent. Urgent. Urgent. Urgent.'. The Poster was another well-off piece of technology, which had all shifts on there, dress codes, train times and general messages. When someone was needed from the bunks, notes could be sent to the Poster. Urgent ones were accompanied by the repeated 'Urgent', which kept repeating till the matter had been seen to.
Grapes, who had finished the shift with me earlier was sat in the room being driven mad by the sound, and as soon as I'm seen she jumps at me. "Answer that bloody thing before I kill you," She half jokes, half threatens, referring to the Poster- the message must have been for me. "They want you in the security room, up on the balcony."
Being called to security normally meant trouble, I gulp heavily thinking back to the countless errors I made with that well-off earlier in the day. Had I ruined everything I have worked so hard for?
I clambered out of the dorms and start heading to security, when I hear footsteps following me. I turn to see Perdita close behind. 'I could have worse company' I think before remembering who she is. Well-offs don't make for good company.
I arrive at security and tell Perdita to stay where she is before entering the room.
The rest of the shift is uneventful, the well-offs I served acted as expected. Leering looks, sly comments and conversations about their numerous homes. I spent the whole time slightly absent minded- I couldn't shake off the experience with Edward, I was left wanting to know more.
Before the shift ended Potter, the stationmaster, came to the barriers with a new worker to replace Kelseigh, except this girl was clearly from the other side. No worker would have enough food to have that layer of pudge around her, and her skin was too well maintained to have been washed by the water the workers have access to. There was no doubt about it, she is a well-off, but why is a well-off working?
I didn't really want to know the answer, because aside from the dreadful inequality between rich and poor in this society, there is also a great deal of sexism. The well-offs were originally a band of rich boys, almost like a gentleman's society. They had no care for the worker men, and cared for the worker girls even less, seeing them as a snack if not something to look at.
This is how women ended up being taught sewing, cooking and personal maintenance at school, whilst boys were taught math, english and specialised in their future career: mining, fishing, engineering, sciences, whatever their hometown was famous for. Girls who scored well in personal maintenance (based on a combination of scores between beauty by gene, and beauty by other means) then had the chance to take classes that could lead them to future careers which involved being looked at, mostly as greeters but sometimes as maids and waitresses.
The rest were sent to the factories, traditionally. Over time however the position of women looked like it could possibly change. The original band of boys got married and had children and of course they didn't want their wives and daughters being treated as poorly as the worker girls. The small community of well-off women were a spoilt lot, being more extravagant and wasteful than their fathers and husbands. Though they were mostly kept at home, giving me the pleasure of not having to look at them come through the station.
Having a well-off girl, who could not be any older than 15, work was a shock. The well-offs are more heartless than I had realised, even their own daughters are being sent to be their slaves.
I look at the girl sympathetically, working at the station will be a culture shock.
"This is Perdita," Potter said, with his arm encouraging her, gently placed upon her shoulder. "She's joining the team, and will be joining you girls in the bunks as well."
"Hello Perdita, I'm Eli-" I start telling her my floor name, but remember now that she is one of us. "I'm Leilah, if you want I can show you the ropes."
It feels wrong being nice to a well-off. She has such an ungrateful look on her face, and clearly doesn't want to be here, when there are much worse jobs around. But then a part of me feels bad if I don't help her out. Her own father chose to send her into this life, casting her to the worker side. What father does that?
She didn't respond to me, or anyone else. Potter told her to observe me and Grapes working to get into the swing of things, and he headed back towards his office. "Wait!" I call out running to him.
Potter stops and turns to me, allowing me to catch up to him, I ask: "Why are they making the well-offs work? Is this new?"
Potter hesitates before answering, as if he is looking for the right words. "I don't like it. However, the mayor feels that there shouldn't be contact between workers and well-offs. Over the next few months there will be a reduction in workers on the well-offs floor, and efforts have to be made into improving the quality of current workers." I listen as the divide between the two sides grows larger and larger.
"Because of Kelseigh?" I ask, trying to understand where this abrupt change came from.
"That may have been the trigger." Potter quietly remarks, and carries on moving. I walk back to the barrier and find it much harder to smile at the well-offs. Every one I look at, I can only think of their daughters, sending them out to work just so that the men didn't have to even look at a worker girl. It made me want to be sick, they were as abusive to their kin as they are to the workers.
The bell rings for the end of my shift as I help an elderly well-off into the train. Once he is dealt with I return to the archway. I have 3 hours till my last shift of the day, and had plans to work in the yard and help out with the boys, but with Perdita's arrival I decide to introduce her to Grand Forlung Station.
"Perdita, let me show you round." I call out a few times and she ignores me so I grab her by the hand and pull her toward the bunks. She gasps out and tries to pull away from me, digging her nails into my wrist.
I turn and see a foul frown on her face. The lousy attitude breaks my patience, and her being a well-off adds cruelty into my tone. "You can't be a spoilt pig now," I taunt, "You've been demoted and are one of us now. Except by your attitude, you're far more pathetic. If you don't play by my rules, you'll find yourself in a fish gut factory."
My words are nasty, and have the wanted result, she loosens her grips so the nails don't dig in and I lead her round. I show her the well-offs hall, introduce her to the girls in the cafe who smile and wave, and I see the alarm in their eyes at a well-off girl being made to work. The two florists hand her a flower each wishing her luck here with a concerned look in their eyes, and the ticket booth girls and platform announcers lead us round their office.
In the office I look at Perdita, waiting for a glimmer of excitement to appear in her eyes, like mine had when arriving the first time. But she was completely dead inside. I saw her flinch as one of the worker girls tried to take her hand, as if to say we were too dirty to touch her.
The action turned the atmosphere sour, and one of the workers who had taken a dislike to the well-off suggested I throw her into the worker hall on the other side of the station. Another suggested that I desert her in the yard with all the train workers. They all cackled and laughed at her, whilst Perdita looked more and more miserable.
I pulled her out of the office fast and cut the tour short, leading her up to the bunks. "You don't have to 'play by my rules'" I say, as an attempt to apologise. She walks silently beside me. I feel stupid bringing it upon myself to care for the well-off girl. I have better things to do.
The bunk doors appear ahead. "Welcome to your new home." I say curtly, pulling the door open. I hop inside hearing the Poster blurt 'Urgent. Urgent. Urgent. Urgent.'. The Poster was another well-off piece of technology, which had all shifts on there, dress codes, train times and general messages. When someone was needed from the bunks, notes could be sent to the Poster. Urgent ones were accompanied by the repeated 'Urgent', which kept repeating till the matter had been seen to.
Grapes, who had finished the shift with me earlier was sat in the room being driven mad by the sound, and as soon as I'm seen she jumps at me. "Answer that bloody thing before I kill you," She half jokes, half threatens, referring to the Poster- the message must have been for me. "They want you in the security room, up on the balcony."
Being called to security normally meant trouble, I gulp heavily thinking back to the countless errors I made with that well-off earlier in the day. Had I ruined everything I have worked so hard for?
I clambered out of the dorms and start heading to security, when I hear footsteps following me. I turn to see Perdita close behind. 'I could have worse company' I think before remembering who she is. Well-offs don't make for good company.
I arrive at security and tell Perdita to stay where she is before entering the room.