So to this day. There I stood, the wool classer from the shearing shed ready to address the State Conference of Farmers. The venue for this conference was the Exhibition Building in Carlton, Melbourne, and I needed to make a good impression. I had dressed at the Melbourne house we had invested in so I could go to such conferences. Unfortunately my partner, Carole, was not at the Melbourne house this day.
At the time I was employed by the Victorian Farmers and Grazers Association (VFGA) as Manpower Officer, with the primary objective of developing training programs for workers employed in shearing sheds. The executive felt all employees should have a professional appearance, so it was a suit and tie for me. After I dressed I took the tram to the Exhibition Building, picked up my name tag and conference papers from the front desk and walked up to the top table. I was to deliver an outline of my program during the afternoon session.
Then horror struck. As I sat in my seat, I looked down and saw I had odd shoes which were not exactly the same colour. I managed to disguise them by putting one foot on top of the other, keeping up this cover till lunch time. With no other way to redemption, I rushed out, catching a tram back to North Fitzroy and home to shoes of the same colour, returning just as lunch finished.
Yes, I managed to deliver my paper in matching shoes. No one was any the wiser.
The moral of the story is check in with a friend, in my case Carole, if they are home, before leaving for an important appointment.
Godfrey Marple
February 2017