Grand National is a horse racing event which takes place at Aintree Racecourse around Easter each year. I've worked there for 3 days last year as a casual worker, and I sold race cards again this year but only for a day. The pay isn't great. About 5.30 pounds per hour but it is the opportunity to witness this great event that mattered more to me this year.
Experience as a casual worker
Scene from the small station which I was working in. Race cards are programme booklets containing information on horses and time of each race. There are small races throughout the whole day but the major race is at 4.30pm where about 40 finalist horses will race to the finish. If you're wondering why are those people dressed in yellow, it's our uniform for casual workers working with that specific company.Taking M's advice, I brought along some pens to sell for a pound each to make some profit. However, after selling my 3rd one, our higher up supervisor came to tell us that we were not allowed to sell anything. Oh well, at least I've earned 2 pounds profit.
Working as a casual worker is no easy job. Just want to share a few pointers with you if you ever thought of working as a casual worker. Most people whom they employ don't really have high educational qualifications. At first I thought that they might minus out the negative balance amount from our pay. In actual fact, they never do that. Therefore, even if you end up more or less at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.
Second thing is, sometimes they put you out in the cold for the whole day. It depends on your luck. I was out in the open for 2 days out of 3 for last year. I suffered badly as it was windy and cold. This year, I was lucky enough to be placed in the hut. Therefore, wear your thickest warmest jacket and get ready for any weather condition.
Thirdly, don't judge the book by its cover. Even if the customers are all dressed up looking very posh, some of them are just so unethical that they try to take advantage of you. Last year I had 2 very bad encounters due to being placed in an outdoor station which crowded with loads of people rushing to get their race cards before the race.
First encounter, a guy just came up to my counter, quickly took a race card and just walked away quickly. I wanted to run after him, but couldn't leave my station for fearing for the safety of my other race cards. In the end, I told my supervisor and he accompanied me to go up to the guy and asked him to pay. So embarrassing! But what to do, I was afraid that they might deduct it from my pay.
2nd bad encounter was, a few seconds after I gave the 17 pounds change back to a lady dressed so nicely in a blue dress that she turned around and accused me of not giving her back the change. She seriously demanded for her 17 pounds and she did not even budge. I panicked a bit at first, then got angry at her cause I know that she was lying. In the end, another casual worker who was with me asked me to go look for my supervisor to deal with it. However, by the time I got back, she was gone. Hmmm......
This year, I got to know all the tricks behind this. I wasn't really concerned if I didn't reach the exact amount, even tried to do something which I didn't know was illegal (it wasn't mentioned in the books at all, I checked) - trying to make profit from selling pens.
Concerning the pay, I feel that it is unfair that they pay you by the hour instead of how many race cards which you've sold. Theoretically, your brain has done more processing the more race cards you sold, in other words, more service has been provided. But no, they pay you by the hour regardless of how much you have done which is really unfair and stupid. That's why this year, I wasn't eager to sell more, I didn't care if I couldn't sell all of them. I wasn't that unethical to sit there and 'goyang kaki'. At least I did my work. Learn the game and play by the rules.
Finally, after work..........
Grand National 2008
First stop was of course for lunch. Had bacon barm from a small stall situated in the workers area. The food here is of course much cheaper than in the venue itself.
Introducing the wooden disposable spoon. I'm so used to plastic disposable spoons that even this amuses me.
One of the main building for VIPs
There were lesser people compared to last year, most probably due to the bad weather which was so cold and it drizzled in the afternoon. Many were dressed up looking really posh but I thought this year the standard of dressing dropped a bit as I saw many people who just looked like they were dressed just to go to town. I did see people getting interviewed and making a fuss around a few people last year but since I don't watch British television, I have no idea who on earth is that person. This year, it is still the same.
Outfit highlights of the day (sorry couldn't take photo in time)
1. Gentleman dressed in fluorescent orange suit (jacket and trousers) with purple shirt
2. Gentleman dressed in dark blue suit but with pink wig and painted red nails
3. Old gentleman dressed in black suit but with a pink hat
There were so many betting stalls, biggest player was Tote with small threats from the many small companies setting up their own bets. The food courts were always crowded and I felt lucky to have had my lunch.
One of the races
The racecourse itself was so big that I got the feeling that the horses were running really slowly but in actual fact, they're racing so fast against each other.
Something new this year, replicas of the Superlambanana.
Seen a walking beer dispensary unit before? They're innovative inventions.
The most loved race horse of all time - Red Rum. It won 3 first places and 2 second places at Grand Nationals years ago even when suffering from a chronic leg condition in one leg. Impressive!
I didn't stay for the big race this year as my friends and I were really tired. We went off before 4pm as the bus services stops after 4pm to cut down traffic. I do recommend to attend this event at least once, through buying tickets (which are at cut throat prices) or take the opportunity to gain access through working there. It will be a great experience.
P.s. I wanted to bet on Slim Pickings but since we left early, I didn't. That horse came in 4th place.
It started snowing a while ago which explains why the weather was so cold in the day. It's already spring! How can it still snow??? I miss the warm weather.
Second thing is, sometimes they put you out in the cold for the whole day. It depends on your luck. I was out in the open for 2 days out of 3 for last year. I suffered badly as it was windy and cold. This year, I was lucky enough to be placed in the hut. Therefore, wear your thickest warmest jacket and get ready for any weather condition.
Thirdly, don't judge the book by its cover. Even if the customers are all dressed up looking very posh, some of them are just so unethical that they try to take advantage of you. Last year I had 2 very bad encounters due to being placed in an outdoor station which crowded with loads of people rushing to get their race cards before the race.
First encounter, a guy just came up to my counter, quickly took a race card and just walked away quickly. I wanted to run after him, but couldn't leave my station for fearing for the safety of my other race cards. In the end, I told my supervisor and he accompanied me to go up to the guy and asked him to pay. So embarrassing! But what to do, I was afraid that they might deduct it from my pay.
2nd bad encounter was, a few seconds after I gave the 17 pounds change back to a lady dressed so nicely in a blue dress that she turned around and accused me of not giving her back the change. She seriously demanded for her 17 pounds and she did not even budge. I panicked a bit at first, then got angry at her cause I know that she was lying. In the end, another casual worker who was with me asked me to go look for my supervisor to deal with it. However, by the time I got back, she was gone. Hmmm......
This year, I got to know all the tricks behind this. I wasn't really concerned if I didn't reach the exact amount, even tried to do something which I didn't know was illegal (it wasn't mentioned in the books at all, I checked) - trying to make profit from selling pens.
Concerning the pay, I feel that it is unfair that they pay you by the hour instead of how many race cards which you've sold. Theoretically, your brain has done more processing the more race cards you sold, in other words, more service has been provided. But no, they pay you by the hour regardless of how much you have done which is really unfair and stupid. That's why this year, I wasn't eager to sell more, I didn't care if I couldn't sell all of them. I wasn't that unethical to sit there and 'goyang kaki'. At least I did my work. Learn the game and play by the rules.
Finally, after work..........
Grand National 2008
First stop was of course for lunch. Had bacon barm from a small stall situated in the workers area. The food here is of course much cheaper than in the venue itself.
Introducing the wooden disposable spoon. I'm so used to plastic disposable spoons that even this amuses me.
One of the main building for VIPs
There were lesser people compared to last year, most probably due to the bad weather which was so cold and it drizzled in the afternoon. Many were dressed up looking really posh but I thought this year the standard of dressing dropped a bit as I saw many people who just looked like they were dressed just to go to town. I did see people getting interviewed and making a fuss around a few people last year but since I don't watch British television, I have no idea who on earth is that person. This year, it is still the same.Outfit highlights of the day (sorry couldn't take photo in time)
1. Gentleman dressed in fluorescent orange suit (jacket and trousers) with purple shirt
2. Gentleman dressed in dark blue suit but with pink wig and painted red nails
3. Old gentleman dressed in black suit but with a pink hat
There were so many betting stalls, biggest player was Tote with small threats from the many small companies setting up their own bets. The food courts were always crowded and I felt lucky to have had my lunch.
One of the races
The racecourse itself was so big that I got the feeling that the horses were running really slowly but in actual fact, they're racing so fast against each other.
Something new this year, replicas of the Superlambanana.
Seen a walking beer dispensary unit before? They're innovative inventions.
The most loved race horse of all time - Red Rum. It won 3 first places and 2 second places at Grand Nationals years ago even when suffering from a chronic leg condition in one leg. Impressive!I didn't stay for the big race this year as my friends and I were really tired. We went off before 4pm as the bus services stops after 4pm to cut down traffic. I do recommend to attend this event at least once, through buying tickets (which are at cut throat prices) or take the opportunity to gain access through working there. It will be a great experience.
P.s. I wanted to bet on Slim Pickings but since we left early, I didn't. That horse came in 4th place.
4 comments:
my snowy white got 3rd... :P
it's snowy morning, not snowy white. one of my friend bet on it and she earned 6 times the amount she betted on. too bad we didn't bet on that day.
yeah, what happened to UK weather nowdays? Even Southampton snow heavyly. By the way, you make your Blog's font bigger size? It looks bigger you know. Also, pls teach me how to combine pictures into one piece.
i made the font bigger so it'll be easier for people to read.
to combine pictures, i use 2 methods. first one can tile 4 or 9 pictures together. this is done by using google's picassa programme through its 'collage' function.
2nd method is using cut and paste in the windows paint programme. but that one involves more work.
just try whichever method suits you best.
haih...snow in april...the weather's gone crazy. it'll be spring in june i guess.
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