Read Online Primrose Square by Anne Douglas - Free Book Online Page A

and none looking at Elinor, as it happened, except the girl next to her who gave her a brief smile. She was rather plain, with freckles and pale blonde hair scraped into a tight bun, and Elinor guessed she’d be very efficient. The sort that could run an office anyway, even without Mr Muirhead’s help, but everyone’s eyes were on him now, waiting for him to begin.
    First, he told them, he’d like to stress the importance now attached to the office in modern times. ‘We’ve moved away from the Scrooge type of office of the past, you see, when you had one clerk scratching away with a quill pen in some old ledger. Now, we have typewriters, telephones, punched card systems, all kinds of modern equipment, and staff trained to use them. Which is where you people will come in.
    â€˜It’s not just big companies that will need you, because everywhere is recognizing the importance of an efficient office these days. You might find yourself working in some small shop, or maybe a hotel, a college, a school, a department store – all requiring staff who know what to do. To begin with, you may start with junior tasks, such as filing – which is not as easy as ABC, as everyone thinks, but actually quite complex and vital to finding information – but then you’ll progress to carrying out other procedures, which we’ll cover in this course. Any questions so far?’
    Hands shot up all over the room. Could Mr Muirhead outline some of the procedures?
    Certainly he could. Keeping checks on stock and supplies, keeping records, particularly of expenditure, paying and checking bills, carrying out simple accounting, liaising with staff and customers, writing reports for senior management – and that was just the start.
    At the looks on their faces, Mr Muirhead laughed.
    â€˜Obviously, newcomers will not be running offices from the beginning and will receive training anyway, but this course will make sure you know what will be expected of you. If you can show that, you’ll be better placed for getting a job.’
    â€˜That’s all we want,’ someone muttered, and there were murmurs of agreement.
    Another hand went up from a young man with a shock of red hair at the front of the room.
    â€˜You talk about simple accounting – how good have we got to be at arithmetic?’
    â€˜To do well in this field, I’d say it’s essential to be quite good,’ Mr Muirhead told him. ‘The job really calls for a logical mind as well as practical skills.’
    â€˜Lets out the lassies, eh?’ the red-headed man said with a laugh, at which the girls cried, ‘Shame!’ and the young woman next to Elinor flushed scarlet.
    â€˜Please apologize for that remark!’ she shouted across the classroom. ‘My best subject at school was arithmetic, I’ll have you know.’
    With a glance at his list of names, Mr Muirhead said curtly, ‘Mr MacLean, please do as Miss Cordiner says and apologize for a quite uncalled-for remark.’
    â€˜Only bit of fun, Mr Muirhead.’
    â€˜I’m waiting, Mr MacLean.’
    The red-haired young man stood up, gravely bowed towards Miss Cordiner and said, ‘So sorry, no offence meant.’
    â€˜I won’t say “None taken” as I am offended,’ she snapped back. ‘But I accept your apology on behalf of the women in this class.’
    â€˜May I make it quite clear from the start that no kind of joking offences will be tolerated here,’ Mr Muirhead declared. ‘Anyone guilty of them will be shown the door. Understood?’
    â€˜Understood!’ the girls cried, while the men nodded and made a few muttering noises that could be taken as assent.
    â€˜Get this all the time at work, eh?’ Miss Cordiner whispered to Elinor, her colour gradually fading. ‘Men thinking women can’t do as well as they can?’
    Is that really what I have to look forward to? Elinor