We have several new young people washing up for us this season.
The youngest are three 15 year olds. They’re about to start year 11 at the local school. The two boys and one girl are all friends and make the job fun. There’s a lot of laughter and singing as they go about cleaning the plates and cups and pans and cutlery.
At their age they are not allowed to do certain things.
The law states that they can’t, for example, wash sharp knives, they can’t go near the cooker, they can’t make a cup of tea because of the boiling water.
Neither can they work more than two hours on a Sunday. Which seems anachronistic.
On a Saturday they work a five hour day. The next day, Sunday, they do two hours each, crossing over for half an hour. A sort of relay.
And after two hours they go home, where they can put the kettle on and make tea, or prepare their own lunch using sharp knives and a cooker.
