an employee engine driver & fireman of the Co.
from January 1937 to December 1973."
I discovered this little gem during another drive to Ulladulla when we strolled along the picturesque harbour to walk off some of the lunch we had overindulged in at the bowling club: pumpkin soup followed by a large Fisherman's Basket followed by a slice of cheesecake.
Who was Jack Myers? Did he have any dreams and ambitions beyond being an engine-driver and fireman at Mitchell's Mill from January 1937 until December 1973?
Perhaps Jack Myers would've been engine-driver and fireman at that Mill much longer had it not been for the Mill's closure in 1974? Perhaps the highlight of Jack Myers' life is this plaque to his extraordinary ordinariness?
I don't know! And please, don't get me wrong: I am not knocking Jack! Jack and millions like him are the red blood cells that hold our society together. All I know is that nobody is going to put my name on a plaque for having lived the same year thirty-seven times over.
P.S. When we are in Ulladulla, we always have lunch at their bowling club. The nice lady at the reception desk has been there for as long as I can remember and I said so to her today, Her reply, "Next month I will have worked here for thirty years!" It must be something in their water.
