People thought you had fallen on your feet if you landed a job at GPO – especially for me as the only black telephonist in a team of 100.
My parents, who worked as labourers, were delighted that I had a white collar job and I went to work in high heels and pencil skirts, rather than overalls and work boots. They saw it as a return on the leap of faith they took when they left Jamaica to help rebuild the UK economy and provide their children with the education that they had missed out on.
The job at GPO was good, with opportunities to climb the ranks, but as time went by I realised that I needed something else.
