Page 28 - She's One Crazy Lady!

Dad taught “
Dad, and Mum, both had strong work ethics. Our volunteers at Crazy Hats always laughed (or sighed) at me when we had a stand in the shopping centres, or at carnivals etc. When we were setting up our stall for the day, I always felt that Dad was sitting on my shoulder, checking that we too, were putting on a good show and that what we had to sell was of a good quality. I admitted to being very fussy and ignored the jibes, but it worked. Before customers arrived, I would always go along and ‘titivate’ the goods on display, making sure everything was in its right place, much to the amusement of colleagues. Dad taught me a lot and I like to think that, at Crazy Hats, we maintained his high standards throughout, in all that we did.
me a lot and I like to think that, as a charity, we maintained his high standards throughout, in
Another trait of Dad’s, and that of market traders in general at the time, was his banter with the customers. He was a good salesman and could charm people into buying things that they probably didn’t want. He had a great rapport with them but woe betide anyone who crossed him, especially if anything was taken unlawfully! At the end of the day when unsold fruit and veg just had to be sold and prices were reduced, we would shout out what was on offer and cajole customers into buying far more than they, perhaps, would have liked. When we were out and about fundraising, I loved having that same kind of banter with people and always tried to engage them in conversation, coax them and have fun with them. When my sister, Jimmy, came to help us on our Crazy Hats Days we had to remind ourselves that we were not on the market! The public loved it that we interacted with them. Drawing them in that way, it was easy to start up a conversation and many such conversations were revealing; conversations that people felt at ease and comfortable in sharing with us, for many wanted to off-load and tell us of their
worries and their experiences – so many stories relating to their encounters with breast cancer, and other cancers, from young teenagers to elderly men and women.
Often, we would have a bargain that we would promote, especially when we had T-shirts left over from the Walks (which had to be sold as they had a date on them). Having a voice was the only way to attract attention to this and the take up was always brilliant. Sometimes it felt as if our stall was a magnet, enticing people in just so they could simply talk. I remember many, many times when I didn’t do a lot of selling – just
all that we d”
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