The Black Swan

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In the early 1950's I was just a year out of college amd worked for a doctor as receptionist, typist, nurse and general dogsbody. One of his patients sent him a present by Road Services from the Wairarapa, and he asked me to collect it from the depot at the Railway Station.

When I was presented with the parcel, I found it was a black swan with all its feathers on wrapped up in newspaper, and was very slippery and heavy. I could scarcely hold on to it as it kept slipping and the newspaper didn't last long.

Luckily, as was the fashion in those days, I had a string bag in my purse and I stuffed the swan into it and headed for a tram to go back to the doctor's rooms. The tram was very crowded and I had to stand jammed up against others with the heavy swan and as we rode through the city and came to my stop to my horror I found that the string bag had got entangled on a man' fly button and with a very red face I had to ask him if he could undo it.

This proved so difficult we had to go on another stop and he got off with me and managed to free himself on the pavement. I stammered and apologised and felt so mortified, it was a long time before I could see the funny side of it. I also had a long walk back a stop struggling with the swan!

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