Heinz

Heinz snapped. He grabbed his antagonist, his boss, by the throat and squeezed. His boss was English. Heinz migrated to Australia from Germany in 1960, aged 25. He was from Koln, a German city destroyed by allied bombing in WW2 and rebuilt amidst post war poverty and hardship. First thing every morning Heinz's boss would come in pretending to fire a make believe submachine gun at him, then put two fingers sideways under his nose doing a Hitler imitation.

As the boss gurgled his eyes expanded, resembling two light bulbs. Heinz dropped his his right hand down and grabbed his balls. Squeezing, he picked him up and tossed him across the room. The boss screamed hurtling through the air then lay motionless after crashing into the opposite wall.

Heinz was sacked from his job as a head baker at Tip Top. The job was well paid, 28 quid a week, fitting for a skilled pastry/cook baker experienced in large commercial operation. There was hell to pay. The union became involved, and after a great hullabulloo the boss was also sacked, but Heinz was not reinstated.

He was desperate for work, night shift; his wife Lotte had a job in the pay office at Bosch and their daughter, who was 10 months old when they migrated, needed care during the day. He found a night shift at Humes Pipes. He picked up pipe making quickly. Not long after starting in the plant at Westall, Humes got the contract to supply pipes for the Cribbs Point/Bangholme sewer pipeline, requiring big numbers of 72 inch concrete pipes.

Management approached the pipe makers, Heinz and another German, a Hungarian, and two Maltese, explaining the urgent need to increase production and asking what length of shift they would like. The men decided a 12 hour shift from 6pm to 6am and they were paid on the basis of how many pipes they made. It was hard, dirty work but they worked well together and Heinz was earning 100 quid a week or more. In a little over 18 months he'd saved enough to buy a house for cash in Springvale.

After some years Heinz heeded a change from the heavy, dirty concreting and did a management course. He got a job as a production supervisor at a laminating and insulation company. He had no knowledge of laminating/insulation. It was a new company, and the owners and Heinz learnt together as the business expanded from one shift of eighteen workers to 3 shifts of 90 odd in total.

A few years later he left this job to go into business with a German friend in a business installing suspended ceilings. Heinz and Lotte bought a weekender at Gembrook and they liked it so much they came here to live a year later, in 1972. Heinz worked his last 9 years before retirement at the Dandenong Town Hall, in maintenance and then co-ordinating facilities and functions. He loved this job as he enjoyed dealing with people. He says he always had the gift of the gab. Lotte worked in the pay office at the protea farm. She died a couple of years ago after a long battle with cancer. Heinz continues their habit of walking their dog most mornings.

I often meet him on my walk. He's fit and debonair belying his age, with a healthy head of well groomed hair, a Prussian(?) moustache, and a walking stick under his arm. He likes a yarn. Given his personal history, it's no surprise he's a well of knowledge on many subjects. He's particularly well versed on European history. He's excitedly told me today of his grandson, an electrician, who plays 20/20 cricket in the burbs as an allrounder. He has three grandkids, the others a teacher and a nurse, children of his baby girl who came out in 1960.

I wanted to write this outline of Heinz before I forgot the details. It's a stinker of a day, a Total Fire Ban with a gusty north wind. A bushfire is a real possibility. The dog's tongues were hanging out (what long tongues dogs have!)up the Quinn Rd. hill as early as 7.15am. I have a dentist appt. at 1.15 pm and a museum meeting at 3.30. Light duties before and after is the order of the day I should say.