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the newcomers shiny new furniture, big wide beds, plus
sofas, armchairs, wardrobes, tables, stools, bookshelves,
bedside tables, night lights, lace curtains in the windows,
drapes. There weren’t many private homes that were as nice
as those rooms. Also, in each room there was a radio, a rug
on the floor, a mirror on the wall.
When we lived in that barracks, we had iron bunk beds and
one wardrobe between six of us. The most you could do was
hang your suit in there if you had one. You kept the rest of
your things in a suitcase under your bed, or in old cookie
boxes or cigarette cartons. No one would have dreamed of
putting drapes on our windows, let alone lace curtains. It
was difficult enough to get your turn at the soap or the
towel. We bought a piece of calico and hung it over the
window on nails at night. Or a mirror. The only mirrors
were in the shared bathroom, nearly all of them cracked.
Most of the time you had to use a cracked mirror to shave,
brush your hair, or for example to squeeze your zits, or tie
your necktie on a Sunday. And if you just wanted to take a
look at yourself, you looked like you were made of broken
pieces like the mirror. In the cafeteria they gave the new
guys a separate area by the windows – that was where they
had their tables. However late they came, those tables were
always free and waiting for them. No one else dared sit
there. There were times when all the other tables were
occupied, and however much you were in a hurry because
you were in the middle of an urgent job, you still had to
wait till someone finished eating, even though those other