–the rigours of getting a newspaper out on time

THROUGHOUT the years, Christmas has always been regarded as a time for the family, particularly for Caribbean people.
It is a time that has traditionally been known to draw families closer together: husbands and wives, children and parents. And generally, we look forward to positive changes.
It is a time when parents will even go the extra mile to ensure they buy gifts for the children, and vice versa. Moms and dads will exchange gifts. Dad suddenly sees the need to spend more time in the home with the family, and there will suddenly be more attendance at church as a family.

And party lovers though we Caribbean people are, it seems we always attach that reverence or importance to going to church as a family, even if it means a husband or father having to miss a Christmas Eve night party or lime, just so as to be able to attend that Christmas Day church service as a family.
Indeed, Christmas has been known to draw families so close together, that even delinquent fathers have turned to spending more time in the home, and making conscious efforts to be fathers of whom their wives and children can be proud.
It is said that a family that prays together, stays together, and while ideally, in the Christian or other religious setting, it is expected that families attend Church together all the time and not just seasonally, there will always be those who honour this more in the breach than in the observance.

Meanwhile, for families where there is an ongoing rift between mother and father, it sometimes seems that Christmas suddenly takes on therapeutic properties, since it is sometimes looked forward to as having the ability to bring some sort of healing to relationships gone sour. But generally, Christmas is a time when families are drawn closer together; make more time for each other; share the joys of togetherness, and in every way work towards strengthening relationships in the home and family.

THE EXCEPTIONS

But while this is so, there are fathers, and to a lesser extent mothers, who, out of necessity find themselves robbed of the opportunity of spending quality time with their spouses and children. It just might be that their jobs are exacting, demanding that one partner has to be out of the home and on the job indefinitely, almost to the extent of neglecting their health and missing out on some of the joys of sharing in family engagements from time to time.

A classic example of a job situation that exerts exacting demands on the employee (and closer home) is the job of pressmen working at a newspaper company; mechanical technicians whose duty it is to be on the job round the clock, Christmas or not, so as to effect repairs whenever this becomes necessary; those inserting pages into the finished newspaper, as well as the dispatch clerks.
Today, we’d like to introduce you to some of those very people, many of whom have been on the job for as long as 20 to 30 years, making invaluable contributions not just to the company, but to our readership as a whole.
Joseph Patterson is what is known in newspaper parlance as a photolithographer. What this means, in essence, is that he heads a shift in the Pre-Press Department. His day usually commences around 20:00 hrs, but given his passion for the job, he would normally arrive on the plant as early as 16:00hrs, returning home just before dawn.
Basically, ‘Joe’, as everyone calls him, is always willing to go the extra mile. He is responsible for taking the ‘flats’ from the layout technicians who design and lay out the pages.

In newspaper language, a ‘flat’ also called a ‘flat plan’, is a diagram of sorts of what particular pages of the finished newspaper would look like.
When staff of the Layout Department have finished their task, Pre-Press examines the pages to ensure that everything is alright and there are no mistakes. On completion of the plate-press process, they then send it to the press. This is a key and very vital area, and ensures the job is done in a flawless manner, and that it’s done speedily and efficiently.

FAMILY VOID
Asked about the void his absence creates in the family, especially at Christmas time when he cannot be at home with them at nights, Joe’s response was:
“I’ve been going through this for 37 years. Sometimes it aches me, but this is my job, and I have to get it done. Duty calls and one must serve.”

What is even more remarkable, according to him, is that even though there is a shift system in place, by some quirk of fate, he always manages to fall into the one that requires him to work on holidays. But, his wife and children have come to understand and accept it. “Thirty seven years have passed, and I am still around; it wouldn’t kill me,” he said.
“But thank God for an understanding and compassionate wife and children.” He also has the satisfaction of having won a few awards for quality performance.
Shelly Alleyne is a dispatch clerk cum cashier, and she, too, works nights to get the paper out on the streets, and on time.
“I feel comfortable, because it’s been five years since I’ve been working here. So I’ve gotten accustomed to it,” she said.
“Sometimes it is difficult, but it’s my job; and so I don’t complain.” Her day begins at
midnight and goes until 08:00hrs. That’s from Monday to Friday. But on Saturdays and holidays, it starts from 22:00hrs and goes until 08:00hrs the next day. But fortunately for her, her children are abroad, so, in that regard, she is not challenged.
Asked what his job as a senior pressman entails, Kamnathan Harripersud said:
“Well, our job is to make sure the Guyanese people get the paper on time as is expected. I have been doing printing for over 30 years and I am dedicated to that type of job.”

The press usually starts rolling around midnight, but the pressmen tend to arrive on the plant by 21:00hrs. And, should everything go well,they would be done by 02:00 hrs or thereabouts.
But if per chance the press suffers any mechanical defects, printing has to be held up, delaying the process. If the mechanical technician is not available, the company is forced to seek printing services from another company; and that is stressful.
A father of three, Harripersud is married and has been in the pressroom business for the last 30 years or so, and would not give it up for anything.