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#852 Izzaad From Restaurant Worker to Restaurant Owner

Izzaad

I came to England in 1975. I worked in Birmingham and Brighton. It was easy to get work in a restaurant. I preferred Brighton. Nice and quiet. I then came to Leeds with my family. And worked in a restaurant. Then I opened my own restaurant in Otley. With two partners. I worked as a waiter. I enjoyed it. We didn’t have many problems. But sometimes there were young men who were drunk. Sometimes they ran off without paying. We didn’t chase them. But if they came again they paid before we gave them any food. One time a young man ran off without paying. But a few days later I went to pay my Council Tax and there he was working in the office! Oh Mr. Ali, he said, I’m sorry. I was drunk. I’ll pay you now. Please don’t tell anyone. I said I havn’t come to get money from you. Just to pay my Council Tax. But next time he came to the restaurant he paid.

Precis

After arriving in England in 1975 and working in restaurants in Birmingham and Brighton, the narrator moved to Leeds and eventually opened his own restaurant in Otley, where he faced challenges with some customers who would run off without paying.