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Office closures

Dear Lorraine,

It is over a year since I wrote to you telling of my system of being locked into my raincoats and cagoules by my partner Jo and her sister Hannah.

Since then, Jo and I went on holiday, with me on a train for seven hours locked into my cagoule and waterproof trousers, although I was allowed to remove my waterproof cape and my gaberdine coat.

We went to Scotland, where we hired a cottage for two weeks, well away from anyone in the wilds of Rannoch. I actually went out into the garden of the cottage when the weather was fine enough, with no outer clothes, just my ordinary indoor clothing, but it felt very strange. On the couple of days when we went out, by bus, I made sure I was well covered up, and we had some very pleasant excursions to quiet places. I did receive quite alot of odd looks, which made me uncomfortable, so we stayed in the cottage for most of the holiday and relaxed. On the journey home I was fully wrapped up again, with my face cover and my gaberdine coat both locked on safely, and I kept my face cover on all the way home.

During the winter, the company which Hannah and I worked for closed our office, leaving us both out of a job. Hannah was offered a post in Manchester, which is an hour or more away by train, but I was not keen to make the journey every day, so I remained unempolyed for a short time. Eventually, Jo managed to find me a job in an office of a company where most of the staff are of Arabic origins, and in my office, all the women keep their heads and faces fully covered, except when they have anything to eat. I have joined their ranks and now wear a balaclava at all times at work, which keeps my mouth and nose covered as well as my head. I also wear a hooded top, with the hood sewn to my balaclava. I no longer have my mouth covered by a separate scarf under the balaclava, as I need to be able to speak to my colleagues, but I wear it between two balaclavas to go to and from work. My coat still has mittens sewn into the sleeves, so I have to be buttoned and locked into it, but we have a supervisor who is related to some of the other workers, and is extremely strict about their dress too, so at the end of the day she fastens three of us into our coats. One young lady has a long PVC coat which zips from the floor to the eyes, with an extra flap covering her mouth and nose. Her sleeves are extra long and are sewn shut, so she like me has to be fastened into her coat, and she also wears an extra scarf over her mouth now, an idea which she copied from me. Her husband is very strict, like our supervisor, and checks to see that she is properly covered before he takes her home.

I love my new office, and I am delighted to see that other people like me are happy to be covered up. I still walk to work and back, but it is very comforting to be in a much more social atmosphere, where we are all covered up.

Let me just tell you more about another colleague, if you wish, in another message, as she has a most amazing outfit - a most wonderful coat, which she is obliged to wear at all times outdoors.

She always wears a full veil in the office, so her eyes are not really visible, but she can see to work. Her outdoor coat is in a fairly heavy gaberdine-type material, and is almost floor length. It has a hood, which covers her whole face, but the coat is made to be buttoned all the way down the back!

At the end of my first day I waited for this lady to be dressed. She put her arms into the coat sleeves, and then ducked her head into the hood. This hood is completely covering, apart from a small eye slit, and has an extra bit which projects forward, giving added protection from being seen. There is a sort of collar at the back, which must then be fastened with a buckled strap. This collar apparently comes up over her mouth, and the strap is fastened tightly behind her head to bind her mouth tightly - a bit like my scarf. The coat is then buttoned up at the back, all the way from the neck to the floor, with an extra piece of material which buttons over the first set of buttons. The hood is buttoned down at the back, covering the buckled strap which secures the mouth covering, and the sleeves are zipped shut at the ends, with the zips now secured by little locks (another idea which I seem to have introduced!). Finally, leather straps on the cuffs are tightened and then fastened to buckles on the side of the coat, so that there is very little movement of the arms allowed. Having been strapped into her coat, she had to wait for me and my other colleague to be dressed up before we could all be taken to the foyer where the husbands or brothers of the other two ladies must wait for them.

I am not at work today, as I am taking a couple of days holiday, but I am going out with Jo tomorrow to see Hannah in Manchester. It is warm but windy, so I will wrap up well, with my scarf very tightly tied over my mouth under my balaclavas. I now have a much heavier pair of waterproof trousers, which I will wear, and I shall keep my mask, gaberdine coat and waterproof cape on for the whole trip - having read Pauline's latest account of her trip to see her friend in London, I have decided to stay similary dressed for my trip.

I am really pleased to see the site still so busy - a tribute to your enthusiasm!

With best wishes,

Alice.

Dear Alice

Thank you for the update! Very pleased you have fallen into such congenial company - I am so happy for you all - but of course only so long as each of you stays absolutely self-controlled ... With every best wish

Lorraine