When we put in a job application, we expect that things are going to move along fairly quickly. We don’t always anticipate that we are going to get the job, but we do look forward to hearing more about it.
Back in the 1970s, Tizi Hodson was very excited about sending in a job application. It happened in January 1976, and the woman, who lives in Lincolnshire County wanted to be a motorcycle stunt rider.
She wasn’t able to put the application in face-to-face, so she sent it through the mail. Unfortunately, she never heard anything else about it and eventually, she gave up on becoming a stunt rider.
As it turns out, however, she wasn’t being ignored for the job but rather, her application had gotten lost. It was stuck behind the post office drawer, and the application letter was returned.
When she received the handwritten note along with the letter in the post, it said: “Late delivery by Staines Post Office. Found behind a draw [sic]. Only about 50 years late.”
Hudson said “I always wondered why I never heard back about the job. Now I know why.” She went on to say it was an amazing experience to receive the letter.
“How they found me when I’ve moved house 50-odd times, and even moved countries four or five times, is a mystery.
“Every day I looked for my post but there was nothing there,” she said. “I was so disappointed because I really, really, wanted to be a stunt rider on a motorcycle.”
Eventually, Hodson started looking for other jobs. She became a horse whisper and snake charmer after moving to Africa. She then learned to fly and became a flying instructor and an aerobatic pilot.
When she thinks back to the time that she put in the interview, she did keep it on the down low. She didn’t want people to know that she was a female applying as a stunt rider because she didn’t think she would get the interview.
She said: “I even stupidly told them I didn’t mind how many bones I might break as I was used to it.”
She then summed it up, saying: “If I could speak to my younger self, I would tell her to go and do everything I’ve done. I’ve had such a wonderful time in life, even if I have broken a few bones.”