Education and academics is not a route forward for everybody, we all have our own unique ways of seeing, and believing the world around us, and that is perfectly okay. Much like Abby Wallace, portrayed by Michelle Collins, (I’m sure you can see a running theme in these characters) and is the primary protagonist of the BBC one drama: “Two Thousand Acres of Sky.”
When we are first introduced to Abby, she is working a minimum wage job at a local corner shop, behind the till and stacking magazine racks, one of her many lower paid jobs.
Before I continue, I am not for one moment attempting to belittle Abby, or anybody for that matter who may work in such a position, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, at the end of the day, I would much prefer to earn an honest living, than one insinuating moral ambiguity takes place, it especially teaches children that it’s okay to work in a shop, or as a cleaner, because you are earning an honest wage, and supporting your family.
One of the things I despise most is when people shame minimum wage workers, I may go on a bit of a tangent within this piece, early warning to all who may read this. The first job I ever had was as a cleaner in a salon, I have worked in a cafe, I have worked in shops and partaking in voluntary work when I was younger, and I hate it when we are overlooked, or belittled by people higher up in the workplace. It shouldn’t matter what you do for a living, at the end of the day within a workplace, we all rely on each other to get the work completed. Nobody should be more important than another.
Anyway, I apologise for that rant halfway through. Abby’s motivations throughout the show derive from her desire to better the living situation of her children - she had lost her job in the shop at the beginning of the first episode. Why, you might ask. Simply for leaving to care for her son. Unfair dismissal right there. The school her son attended had called after an incident took place, as she was leaving to deal with this she was issued an ultimatum. Either stay, or leave and lose her job. She left and lost her job. It’s a sad reality, that does in fact happen.
Later we see Abby contemplating the futures of herself and her children. And it’s a reality a lot of people face, whether they have millions in the bank, or rely on food banks to feed their children. Have I done enough to provide? A question running through the minds of millions.
Hammer this home if nothing else, we all struggle. Every day. That’s why characters in any form of media, paralleling, reflecting this are so important. We don’t recognise ourselves in others until it’s blankly staring back at us in black and white.