I had been unemployed for a few weeks and was awaiting replies to my job applications from a few employers. I was beginning to become pessimistic about my chances, particularly with employment agencies standing between me, and the final decision makers.
So it was a surprise when I had a call from an employer to come for an interview at the local council's Parks and Gardens Development Program. It seemed I was the successful applicant. I was sent to their depot to be fitted with clothes and boots, and to meet the supervisor who was to be my boss.
I could see I was going to enjoy my time there and the boss seemed to be easygoing and ready to listen, although from his instructions, I felt he was not closely involved with our day-to-day operations.
I began to work the next day and we were sent to different parks and gardens to do maintenance in teams of two or four. I would be working with one other younger man of about twenty-two years who showed me the protocols for ensuring playground safety.
I spent the next two weeks with various teams and doing a surprising variety of tasks, planting shrubs, disposing of out of season flower beds, mulching, making and distributing mulch, mowing, edging lawns, Cleaning playgrounds pruning and a long list of other tasks.
After three weeks, the job became more familiar, although I was consistently learning new skills and techniques.
As the most recent employee, it was usually up to me to gather tools and equipment and take it back to the pick-up truck, a local storage shed, or the depot.
One evening after work, I was following the others back through the trees with equipment in a wheelbarrow and gradually falling behind them as the sun descended in the warm autumn sky.
Suddenly, and without warning, my hat was pulled down over my eyes by someone from behind, obviously for a joke.
I called out loudly. 'Hey! What are you doing?'
I put my wheelbarrow down on its rear legs. Four hands immediately grasped my forearms preventing me from removing my hat, keeping me blindfolded and being unable to see who my assailants were, so I knew there were at least two of them.
I wondered where my work colleagues were. I guessed they had simply closed the shed and gone home expecting me to put the tools away and lock the door as I left.
A third person began unfastening the buttons of my shirt. The two who had hold of my arms began letting go of my arms to reposition their hands to hold me captive as my shirt was slid down my arms and over my hands. Gardening gloves were placed on my hands and I could feel cords tightening around my wrists.
This began to feel like something slightly less than a joke.
A gravely voice beside me said, 'Take off his boots and pants. If he struggles, leave his boots on and cut off his pants. Use the cutters in the wheelbarrow.'
With my vision blocked and my arms held fast, I chose not to struggle. The idea of having sharpened blades of the cutters so close to my skin and some vital organs frightened me out of my wits.
The laces of my boots were loosened and my boots roughly pulled from my feet and I stood on the grass in my socks. Then the third person unfastened my belt and the top button of my gardening pants, loosened the zip, then slowly began pulling down on my pants from the fabric at knee height. I could feel myself slowly becoming exposed.
