Woman gets reply about dream job application 48 years after sending it
7 October 2024, 16:15
A woman has received a response to the application for her dream job she sent off 48 years ago.
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Tizi Hodson, 70, from Gedney Hill in Lincolnshire, recently had her original letter applying for a job as a motorcycle stunt rider returned after sending it in January 1976.
The letter was discovered after being stuck behind a post office drawer all these years.
At the top of the letter is a handwritten note that reads: “Late delivery by Staines Post Office. Found behind a draw [sic]. Only about 50 years late.”
Despite this setback, Ms Hodson went on to pursue her daredevil career as she found a job that took her all over the world.
Describing the letter being returned as "amazing", Ms Hodson said: "I always wondered why I never heard back about the job. Now I know why."
Ms Hodson doesn’t know who returned the letter, or how it even found its way to her.
“How they found me when I’ve moved house 50-odd times, and even moved countries four or five times, is a mystery,” she said.
"It means so much to me to get it back all this time later.
“I remember very clearly sitting in my flat in London typing the letter.
"Every day I looked for my post but there was nothing there and I was so disappointed because I really, really, wanted to be a stunt rider on a motorcycle.”
Fortunately for Ms Hodson, the silence following her application did not put her off from trying for other jobs.
She moved to Africa, worked as a snake handler and horse whisperer, learned to fly and became an aerobatic pilot and flying instructor.
Looking back at the letter she sent when she was just starting out, Ms Hodson said: “I was very careful not to let people who were advertising for a stunt rider know that I was female, or I thought I would have had no chance of even getting an interview.
“I even stupidly told them I didn’t mind how many bones I might break as I was used to it.“It seems incredible to get the letter back after all this time.
“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.”
