November 30, 2025 • 28 mins
What do you want to be when you grow up?
There are many different jobs you can do, such as a bus driver, a farmer, a construction worker or an artist. This week in the Happy Pants Headquarters Geraldine, Kate and Maddie talk about different jobs you can have and how those jobs are important.
Of course we all know that the most important job in the world is writing descriptions for Happy Pants podcast episodes. In fact, without them the world would stop rotating and explode. That mysterious person is the most important cog in the Happy Pants machine...
The team also dance to some fun songs, learn a few new big words and hear a story about a tamarillo called Ted with big dreams.
Have fun listening!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:13):
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:23):
Good day. And welcome to Happy Pants, a show especially
for kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine and.
S3 (00:31):
My name is Kate. And together, we'll be your happy
pants team for today.
S2 (00:37):
Actually, there will be three of us in the team today.
Maddie has just finished her final school exams. Or she's
having a bit of a holiday, but she'll be joining
us later.
S3 (00:50):
How bad have we get Maddie to read today's story?
S2 (00:53):
Oh, that's a great idea, Kate. I know Maddie loves stories.
She wrote one for us for Easter and a Christmas
one about the shelf elf. And we have a puzzle
for our Happy Pants listeners to solve. One of us
uses a Braille sense six for reading because one of
(01:16):
us can't see at all. Can you guess which one
it is?
S3 (01:21):
Well, Matty be wearing heavy pants like we are. I
do like the color head office has chosen for us today.
S2 (01:28):
Me too. I love this sort of yellow. It's a
happy color, and it makes me think of how it
feels to sit in the early morning sun and listen
to the birds waking up.
S3 (01:39):
My happy pants are the kind of yellow that reminds
me of the taste of crispy hot chips. Maybe with
a tiny bit of mustard.
S2 (01:48):
Hmm. Um, Kate, I've had a feel in my pockets
because head office usually slips a few clues in there,
but so far, I've only found a bus pass and
an umpire's whistle. I can feel there's something in the
back pocket, but it's a bit hard to get out.
How about you check yours while I keep digging?
S3 (02:10):
Mm. Well, this one has a pole with a sign
on the top. The red side says stop and the
green side says go. Oh, and a pair of shears
for shearing sheep. That seems to be it for my
front pockets.
S2 (02:26):
Oh! Got it, got it. It's out. Um. Ah, it's
a hammer and a bag of nails.
S3 (02:33):
Mm. And my back pocket has. Hang on a tick.
A pair of shoes. Not my size, though. These are enormous.
You could fill them with water and have a swim.
S2 (02:46):
Now all we have to do is put all the
clues together. And that'll tell us what we're supposed to
talk about today.
S3 (02:54):
Okay, Geraldine, make a list. We have a bus pass,
an umpire's whistle, sheep shears and a strange looking pair
of shoes.
S2 (03:06):
And a stop and go sign. And a hammer and nails.
S3 (03:10):
Don't forget the nails. Hammer and nails go together there
for building something. But you can't build with a whistle.
A bus pass. A stop and go sign. A pair
of silly shoes and a pair of shears. The clues
must be for something else.
S2 (03:27):
Well, we need some brain stirring music to get us thinking.
Something to wake us up all over.
S3 (03:33):
Yeah, really fast music. So our whole body gets moving.
Come on, everyone, find a clear space and let the
music tell your body what to do.
S2 (06:15):
I'm certainly awake now.
S3 (06:17):
Me too. Now, how do a bus pass an umpire's whistle?
Silly shoes. A stop and go sign. And a hammer
and nails go together.
S2 (06:28):
I don't think it's the things that do fit together.
Maybe it's the people who use the things that fit
together somehow.
S3 (06:37):
Hmm. That might work. Let's see. A bus pass might
be used by someone going to work. The whistle's easy.
An umpire uses that. And umpiring is work.
S2 (06:50):
Those silly shoes. I reckon they're clown shoes. Being a
clown and entertaining people is work too.
S3 (06:58):
She is abused by a shearer. That's work.
S2 (07:01):
I've been in a car when there are roadworks ahead
and the traffic controller uses a stop go sign to
stop cars or let them go through.
S3 (07:10):
And a hammer and nails are used by a builder.
S2 (07:14):
Right. So all those clues are used by workers.
S3 (07:18):
Except the bus pass that's used by a worker to
get to work. Not to use for work.
S2 (07:25):
Well, a bus doesn't drive itself. It has to have
a driver. And that's work. Bus driving is his job.
S3 (07:35):
Got it. All those pocket clues are so we would
think about jobs, the kind of jobs most people have
and don't think of as being very important. But when
you really think about them, they are important. Because without them,
the rest of us wouldn't be able to have the
kind of lives we like to have. How would we
like living without shopkeepers, what our town would be like
(07:57):
without rubbish collectors? What if no one did haircuts anymore?
S2 (08:02):
How would we manage if there were no bus drivers?
We'd all have to travel by car.
S3 (08:09):
Hey, Geraldine, a bus can carry about 50 people. One
car can carry five people. So how many cars would
you need to carry the same number of people as
a bus?
S2 (08:23):
Oh, Kate. That's hard. Five people in a car and
50 in a bus. So I have to work out
how many fives make up? 50. Ah! Whoa! Oh! Silly me.
I can count by fives. Five. Ten. 15. 20. 25.
(08:43):
You'd need ten cars to carry as many people as
one bus. Just imagine the traffic jams if everyone travelled
by car. Bus drivers have very important jobs.
S3 (08:55):
If there was that much traffic, our roads would wear
out much faster. The workers who mend the roads keep
them safe for us to drive on when roads are
being mended. The side that needs attention is blocked off
and traffic has to share the other side of the road.
That's when the traffic controller needs that stop go sign
A controller is stationed at each end of the bit
(09:17):
being mended, and they take turns to let cars through
when it is safe. Think what would happen if nobody
mended roads or controlled traffic.
S2 (09:27):
How about trains? Trains carry hundreds of people at a time.
S3 (09:32):
True. And a train driver has a very important job.
S1 (10:45):
I love wearing my happy pants while I'm listening to
Happy Pants.
S2 (10:50):
Hey, Kate, what do you call a train with a cold?
S3 (10:55):
I don't know. What do you call a train with
a cold?
S2 (10:58):
A choo choo train?
S3 (11:01):
Oh, and what's the difference between a teacher and a
train driver?
S2 (11:07):
Go on. What's the difference?
S3 (11:10):
One trains the mind and the other minds. The train.
S2 (11:15):
Oh. What do you get if you cross a train
with bubble gum?
S3 (11:23):
Ah Choo choo train. Of course. Trains remind me of whistles.
Not the woo woo kind, but the kind umpires use. Now,
that's an important job. Every competitive game needs an umpire.
S2 (11:42):
Big word alert. Competitive means competing to find a winner.
Umpires are there to make sure every player obeys the rules.
So each team has the same chance to win and
no one cheats.
S3 (11:57):
Being an umpire is not an easy job. They have
to know all the rules by heart and be prepared
to enforce them, even if somebody doesn't like it.
S2 (12:09):
Big word alert. Enforce means to make something happen. Okay.
I've been looking at these shears, and they reminded me.
Where do sheep go to get their wool cut?
S3 (12:22):
Oh, dear. I bet this is one of those awful jokes.
I don't know, Geraldine. Where do they go?
S2 (12:30):
To a shop. Of course.
S3 (12:34):
When you think about it, everything about shearing a sheep
is an important job.
S2 (12:39):
First, the farmer has to care for his sheep. So
they grow good wool so we can have warm clothes
in the winter. He has to move them from paddock
to paddock. So they always have good food and water.
He has to look after their health so they don't
get ill because sick sheep don't have good wool. A
(13:00):
farmer has to control feral animals like foxes and wild
dogs that may kill lambs.
S3 (13:07):
When it comes to shearing time. The shearer has to
be good at his job so the sheep aren't cut
while the shears are taking the wool off, though she
is a razor sharp, so it takes skill to take
the wool off in one whole piece like a big
thick blanket without cutting the skin underneath.
S2 (13:25):
Then the wool handler takes over. He gathers up the
fleece and throws it so it spreads out over the
classing table, and then he pulls off the daggy bits
around the edges.
S3 (13:39):
Big word alert. DAGs are the matted dirty bits. While
that is happening, the wool classer pulls out a bit
from the good part of the fleece and looks at
it to see which class of wool it is. Not
all wool is the same. Some sheep grow better wool
than others. He calls out his decision and the handler
gathers up the fleece and takes it to the right
(14:01):
bale for that class.
S2 (14:03):
So all the people who work with sheep have important jobs,
and it needs all those different jobs to produce wool.
S3 (14:12):
The shearers a competitive two, they compete to see who
can shear the most sheep in a day. The winner
is called The Ringer. He's the fastest shearer, but he's
only the ringer. If he can shear all his sheep
without cutting them, the slowest shearer or one who cuts
his sheep is called the snagger. A clean, even cut
(14:34):
through the wall without touching the skin is called a blow.
If a sheep is cut, they call for the tar boy,
whose job it is to slap a load of antiseptic
over the wound so it won't get infected, and Blowflies
won't lay their eggs in it. They used to use tar,
but now it's likely they spray on antiseptic. Some new
(14:55):
sheep have very little wool on the belly, so they're
quick and easy to shear. The shearers call these bare
bellied yo's, and that's the sheep everyone wants to get
when it's a competition.
S2 (17:34):
Back to those clues. And those clown shoes got me thinking.
Clowns certainly have an important job, and that job is
to make people laugh. Laughter is the best medicine for
just about everything. If I'm feeling bad, I try to laugh,
even if I don't feel like it. I don't know why,
(17:56):
but a few moments of fake laughter on all of
a sudden a real life starts and the bad feelings
just melt away.
S3 (18:06):
Those clown shoes are very cleverly made. They are not
the kind of shoe you could buy just anywhere. Only
a shoemaker could make these. In the olden days, someone
who made or mended shoes was called a cobbler. Now
they're called a shoemaker, and they make shoes that exactly
fit anyone who needs special shoes. I reckon that's an
(18:28):
important job.
S2 (18:31):
Oh, that'll be Maddie. Right on time. Come in. Maddie.
The door's open.
S3 (18:37):
Hi, Maddie. Good to see you. How's your holiday going?
S4 (18:41):
Good morning. Kate. Good morning Geraldine. Very nicely. Thank you Kate.
Great to have finished exams and to have some time
to relax and think about what sort of career I
want to follow.
S2 (18:55):
Well, we've been talking about jobs. Our pockets were full
of job things this morning. Talking of pockets, I noticed
that you have golden yellow happy pants on too.
S4 (19:07):
Yeah, they were waiting for me when I got up
this morning. I guess that means I'm part of the
team today, but there weren't any clues in the pockets.
S3 (19:17):
We were just up to the very last clue. A
hammer and nails, things a builder would need to build
a house.
S4 (19:25):
There are lots of jobs needed to build a house
a bricklayer, a tiler for the roof, a plasterer to
cover the inside walls.
S2 (19:36):
A plumber to put in all the water pipes to.
He's called a plumber because long ago water pipes were
made of lead and the Roman name for lead was Plumbum.
S3 (19:48):
There's also an electrician to put in all the wiring,
and a carpenter to fit all the cupboards.
S4 (19:55):
And a painter to paint it all when it was finished.
Every one of those jobs is important.
S2 (20:02):
But it wouldn't work if the bricklayer filled in all
the window spaces because he didn't like gaps in his wall.
S3 (20:09):
Or the electrician put lights inside the walls because it
was dark in there.
S4 (20:15):
That would be silly. It would mean that he hadn't
thought it through.
S2 (20:19):
Well, today's story is about someone who really wanted to
be important, but he didn't think things through properly before
he did them. His name is Ted Tamarillo and he's
one of the Munch Bunch.
S3 (20:32):
The Munch Bunch is a group of fruits, vegetables, and
nuts who ran away from the grocer's shop where they
had been living and found a new home in and
around an old forgotten garden shed.
S4 (20:45):
Ted Tamarillo by Giles Reid Ted Tamarillo is one of
the Munch bunch. He lives in an old boxing glove
next door to Paddy passion fruit. He is very bossy
and sometimes he can be extremely rude to his friends.
One morning he saw Billy BlackBerry trying to climb a tree.
(21:10):
Get down from there, you silly BlackBerry. He shouted. Billy
slid down the tree and grazed his knee. Serves you right,
snapped its head. Luckily, Nurse Plum was nearby with her
first aid kit. Nurse plum cleaned Billy's knee with antiseptic
(21:32):
and put a plaster on it. She's got a very
important job, thought Ted. Merv Marrow pulled up in his
police car to see if everything was all right. Merv's
got a very important job, too, thought Ted. Ted wished
that he had an important job so that he could
(21:54):
help people. I'll be a fireman, he thought. That's a
very important job. He immediately got to work building a
fire engine just as it was getting dark. Ted put
the finishing touches to his fire engine. He painted it
red all over. Place the ladder on the roof and
(22:16):
fixed a big bell on the front. All I need
now is a fire, he thought. Ted didn't go to
bed that night. He sat in his fire engine waiting
for somebody to shout fire. But nobody did. At last
he decided to have a practice. He drove through Munch
(22:40):
bunch village, clanging his bell. All the munch bunch were
woken up by the dreadful noise. They stood at their
front doors in their pajamas, shaking their fists angrily at Ted.
Stop moaning, yelled Ted. I've got a very important job
to do. The next morning, Button and Tiny Mushroom decided
(23:06):
to do some gardening. They pulled up all their weeds
and burnt them on a tiny bonfire. A wisp of
smoke drifted across the garden towards Ted Tamarillos house. Ted
leapt into his fire engine and sped across to Button
and Tiny's house. He grabbed the hose pipe and squirted
(23:29):
water everywhere. Button and Tiny's beautiful sunflowers were knocked to
the ground, and soon the sisters were standing knee deep
in mud. Don't light fires in future bullied Ted button
and Tiny were furious. Lizzie Leek had invited Professor Peabody
(23:53):
to her home for lunch. Steam was rising up from
her saucepans and floating out through her kitchen window. It
smells delicious. Lizzie, said the professor. But Ted, the new
Munch bunch fireman, Wyman had seen the steam and was
(24:15):
getting worried. It looks as though Lizzie's house is on fire,
he thought. He squirted water through the window, flooding Lizzie's
kitchen and soaking Lizzie and the professor from head to toe.
They weren't very pleased. Button, tiny Lizzie and the Professor
(24:38):
Peabody went to see Spud. Spud was in his workshop
using his lathe. Tiny sparks were flying off a piece
of metal which he was filing down. You must do
something about Ted Tamarillo, they said. He's becoming a nuisance.
(25:00):
But Ted was passing and saw the sparks through Spud's window.
He rushed into the workshop and sprayed water over everyone.
This has got to stop! Shouted Spud angrily. Ted went
home feeling very upset. Spud and the rest of the
(25:21):
Munch bunch were really angry with him. I haven't got
any important job at all, he sighed. Just then he
heard Billy BlackBerry's voice. Help, help! He was crying. Billy
had climbed the tree again and this time he'd got stuck.
(25:45):
Ted quickly put his fire ladder against the tree and
climbed up. He placed Billy across his shoulder and carried
him to safety. Billy was very grateful. Well done, Ted,
said Spud. That's a very important job you've done there.
(26:05):
Ted doesn't need to use his fire engine very often,
thank goodness. But the Munch Bunch feels safe just knowing
it's there. Ted Tamarillo has a very important job.
S2 (26:20):
That was a reading of Ted Tamarillo written by Giles Reid.
The reader was Maddie.
S3 (26:28):
So what have we done today?
S2 (26:30):
Well, we had three big words to add to the list.
There was competitive. That means competing to find a winner. Enforce.
Which means making something happen. And DAGs. They're the matted,
yucky bits around the edge of a fleece. Now, the
big question. Which one of us was using a Braille
(26:53):
sense six today?
S3 (26:55):
It wasn't me.
S2 (26:57):
It wasn't me.
S4 (26:59):
It was me. Did you guess right? I use my
Braille sense six all the time. It helped me with
my schoolwork. And it will be my most useful piece
of equipment in the future, too. Two. It turns all
kinds of printed work into braille so I can read
it with my fingers. I'll tell you all about it
(27:21):
next time I come in to Happy Pants headquarters.
S2 (27:25):
If there was anything in today's program about which you
would like more information, you can find us on radio
at Vision Australia.
S4 (27:36):
Keep wearing those happy pants and we'll catch you next time.
S5 (27:42):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land. Across our working area, we pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(28:06):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:23):
Good day. And welcome to Happy Pants, a show especially
for kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine and.
S3 (00:31):
My name is Kate. And together, we'll be your happy
pants team for today.
S2 (00:37):
Actually, there will be three of us in the team today.
Maddie has just finished her final school exams. Or she's
having a bit of a holiday, but she'll be joining
us later.
S3 (00:50):
How bad have we get Maddie to read today's story?
S2 (00:53):
Oh, that's a great idea, Kate. I know Maddie loves stories.
She wrote one for us for Easter and a Christmas
one about the shelf elf. And we have a puzzle
for our Happy Pants listeners to solve. One of us
uses a Braille sense six for reading because one of
(01:16):
us can't see at all. Can you guess which one
it is?
S3 (01:21):
Well, Matty be wearing heavy pants like we are. I
do like the color head office has chosen for us today.
S2 (01:28):
Me too. I love this sort of yellow. It's a
happy color, and it makes me think of how it
feels to sit in the early morning sun and listen
to the birds waking up.
S3 (01:39):
My happy pants are the kind of yellow that reminds
me of the taste of crispy hot chips. Maybe with
a tiny bit of mustard.
S2 (01:48):
Hmm. Um, Kate, I've had a feel in my pockets
because head office usually slips a few clues in there,
but so far, I've only found a bus pass and
an umpire's whistle. I can feel there's something in the
back pocket, but it's a bit hard to get out.
How about you check yours while I keep digging?
S3 (02:10):
Mm. Well, this one has a pole with a sign
on the top. The red side says stop and the
green side says go. Oh, and a pair of shears
for shearing sheep. That seems to be it for my
front pockets.
S2 (02:26):
Oh! Got it, got it. It's out. Um. Ah, it's
a hammer and a bag of nails.
S3 (02:33):
Mm. And my back pocket has. Hang on a tick.
A pair of shoes. Not my size, though. These are enormous.
You could fill them with water and have a swim.
S2 (02:46):
Now all we have to do is put all the
clues together. And that'll tell us what we're supposed to
talk about today.
S3 (02:54):
Okay, Geraldine, make a list. We have a bus pass,
an umpire's whistle, sheep shears and a strange looking pair
of shoes.
S2 (03:06):
And a stop and go sign. And a hammer and nails.
S3 (03:10):
Don't forget the nails. Hammer and nails go together there
for building something. But you can't build with a whistle.
A bus pass. A stop and go sign. A pair
of silly shoes and a pair of shears. The clues
must be for something else.
S2 (03:27):
Well, we need some brain stirring music to get us thinking.
Something to wake us up all over.
S3 (03:33):
Yeah, really fast music. So our whole body gets moving.
Come on, everyone, find a clear space and let the
music tell your body what to do.
S2 (06:15):
I'm certainly awake now.
S3 (06:17):
Me too. Now, how do a bus pass an umpire's whistle?
Silly shoes. A stop and go sign. And a hammer
and nails go together.
S2 (06:28):
I don't think it's the things that do fit together.
Maybe it's the people who use the things that fit
together somehow.
S3 (06:37):
Hmm. That might work. Let's see. A bus pass might
be used by someone going to work. The whistle's easy.
An umpire uses that. And umpiring is work.
S2 (06:50):
Those silly shoes. I reckon they're clown shoes. Being a
clown and entertaining people is work too.
S3 (06:58):
She is abused by a shearer. That's work.
S2 (07:01):
I've been in a car when there are roadworks ahead
and the traffic controller uses a stop go sign to
stop cars or let them go through.
S3 (07:10):
And a hammer and nails are used by a builder.
S2 (07:14):
Right. So all those clues are used by workers.
S3 (07:18):
Except the bus pass that's used by a worker to
get to work. Not to use for work.
S2 (07:25):
Well, a bus doesn't drive itself. It has to have
a driver. And that's work. Bus driving is his job.
S3 (07:35):
Got it. All those pocket clues are so we would
think about jobs, the kind of jobs most people have
and don't think of as being very important. But when
you really think about them, they are important. Because without them,
the rest of us wouldn't be able to have the
kind of lives we like to have. How would we
like living without shopkeepers, what our town would be like
(07:57):
without rubbish collectors? What if no one did haircuts anymore?
S2 (08:02):
How would we manage if there were no bus drivers?
We'd all have to travel by car.
S3 (08:09):
Hey, Geraldine, a bus can carry about 50 people. One
car can carry five people. So how many cars would
you need to carry the same number of people as
a bus?
S2 (08:23):
Oh, Kate. That's hard. Five people in a car and
50 in a bus. So I have to work out
how many fives make up? 50. Ah! Whoa! Oh! Silly me.
I can count by fives. Five. Ten. 15. 20. 25.
(08:43):
You'd need ten cars to carry as many people as
one bus. Just imagine the traffic jams if everyone travelled
by car. Bus drivers have very important jobs.
S3 (08:55):
If there was that much traffic, our roads would wear
out much faster. The workers who mend the roads keep
them safe for us to drive on when roads are
being mended. The side that needs attention is blocked off
and traffic has to share the other side of the road.
That's when the traffic controller needs that stop go sign
A controller is stationed at each end of the bit
(09:17):
being mended, and they take turns to let cars through
when it is safe. Think what would happen if nobody
mended roads or controlled traffic.
S2 (09:27):
How about trains? Trains carry hundreds of people at a time.
S3 (09:32):
True. And a train driver has a very important job.
S1 (10:45):
I love wearing my happy pants while I'm listening to
Happy Pants.
S2 (10:50):
Hey, Kate, what do you call a train with a cold?
S3 (10:55):
I don't know. What do you call a train with
a cold?
S2 (10:58):
A choo choo train?
S3 (11:01):
Oh, and what's the difference between a teacher and a
train driver?
S2 (11:07):
Go on. What's the difference?
S3 (11:10):
One trains the mind and the other minds. The train.
S2 (11:15):
Oh. What do you get if you cross a train
with bubble gum?
S3 (11:23):
Ah Choo choo train. Of course. Trains remind me of whistles.
Not the woo woo kind, but the kind umpires use. Now,
that's an important job. Every competitive game needs an umpire.
S2 (11:42):
Big word alert. Competitive means competing to find a winner.
Umpires are there to make sure every player obeys the rules.
So each team has the same chance to win and
no one cheats.
S3 (11:57):
Being an umpire is not an easy job. They have
to know all the rules by heart and be prepared
to enforce them, even if somebody doesn't like it.
S2 (12:09):
Big word alert. Enforce means to make something happen. Okay.
I've been looking at these shears, and they reminded me.
Where do sheep go to get their wool cut?
S3 (12:22):
Oh, dear. I bet this is one of those awful jokes.
I don't know, Geraldine. Where do they go?
S2 (12:30):
To a shop. Of course.
S3 (12:34):
When you think about it, everything about shearing a sheep
is an important job.
S2 (12:39):
First, the farmer has to care for his sheep. So
they grow good wool so we can have warm clothes
in the winter. He has to move them from paddock
to paddock. So they always have good food and water.
He has to look after their health so they don't
get ill because sick sheep don't have good wool. A
(13:00):
farmer has to control feral animals like foxes and wild
dogs that may kill lambs.
S3 (13:07):
When it comes to shearing time. The shearer has to
be good at his job so the sheep aren't cut
while the shears are taking the wool off, though she
is a razor sharp, so it takes skill to take
the wool off in one whole piece like a big
thick blanket without cutting the skin underneath.
S2 (13:25):
Then the wool handler takes over. He gathers up the
fleece and throws it so it spreads out over the
classing table, and then he pulls off the daggy bits
around the edges.
S3 (13:39):
Big word alert. DAGs are the matted dirty bits. While
that is happening, the wool classer pulls out a bit
from the good part of the fleece and looks at
it to see which class of wool it is. Not
all wool is the same. Some sheep grow better wool
than others. He calls out his decision and the handler
gathers up the fleece and takes it to the right
(14:01):
bale for that class.
S2 (14:03):
So all the people who work with sheep have important jobs,
and it needs all those different jobs to produce wool.
S3 (14:12):
The shearers a competitive two, they compete to see who
can shear the most sheep in a day. The winner
is called The Ringer. He's the fastest shearer, but he's
only the ringer. If he can shear all his sheep
without cutting them, the slowest shearer or one who cuts
his sheep is called the snagger. A clean, even cut
(14:34):
through the wall without touching the skin is called a blow.
If a sheep is cut, they call for the tar boy,
whose job it is to slap a load of antiseptic
over the wound so it won't get infected, and Blowflies
won't lay their eggs in it. They used to use tar,
but now it's likely they spray on antiseptic. Some new
(14:55):
sheep have very little wool on the belly, so they're
quick and easy to shear. The shearers call these bare
bellied yo's, and that's the sheep everyone wants to get
when it's a competition.
S2 (17:34):
Back to those clues. And those clown shoes got me thinking.
Clowns certainly have an important job, and that job is
to make people laugh. Laughter is the best medicine for
just about everything. If I'm feeling bad, I try to laugh,
even if I don't feel like it. I don't know why,
(17:56):
but a few moments of fake laughter on all of
a sudden a real life starts and the bad feelings
just melt away.
S3 (18:06):
Those clown shoes are very cleverly made. They are not
the kind of shoe you could buy just anywhere. Only
a shoemaker could make these. In the olden days, someone
who made or mended shoes was called a cobbler. Now
they're called a shoemaker, and they make shoes that exactly
fit anyone who needs special shoes. I reckon that's an
(18:28):
important job.
S2 (18:31):
Oh, that'll be Maddie. Right on time. Come in. Maddie.
The door's open.
S3 (18:37):
Hi, Maddie. Good to see you. How's your holiday going?
S4 (18:41):
Good morning. Kate. Good morning Geraldine. Very nicely. Thank you Kate.
Great to have finished exams and to have some time
to relax and think about what sort of career I
want to follow.
S2 (18:55):
Well, we've been talking about jobs. Our pockets were full
of job things this morning. Talking of pockets, I noticed
that you have golden yellow happy pants on too.
S4 (19:07):
Yeah, they were waiting for me when I got up
this morning. I guess that means I'm part of the
team today, but there weren't any clues in the pockets.
S3 (19:17):
We were just up to the very last clue. A
hammer and nails, things a builder would need to build
a house.
S4 (19:25):
There are lots of jobs needed to build a house
a bricklayer, a tiler for the roof, a plasterer to
cover the inside walls.
S2 (19:36):
A plumber to put in all the water pipes to.
He's called a plumber because long ago water pipes were
made of lead and the Roman name for lead was Plumbum.
S3 (19:48):
There's also an electrician to put in all the wiring,
and a carpenter to fit all the cupboards.
S4 (19:55):
And a painter to paint it all when it was finished.
Every one of those jobs is important.
S2 (20:02):
But it wouldn't work if the bricklayer filled in all
the window spaces because he didn't like gaps in his wall.
S3 (20:09):
Or the electrician put lights inside the walls because it
was dark in there.
S4 (20:15):
That would be silly. It would mean that he hadn't
thought it through.
S2 (20:19):
Well, today's story is about someone who really wanted to
be important, but he didn't think things through properly before
he did them. His name is Ted Tamarillo and he's
one of the Munch Bunch.
S3 (20:32):
The Munch Bunch is a group of fruits, vegetables, and
nuts who ran away from the grocer's shop where they
had been living and found a new home in and
around an old forgotten garden shed.
S4 (20:45):
Ted Tamarillo by Giles Reid Ted Tamarillo is one of
the Munch bunch. He lives in an old boxing glove
next door to Paddy passion fruit. He is very bossy
and sometimes he can be extremely rude to his friends.
One morning he saw Billy BlackBerry trying to climb a tree.
(21:10):
Get down from there, you silly BlackBerry. He shouted. Billy
slid down the tree and grazed his knee. Serves you right,
snapped its head. Luckily, Nurse Plum was nearby with her
first aid kit. Nurse plum cleaned Billy's knee with antiseptic
(21:32):
and put a plaster on it. She's got a very
important job, thought Ted. Merv Marrow pulled up in his
police car to see if everything was all right. Merv's
got a very important job, too, thought Ted. Ted wished
that he had an important job so that he could
(21:54):
help people. I'll be a fireman, he thought. That's a
very important job. He immediately got to work building a
fire engine just as it was getting dark. Ted put
the finishing touches to his fire engine. He painted it
red all over. Place the ladder on the roof and
(22:16):
fixed a big bell on the front. All I need
now is a fire, he thought. Ted didn't go to
bed that night. He sat in his fire engine waiting
for somebody to shout fire. But nobody did. At last
he decided to have a practice. He drove through Munch
(22:40):
bunch village, clanging his bell. All the munch bunch were
woken up by the dreadful noise. They stood at their
front doors in their pajamas, shaking their fists angrily at Ted.
Stop moaning, yelled Ted. I've got a very important job
to do. The next morning, Button and Tiny Mushroom decided
(23:06):
to do some gardening. They pulled up all their weeds
and burnt them on a tiny bonfire. A wisp of
smoke drifted across the garden towards Ted Tamarillos house. Ted
leapt into his fire engine and sped across to Button
and Tiny's house. He grabbed the hose pipe and squirted
(23:29):
water everywhere. Button and Tiny's beautiful sunflowers were knocked to
the ground, and soon the sisters were standing knee deep
in mud. Don't light fires in future bullied Ted button
and Tiny were furious. Lizzie Leek had invited Professor Peabody
(23:53):
to her home for lunch. Steam was rising up from
her saucepans and floating out through her kitchen window. It
smells delicious. Lizzie, said the professor. But Ted, the new
Munch bunch fireman, Wyman had seen the steam and was
(24:15):
getting worried. It looks as though Lizzie's house is on fire,
he thought. He squirted water through the window, flooding Lizzie's
kitchen and soaking Lizzie and the professor from head to toe.
They weren't very pleased. Button, tiny Lizzie and the Professor
(24:38):
Peabody went to see Spud. Spud was in his workshop
using his lathe. Tiny sparks were flying off a piece
of metal which he was filing down. You must do
something about Ted Tamarillo, they said. He's becoming a nuisance.
(25:00):
But Ted was passing and saw the sparks through Spud's window.
He rushed into the workshop and sprayed water over everyone.
This has got to stop! Shouted Spud angrily. Ted went
home feeling very upset. Spud and the rest of the
(25:21):
Munch bunch were really angry with him. I haven't got
any important job at all, he sighed. Just then he
heard Billy BlackBerry's voice. Help, help! He was crying. Billy
had climbed the tree again and this time he'd got stuck.
(25:45):
Ted quickly put his fire ladder against the tree and
climbed up. He placed Billy across his shoulder and carried
him to safety. Billy was very grateful. Well done, Ted,
said Spud. That's a very important job you've done there.
(26:05):
Ted doesn't need to use his fire engine very often,
thank goodness. But the Munch Bunch feels safe just knowing
it's there. Ted Tamarillo has a very important job.
S2 (26:20):
That was a reading of Ted Tamarillo written by Giles Reid.
The reader was Maddie.
S3 (26:28):
So what have we done today?
S2 (26:30):
Well, we had three big words to add to the list.
There was competitive. That means competing to find a winner. Enforce.
Which means making something happen. And DAGs. They're the matted,
yucky bits around the edge of a fleece. Now, the
big question. Which one of us was using a Braille
(26:53):
sense six today?
S3 (26:55):
It wasn't me.
S2 (26:57):
It wasn't me.
S4 (26:59):
It was me. Did you guess right? I use my
Braille sense six all the time. It helped me with
my schoolwork. And it will be my most useful piece
of equipment in the future, too. Two. It turns all
kinds of printed work into braille so I can read
it with my fingers. I'll tell you all about it
(27:21):
next time I come in to Happy Pants headquarters.
S2 (27:25):
If there was anything in today's program about which you
would like more information, you can find us on radio
at Vision Australia.
S4 (27:36):
Keep wearing those happy pants and we'll catch you next time.
S5 (27:42):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land. Across our working area, we pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(28:06):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
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