The Day We Walked Out.

I took a job teaching English in Marseille with Berlitz. There were seven of us, all British, all graduates, all scraping by on an okay wage. We taught in the centre and travelled out to company offices to run small business classes. It was tiring, but it worked. Then one morning they called us in and told us our wages were being cut to fit their global scale. Not by much but from that day on, we'd also have to pay our own travel costs. That was the moment it broke. Six of us handed in our notice on the spot. Within three weeks we'd rented rooms, started our own school, l'Académie Anglaise, and quietly contacted every business student we'd ever taught. Same teachers. Better pay. Cheaper fees. Every single one followed us. That school still runs today. We're all still co-owners. Sometimes I wonder if it was bold. Sometimes I know it was ruthless.