SUMMER... My day of infamy (Part 84a)

At work on Monday Jay indicated that the audit of the data processing department was finalized and that the results would be released sometime during the week. Among other things he was hoping that it would show that another machine operator was needed. The rest of us were pretty much disinterested. Friday arrived and when we got to work we could tell that Jay was in a very good mood. I thought it was that he’d found out that we were going to get another employee. But that wasn’t the case. There was still no news on the audit. He came around to most of us and told us that we were going out for lunch. Rena, being the newest, was left out because someone had to man the office. I didn’t give it much thought at first but was definitely looking forward to it. We’d always had fun when we’d done it in the past.

When noon came Jay told us to go to a small restaurant on Main Street. I’d been there a time or two and it wasn’t special in any way. I was on my way out the door when Rena called to me that I had a phone call. I really wasn’t going to take it but me getting calls was a rarity so I did. Because of the call I was the last to arrive. Jay told us to order up either a drink or cocktail. That was different, for sure. As soon as they arrived Jay stood up and said he had an announcement. My first thought was that he was going to tell us that he was resigning. I’d caught him mumbling to himself a few times about how hard it was to get the needs of the department met and thought that he’d given up. It wasn’t that at all.

With his drink in his hand he told us that his divorce was now final. I remembered that he'd told me a while back that he had filed for a divorce but never mentioned it again. Everybody knew that he and Jo were and “item” but no one in the office made anything of it. As I've mentioned he was very tight lipped about his private life. As I looked around the table I could see various stages of surprise. That is, with everybody but Jo. But the real BIG surprise was what he said next. He announced his engagement to Jo and then grabbed her left hand and held it up for all of us to see. There was a diamond ring. We all cheered and Lucy, who was seated next to Jo, reached over and hugged her. It really was a happy few minutes.

It didn’t take long for the “toasts“ to go around the table and for our glasses to be emptied. Mike, the owner, had overheard the cheering and came over with another round of drinks. We were on our third round before we started eating. By then I was getting light headed. We were all in a really good mood by then and I felt that I had something to announce as well. The call I’d received was from Elle and it was to tell me that she was pregnant. There was a big cheer and a call for another round of drinks. Thankfully, Jay stood up and reminded us that we had work to do. It was approaching 2pm and we’d been gone for almost two hours.

I don’t think anybody wanted to go back but I certainly didn’t. Being a Friday I didn’t have anything that really had to be done that day. If I hadn’t offered to take Andre and Lucy back to work I would’ve gone right home to see Elle. But, since I was in the parking lot I decided to go back upstairs.

Rena told me that Leo, the Deputy Controller, wanted to see me right away. That was never a good thing. When I walked into the Audit and Control department I headed for Leo’s office. As I approached I saw Gina, his secretary, and she gave me a funny look. I didn’t know what to make of it. When I knocked on his door Leo opened it and pointed towards a chair in front of his desk and then shut the door. After sitting he folded his hands in front of him and then just stared at me. I knew this was not going to be good.

I knew I wasn’t going to be the first to speak. It was weird. He had the look of a cheshire cat... just a bit of a smile in a strange sort of way. When he finally spoke the words hit me like a blow to my gut. ”You won’t be doing payroll any more.“ I took a deep breath and couldn’t exhale for a few seconds. When I was finally able to speak I remember leaning forward and spitting out something like ”What did you just say? I think he repeated himself and again, I took a deep breath and then, and I remember this vividly, yelled at him “WHY?”

I’ve had years and years to look back on this and I’m convinced that he was really enjoying himself. Very calmly, with his hands still folded in front of him, he said “You’re not qualified.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Somehow, though thoroughly shocked at what I’d just heard, I managed to stammer out something that, in essence, asked what he meant. Without changing the expression on his face, he calmly stated that for me to “be qualified” I needed to have two years of data processing experience and that I didn’t have it. I sat there in complete disbelief. After hearing those words I just couldn’t speak. I do remember shaking my head as I quickly went into a somewhat defensive mode. When I did speak I started out by saying that every payroll I’d run over the past year and a half had been done on time and that there had never been a problem. He shook his head and said that there had been two that weren't. I was so upset that I didn’t respond but by then I was way forward on the chair, almost on his desk. He told me to get away from the desk and then started off on another topic. I tried to say something but he continued talking over my protests. I didn’t comprehend what he was saying for a few seconds but then I thought I heard him say that the Accountant’s position that I’d been hired for had been filled. I was still concentrating on the fact that I was being removed from the payroll process so I didn’t process on the import of that. Then he said that he didn’t know what they were going to do with me.

To be continued...