SUMMER... August (Part 87b)

When I walked in the door of the Civil Service office for my first day of work it was a bit of a shock. I fully expected to be greeted by the buxom receptionist but there was no one at the desk. Walking in a bit further I looked over to where my desk was located and saw all six desks empty. I was a few minutes early but I fully expected to at least see someone there. I went over to the desk that Wilson had indicated would be mine and saw the material concerning dogs that he said would be waiting for me. I wasn’t thrilled about that but everybody has to start somewhere.

It was after 9am when I saw a 40ish blond lady walk across the floor to a desk outside Mrs K’s closed door. Other than the receptionist, she was the only female that I’d seen in the place that wasn’t in their mid 50’s or older. It certainly wasn’t like it was in Data Processing! Seeing me, she came over and introduced herself as Cora, Mrs K’s assistant. I asked where everybody was and she laughed and said that it was “manic Monday”. Of course I didn’t get the humor. She went on to explain that every Monday they held Clerk Typist exams and that Vi and Sonny were off handling that. On Saturday, they had given an exam for promotion to Police sergeant and that Marty and Robby were in the security room located in the back of the office, scoring it. Wilson was at the County Center Annex, about 30 miles to the West. I didn’t dare ask where Mrs K was but did allude to the fact that the receptionist wasn’t there. That got me a roll of her eyes but no answer. For her age she was fairly attractive but the way she was dressed was “matronly” and offered no hint or chance of any peeks or VPL’s. Bummer!

Robby and Marty finally appeared around mid morning and invited me to go for coffee with them. They both appeared to be “good guys”. I asked about formatting the questions for the Dog Catcher exam and I remember them both smiling. Curious, I pushed them on why it was funny to them. Robby admitted that he had been given the job and found every excuse in the book to avoid doing it. Marty just sat there with a smirk on his face. They both agreed to give me some guidance on formatting but I was on my own as to creating questions. As the “new guy” I was, more or less, expecting to be given the dregs.

I didn’t get to see Vi and Sonny until Tuesday. Sonny was especially happy to see me. After shaking my hand he looked at Vi and, with a big smile, said something about his “relief” finally showing up. Again, I was clueless as to what was so humorous. They took me over to a table in the middle of the workspace and proceeded to open a cardboard box. Sonny took out a pile of typewritten paper and told me “Welcome to world of Clerk Typists”. The papers were the typing portion of the test that they’d administered the previous day and needed to be scored. He was about to have me sit down and start to score them when Marty, who was the Senior Personnel Technician (PT), came over and told him that I already had an assignment and that he’d be told when I was to become involved. It was a bit bizarre but I was determined to not make waves.

Wilson showed up later and he sat with me to explain what I would eventually be doing. The newest PT’s had the responsibility for administering the Clerk Typist exams on Mondays. They were given at both the County Center and at a location about 25 miles to the West every other Monday. On the Mondays up West there were usually 75 to 90 women and about 40 to 50 when given locally. There were two parts to it. The first was a multiple choice exam and those that passed were given a practical typing test. He went on that, traditionally, the newest PT’s were given that duty. He told me that I’d be working with both Sonny and Vi the following week to get familiar with the process. Actually, I was happy to hear it. Anything to avoid writing the Dog Catcher exam.

I felt the week was going well right up to Thursday afternoon. The buxom receptionist (whose name was Lydia) returned that day (to all the male’s delight) and I was happy to see her walk up to my desk. Seeing her from that perspective was truly eye opening. She handed me a note for me to call Elle. She rarely called and the note somewhat alarmed me. For sure I figured that my grandmother had passed. That wasn’t it. Elle had stepped on one of the kids toys in the yard and fallen. She said one of her wrists really hurt and wanted to know if I could come home. I located Wilson and he told me it was OK to leave and that he’d see me in the morning. I didn’t expect that but was pleased.

Her wrist and hand were swollen. I got some ice to put on it and called the doctor. He said to bring her to his office right away (remember... 1963). With all the “excitement” Elle had neglected to use the bathroom before we left. As we were going up the steps (the office was actually located in the house of the doctor) Elle let out a bit of a moan. I thought it was because her wrist hurt. I was carrying my younger one and holding Elle by the arm. She suddenly stopped and bent her knees. I’d been to the office a few times and didn’t remember seeing a rest room. The waiting room was originally a parlor and the office was an ante room just off of it. We all stood there for a few seconds before Elle indicated that we should go back down. Once on the lawn she squatted down with her eyes closed. She’d been wearing a skirt and I did my best to pull it out from under her. Once she’d finished and “dripped off” she said she wanted to go back home. I told her that we were here and the sooner the doctor looked at her hand and wrist the better off she’d be. She was torn between being embarrassed and putting up with the pain. I had to remind her that the doctor was totally familiar with her “problem” and that appeased her somewhat but she still wasn’t happy.

The doctor was convinced that she’d only sprained her wrist and not broken it. The first thing we had to do was to get the swelling down. He put a wrap around it to stabilize it, told her to put ice on it, gave her some pills (probably aspirin) and sent us on our way. It wasn’t until we were on our way home that it came to me that Elle wouldn’t be able to sail with me on the weekend. I should’ve been thinking about Elle but suddenly it became me and the fact that I wouldn’t be able to defend my championship. I didn’t say anything to her about it but I’ll admit that my thoughts were totally selfish.

To be continued...