SUMMER... August, at work (Part 88b)

We had to meet at the County Center at 8am to pick up the car and to meet with Mrs K to get our allotment of exams. It took about 40 minutes to get to the site. It had originally been built as a combination gym and auditorium for a private school that had closed during WWII. The town took ownership for non payment of taxes and made use of it for multiple purposes, ours included. There was a stage complete with curtains. Someone had opened up a bunch of folding tables but Sonny and I had to place them. We also had to open up and place folding chairs at the tables. While doing that Vi set up one table in the front to handle registration. We had to open the doors at 9am and that’s when I pretty much got the meaning of “Manic Monday”.

There had to have been at least 60 women waiting. They ended up swarming the registration table. I remember thinking that it was sort of crazy. The test was to start at 10am and we barely had everybody seated by that time. It was pure chaos. At 11:30am we collected the last of the exams. They were all told to return at 1pm at which time we were supposed to have the exams corrected and the names of those who had passed and were eligible for the typing portion of the test. It was closer to 2pm before that happened. As I remember there were around 80 who took the morning test and around 50 for the afternoon.

The typing test was only three minutes but, since we only had 4 typewriters it was obvious to me that it would be a long afternoon. Between calling the names of those who were to take the test and then giving them instructions it took about 15 minutes per group. That works out to 16 per hour. With 50 to be tested that meant we didn’t finish up until after 5pm and then we had to pick up and drive back to the County Center. It was a long day... and that was with three people. Soon it would be just Vi and I. Now I had a better idea why Sonny wanted “out”.

On the ride back to the Center I had a chance to reflect on the differences between the two test sites. I certainly liked the one at the Center better because it was much more orderly and not as frenetic. But, the real reason was that by setting the desks up as Sonny had suggested provided an opportunity for some nice up-skirt panty peeks. At the other venue the applicants sat at a table which pretty much precluded such a view. I was assembling any number of organizational questions but, being the new kid on the block, kept them to myself.

I’d done just what Mrs K had advised and kept my distance from the Data Processing department. It was fairly hard as I had to walk past it on my way for break and for lunch. I’d seen Andre a couple of times but kept it short for fear that it would get back to Leo. He confirmed that Leo had, indeed, stepped in to assume the role as department head (unofficially) and had hired a machine operator. I knew that we (Civil Service) were in the process of creating an exam for the title but wondered how they (Data Processing) were able to fill the position. Basically, what Andre had said was that all decisions were going through Leo. I did ask what that was like and all I got was a hearty guffaw. Jay (and Jo) had come to the races one of the nights that I’d raced the car but, typical Jay, he was fairly silent on what was going on. I ran into Rena in the parking lot one morning and found out that her legal case was about over. She was still planning on leaving the area and confided to me that I was still the only one that knew. I never got to ask her about the office and with a fair number of people streaming though the lot that was about it for conversation.

The third week started with Sonny, Vi and I setting up for the Exam at the County Center. The difference was that Sonny was there only as an observer. Vi was now in charge and I was the assistant. I wasn’t nervous but anxious would have been a fair observation. I set the desks up as Sonny had shown me and when I was finished he gave me a thumbs up. Vi was the nervous one because she had to make all the announcements and give the instructions. She had told me that in spite of numerous high profile jobs on her resume she’d never had to speak to more than about a dozen people and she was familiar with all of them. This was different.

As soon as I could I took a seat at the front table. The one thing that I wished was that I could have controlled who sat where. Unfortunately for me (and Sonny), the there were two really attractive women with short skirts but they had arrived a bit late and were buried in the back. Sitting next to Vi I had to be careful with my leaning over the edge of the table to get my peeks in. I had the desks spaced so that you could see the legs of the women in both the first and second row. When an applicant finished the exam one of us was to go collect it. When Vi got up to collect the first of them I took advantage of the opportunity. One of the women in the second row had hooked one of her feet on the shelf under the desk and had spread her other leg to the side. Bending down to reach into the box of supplies there was enough light for me to see not just a little triangle but I got a full view of her crotch. If she’d glanced up she would’ve known exactly what I was doing. I was liking the job a lot more.

The way they had set up the typing portion of the test the women faced a wall and all I (we) could see was the backs of the women. I noted that some of them used the legs of the typing table to rest their knees against. I decided that it would be nice to have been on the other side, for sure. Something for future consideration.

To be continued...