END OF SUMMER... September (Part 90g) 

I was actually looking forward to going to work Monday morning. It would be the first exposure to ”Manic Monday“ for John, the new PA. We met Mrs. K at 8:30am to get the exams that were to be used. Vi was supposed to be there but Mrs K told us that she’d called in sick and then asked if I wanted Sonny to fill in for her. Since this exam was being held there at the County Center it was a lot less stressful so I made the snap decision for us to go it on our own hoping that my ”stacking the deck“ with John the previous week would pay off. It was about a five minute walk to the exam site and I used the time to re-prime John with my first new idea.

In the few weeks I’d been part of giving the exam it just made no sense to me that the applicants had to line up to get and to then to fill out the application and turn it in. It was utter chaos, especially at the other exam site with at least 50% more applicants. I told John that we’d put the forms on the desks and, after they were completed, they would be brought to the front desk where we’d check to see that all necessary parts had been completed. John thought it was a great idea so, after setting the desks up in the ”proper“ positions, we put them out.

What a difference! Of course there were some ”dim bulbs“ who didn’t know what to do but, all in all, it was a much calmer process than I’d witnessed in prior tests. However, I didn’t tell John why I’d arranged the desks as I had. Once the exam started I took the left side of the front table as there were a few decent looking women with short dresses or skirts on that side. Before I got my first peek John nudged my shoulder and whispered to me that I should look over on his side of the room. Even though he had a much better view, what I saw was exhilarating and better than any I’d seen up to that time. The woman wasn’t particularly attractive but she had hooked the heels of her shoes on the rung under her desk and had slid them out to the legs of the desk. Her knees had to have been over a foot apart and the hem of her dress was halfway up her thighs. There was bright sunshine flowing through the windows behind us which gave plenty of light to see the white of her full crotch. We didn’t even have to pretend to get something from along side the desk to have a great view.

I could’ve stared at that spot until she moved but the one thing I didn’t want was to be caught by her. I told John it would probably be a good idea to do a walk around to make sure that there wasn’t any cheating. While he did that I slid over to his seat and got another good look. My side was no where near as fruitful but there was a similar one (feet on the rung) in the second row in which I got a nice ”triangle“ view. Naturally, there was no way for me to talk about what we’d seen but I was very encouraged about my new partner.

The second change I wanted to institute was for us to begin correcting the tests as soon as they were handed in. For a reason that neither Sonny nor Vi could give me, they wouldn’t start correcting them until all were turned in. It was another thing that made no sense. The ”early birds" would be finished in about an hour and then there would be a steady stream of completions. Of course there’s always a few who hold on until the very end. By the time the last person finished we had about 60% of them scored. After we finished scoring all of them we put them in pass/fail order to determine who would be eligible for the practical (typing) part of the test. For the first time since I'd done the Clerk Typist exam I was able to get a bite to eat. Working with Sonny and Vi that hadn’t been possible.

At lunch I was hoping that John would comment on the “view” we’d shared but he seemed a bit reticent. We talked about our backgrounds and I found out that he, indeed, was a “Rebel” although he barely qualified by being born and raised in Maryland. He’d done two tours in the Navy and had last been stationed in Norfolk Virginia. Using the GI bill, he got his college degree from Virginia Commonwealth which is also located there. He claimed that the time spent in Virginia was the cause of his Southern accent. He met his wife also there as she worked for the school. With his degree she insisted that they move North to the city to have better job opportunities. I asked him about the exam for the Personnel Technician position and he said since it was a statewide posting he felt it gave him a wide choice. The County was the first to offer a job. Like I mentioned earlier, when I first saw him I had a feeling I’d seen him before and it had been at the test site.

The third change I wanted to make in the testing procedure had to do with notification to those who had passed the written portion. However, to do what I wanted would’ve taken some preparation prior to the exam. I explained it to John as we waited to get the typing tests started and he agreed that it would make the process better. We agreed to try it the following Monday. However, as we were administering the typing test he asked a very good question and about something I should’ve thought of. He wanted to know why we had to give the instructions to each group of three women. He thought that if we made one instructional announcement to all of those who’d passed before we started we could save a lot of time. I had to agree. With Vi, at the site to the West, I’d timed each group and, give or take a minute, it took about ten minutes to cycle each group through. I decided to act on John’s idea right away and we made the instructional announcement to those who were still waiting. For them we were able to get them through in about six minutes, a 40% reduction in time.

When we walked into the Civil Service office at about 4:30pm, Wilson thought that we’d had some sort of problem. When we said “No.” he asked how many applicants had shown up. I don’t remember the exact number but it was probably around 60 women, about the same as I'd seen before. On our walk back we’d talked about the reaction we might get and I remember having a big smile on my face. I assured Wilson that everything was on the “up and up”. He walked away looking like he didn’t believe me.

To be continued...