THE NEXT PHASE... new job (Part105j)

It was about then that there was a knock on the door. It was Pauline, the switchboard operator, wanting to know if she should put through a call to Hobie. He took it while Mala tried to get control. When he hung up he headed for the door. As he did Mala reached out to get his arm and as she did it she sort of mumbled something. Because she was turned towards Hobie I didn’t get all of it but I heard a familiar name mentioned... Chuck. Hobie stopped and asked her what she’d just said. This time I heard it and almost couldn’t believe my ears. She told Hobie that Chuck had told her she could leave any time that “it” happened to her. I hadn’t said one word up to this point. I was also sick and tired of hearing Chuck’s name mentioned so I couldn’t help myself when I said, loudly “WHAT!” Hobie followed behind me when he told her to explain. Then she started crying again. It was obvious that Hobie was anxious to leave the room so he told us both to wait until he returned. By then I wanted to know what “it” was but had to hold my tongue not wanting to overstep my very limited authority. As I waited for Hobie’s return I couldn’t imagine that Chuck would’ve let her, or any teller for that matter, leave without saying anything or getting permission.

Hobie was gone for about ten minutes and by the time he returned Mala had stopped crying but she was still on the verge. He, again, took a standing position in front of her and, surprising to me at least, didn’t ask her to explain what Chuck had told her or what the “it’ she’d referred to was but proceeded to reiterate her responsibilities as a teller and asking if she understood them. When she said that she did he told her to take a few minutes to compose herself and then to get downstairs and open up her window. As he walked out the door he told her that whatever her ”problem“, in the future, she had to speak to Bret, me or him and get permission to leave. That left me alone with her.

Hobie hadn’t been out the door for more than a few seconds when she looked at me and, with tears welling up in her eyes, told me she couldn’t. I know I was frowning after she told me that. I couldn’t believe her. Here Hobie had just given her the OK to go back to her job, with no punishment at all, and she’s saying she can’t. I was about to say something negative when she reached for my arm and, now with tears flowing again, said ”it happened again“. I was about to verbally explode on her when she sobbed ”I’ve embarrassed myself.“ My response was immediate when I asked her what she meant. She looked down into her lap and mumbled something that was muffled by her crying. Getting impatient, I told her to speak up. Looking up at me she said ”I can’t go downstairs like this... I piddled... again“.

You probably won’t believe me but that word was foreign to me at that time. I looked at her with a quizzical look and was about to ask what she meant when she, now showing signs of her own impatience, stated that she’d ”pissed herself“. Now I was the one embarrassed... and, no, it didn’t excite me even a little bit. Somehow, I managed to keep the focus on the fact that I had an employee who had a very real problem. I’m not sure if I apologized or not but I told her to go home, get cleaned up and come back. I remember telling her to take the elevator downstairs and leave through the front door so no one would see her. I walked around behind her chair and was going to help her on with her coat but she asked me to leave. I honored her request but did ask if she was coming back. She nodded that she would and then I left.

Here it was, about 9:15 am, and I felt like I’d already put in a whole day. I really didn’t have any time to reflect on what had just transpired as the lobby was almost full and we were one window short. I tapped Corinne to fill Mala’s window again until she returned. That helped to alleviate some of the crowd. Right after I got to my desk the phone rang. It was Mala. It didn’t sound good to me but all she wanted was a promise from me not to say anything about what had happened upstairs. That was easy but I did tell her I would tell Hobie as I felt he needed to know why she wasn’t at her window. I heard a sigh and then she said she’d be in in about 20 minutes. It was my turn to let out a sigh.

True to her word Mala was back by mid morning. Super conscious of her fragile psyche I kept an eye on her all day but actually avoided taking any transactions to her. She’d been one of the hard core ”Polish Mafia“ and had not shown any acceptance of me up to then. Hobie had returned before Mala did so I told him what had happened. He didn’t seem concerned but I knew he had an important meeting to prepare for later so didn’t dwell on the situation. By 3pm, when the doors closed, lobby traffic had slowed which allowed all the tellers to do their ”proofs“ in a timely manner and to be able to leave at the regular time. I still had some things to finish up but wanted to get out as soon as possible. I didn’t see Mala approach so was startled when I heard her call my name. It was obvious that she was hesitant to come through the gate and up to my desk. When she did I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was very much ill at ease because I had very little interpersonal experience as a supervisor. After she sat down neither of us said anything... and that really was awkward.

To be continued...