SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107h)

Trish got to work filling in all the info on the employee roster and when she finished showed it to me. I was pleased. We were both looking at it when Hobie walked by and Trish called him over to see the finished product. It was easy to see he liked what he saw and asked if we were done with it and, if so could he take it to peruse more closely. Of course we said ”yes“. His desk was right behind mine so after a few minutes I turned and asked him if I could ask him a question concerning it. He nodded affirmatively and that gave me the opportunity that I needed. I got up and walked around behind him and flipped over a few pages and pointed to the name of the lady who had been there over ten years. He said he was familiar with her so I then flipped to another page and pointed to the lady who’d been there but five years and was her subordinate. and he said he knew who she was. At this point I was almost shaking but I bluntly asked why their salaries were so close. He didn’t say anything but flipped back to the first page. Then he turned and looked at me and said he didn’t know the answer.

Long story short... I showed him some others that weren’t nearly as bad but I ended up asking if it wouldn’t be wise to create salary ranges for each position. The County did and it made it pretty easy to track salary increases. He didn’t answer me but asked a question... how as I coming on the job description project.  I told him where I stood on it and he then said that when it was done that he’d take up the other issue, salary ranges. I’ll tell you this... I was perspiring as much as if I’d run a mile in my suit in 90 degree weather.

The ad that had been run to stimulate activity at the drive up window seemed to have worked worked. Traffic was no where near the numbers of customers that each teller handled in the lobby but by the end of the first month we were averaging something about 20 per day. As we approached the end of May it was up to almost 30 and Corinne and Katie were working well together. The bank had been running a program with the local schools to encourage kids to save money. On Tuesdays Hank, the messenger custodian, would go to each school and collect the deposits and then they were handed out to each teller to process. They hated it because it was almost always pennies, nickels and dimes and would often lead to errors when it came time for them to do their ”proof“ at the end of the day. Katie was a quick learner and it was obvious to both Bret and me that she could handle more than she was doing. We decided that she would be the one to open each deposit envelope and confirm the amounts and then Corinne would do the actual posting in the kids passbooks. The only place we had for her to do this was a table in the middle of the work area. From Bret’s desk he could see her clearly. On the very first day, not long after she started, Bret whispered kind of anxiously for me to look over his shoulder. I stood up and as I looked at Katie I could see the magic triangle.  For some reason she just felt comfortable when seated, to spread her knees apart. Granted, they were under the table, but from the angle that we were at  there was enough light to know what we were looking at. Bret finally turned and looked at me with a big cheshire cat grin on his face. However, I still wasn’t comfortable enough to discuss panty peeks with him remembering that I’d bought his wife panties back when she was living at my grandfather’s house.

The first time the new school savings processing was tried the other tellers literally cheered. Cara came up to me and told me that school savings was the biggest pain in the butt that the tellers had to deal with. I chalked it up as another ”win“ on my side of the ledger, as far as the Polish Mafia went.

Because of the response to the drive up ad, Bert, J J’s immediate boss and the mortgage officer, came up with the idea of running an ad featuring J J as the new loan officer. There was no denying that he projected a friendly image and Bert wanted to capitalize on it. The PR piece that had been run right after he started generated some interest but it didn’t have his picture in it. Bert wanted to promote him as a friendly, caring person that would listen to what the customer wanted. Bert told me to get on it right away. This whole advertising thing was new to me and, although it meant getting to see Amy again, I wasn’t sure that it was a good idea. I asked Hobie who had handled advertising in the past and Chuck’s name came up again.  


I tried my best to short circuit Amy by specifically asking for her father. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there. Time was of the essence as there was only the rest of the day and all of the next day to not only create the ad but to have a picture taken of J J as well. With Elle’s warning about Amy on my mind I agreed to come over to the office to get the project started. To be truthful, I did have mixed emotions because she wasn’t all that hard to look at and, if she was willing to give ”free shows”, who was I to turn them down. It was what might come up behind the shows that I had to be concerned about.

As I walked into the office I was half praying that her grandfather was in his office. I figured that if he was she might not get as risque. He wasn’t. She was obviously waiting for me because when I walked up to her desk with some rough “copy” that Bert and J J had worked up she was sitting on her leg... and with the short skirt she was wearing drawn up towards her waist... I tried to be as business like as I could emphasizing how important it was to make the next issue of the local paper. All the while  was talking my eyes kept going back to her midsection and the peek of white. Finally I turned and walked back from the desk and, as sternly as I could, asked when her father would be back. She didn’t answer but turned in her chair and took a normal position. She then made a phone call and, while still on the phone, looked at me and told me that he’d call me at the bank within the hour. I thanked her and, somewhat relieved, headed back to the bank. As I walked back I remembered back to my experience with the track photographer back when I started working with the trotting horses. It made me wonder just what made these girls tick.

To be continued... 

SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107g)

Trish packed up the folders for me to take home and I never looked at them until I got there. After supper I took my first look and one of the first things I noticed was that the files for the officers of the bank were missing. After thinking about it for a minute or two it made sense. I wasn’t an officer so there was no reason for me to see what they made. I think the only one I was truly interested in was J J. I had no idea what anyone made so, with him being the newest employee as well as an officer, I was curious to see what they were paying him compared to what I was making. I would have to wait.

A while back I mentioned that I’d been given permission to start on the job description project. For my area it hadn’t taken long but when I started with the people in the mortgage department on the second floor I recognized that it would be a lot harder. It had taken me two days to get only two people. I decided (with permission) to ask each of the ladies to write out just what they did in their job. My idea was to take that information, try and digest what they thought their job was, discuss it with J J and then write the descriptions. It had been slow going getting their input. The fact was that I had my hands full doing my every day work and I hadn’t pushed them on it. However, that night, after I started on the personnel files, I wished that I’d finished it before taking this on.

Initially, I hadn’t meant to focus on salaries. After looking through about half of the files I became concerned because there was such a wide range of salaries among people who, on the surface, appeared to be doing similar jobs. Not only that but I found that some of the newer employees were making the same or more than people who had three of more years of experience at the bank. The discovery really bothered me... so much so that I went WAY beyond what I’d intended to do. It was about 3am when I finally quit. I’d made up a number of different charts to show the disparity. It bothered me so much that I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t know what to do with my discovery and yet I knew it needed to be brought to the surface.

I actually had created the pro forma of the roster of employees and filled in about ten of them so it was ready for Hobie and Trish when I walked in. But I had all the other material as well. I was particularly concerned about one of the people I had interviewed for the job description project. She had been with the bank for going on eleven years and held, from what she told me, a very important responsibility. One of the people who was clearly under her, as far as responsibility, had but five years with the bank and yet was making almost the same amount. In my mind, it just wasn’t right and I wanted to do something to bring it to light... but I didn’t know how. I’d only been there for a little over two months and I was actually amazed at how much responsibility I’d been given in that time. Hobie had been receptive to many of my ideas and suggestions but none were in the realm of what I had in my hands.

The pro forma was accepted pretty much as I had designed it. Trish did made some columnar changes to make it easier for her. Hobie was busy so didn’t spend any real time reviewing it but said that it looked good. Armed with that positive feedback I spent the rest of the day waiting for an opportunity to chat with Hobie about my "discovery". He was a hard person to ”read“ and, by the time the doors closed to the public, I hadn’t detected a positive sign from him. Almost at the same time J J walked up to my desk. Even though I’d known him for less than two weeks I could see that he had someting on his mind.

When he started he was given a desk in the general work area of the mortgage department. He sat there complaining that it was an impossible situation. He couldn’t interview prospective customers with any privacy and he wanted to know what he should do. I gave him one of the looks that Trish would sometimes give me only I added words... ”What the hell do you think I can do? You’re an officer!“ His response was something along the lines of ”I sure don’t feel like one.“ Then he went on complaining that he didn’t have a secretary. I definitely remember laughing. I pointed at Trish and told her that the three of us on the platform shared her. I asked him if he’d paid any attention to Lena, that she was shared by both Bert and Edgar. I liked the guy but I was beginning to question his common sense.

After having said that I honestly don’t know why I brought up the salary disparity discovery with him. I will say this... it did get him off his own soapbox. Because there was absolutely no privacy on the platform I suggested we go upstairs to the small conference room. I showed him the salary comparisons and it was easy to see he was concerned as well. I told him that I didn’t know where to go with it explaining that I’d ”pushed“ to get some of my suggestions acted upon and I was afraid that I’d end up hurting myself if I ”pushed“ on this. He leaned back in his chair and told me that if it was going to be accepted at all I was going to have to ”carry the mail“. I was the one to find it and I had to be the one to pursue it. He said that if it was rejected or ignored that at least I could sleep knowing that I'd done my best. And then, in what was to become typical J J, he looked around and said the room we were in would make a perfect office for him, completely changing the subject. And to finish it off he said he wanted the newest hire into the department, Lynne, to be his secretary. As we walked out of the room I was energized as to what I should do but was shaking my head when it came to J J.

To be continued...       
 

SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107f)

Lying in bed that night I couldn’t help but think back to the first time I’d met Amy. It got me to wondering if the ”peeks“ that I had that day weren’t planned. Hmmmm... But there was more on my mind than Amy. That afternoon, after reading the press release about J J being hired I hadn’t let it bother me but as the evening wore on I wondered why he was getting special treatment. The release said that he was the new Assistant Vice President, an officer, and would be handling mortgage applications for the bank. There was something else as well. I’d overheard Hobie instruct Trish to get the paperwork ready to add J J to the health and hospitalization coverage as well as to the retirement system. When I was being interviewed I’d requested that I be covered for the medical insurance but had been told I’d have to wait for six months. To me, something was wrong.

Sleep didn’t come easy and I was waiting for Hobie the next morning. It was obvious that I’d put him in an uncomfortable situation so he motioned for me to follow him outside. By then it was uncomfortable for both of us. He really didn’t know how to start the conversation and he actually made a couple of attempts. Finally, he said that J J’s hiring had been a difficult one. He told me that when Chuck had died it fouled up the bank’s succession plans. He then warned me not to say anything concerning what he was about to tell me, to anyone. Edgar, the President, was not in good health and the plan was for Bert to take over if anything happened to him. However, they needed someone to take over Bert’s position as the mortgage officer. The plan had been to move Chuck upstairs and that was why Bret had been hired so that he could be trained to take over Chuck’s position. The problem was that it was Chuck that died and Bret only had a few weeks of training. That’s why I was hired. Hobie went on that the Board of Trustee’s got a little panicky and ”pushed“ to hire someone with mortgage experience, just to be sure. When J J was interviewed he won them over right away. However, to get him to say ”yes“ to the offer he did some negotiating. He wanted to be brought in as an officer of the bank and to have his retirement and health benefits carry over from his previous employer. At that point I was pretty much satisfied that I had the reasons for the actions that the bank had taken. As we started back into the bank Hobie put his hand on my shoulder and, very quietly, said ”Just have a little patience... you’ll see.“ I had no idea what he meant by that but I definitely took it as a ”plus“.

It was a day or two after that when Hobie called me over to his desk. He also called Trish over. I had no idea what it was about but he ”cut to the quick“ and told Trish that I was going to be taking over for him as the contact person between the bank and the benefits administrators in the city. He asked her to work closely with me on the transition. He also told me that he’d be available for guidance but that Trish pretty much knew the routine. I remember being somewhat excited about the news although I had no idea what the new responsibility entailed. As Trish and I walked away I got the distinct impression that she wasn’t all that happy about the change.

The first thing I asked her for was a roster of the employees. She had a way of making facial expressions that sometimes eliminated the need for words. This one made me feel like I’d spoken to her in a foreign language. I explained that I was looking for a list of all the employees, their positions, and level of benefits. She continued to just stare at me. I finally told her to say something, anything, to let me know she was alive. At that point she shook her head from side to side and quietly said there wasn’t such a list. I asked her how had they managed the benefits without it and she pointed to a file cabinet and said that whenever there was a change she’d go to the individual personnel file and make a notation. Now it was turn to shake my head... in disbelief.

I waited until Hobie was just about ready to leave for the day before approaching him. I don’t remember the words that were spoken because he was in a rush but I did manage to briefly describe what I’d been looking for and asked him if I had his permission to create one. I wasn’t sure he fully understood but he said to go ahead with it. I walked across the lobby floor towards the door with him and just as he got to the door I told him I’d like permission to take the personnel files home to do it. His reaction was a firm ”No!“ but he gave me an opening by asking why. I told him I didn’t know how I’d find time during banking hours plus I didn’t think having the files out with employees around was a good idea. I remember him staring at me with a frown. I told him I was perfectly willing to work on the project at home, on my own time, without pay. It was obvious that he had doubts but finally gave in and said ”OK“. Back inside,Trish wouldn’t turn the files over to me. I didn’t get upset knowing that she was probably right and that the details could be worked out the next day.

Hobie still wasn't ”sold’ on the idea the next morning but did give Trish the OK to box them up for me. I worked up a format during the day using a spiral, ten column pad. In looking over one of the personnel files I discovered that there were four individual benefits; retirement, life insurance, hospitalization, and major medical. I didn't even know about the life insurance so that was nice to know. I felt that to make the roster more complete and beneficial for reporting purposes I needed to add the date of employment, number of persons claimed for tax withholding purposes, social security number and... salary. I wasn’t going to show it to Hobie but “chickened out“ just before we left. I fully expected him to make some suggestions but he didn’t. He did tell me to run it by Trish since she’d be the one to maintain it. When he told me that I figured I was in for some grief. Instead, after answering some questions, she actually told me that she thought it would turn out to be very useful. That pleased me to no end.

To be continued...  

SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107e)

That Saturday was opening night for the stock car races and I had a lot to do. While waiting for J J to show up I was cursing myself for having suggested that he stop by to introduce his wife and to meet Elle. She wasn’t too happy either because she’d been called to teach the last three days that week and she’d not had a chance to keep up with the wash and other chores. J J had said he’d be there around 10am and it was close to 11am when they pulled up. They were in one of those VW wagon/van’s that looked like a loaf of bread and were popular in the 60’s. It was a warm day for May so we didn’t need coats as we walked out to meet them. I don’t really know what I expected J J’s wife to look like but it certainly wasn’t what stepped out of the vehicle.

Bonnie was a mess. J J was a good looking guy and, even though this was a Saturday, was well dressed. She was the exact opposite. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been combed and, even acknowledging that she was pregnant, she was sloppy fat! Her dress looked like she’d slept in it. But the most memorable (unfortunately) moment was when she opened her mouth. Ten words and I knew just who was the ”boss“ in this family. Ten minutes in and I’ll bet that Elle and I’d spoken but a dozen words. To call her crass and crude would be a bit harsh but... When Elle went to invite them inside Bonnie decided it was time for them to go. They’d only been there about 15 or so minutes and it was definitely on her command. When J J tried to suggest that he’d like to meet our kids she put him down and said something like ”We’ll save it for another time!“ and started walking for their van. It was very abrupt and after she got in she never even said or waved good by. As we watched them drive away Elle and I looked at each other and just shook our heads. I’d never experienced anything like her before in my life.

I’m sure that you’ve met someone for the first time and didn’t like them.  For me, J J’s wife was one of those people. He was waiting by the back door of the bank on Monday morning and was all apologetic for his wife’s behavior, giving any number of excuses. I wasn’t buying them even though I told him it was OK. I told him to forget it, that it would work out over time. His apology told me that at least he recognized her boorish behavior.

Not more than five minutes into the work day Hobie told me to set up an interview with the ad agency people because the president wanted to put out some publicity about J J’s hiring. My only contact with them had been when I set up the ad about the extended drive up window hours so I didn’t exactly know what he wanted me to do. I did remember that the girl who worked there, Amy, had given me a couple of good ”peeks“ when I’d been there. I called and set up an appointment for just before noon. I decided I’d walk J J over and introduce him myself, hoping against hope that I’d get another ”peek“.

When we walked in it was like a welcoming committee for us. Amy, her father and grandfather were there together and I proceeded to introduce J J. The grandfather left and Art, the father took J J into his office leaving me alone with Amy. Art had said it wouldn’t take long and, with that, J J asked me to wait so we could go to lunch together. That was fine by me.

Actually, it was Amy who started the conversation asking me if I was a ”local“. I explained that I was and told her about the homestead down on Main Street. I quickly asked where she was from and when she told me it was the same town as where both Elle’s and my parent’s lived I became very interested. I asked where her home was located and I knew approximately where it was. It was on the very outskirts of the town and on a rarely used road. She said they’d only lived there a short time which prompted me to ask where she'd graduated high school. When she said it was from the same town’s school I blurted out that Elle had graduated from there as well. That prompted a whole bunch of ”do you knows“ but what turned out to be interesting was that she was a freshman when Elle was a senior. Amy said she remembered that Elle was captain of the varsity cheerleaders while she was on the junior varsity squad.

I’d gotten so involved in talking that I forgot about positioning myself for a possible panty peek. When J J reappeared at Art’s office door he called me over to ask a question. When I turned back I could see behind Amy’s desk and I only got a glimpse up her skirt. I don’t know if it was her slip or her panties but it was enough to make me want to kick myself in the butt for not remembering to have at least tried for a peek. It was too late by then as J J was by my side and there wasn’t any reason to stay. My loss.

That night I mentioned Amy to Elle and asked if she remembered her. It wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t say yes but immediately wanted to know where I’d run across her. The tone of her voice told me that she did and that she didn’t particularly like her. I explained and, rather than explain why she was perturbed, said something along the lines of ”Well, I hope you don’t see much of her.“. That really raised my interest and, after some pleading on my part, she explained and what I heard was rather shocking. According to Elle, Amy was known as ”Lay me, Amy“ in school and told me that she, supposedly, had had sex with most of the boys on the basketball team. Coming from Elle, who seldom if ever said anything bad about anybody was a bit of a shock. After meeting J J’s wife all she'd said was that Bonnie was ”different“ but nothing negative. I remember frowning and asking how she knew about Amy’s trysts. She didn’t hesitate when she shot back at me ”If you don’t believe me, go ask Cliffy!“. (Cliffy being my stock car racing friend from way back who had graduated with Elle) That was pretty definitive so I didn’t say any more. But, Elle continued and told me that one night, after the junior varsity game (which was played right before the varsity game), she came out and sat in the stands, still in her uniform, but she’d taken her uniform panties off and when the players would look at her she’d open her legs. Listening to Elle tell the story and noting the sharpness of her voice I knew not to say anything at all.

To be continued...

SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107d)

It was around the same time that I had a visit from Lena, the secretary for both the President and Vice President/mortgage officer. I’d been at the bank for about two months and yet I’d not spent much time at all on the second floor so really hadn’t gotten to know the people who worked up there. It was a little after 5pm and almost everybody had left for the day. She stood at the gate to the platform and asked if she could come in. I waved her on over and she stood, hesitatingly, by the corner of my desk. I remember smiling up at her waiting for her to speak. When she did she apologized for bothering me. That sort of puzzled me as I wasn’t doing anything but clearing my desk for the night. After a few uncomfortable seconds she finally spoke. She told me that when she was hired it was as a teller and that the very first customer she waited on was my grandmother. I had to smile when I heard that and as I did she started to back away to leave. As I looked at her I was trying to figure out just how old she was. I knew she had to be in her 30’s. I remember saying something along the lines about how she must’ve been very young at the time. The reason I did was I knew my grandmother, because of her arthritis, hadn’t been out and about since the late 40’s. That made her smile and I remembered when I’d been introduced to her on my first day that I thought she had a very pretty one that made her a bit more attractive. Then she asked how my grandmother was doing and when I told her she showed what I felt to be honest concern. Then she told me that as long as she had been a teller my grandmother would wait in line just she could take her deposit. We chatted a bit more and when she finally turned to leave she smiled and told me ”not to be a stranger“ and to come up and visit the upstairs people. As she disappeared from view I had a strange sense that she might’ve been flirting.

Trish was usually up on the gossip and one day during that week she got my attention and pointed to a man walking towards the back door. I only got to see his back but I did notice that he had red hair. I called her over to ask what was up. She, as usual, was coy and just opined that it was the second or third time that she’d seen him. I pushed her a bit more and she admitted that she thought he was being interviewed. I don’t know why I felt threatened by that information but I did. I hoped to get a chance to ask Hobie but I never did. The following Monday morning I saw a fairly young red headed man waiting by the back door of the bank as I walked up. Hank, the bank’s maintenance man/custodian was doing his morning chore of letting employees in and yet the red headed man just stood there. I still don’t know why but I walked up to him and asked if I could help him. He smiled broadly and thanked me but said he was waiting for Bert, the Vice president and mortgage officer.

I didn’t see either of them come across the lobby floor but a little later that morning the two showed up at the gate to the platform. I saw Bert introduce him to Trish and then they came over to Bret’s desk. I could hear Bert introduce the man as J J and tell Bret that he was the new assistant mortgage officer. Hearing that I remembered my short lived concern and smiled to myself. As Bert walked up to me I took a close look at the man’s face and saw a whole batch of freckles to go with his very red hair. When it was my turn to be introduced I got his whole name and that got my attention. It told me he was Irish. My mother was Irish and J J’s surname was the same as my mother’s grandmother. Even though Bert was in a hurry to finish the introductions he allowed J J to respond to my inquiry about the name. My mother was born in raised in the city as was J J and we were able to determine that it was in the same general area as J J’s family. As Bert moved him on J J promised to get back to me. I remember thinking wouldn’t it be ironic if we were somehow related.

Just after the noon fire siren blew J J showed up at my desk and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him. If it hadn’t been for the possible tie in between our families I probably would’ve deferred but I asked Bret to switch lunches with me. Being a ”good guy“, he did. I figured the safest bet was the diner right down the street. J J liked the idea as he said he’d get a bit of a feel for the town by doing it. As we walked to the diner I told him I was 12th generation in the town. Being a bit of a genealogy buff he seemed very interested and, after we ate, we walked down to my grandparents house. I told him the story about how my grandmother and father had been born in the house and how, when my grandparents wanted me to be born there too, my mother told them that they had hospitals now and she wanted to try one out. He laughed but asked if I’d show him the house at some time in the future.

I found out a good bit about J J in that hour (and maybe a bit longer). He was three years older than me, married with four kids and one on the way. He’d been working for one of the large city banks for almost ten years. He said he felt like a ”minnow in the ocean“ and that’s why he changed jobs. His plan was to move his family to the area as soon as the school year ended. In the meantime he was going to commute on a daily basis. I remember thinking that he was crazy for doing that especially when he told me that it took 2 1/2 hours each way. When he said he was going to bring his wife out on Saturday to just take a look at what was available in the way of houses I told him that when he did I’d like to meet his wife. I’d taken an immediate liking to his very upbeat personality and hoped that when he did move that we’d be good friends.

To be continued...

 

SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107c)

My ”To do“ list was growing by the day. By early May I had about six items on it and decided to prioritize them. First up was the signature card file because it was well used on a daily basis and was in terrible shape. I decided to assign a drawer to each teller to re-alphabetize the cards. There was a series of sighs and moans following the announcement. To emphasize the importance of it I asked Mala how many times did she have to go ”fishing“ for cards that were out of place that day. The others couldn’t see her face but I could and I watched her eyes roll. I made her speak a number and I don’t remember it but she did say that the cards were a mess. Mala had the respect of the other tellers even though she didn’t want to be considered a ”leader“ and her comment pretty much sealed the matter.

The signature cards were kept in the same fireproof file safe that the account ledgers were kept only they were in drawers right below the ledger cards. Even though I’d not had an actual peek I’d come close when ”Cee”, wearing the shortest skirts of all the tellers, would bend over to retrieve a card. There was no way the project could be done with the file drawers were in place so Bret and I would remove them to be worked on at counters or desks. That is, all but one. I assigned Katie, the new employee to that one and provided one of those “kick” stools that have wheels but when you stand on it the wheels retract and the stool rests firmly on the floor. I was at my desk and I heard Bret whisper my name and as I looked up I saw him pointing down the teller line. I looked that way and there was Katie sitting on the stool but she had her knees spread apart, at least a foot if not more, with her feet behind her. It was like she was straddling the stool. In the short time she’d been there she’d mostly worn tight fitting, dark skirts that came to her knees. However, on this day she was wearing a khaki skirt with a bit of a flare that was a couple of inches above her knees. I’d been made aware of it by Bret so when I took that look down the line it was a beautiful sight. There was bright sun pouring through the Westerly facing windows that gave more than enough light to see what I wanted to see. It was certainly more than the usual triangle that an upskirt would provide. I know it caused a “stirring“ within me and, based on Bret’s attention to that area, I pretty much figured he might’ve had the same reaction. Leaving that night that Bret came up to me and asked what I thought. I played dumb and asked him what he meant. I got a good shot in the arm from him as he walked away with a big smile. I vowed to make sure she was assigned to the same drawer the next day.

Even the best laid plans often go astray and that one did. On the next afternoon I asked her to finish up that same drawer but when she took the stool to the drawer she ended up facing the opposite direction. All Bret and I got to see was her back. By the end of the week the project was almost completed. There was only one drawer to finish and Katie, because she had more time than the others, was assigned to do it during banking hours whenever she was free. That meant that if a signature card from the drawer was needed the teller had to go around to the table where Katie was working. I’m not sure what exactly happened but somehow ”Cee“ managed to hook the corner of the drawer and it ended up on the floor along with about 2000 signature cards. Initially, I was upset. Luckily, there was little lobby traffic so I asked for volunteers to help pick the cards up with me. ”Cee“, because she’d caused the problem, was the first and Mala, surprisingly, also stepped up. It meant we had to get down on our haunches and then try and pick the cards up as best we could. Mala quickly came up with the idea of taking one card and running it across the floor under as many other cards as she could reach. To do this she had to do a ”duck walk“. When she did I got a big surprise. However, it wasn’t anywhere near as good as it had been with Katie earlier in the week. Because it was Mala and the fact that I’d made that suggestion to her about purchasing and wearing sanitary panties my mind went wild. The peeks were no where long enough to get a good enough look to know for sure. However, in my wildest dreams I never expected to get a peek from her so it was a definite plus.

”Cee“ was a different story. Some of the cards had ended up under the table and that was the area where she was working. When Mala put her cards on the table I thanked her and she walked away. I then ooched my way over to the table and ”Cee“. She was actually under the table and as I approached I could see she was about to get up. I watched as she did but she hadn’t gotten far enough from under the table so that her head caught the edge and it knocked her to the floor... splay legged. It was a full crotch view! Stunned, she sat there like that for a few seconds. When she fell backwards she fell into Liz’s chair (Liz being the Auditor). Liz got up to help her and I’m sure she saw what I was looking at. I just couldn’t take my eyes off of that nice, white piece of material. Liz stepping into the picture brought me back to reality and the two of us helped ”Cee“ to her feet. She was OK and I was pretty sure she had no idea of what I’d just seen. I remember going home that night and, in spite of the mess to work on with the cards in the morning, I determined that it had been a very good day. A ”twofer“!

To be continued... 
 

SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107b)

It was about the end of the month when I was helping a customer whose husband had died that I came across a problem that I’d encountered during the busy period... signature cards that were misfiled. I needed the cards for the accounts that were in the name of the deceased man and couldn’t find them. I was in the files nearest Cassie and as I flipped through them I heard a loud male voice. I turned to see what was happening I saw this 40 something man, obviously drunk, at Cassie’s window. He was ordering her to do something and his speech was so slurred that I couldn’t understand what he was demanding her to do. I stepped up beside her and asked what he wanted. He mumbled something and Cassie interjected that he’d told her to fill out his withdrawal ticket and that she’d passed it back to him telling him that he had to sign it. Basically, I told him the same thing. He then proceed to call Cassie a less than complimentary name. Now I was mad. I told him to apologize to her and he told me to go ___k myself. I don’t know what kept me from climbing over the counter but I didn’t and basically ignored his comment. I told him that without a signature he wouldn’t get any money. He grabbed the ticket and scribbled something that was supposed to be his signature across the middle of it. I took it and his passbook. I then wrote across the area that asked how much was to be withdrawn “BALANCE OF ACCOUNT” and told Cassie to cut a check for it. Her eyes bugged out of her head and she asked, “Really?”. I emphatically answered “Yes!”. When she returned with the check I handed it to the man and told him to get out of the bank because I was calling the Police to have him arrested for trespassing if he didn’t. Now it was his turn to have bugged out eyes. As he staggered towards the door I felt something on my arm. It was Cassie’s hand and as I looked towards her I could see tears but I heard her whisper “Thanks“.

As I walked away I wasn’t thinking so much of Cassie as I was of what Hobie would think of my somewhat rash action. I headed for his desk, ignoring the lady at my desk. He listened for a few seconds when Letitia walked up along side of me. She was a nice lady but had seemed to try and avoid conflict so I was taken aback by her presence. Hobie acknowledged her and asked if he was needed. Meekly, she said she didn’t but continued by almost whispering that ”Micah had created a scene again“ and then she retreated. Hobie then let me finish and told me that we’d talk after the doors closed. I didn’t know if that was good or bad.

I finished up with my customer and then got to thinking of the ramifications of what would've happened if I hadn't taken the action I did. I thought about Mala’s incident and wondered just how often customers verbally abused the tellers. Common sense told me that it wasn’t up to the tellers to handle conflicts so I was building a case in my defense when I got together with Hobie. I thought 3pm would never get there. When it did Hobie came to my desk. I took that as a good sign. He then told me about Micah. He’d been injured during WWII and was ”not all there“. Every so often he’d go ”on a toot“ and was, as I’d witnessed, pretty mean. Then he told me that he came from a prominent local family. That’s when I figured I was in some deep ___t. But all Hobie said was that I’d been a little harsh and then it was my turn. When I told him what he’d called Cassie and what he’d said to me I saw him sort of acknowledge that maybe Micah had gone too far. At that point I told him my thoughts on conflicts at the tellers window. I asked for permission to meet with the tellers to tell them to come and get Bret or me rather than put themselves in a position to be verbally abused. He didn’t respond for a few seconds but then told me it was a good idea and to include him as another one for the tellers to go to. All I can say is that I wanted to let out a big ”WHEW!“ as he got up to go.

The tellers were absolutely excited when I told them of the new policy. I remember Mala looking straight at me and actually smiling. I thought Cassie might show some emotion but she was back to her usual Mona Lisa look. I also remember Cara saying that we (on the platform) would be busy and then smiling. Right before Trish left she made a point of coming over to my desk. I still remember her telling me that ”I had a friend for life“ with Cassie. That pleased me but I would’ve liked to have heard it from Cassie herself.

Katie, the new employee, started on a Monday. I’d written some notes as to just what her duties would be. I’d gotten some ”grief“ from Kate every time I made a change in what she was doing so I thought since what Katie would be doing was almost totally new I’d create a new title... Reserve Teller/Clerk. That way whatever it was that she was asked to do would be covered. In writing the details I remembered that every position at the County had a job description so I asked Trish for copies of the bank’s. She looked at me like I’d asked directions to get to the moon. I immediately added job descriptions to my ever expanding list of things to work on.

As Katie walked away from my desk after I’d gone over her responsibilities I saw a repeat of what I’d witnessed following her interview... a nice rounded buttocks with dimples where the elastics of her panties were. I was really hoping that she’d work out. It was a little later when Bret walked up to me and asked if I’d caught a look at Katie’s backside. I smiled and told him to say ”Thank you“.

To be continued... 

SETTLING IN ... at work (Part 107a)

I got a little ahead of my self in Part 106 so I’m going to backtrack a bit. Sorry...

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By the end of the busy period, which was after the 9th of April called the “interest period”, I felt that I’d achieved an “understanding” with all of the tellers with the exception of Cassie. She continued to ignore me as best as she could. During meetings with the tellers she wouldn’t look at me and I didn’t know what to do about it. Trish, because we had one on one contact with each other on a daily basis, had shown a willingness to share little snippets of information which was helpful to me. I felt comfortable enough to ask her, point blank, what Cassie’s problem with me was. Unfortunately,  she wouldn’t express any words and all I got was a shrug of her shoulders.

My other “problem child”, Kate, had performed well in her role as a “messenger” running transactions from the drive up window during Corinne’s lunch hour during the busy period. Sort of reluctantly, I came up with the idea of making her a “relief teller” and giving her a cash box. When I ran the idea by Hobie he didn’t exactly embrace it. I prevailed and when I called Kate to my desk to tell her I was totally unprepared for her response. At first all I got was her typical blank stare. Then she started to get up and as she did she quietly uttered “I think I’ll quit” and then walked away.

If she were just about any other employee I would’ve pursued her to ask “why?”. For almost the whole time I’d been at the bank I’d been looking for a legitimate reason to terminate her but, truthfully, her only “crime” was her dour personality. It only took a few seconds for the reality that she was leaving to set in... and I was glad. As I remember it I just sat there for a few minutes until Trish walked up and asked what had happened. I told her that I didn’t really know and proceeded to go through the whole episode. It only took a few seconds and I remember Trish looking towards the back and then saying that Kate had her coat and was walking out the back door.

When I told Hobie he just sort of shrugged his shoulders and told me to get out the applications to find a replacement. Trish, being the receptionist, was the one to handle job inquiries and had the folder. When she handed it to me I asked if she had a memory of any of the people in the file. When she indicated that she didn’t it meant I was basically starting from scratch. I’d never interviewed anyone so it was something new to tackle.

There were only a few applications that had been completed recently and I started with them. During the interviews I don’t know who was more nervous... me or the applicants. Using the basic formula from the County of choosing from three I ended up selecting, ironically, a Katie. A believer in “omens”, I hoped that it wasn’t a bad one. A short woman with jet black hair and dark eyes and a broad smile, I chose her because I felt she’d make a nice appearance to the public. In her early 30;s she was a bit older than most of the tellers. She was dressed a bit more stylishly than most of them wearing a tight fitting light gray skirt about three or four inches above her knees. After the interview, when she walked away, I could see the outline of the leg elastics of her panties. You probably won’t believe it but it was the first time I’d see her backside. In any case I stood there congratulating myself on a good choice, especially for the backside view.

One of the problems that I’d discovered early on in my employment was that there had been no consistency in the training of new tellers. Now I had a chance to remedy that so called Mala over to my desk. She was still a bit leery of me and I could see she was apprehensive. I started by praising her work during the busy period. I’d worked up the statistics and found that she’d waited on more customers than any other teller and that included the day she’d left for her “problem”. I told her that I wanted all new tellers to emulate her and was asking her to be in charge of training any new tellers that might be hired. He reaction was the exact opposite of what I expected. I thought that she’d welcome the praise and recognition for a job well done. She asked why she was being punished.

I won’t go into a diatribe on Polish people but this was one of my first lessons on their convoluted thinking. To make this short, she turned it down. Cara was the next best teller but she was also Polish so I made a quick decision not to ask her to take on the training I envisioned. Remembering how well Corinne had done on the front line under pressure I decided that since Katie would be working the drive up window that I’d ask her to do it. When I presented it to her she was really excited about it. A 100% opposite reaction to that of Mala. Slowly, I was learning.

To be continued...

THE NEXT PHASE... at home (Part 106e)

Initially, we’d had a hard time getting a babysitter. We started by trying to get Karen, the girl from church that we’d used before and that both we and the kids liked. Like a lot of girls who ”discover“ boys in their teens, her mother told Elle that she was ”involved” and not available. Next to be called was Peggy, James’ daughter who I particularly liked. We had to wait for a day before she agreed to do it. As hectic as that saturday was I’d hoped that she’d be able to drive herself but she didn’t have a full driver’s license which meant she couldn’t drive after dark. Elle ended up going to get her while I took a shower and dressed which didn’t make her all that happy. When they arrived back I was somewhat surprised when I saw Peggy. Either my memory had started to fail or she’d grown... at least her breasts had. Luckily she was talking with the kids so she didn’t see my eyes bug out of my head. She was wearing a white short sleeved blouse that was open at the neck at least three buttons down. The cleavage was... well, let’s say impressive. Driving to Hobie’s I had a hard time putting that image out of my head.

I’ll bet I’d driven past Hobie’s house a couple of hundred times in my life and never paid any attention to it. It was on a well travelled North South road. Pulling off the road into the yard I was struck by the fact that it was a very unusual house. There was no way to call it a ranch but it was more that a cabin. Knowing that he was a high ranking bank officer I was expecting more than what I saw. In the very back of the yard was a mobile home a little bigger than our first one.

Bret and Jan were already there. Hobie greeted us at the front porch entrance and his wife was right behind him. Molly was a tall and rather large (not fat) red headed woman easily into her 40’s. When she opened her mouth to say hello I was a bit surprised. It was a “husky“ sound. Over the next few minutes it was like Hobie wasn’t even there. She was in control. We all ended up in the living room and as I looked around I could see that the ceilings were much lower than normal. Molly stayed in control of the conversation and I felt like I was in an inquisition. She asked just about everything about each of our backgrounds starting with our parents and going on through our lives right up to the present. By the time she announced that we were all to go into the dining room my head was spinning. I caught Elle giving me a quizzical look when Polly was onto Bret and his background but there was no way to respond to her.

In the dining room we were introduced to her kids, a girl, Lynn and a boy, ”Butch“ who were to be our ”servers“ for the evening. Lynn was a high school junior attending the local Catholic high school and was a Butch a freshman at the public high school. Molly quickly explained that Lynn was the smart one and Butch... well, she didn’t say much of anything about him. I will say this... Lynn was a real cutie but extremely shy. Butch was very outgoing with a big goofy grin on his face most of the time. As we waited to be served I distinctly remember thinking that this was quite a family.

During dinner Elle managed to let me know she was very uncomfortable. I thought she’d had an accident or something but it was Molly that was bothering her. I didn’t know what do do not wanting to do something that would upset Hobie and possibly affect my job. So, we endured. After supper Molly told us about her background and we learned that the previous summer she’d won the women’s golf championship at the new public course. I was hoping to get some information on Hobie but Molly took care of that in just a few sentences. About the only thing I learned was that his family had owned the property going back into the 1800’s and the house we were in had been the original cabin built before the turn of the century. She did add that her mother lived in the mobile home out back.

Bret and Jan seemed to hold up well but both Elle and I had just about had it by 9pm or so. Telling Hobie and Molly that we had to get the babysitter home before ten was a lie but it worked. I swear that we let out a big enough sigh once out at the car that they probably heard it inside. What a night!

Elle had managed to get a few minutes to talk with Jan and found out she was due around the middle of June. The pregnancy was going well but the only problem was living with Bret’s parents. She’d volunteered to Elle that she didn’t see any way out of that in the near future. I remember thinking of how lucky we’d been to have been on our own right from the beginning.

Even though it was just a little after 9pm when we arrived home we found Peggy asleep on the sofa. She was lying on her side facing the back of it probably to keep the light out of her eyes. She’d tucked her legs up a bit into a semi fetal position which left a bit of her back showing AND... a bit of her panties. She didn’t hear us enter so Elle went over to try and rouse her without scaring her. When she touched her shoulder Peggy jumped a bit and ended up rolling onto the floor onto her back. I went over to help her up and as I did I was in the perfect position to get a great look at the cleavage I’d mentioned before. Standing, she was still a bit groggy from having been asleep so Elle suggested she sit down to get her bearings. It was perfect because I was still standing there and could still see her beautiful mounds. I remember wondering why I’d missed them back when she’d baby sat for us on New Year's eve.

Driving Peggy home I asked what her plans were for the summer. She said she wasn’t sure but that her father wanted her to get a paying job. Just ”fishing“ I asked if she’d thought about babysitting. She said she hadn’t but asked why I’d suggested it. I told her that I (and Elle) thought she was very good with our kids and that she seemed like a natural for it. I didn’t get a response at first but just before we got to her house she asked how she should go about it. I didn’t have any idea at all but promised that I’d try to get an answer for her. As as he disappeared through the kitchen door I was thinking I’d like to hire her.

To be continued...

THE NEXT PHASE... at home (Part 106d)

To say the ride back to Elle’s parents house to get the kids was “interesting” is putting it mildly. She accused me of liking the house because of the basement AND the two car garage. The two car garage caught me by surprise. I really hadn’t thought about the garage but she claimed I wanted it so I’d have a place to work on the race car. I really hadn’t thought of that at all and no matter what I said she wasn’t having any of it. Basically, we were back to square one as far as a house was concerned. As it turned out, as soon as we arrived back home she pulled out the folder with the house plans that she’d clipped out of the newspaper. I knew what was next.

When I’d moved the race car from my parents neighbors garage I’d forgotten to pick up some of the spare parts for it that were in my father’s garage. That meant another trip there and back. When I walked into the garage itself I had a big shock staring at me. It was my grandfather’s old station wagon. It was a pre-war “woody” and in excellent shape but with my grandfather no longer able to drive he’d, obviously, given it to my father. After that settled into my brain it dawned on me that for my father to have actually gotten the vehicle into the garage he had to move a lot of the boxes that had been stored in that space. I quickly looked around and didn’t see any place that they’d been moved to. THAT... caused a major panic!. I’d hidden my stash in one of the boxes that had been stored there. I can tell you that with that realization I was wet with perspiration within seconds.

My mind was racing wondering what my father would say to me about them if he'd found them. Calming down just a bit I started thinking/hoping that he hadn’t. I began rationalizing that if he had he surely would’ve been on the phone to me. Hanging my thoughts on that possibility I began to look around to see if he’d moved the boxes or, hopefully not, gotten rid of them. I surely was hoping that he'd found a new home for them. However, I was wrestling with what would be worse... having my father find them or having them be thrown away. Neither was a good resolution and I couldn’t decide which was worse.

Many, many posts ago I’d described the garage... three car bays plus an attached shed. The shed area held the large gasoline powered generator that my grandfather had bought after the hurricanes back in 1954 as well as the washing machine, water pump and workbench and there was no room for them there. Above that was an attic like area right above it that we called the “mow” where they stored paraphernalia going all the way back to my grandfather’s yacht. I could never figure out why they kept it. As I climbed the stairs I was hoping against hope that I’d find some of the boxes. At the top I didn’t see a one. I knew the apartment above the garage itself hadn’t been occupied in at least five years and decided to take a peek. Opening the door I saw nothing but boxes on top of boxes. I think my knees went weak upon seeing them. Now the problem was in trying to find the one that held my stash.

By then I’d been there for about fifteen or so minutes. I’d called ahead to tell my father what I was coming to get and told him I’d only be there a minute or two and would stop by the house to say hello before I left. Even thought wanted desperately to locate “the stash” I figured I better check in with him before he came looking for me. I made up some lame excuse about not finding what I was looking for to explain what had taken me so long. When he offered to come over to help I told him I had to get going. The last thing I wanted was for him to go rooting through the boxes. As much as I wanted to make sure the stash was OK I decided to postpone the search for another time. I was about a mile down the road when I realized that I hadn’t gotten the parts for the race car that had brought me there in the first place. I had no choice but to continue on home without them. I had live with the fact that at least I hadn’t been found out and would have to wait for another day to find my stash.

It was during the following week that my boss, Hobie, kind of blindsided me when he invited me and Elle to have dinner at his house. At the same time he also invited Bret and his wife. I used the tern “blindsided’ because it came from out of nowhere. Up to that time my relationship with him had been ”all business“ with little to no small talk. Being new, the last thing I wanted to do was to say ”No“. But, he wanted to do it on Saturday, the one and only practice day for the race car before the regular season started. Bret was pretty much in the same position as far as time was concerned as he was a part of his best friend, Bags’, race crew. I had one other problem and that was Elle and we'd have to get a babysitter. I already knew that Elle’s mother was unavailable so it was just another hill to climb. Bret didn’t have that problem... yet, as Jan, his wife, wasn’t due for another few weeks. In spite of all that I smiled and said we’d be there. Elle wasn’t overjoyed with the news either as she was fairly shy in meeting people in that type situation.

I’d managed to get the race car painted, numbered and lettered so was ready to go that Saturday as soon as the track opened. I couldn’t wait to see how the new car handled on the track and was overjoyed by it’s performance. No longer was I fighting the steering wheel through the turns. It actually went where I wanted it to. I was very conscious of the time knowing I had to be at Hobie’s by 5pm so didn’t spend much time actually on the track. I didn’t really need to and when I left I couldn’t wait for opening night.

To be continued...

THE NEXT PHASE... at home (Part 106c)

By the time my father came to pick my mother up Dolly and the baby had bonded. There was no denying that Kaye was a “mommy’s girl”, always wanting to be held by her and no one else. I was pleased to see that as both Elle and I felt that Dolly needed something to cling to, especially with her mother having died. We spent the evening playing with the kids but none was on the floor as it had been the previous night. Unfortunately, my panty peeking had come to an end as Dolly chose to stay fully dressed right up to the time we all turned in for the night. As she had to catch the early train (6:15am) back to the city so she could make it back to her college there were also no peeks in the morning. However, I still had the picture as she never once brought the subject up, and that was a plus.

About the middle of April I got a call from my father telling me that I needed to get the race car out of his neighbors garage where I’d stored it for the Winter. They were beginning their weekend visits in order to prepare their cottage for the Summer renters. During the Winter, after having gotten involved with Darren who worked at James’ service garage, I’d fantasized that I’d be able to keep the race car there. Parked out at the mobile home park I really struggled when I had to do repairs. So I stopped up at the garage to run the idea by James. He truly was a nice guy but he did have a “thing” about race cars and it wasn’t good. The answer was “NO!”. Since Darren had said he'd be on my pit crew I asked him if he’d work on his boss to see if he’d relent. By the time I went to get the car Darren had gotten James to relent but just a bit. He didn’t want the car there in daylight and if we needed to work on it we could use the back shop BUT... we couldn’t bring it there until after dark and it had to be gone by morning. A saying that I’d heard from my grandfather, “a little is better than nothing at all”, seemed to hold true in this situation. The only things that had to be done before the open practice didn’t need a shop to be completed so I was moderately happy.

If you remember back to the visit we made with Elle’s old friend, Nan, I was making notes about their new house. Upon our return Elle started collecting house floor plans from the newspapers. It seemed that the baby’s new found ability to get around was creating more and more concern about just how long we could remain in the mobile home. When she was confined to her crib or playpen we had adequate space. But she wouldn’t stay in either for very long which created a whole slew of problems as she made her way around. If you remember back to my leaving the other bank, Artie, the mortgage officer, had offered to give me a hand when I decided I was interested in a house. With Elle looking at house plans and with the knowledge I’d learned at the other bank about how long it took to get a new house built I felt that it would be best to buy an existing house. Elle didn’t agree but said she would be willing to look around. When I contacted Artie he set up a meeting with us on the first Saturday in May.

I hadn’t known it but Artie was “moonlighting” as a real estate agent on the weekends. I’d come up with a dollar figure that I felt we could afford. The “boys” at the park had given me a value on the unit which became my base. I figured we could handle a mortgage of about 15 to 16 thousand dollars based upon my new income. So with those numbers in mind the three of us headed out. We’d left the kids with her mother so we didn’t have to worry about them. I’d told Artie that we wanted to look at traditional two story houses and he said he had a few picked out for us. Elle liked the first house we were shown but with one big exception... it was way too close to the road. Even in the back of the house you could hear cars passing by and there seemed to be quite a few. It didn’t take much to figure out why the next house we were shown fit into our price range. It needed a LOT of work. It wasn’t something I was willing to tackle at that time. The last one was almost a replica of the house I’d lived in for a semester at college. It was very old and as soon as Elle saw it she shook her head indicating she wasn’t even interested in getting out to look.

We’d only been out for about an hour and Artie apologized for not having any more two story houses to show. He asked if we’d even entertain a look at a ranch type house. With plenty of time we both agreed it wouldn’t hurt to look. Artie said he knew of one in our price range that was only a few years old so we headed for it. As we approached, the house looked quite big. Going up the driveway I saw something that really interested me... a T pole wash line with clothes blowing in the wind. As we pulled up behind the house I could see why it looked so big... a two car attached garage. I’d been fooled by the windows I’d seen from the road and thought that they were an actual part of the house. Once inside we were impressed by how light and cheerful it was. However, as we looked around Elle and I were both concerned that there were only three bedrooms and that they weren’t all that big. What I really liked was the semi finished basement. It was obvious that the man of the house had not only designed it but had also decorated it. Elle wasn’t all that interested and returned upstairs with Artie. I won’t lie... I LIKED the basement!

Elle was looking around the kitchen when I got back upstairs. I made a positive comment about the basement and got a quick retort about how we were supposedly looking for the whole family and not just for me. Artie had gone outside so I went out to talk with him while Elle took another look at the bedrooms. He’d walked out towards the back of the property to have a cigarette and was almost to the wash line. He hadn’t told us a price and I wanted to know just how much the owner was asking. When I caught up to him I was in position to see some of the items at the very back of the wash line and, much to my great pleasure, there were a few panties. I wasn’t close enough to make any kind of judgement on them but it was a nice sight for my eyes to feast upon. Artie told me the owners were moving upstate and they really wanted to sell quickly. The house had just been listed and he wasn’t sure of the price but he thought it was around $20,000. That was a little rich for my blood especially with the concern Elle and I had for the size, or lack thereof, of the bedrooms. When I saw Elle outside the kitchen door I figured it was time to go. I thanked Artie and told him we’d be in touch after we’d had a chance to talk about it.

To be continued...
   

THE NEXT PHASE... at home (Part 106b)

I’m not sure that the kid's teeth got brushed all that well because I think they set some kind of record for getting that done and into their pajamas. Elle sent them on out into the patio room while Dolly was changing as she started to prepare to put the baby to bed. I was still in the living room when Dolly walked back in. I did a double take as she did. The short gown she had on was almost translucent. Dolly saw the look on my face and let out a little laugh but made no effort to cover up. I could see the areolas of her breasts as well as her bikini panties through the material. She never hesitated and wanted to make the sofa bed up so she could read to the girls while in bed. I had to concentrate on not looking at her as we did it. I was glad that Elle wasn’t there to see us doing it. It only took a minute and then Dolly headed back down the hall to the patio room. I stayed behind trying to deflate my bulge.

Before Elle’s parents came for the baby’s birthday Elle’s mother had asked if we could take a few pictures of them with the baby. I’d mentioned that it was now easy for me to walk to my grandfather’s house during my lunch hour and, on that day, did so to ask him if I could borrow his Polaroid camera. Dutifully, I’d taken a few and given them to her but I still had the camera. It was on the shelf under the barrel table in the living room. As I stood there “deflating” I saw it and got the notion to go take a few pictures of Dolly playing with the kids. (If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I can sell you, cheap!) Elle was still with the baby, trying to get her to settle down as I walked past. I took a deep breath as I did knowing that she’d have a hissy fit if she knew what I was planning.

As soon as I appeared in the doorway with the camera Dolly was on to me. With a big impish grin she gathered the girls to her carefully blocking her breasts and told me to go ahead and “shoot”. By then I also had a smile. As soon as the flash bulb went off she, still with a smile, waved her finger from side to side at me indicating that I was a naughty boy. I put the camera down and they all went back to playing. The girls had fixed “dessert” for Dolly with their plastic food and were serving it when Elle showed up. She let them play for a while and then told them to go pick out the books they wanted Dolly to read to them. As they scampered up the steps Elle started to pick up the things they’d spread around when Dolly told her that she’d pick up. Elle quickly followed behind the girls leaving me with Dolly. As she crawled around the floor I was almost panting seeing her panties showing through the gown. Then I remembered the camera. I knew there was no way I’d be able to take a picture without both Dolly and Elle knowing but I decided to chance it anyway. Dolly was facing away from me when I picked the camera up. I pushed the shutter. As soon as the flash went off she turned and flopped on her bottom and gave me one of those “I can’t believe you just did that” looks... and then laughed. I fully expected Elle to show up in the doorway ready to kill me but she didn’t. I also expected Dolly to demand that I turn the picture over to her but she didn’t. Instead, her comment was along the lines of “I hope that made you happy” and then went about finishing up putting the toys in the little cabinet.

As I left the room Dolly did ask for me to get a robe for her. How could I complain? I’d just had an extended voyeuristic experience that, even in my dreams, couldn’t have been expected. I grabbed one of Elle’s semi short bathrobes and gave it to her while she was still in the patio room. As she came through the door she, quietly, told me that “the show was over”. The comment took me by surprise. As we walked down the hall to the living room I wondered just how much of what I’d just witnessed had been planned.

Lying in bed that night I couldn’t help but wonder if the picture would turn out. With the Polaroid camera the picture didn’t get developed until you actually pulled the tab out of the camera. I knew I had to do it before we all went to my grandfather’s house as pictures would surely be required at the party. I was worried about how and where I’d be able to do it and, if the picture did turn out, would Dolly demand I show it to her and possibly take it.

Dolly was much more modest in the morning. I was a bit disappointed as I remembered the “show” I’d gotten the last time she stayed with us. It was while she was in the bathroom and Elle was fixing breakfast that I got my chance with the picture. I was in our bedroom and as I waited for the picture to fully develop I could see that it was going to be special. But it’s development was only one part of the equation as I had to wait to see what, if anything, Dolly might want to do about it.


The party went reasonably well although it was a bit more “exciting” that my grandfather was up for. The older kids, with their youthful exuberance, were a bit “much” for him My parents picked up on it and suggested that we leave around 2pm or so. As I mentioned earlier, the party was to celebrate my birthday as well which was two days away. I got my usual gift from my mother... a new sports shirt and a new torque wrench from my father. I was a bit disappointed in that my grandfather had nothing for me. As Elle and Dolly gathered the kids and all their “stuff” my grandfather motioned for me to come over by him. I was going to give him a hug before we left anyway so figured that this time it would be his idea. As I bent down towards him he tried to stuff an envelope into my shirt. As he did he whispered for me not to say anything. Who was I to argue?

My mother wanted to spend some time with Dolly, getting caught up on her life away at college and also details on how her father was doing so we invited her back to our place. My father thought it would be best to stay with his father just to make sure he hadn’t overdone it. As I walked out to get the station wagon I retrieved the envelope from inside my shirt. Opening it I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were twenty eight $10 bills. There was also a slip of paper with a hard to read “Happy Birthday” mixed in with the bills. Two hundred eighty dollars... in cash! I wanted to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. I was torn as to weather to tell Elle about it. Even though I didn’t need much for the race car I knew it would come in handy. I knew I still had time to make up my mind.


To be continued...

THE NEXT PHASE... at home (Part 106a)

My grandfather had been really pleased at my going to work for a local bank. His health continued to fail over the Winter and that, combined with the weather, had prevented him from going to visit my grandmother as often as he had in the past. I hadn’t been as judicious in visiting with him while working at the other bank but the new job had me just down the street from him. During those first weeks at the new job I made a point of walking down the street to have lunch with him and I could see his spirits picking up with each visit.

Another person who was excited about my new job was Elle. Being back working locally (about seven minutes away) was a great help to her because it meant I could help in getting the kids washed and dressed in the morning and could get Jean, our oldest off to school before leaving for work. Psychologically it was a help as well knowing I was near in case of an emergency. She’d decided to resubmit her name for substitute teaching in January. She knew it would take time to move up on the list to be called in to teach but right after we got back from our trip she started getting calls. A pleasant surprise was that the per diem for substitutes had been raised twice since she’d last taught. It was now up to $26.50. That meant her net pay was $22. Another positive was that her mother had changed her mind (somewhat) about baby sitting and agreed to come if Elle were to get called on Tuesdays or Thursdays. If she was called on the other days there was a lady in the park who was babysitting her grandchildren. Elle was able to persuade her to watch ours for $5 a day as long as it wasn’t every day of the week.

The baby, Kaye, was turning one on the last day of March. Her godmother, Dolly, had corresponded with us asking if she could join in on the birthday celebration. The 31st was on a Wednesday which precluded her from being there on that day as she was away at college. My mother, who regularly corresponded with Dolly, suggested that we move the party to the Saturday following allowing her to attend and that way we could also celebrate my birthday at the same time. To keep my grandfather “in the loop” it was decided to hold the party at his house. On Kaye’s actual birthday we had a small party with Elle’s parents joining us for supper. If you read some of the very early posts you know there was some “history” between Elle’s parents and my grandparents so it actually worked out well.

On that Friday I left the bank heading for the train station. That was the day that I'd met and talked with Mala in the parking lot so I was a bit “up tight” when I arrived. The train was on time (for a change). I even got lucky and parked close to the coach that Dolly was on so we connected right away. I could almost recognize her from the short skirt she was wearing. Seeing her face it was obvious that she’d gained some weight while at school but she was the same smiley, vivacious girl that I remembered. As soon as we arrived home Elle served supper knowing that the older girls would “attack” her wanting her to play with them. Elle figured that this way Dolly could relax a bit before providing “entertainment” for the girls.

As soon as Elle let them leave the table the girls had Dolly on the living room floor playing one of their board games. Elle set about clearing the table and washing the dishes while I was saddled with keeping the baby from interfering with them. Now semi ambulatory, she was into everything, especially the lower cabinets. They didn’t have those nice baby proof locks back in those days so we had to strategically place the dining room chairs in front of them. We did designate one cabinet in the dining room for her toys and I got down on the floor to guide her in that direction. As I lowered myself down I looked into the living room and got an eyeful. Dolly had her back to me and was on her knees sitting on the calves of her legs but just as I looked she got up to move a game piece and I got an absolutely perfect view of her panty encased rear. It only lasted for a few seconds. However, I didn’t have to wait long for the next one either. I had the perfect position.

As I remember it I got four or five looks before Elle appeared behind me. As soon as she saw Dolly’s backside she called out to her letting her know she needed to be a little more modest. She also gave me a gentle kick to let me know she knew what I was doing. Dolly quickly changed position and lay on her side but her mini skirt barely covered her panties. To negate that Elle picked the baby up and motioned for me to take a seat so that I was no longer in position to get any more peeks. The girls wanted Elle to play a game with them so I got the baby back. However, to fit Elle in around the game board Dolly moved to her left which, from my seat, gave me an uncontested view of the crotch of her panties and one cheek. As long as I wanted to look it was there for me to see. As you can imagine I had a pretty serious bulge but the only one who could know was the baby and she didn’t care.

We had set 8pm as bedtime for the girls when they were younger and even though they were now older Elle insisted that we continue with it, especially with Jean having to get up early for school. When Elle called for the girls to get ready for bed they complained loudly wanting to take Dolly into the patio room to show her their “house”. Elle had arranged some of their things to create a play kitchen and a bedroom for their dolls. Dolly sprang to their defense saying that there was no school the next day and that they could sleep as late as they wanted. It wasn’t what Elle wanted to hear but she backed off saying that if they brushed their teeth and got their pajamas on they could have a little longer with Dolly. They still fussed but, again, Dolly spoke up saying that she’d join them and would also get ready for bed. She also promised that she’d read them a story if they didn’t fuss.

To be continued...

THE NEXT PHASE... new job (Part 105l)

After lunch I got together with Bret and we went over the interest only problem. We worked up a temporary solution and ran it by Hobie. His reaction wasn’t what I was looking for but agreed to let us try it for the rest of the day. It was a simple process... just have the tellers ask if they could post the interest later and that the bank would mail the books back that afternoon. The tellers liked the idea when we walked down the line to inform them. I made it a point for Bret to be the one to tell Mala and I put myself in position to observe her reaction. As soon as she heard it she immediately looked around to find me and when she saw me she acknowledged it with a nod of her head and a bit of a smile.

It wasn't accepted as well as I’d hoped but it was a start. Bret and I met with the tellers before they left for the day to get some feedback and then we brainstormed a bit before going home. As you’ve read, I really didn’t know what Kate’s responsibilities were. I suggested that the ”interest only“ customers be directed down to Trish and that she turn the passbooks over to Kate or Corinne for one of them to post at the underused drive up window. We felt that would satisfy the customers and help to clear out the lobby traffic.

While we were finishing up I saw Cara and Trish talking, but that was nothing new. However, in just my short time there I learned that Cara, who had a very distinct voice, would speak in a very loud voice when she wanted other people to hear her. I didn’t know what she was complaining about but it had to do with something in or around her teller’s station. I managed to get Trish’s attention before she left and asked what the problem was. Trish showed me the seat on the stool at Cara’s station. The seat was covered with a heavy green vinyl and the bindings had separated. Because of that Cara (and other tellers) were getting ”runs“ in their stockings. After everyone had gone I checked all the other seats and found a few others in the same condition. I’d used some cloth tape to make repairs to some cushions that we used at home back during the Summer. I went across the street to the office supply store and bought a few rolls of it. Back in the bank I proceeded to tape all the edges of all the seats and then went home. I couldn’t wait to see Cara’s reaction the next morning.

I was disappointed as she didn’t notice. I continued to avoid Mala but kept an eye on her all day. There was no doubt that the new procedure needed work but a few positive comments from both customers and some of the tellers told me that it held promise. Cara surprised me by acknowledging the repair to her stool. I really wasn't expecting it. When she did all of the others did too except for Cassie. With Cara actually speaking to me without my initiating  it I felt I was making headway in winning her over but Cassie was continuing to be a hard sell.

As it was my Friday night off I was anxious to leave. As it turned out, a bit too anxious as I realized I'd left the project I was working on behind. As I headed back I saw Mala leaving. I remember acknowledging her and getting a bit of a smile in return. That was progress but I kept going and was almost back to the door when she called out to me. My first reaction was not a positive one. I stopped and she walked up to me but she wasn’t looking directly at me when she said that she’d thought about my offer. When I heard that I was hoping (praying) that she’d decided to turn it down. It was clear that she was uncomfortable and I can assure you that I was too. Even though there was no one around we were standing right by the back door of the bank and I knew there would be other employees leaving and it was still daylight. I don’t remember how she started but I know that soon after she did a few of the people from the mortgage department upstairs came out the door. After seeing them I know I started blushing. Once they passed by I suggested that we wait until Monday but Mala said she’d gotten up the nerve and wanted to continue. Believe me, it was awkward.

In summary: she didn’t want Elle to get involved and for that I was thankful. I wanted to keep it simple but needed to know if she was familiar with sanitary panties and that was a difficult question to ask. I was far more embarrassed than she was because she said she wasn’t. That meant I had to describe them. The perspiration was now forming on my brow (and other places) especially when I did. I remember her just looking at me without saying anything or any expression on her face. Then I told her that Elle would wear a sanitary pad inside it and, wanting to cut the talk short, didn’t tell her that Elle had various additions that would make up her ”package“. Still looking right at me she asked if I knew where she could buy sanitary panties. That was easy as Elle had just bought some new ones around Christmas. I told her that the brand name was Kleinert’s and that the small local department store just down the street had a display of all their products. At that point she just said ”Thank you“, turned away and headed out towards Main Street. As she did I got the thought to ask her what her real name was so called out to her. I don't know why but I did. She turned and clearly said "Petra" and then continued walking away. Walking to my car I tried to assess what had just transpired... and couldn’t. Surprised that she approached me I was more concerned about what she thought about what I’d told her. I had no indication that she would follow up on it and knew there would be no way to find out if she did or didn’t. It was then that I wished that I'd followed her to see what direction she took.

To be continued...