WAITING FOR SUMMER... with high hopes (Part 108j)

I’d no experience with handling benefits the year I spent as a Personnel Technician for the County. When I was hired Hobie spent very little time going over them with me saying that he’d go over them again, in detail, as my six months probation period neared an end. With everything else that I had going on I didn’t really want to tackle this project but had no choice. I took the folders home to try and figure out just what was involved. By the time I went to bed I knew I had to get help. Medical Insurance seemed to need the most attention so the next morning I called the contact person on the card that Hobie had given me. The ladies name was Rose. Have you ever made a phone call to someone you didn’t know and then conjured up an image of the person. To me Rose sounded like an old lady with a no nonsense bite to her voice. I figured her to be heavy set and gray haired. She was very short with me and said she didn’t have the time to answer my questions right them. But, she did suggest that I come in to the city where she could set some time aside to get me squared away. I remember holding the phone away from my head and staring at it wondering if I'd really just heard that. I waited for a few seconds and then told her I’d try to work it out from my end. As I hung up the phone I really was wondering what this woman looked like and was she really as hard nosed as she appeared to be.

The big news of the week was that Bret was now the proud father of a baby girl. I was happy for him. He’d gotten over his “snit” over my promotion so things were good again between us. The announcement of my promotion was due in the local paper that Thursday. I’d managed to avoid Amy after the initial contact about getting it done. However, seeing her did make me wonder how J J was making out in his new “digs” and just how much contact he actually had with her. I decided it was best not to ask though. I didn’t want to give J J the idea that there might be something up with Amy. The upcoming press release also prompted a conversation with Hobie. He got around to asking about how I’d made out with the benefits folders. I told him what I’d done and also told him what Rose had told me. He reminded me that month end was rapidly approaching and it was going to be up to me to get the reports filed and done correctly. I remember taking a deep breath when I asked if I should/could go in to the city. He had a funny look on his face but consented telling me to see if I could arrange it for the next day. Many phone calls later I’d arranged to meet not only Rose but the other two benefits coordinators as well. I figured I might as well cover all the bases while I was there.

I had to be at the train station just before 6am. Even at that hour it was warm and I knew I was in for a rough go once I made it to the city. There were 128 Mutual Savings Banks in the state and they’d all gotten together to create an association to assist the members. Included in those services was the administration of the health care, life insurance and retirement benefits for all of the member bank’s employees. The association occupied two full floors of an office building not far from Penn Station so it didn’t take long to walk there. However, by 9am it was downright hot out and by the time I walked into the reception area I needed a shower. Rose had left a message at the reception desk that I was due in so I was pointed in the right direction.  She’d given me her office number but I was a bit confused when I reached the door. There were two names painted on the door, both male and with long titles beneath them. I wondered if I was in the wrong place but opened the door anyway.

There was single desk with a thin faced red headed woman sitting at it. She had her head down but before I could speak I heard a guttural “YES?”. Taken back a bit I told her that I was looking for Rose. Without looking up I heard and saw her say “You’re looking at her, babe!”. I swear my jaw hit my chest. It was still that way when she finally looked up at me. “You looked surprised.” were the next words she spoke. I don’t think I’ve ever had a situation like that. I had this vision of a “battle axe” type person but here was a late thirty’s, not unattractive, woman looking at me like I had three heads.

That wasn’t the end of my surprises. I soon came to find out that her job as health care coordinator was only part time. She was actually the secretary for two of the association’s officers. She got up from her desk and motioned for me to follow her. We walked into a small conference room and on the table were numerous piles of paper and folders. Not wasting any time she handed me a folder and, still standing, went over the contents with me. The folder contained all the items from my bank that had to be corrected. She stated that she’d tried, repeatedly, to get Chuck, my predecessor, to get them squared away. I don’t remember the number but it just reinforced my image of the man as being almost totally inept as a manager. I was there with Rose for less than an hour. When I walked out I felt I had a good handle on what had to be done to both correct the noted items as well as how to go forward doing the monthly reports correctly. I also had a completely different attitude towards her.

Rose steered me towards where both the life insurance and retirement people were located. It was pretty much the same story with both... a list of errors to be corrected and instructions on how to properly do monthly reports. All three of them gave me a supply of the current forms that were in use and urged me to destroy any that were still at the bank. I remember Carl, the life insurance contact, being somewhat annoyed at the fact that he had personally sent off a supply of them to Chuck and yet reports were still being sent in on obsolete forms. I assured him that I would take care of it. When I left the building I had a good feeling and that the trip was well worth the effort.

To be continued...