LIFE GOES ON... at home and work (Part 115c)
I
already had my hands full with most of my time taken up by being interrogated by the
examiners. Now I had to go find a replacement for Joanne. Before we left
for the day I asked Trish to give me the folder with the recent
applications in it so I could review them at home. I wasn’t thrilled
with what I saw but there were a couple that warranted being interviewed. The
next morning, before I was even seated at my desk, Trish came up to me
and it was plain to see there was something on her mind. As I’ve
previously written, Trish and I were working well together. She’d been
very helpful in being the intermediary between the "Polish Mafia" and
management. However, there were times I couldn’t figure her out but I
chalked it up to the fact that she was a female. On this occasion I
wasn’t sure what was coming. She made a few abortive attempts to start
but backed off each time. I finally told her to “spit it out”. With
that, she relaxed a bit and sat down in the side chair next to my desk.
She started out by asking me for a favor. That was a definite “first”. I
had no idea where her “favor” was heading.
She asked if I could
interview her 18 year old cousin before contacting any of the
applicants. It wasn’t totally out of line because I’d been made aware of
the fact that there were a number of employees who’d gotten their jobs
by being recommended by an already employed relative. There were two
sets of sisters and plus an aunt and her niece. It would mean a day’s
delay before contacting the applicants but Trish had asked for a favor
and I thought I knew her well enough by the to trust her judgement. I
had a bunch of questions for her but customers were waiting so I told
her we’d discuss it after 3pm.
The one thing I couldn’t put off
was Bret. I made a half hearted attempt to get him to acknowledge that
as “exciting” as it had been to see Joanne that way the end result
wasn’t worth it. That pretty much ended any reference to the situation,
at least between us. However, it did confirm to me that he was
definitely a “panty man“. I also remember wondering what he’d think of
me if he knew of my past panty involvement with his wife.
As soon as
the last customer left the bank Trish was back at my desk. Basically, I
asked about her cousin’s background. Her mother was Trish’s aunt who
had married into a farm family. Her cousin’s given name was Laureen but
she liked to be called Laura. She was the oldest of five children and,
at least to Trish, that was a problem. I got another ”lesson“ on the
Polish way of thinking as she explained the home situation for Laura.
She’d graduated from school the previous June and had done fairly well
as far as grades. But, she hadn’t gotten a job because her father
expected her to stay at home and care for her siblings while her mother
worked on the farm. I sat there somewhat dumbfounded as Trish told me
that Laura hadn’t been allowed to be involved in extra curricular
activities while attending school and that she’d never been on a date of
had a boyfriend. Her father had forbidden it and demanding that she
come right home and take care of the kids, clean the house, do the wash
and prepare supper. At this point Trish offered up that if the law
hadn’t required it, Laura wouldn’t have attended school after she turned
twelve. There wasn’t much I could say because it was all laid out for
me.
I took a few seconds to reflect on what I’d just learned and
the big question for me was how was Laura going to escape the grasp of
her somewhat (at least to me) tyrannical father. Trish told me that her
mother and father had what we now call ”an intervention“ with him. He’d
agreed to allow her the freedom to get a job but that she’d have to give
most of her pay to him for room and board. Laura had agreed just to be
able to have some freedom. But Trish warned me that when I interviewed
her the next day to be expecting a very shy and somewhat introverted
girl. She said that she felt that Laura would be a good fit with Liz,
the auditor, a very laid back, mature woman who would be patient with
her. When she finished telling me about Laura I couldn’t wait to meet her.
Just to be fair to Liz I told her about the upcoming interview and
promised that she would be the one to make the final decision. I
remember her looking right at me and saying that she wanted another
Joanne.
At home, even with the austerity, things were going well.
When Elle went in to teach at the local school for the first time she
was welcomed by some of the teachers who had taught her. That made her
feel really good and the principal even went out of his way to welcome
her back saying that he was sure he’d be seeing her again, and soon. For
me, it couldn’t be soon enough. I hated owing money. James, Peggy’s
father, was owed the most (over $50) but didn’t seem concerned. I know
that should’ve been a plus but it actually made me more uncomfortable. I
hadn’t seen Peggy since we’d moved. Not living in the same town anymore I
didn’t go to his gas station on weekends when she did the ”books“. When I saw him I
usually asked about her and when James told me that she had a boyfriend I
could tell he wasn’t all that happy. The boy had graduated the previous
year and was going to join one of the armed services. Jim volunteered
that his main concern was that he’d go off and forget about her. All I
could do was hope that it worked out for both Peggy and her father. I
really liked both of them.
To be continued...
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