BRING ON SUMMER... and the heat (Part 134c)

BRING ON SUMMER and the heat (Part 134c)

After the girls and the few depositors that were left in the lobby had gone I called for a quick meeting of all the tellers to make sure they understood what was going to be happening starting the next morning. I went over the procedures they were to follow in order to expedite the process. There were a few looks of doubt but, all in all they seemed to understand. I’d also put a call in to the equipment company who made both the teller machines and the bookkeeping machine (computer?) to have their service man, Robby, come by to do a maintenance check on all of it just to be somewhat sure. As I left for the night I felt confident that everything had been covered.

The next morning the anticipated crowd was at the doors... but not to open new accounts. It was to get the interest posted into their passbooks and to make withdrawals that had been postponed so as to preserve the accrued interest in their accounts. The local newspaper didn’t get delivered until early Thursday afternoon and that was where we’d focused our main advertising. So, with never more than two new accounts being opened at the same time that morning I rationalized the lack of interest by telling the girls that it would be busy once the people got their newspaper. I just hoped that was the case.

I’d been at the bank long enough to have created my own list of least favorite customers. I really hadn’t thought about them in connection with the gift campaign but I should've. One was a little old lady who NEVER had anything good to say about any of the tellers except Letitia, our head teller (in name only) and that was because she'd been around forever. She arrived right about mid day with a packet of savings passbooks to get the interest posted. On her way out she saw the gift display and immediately went up to Fran and demanded a gift for each account she had in her hand (passbooks). Poor Fran had no idea what she was talking about but had the presence of mind to come and get Bret. I, at my desk with a customer, could hear her demands. Her point was that she hadn’t gotten a gift when she’d opened the accounts and it wasn’t fair that the ”Johnnie come lately's walked out with something. There were probably fifteen to eighteen customers standing in the teller lines and I could see them all with their heads turned towards all the noise. I tried to concentrate on the person at my desk but when the complaining didn’t slow down I excused myself and went out to where they all were gathered. As nicely as I could (and it was hard) I asked her to come have a seat and steered her to Bret’s desk. Then, before she could start in with me I asked to see her passbooks. There was only one that had enough money in it to qualify for a gift ($500) so I had Bret give me a withdrawal slip and filled it out for $500. Then I asked her to sign it. Of course she asked me why and I told her that we’d open a new account for her and she’d be eligible for a gift. I know she didn’t understand the process but she did know she was going to get at least one gift so she signed it. I got five $100 bills and gave it to her and told her to go to one of the tables and she’d be taken care of... and would get a gift. As she got up from the chair I heard her say “I want one of those blankets!” When she was walking away I whispered to Bret that I’d like to stuff it up her ass.

By the end of the day we’d opened but 35 accounts... including the ten we’d opened the previous afternoon. It was pretty disappointing. The girls were keeping track of which gifts were being selected and, much to my surprise, it was the blanket, two to one over both of the other gifts. Who knew? Before I left I heard Hobie talking to one of the Trustees who had been on the committee that had selected the gifts. I hoped that he would let him know how poorly the first day’s results were but he told him it was too early to “get a feel for it”. I just shook my head.

Thursday was much better, especially in the afternoon. I had a good feeling that things would pick up as soon as the local paper was out. The regular lobby traffic was as expected... an average of about six in each teller line and there were actually people waiting to open accounts. Gina’s suggestion as to how to handle the new accounts was working well. Only a few demanded that they get their passbook right then and there. Forty something accounts were opened and again the blankets won out handily as the gift of choice.

The first thing I did upon arriving home was to grab the local paper. It wasn't to see where our ad had been placed but it was to read the article about the school board meeting that had been held the previous week. There wasn't much information that I didn't already know but what I found to be especially interesting was that the editor chose to write an editorial about it... not all that favorable. Even before eating I called Bob to see how much 'flak' he was taking about it but no one answered. I tried again after we'd eaten but with the same result.

I honestly and truly expected Friday to be ‘the day’ and I was right. The only problem was that when I’d interviewed the girls I forgot about being open until 6pm and they'd been told they would be finished at 3pm. They were close to being overwhelmed at different points during the day and when, at 2:30pm, I realized it there were still customers waiting. When I was able to get their attention I broached the subject broadly and asked if any or all of them were willing to stay “a little later”. Both Lillian and Fran  immediately shook their heads in a negative motion and one piped up that they “had plans”. I didn’t plead but looked immediately at Karen. She had a big smile and was nodding her head affirmatively. Having one was better than none.

As expected, lobby traffic let up after 3pm but was still more than on normal Friday nights. When I got a chance to check on Karen she seemed to be doing OK. I had to get up from my desk to do so because where she was placed I couldn’t see her. Just as I was turning back to my desk I saw this woman fall down in the middle of the lobby. I ran out through the gate to see if she was OK and when I got to her she was out cold. I called over to Cara to call to the police station right across the street. I could feel a pulse so that was a relief. I remembered seeing a movie or two where a person had passed out and someone put something under their head. I stripped off my jacket and stuffed it under her head and neck and then kneeled by by her waiting for the police. The people in the lobby had made a semi-circle around us but I waved some of them away so that when the police arrived they’d have a clear path right to her.

I was anxious as could be and I remember saying (to myself) “Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!” I looked over at Karen who was only a few feet away. She seemed like she was frozen in place, eyes open wide and not moving at all. After a bit I noticed she had her feet together and her knees spread just like I'd seen earlier in the week. I know I looked down at the lady when I heard her trying to speak and forgot about Karen. Just about then a policeman came running in through the front door with a small case in his hand. I backed away as he started talking to her and as he did I looked over at Karen and she still hadn’t moved. As close as I was to her there was no way not to see the crotch area of her panties up under her skirt even with her legs under the card table. I couldn’t believe that she hadn’t moved while all the ‘action’ was going on in front of her. BTW: the lady was OK. She’d not taken some kind of medication and just collapsed.

To be continued...