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

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

It wasn’t much of a race. Even before the start I could see that the neophytes were headed for trouble. Of the eight of us, four had raced. Two knew the very basics of racing (Fritz and Bob because I’d gone over some things with them) and Johnnie and a guy I didn’t know. Right after the start the guy I didn’t know ran into Bob. Basic sailing rules (not racing rules) determine who has the right of way when two sailboats approach each other. He, not Bob, was in the wrong. He was yelling at Bob and Bob was yelling at him. Then, Johnnie and one of the experienced sailors got into a confrontation with more yelling. I’d been interfered with by having to maneuver around the boats who had collided. By then Howie, Rex and the other experienced racer were long gone. I decided to gather the four of them up and to give them some very basic ‘rules of the road’ and we headed for shore.

Long story short... the guy I/we didn’t know was a total ass hole and didn’t want to participate. He was really mad at Bob and it seemed strange as it was bob’s boat that got damaged. His attitude got me mad so i made a point of finding out who he was. I asked some of the guys who’d raced the Comet class sailboats and they didn’t know either. When I got back to the others they had decided it was time to go home but agreed we’d meet at the club on Wednesday night and we’d try to do it then.

Elle had already taken the kids home by then. The four of us got the boats cleaned up and put away and while we were doing it, Howie cane over to find out what had happened to us. I was almost embarrassed to tell him but I got a chance to introduce him to Bob, Fritz and Johnnie. I told him what I was planning to do with them and he volunteered to join us. He suggested that we all bring our sails and equipment and that way we could make it a practical lesson on the water. I thought it was a great idea and was surprised it came from Howie. He’d always been a bit ‘standoffish’.

When I got home Elle was setting up a picnic type supper out on the screened in porch. She was still in her bathing suit... or at least part of it. It took me less than a minute to find out she’d removed the suit panties and only had on her regular panties. It was obvious that her ‘good mood’ was continuing. The only thing was I had no idea what had or was prompting it . After getting the kids into bed (a little after 9pm) she re-appeared on the porch in one of her short cotton nighties... and another pair of nylon satin panties... and they were wet. A quick stop in the bathroom took care of that. We spent the next hour or so just snuggled together on the love seat. It didn’t get ‘serious’ but it was still a nice way to end the day.

I absolutely hated the holidays that occurred during the work week. The fourth of July and New Years were the real problem because they fell during the ‘busy period. People, naturally, wanted to take Monday off what with the 4th of July on Tuesday. Because it had proved to be a problem for the bank in the past they had a rule that if anyone took the day before or after without a note from a doctor they would be docked two days of vacation. This rule was in place when I started but I still had a couple of bad experiences of being short handed. All I could do was hope that everybody showed up.

The customers sure did!. There was a crowd waiting at the back door at 8:50am  I’d not done an inventory of gifts on Friday night but knew we needed to get more blankets up from the basement. With Hank manning the back door to let employees in it was up to Bret and I to lug them up the stairs. Actually, it wasn’t the stairs that gave us problems. It was navigating our way around and through the work area since we couldn’t see around the cartons. I was on my third trip when I felt something and immediately heard a curse. The box was knocked partially out of my hands and when I looked down there was Gina, flat on her backside and with her legs splayed apart. After I’d run into her she sort of bounced backwards and into a desk, falling down beside it. I was still in some sort of shock as I stared down at her. One of the other tellers came to her rescue and tried to lift her up but Gina shrugged her off. By then I’d gotten myself together and was able to get a bit of a look up her skirt as she pulled herself up on the desk.

We both were apologizing to each other. Gina’d been late in arriving and was rushing through the gate into the work area. I was hurrying to get the blankets in place before the doors opened. I asked if she was OK and she assured me that it was only her pride that had been damaged. In saying that she finished it of with one of what I called a ‘wicked smiles’.

When the doors opened all my people were in place and within a few minutes there were people waiting in line to open new accounts. That was a very good sign and I hoped the it would continue through the day. The flow of regular customers had slowed enough by lunch time that I felt I could allow the tellers to take their full hour. It appeared that even Bret and I could sneak out for a bite. When it was my turn I was headed across the street to the luncheonette and as soon as I was about to step out the front door, in walked Gina. When she saw it was me she laughed. I didn’t know what was funny so didn’t respond but just gave her a blank look. She sidestepped me and as she did said something I didn’t quite understand. The look on my face must have told her because she stopped and said, very clearly, “It’s getting to be a habit, isn’t it?”. When it registered in my brain I could feel my face getting red... and I headed for the luncheonette.

By the close of business almost 50 accounts were opened, our best day yet. I took the time to get the inventory straight and found we’d given away less than a dozen tool kits. That meant we had almost 275 of them left. The blankets were definitely the hot ticket. My bet would’ve been on the insulated picnic coolers. But less than 50 had gone out the doors. With four more days to go for the gift campaign we were going to have a ton of gifts left so I contacted the distributors for each to find out their return policy. That was a shock. We could ship the tool kits back at our expense and with a 10% restocking fee. The blankets could be returned in half gross lots but the coolers were ours.The Trustees, in their infinite wisdom, had bought a “close-out” item with no return provision.

With that information in hand and doing the extentions of just how many more gifts would be given, out I turned to let him know. I remember him wincing but not saying anything. I’d figured that we’d have over 180 of the unreturnable coolers left so suggested that we give one to every employee if the wanted one. The next day was the 4th of July and, to me, it appeared to be the right time to do something like that. It only took him about 10 seconds to lean forward in his chair and say “Do it!”

We had 23 regular employees and seven officers. I had Hank bring 30 coolers to the back door. We wanted to get everybody out the door as soon as we could and when the tellers struck a proof around 4:20 pm the word went out to have a happy 4th. Hobie wanted to be the one to hand them out but he was on the phone so Bret and I did it. I made sure Bret was the one to give Gina hers. I’m sure it made his day. I just didn’t want to get any more teasing from her... implied or real.

To be continued...