HOT, HOT, HOT... in many ways (Part 135c)

HOT, HOT, HOT... in many ways (Part 135c)

Never comfortable without Hobie when I was meeting with Trustees I immediately went to Trish to see who was on the mortgage committee for the month. They rotated every month with each Trustee serving as Chairman during the year. I was ambivalent to the first names she read off but when I heard ‘Polak Joe’, I cringed. There was another name I wasn’t too thrilled about, he being the chairman of the gift selection committee. I’d heard some ‘asides’ attributed to him about the poor presentation of the gifts so knew he’d have something to say before, during or after the mortgages were presented. But it was Joe that bothered me. This was the first time he would be actually voting on anything. Up to this time he'd been limited to his ‘words of wisdom’ (NOT!), and he had plenty to say. Before he left Hobie gave me a bit of a pep talk saying that the Chairman of the Board was on the committee this month and he’d keep Joe in check. I could only hope.

Trish was a big help getting me prepared with all the materials that were to be handed out. She’d given some indication that she was not a big ‘fan’ of Joe in the past and when he walked across the lobby a full half hour prior to the meeting she gave me a warning. Right from when he joined the Board he’d sidle up to employees and ask them questions about how things were going. When he did that to her he turned her off as he was trying to get something on Hobie. On this afternoon he went right to Gina’s window. I was in no position to hear any conversation but on almost every window transaction the teller would have to leave the window to get a ledger card or to check a signature. Gina never left her position. After seeing Joe with Gina for so long Trish made the comment that she didn’t like the looks of it. It was a bit of a surprise to me in that Trish had never ‘taken’ to Gina. It was primarily due to the fact that she was an unwed mother. Being Polish, Catholic values prevailed but now her distrust of ‘Polak’ Joe overrode that.

I still had to work on the 'numbers' for the new account campaign but felt it behooved me to talk with Gina. During the ‘busy period’ I’d made a point of using the other tellers to avoid any sly comments from her. But this was important. She had left her window to get a ledger card so I intercepted her. It took a few seconds for me to make myself clear that she’d done nothing wrong but that I dearly needed to know why Joe had spent so much time with her. She seemed puzzled with the question but managed to say that he wanted to know how the teller area was functioning. She had to get back to her customer and I had to finish my preparations for the meeting so I left it at that. At least he was consistent with his inquiries.

I’ve tried to come up with one word to describe the meeting and decided upon “frenetic’. The Chairman of the Board was supposed to be there as just a member of the mortgage committee but he didn’t show up. The chairman of the mortgage committee saw that he was missing a total of three members and didn’t know if he had enough to constitute a legitimate meeting. If Hobie had been there or the Trustee that was a local attorney it could’ve been easily determined. But he wasn’t sure so he went to the telephone. While he was doing that Joe took control of the other members who were there. It was as if he was in charge, asking what they thought of the new account/gift campaign. I was expecting a comment or two from the sub-committee chairman who had chosen the gifts but Joe blindsided me. He went around the table, basically ‘grilling’ the others and in some cases actually ‘led’ their answers. It was obvious that he thought that it could’ve/should’ve been better and he managed to get the others to fall in line. The sub-committee chairman never protested being bypassed. Never once was I asked a question or allowed to speak to inform them of the results.

By the time he was finished the Trustee who’d been on the phone reported that they could review the applications and their action(s) would be ratified at the next meeting. I thought that would be the end of Joe’s verbal assault(s). Out of the seven or eight mortgages that were reviewed Joe asked pointed questions on at least four of them. J J, the mortgage officer, was there to present them and I could see his face get redder with each challenge from Joe. When J J finished he was told by Joe that there were too many unanswered questions and that for the following week’s meeting he wanted to see an improvement. My thoughts were where does he get the 'balls' to do something like that?

I think I told you that J J was Irish and also from the city. When he exploded at Joe I wanted to cheer. The two yelled back and forth for a few minutes before some of the other’s got in between them. J J’s face looked like a ripe tomato while Joe just stood there with his arms folded across his chest as if to say ”Come on! Try me!“. Bert, the president, wasn’t a member of the Committee for July but someone had notified him about all the shouting. When he appeared in the doorway I thought J J was a goner, for sure. Bert told him to go to his (Bert’s) office and wait. I was excused and headed downstairs. When I left the room the Trustees were just milling about with Joe still in the ‘challenge me’ position. Downstairs, the employees had gone for the day and I knew better than to wait around. Driving home I wondered if I’d see J J at the bank again. Another ’Hot’ day!

The way the day had gone I’d not thought all that much about the fire at the Always Inn and how Bebe and her family were doing. However, as soon as I got in the car that’s where my thoughts went. I stopped at the firehouse hoping that there would be someone there who could give me an update. The Chief, a big, rugged man was standing on the apron looking at two of their three trucks as I pulled up. I knew him from one of my parent’s parties. The stern look on his face made me think twice about approaching him... but I did. He didn’t recognize me but when I identified who my my parents were his demeanor changed. Still, with a dour look on his face, he sort of whispered that the news wasn’t good. It wasn’t ‘for publication’ but it appeared that Bebe’s brother had died in the fire.

During the day Elle had received a number of calls about the fire but didn’t add anything to what I already knew. I debated with myself to tell her about the death but decided to keep it to myself. It was a quiet meal with little conversation. The girls picked up on it and Elle suggested that I take them outside to play. The weather, still very warm and rain free, was now taking it’s toll on the lawn. I pulled out an old lawn sprinkler that I’d gotten when my grandparents house was sold. I called it ‘the clicker’ because as it sprayed the water it made a clicking sound. My grandfather had attached it to a wooden crate that had been used to deliver glass soda pop bottles way back in time. I’d had a lot of fun with it when I’d lived with my grandparents and thought the kids might like it. I set it up and turned the water on... then, fully dressed, ran underneath the stream of water coming from it... much to the delight of the kids. Kaye, the youngest, decided to do it as well and laughed the whole time. The trouble with that was that she also had on clothes and not a bathing suit. Elle saw us and came out from the house, yelling at me. I actually thought it was cute so ignored her and challenged the older two to follow me. Elle tried to stop them but they, wanting to have fun the same fun as their little sister took off under the stream of spraying water. On what was probably my third of fourth ‘pass’ through it I headed for Elle, grabbing her around the waist. I held her there even though she was yelling at me to let her go. I could see the stream headed our way and made sure she got a good dousing. When that happened the kids went wild with laughter. Elle broke free from me and, now pretty much soaked, started chasing me with all the kids following. I headed for the hedge between our house and Sabrina’s and as I did, Sabrina appeared.

To be continued...