The Board meeting was scheduled for 7:30pm and it was just a little after 7pm when I arrived There were already almost as many cars as there had been the night of the election. I’d called Jon (the milkman) to see if he had any idea of what he and the other Board members were facing and he said there was nothing concrete, only speculation. He added that the meeting was closed and the order of business was to elect officers for the upcoming year and to ratify some teacher contracts. Walking up the steps I heard some less than complimentary comments pointed at me. I recognized one woman who called me an ‘outsider’ and that I should go back to where I came from. In a way it was funny because I was (and still am) twelfth generation in the township. I noticed some older ‘locals’ in heated discussions with some of the younger people who were there. Not that I’d attended many of the open meetings but it just seemed strange. I asked one of Elle’s high school classmates if he knew what the fuss was all about and all he could say was that he’d gotten a call to just show up at 7pm.
The meetings were normally held in the library which was on the second floor. That meant that the members had to come through the front doors and then climb the stairs. In so doing they would have to face the gathering. Looking at the way the people had positioned themselves there was no way for the members to get up the stairs. Standing there I could hear the decibel level getting higher and higher. I was waiting for some Board members to arrive when I saw two somewhat familiar faces walk through the doors... two of the Trustees from the bank. One owned a local business in town and was the one that somewhat forced me to get involved on the Vestry of the church. The other was “Polak Joe”. They both smiled and acknowledged the other ‘locals’ pretty much ignoring the younger members of the crowd. Seeing them told me that this was ‘big’.
I really didn’t want them to see me so I moved down the hall a bit. One of the parents who lived in the neighborhood with Bob and “Polak Joe” was there so asked him why Joe was there. He gave me a funny look and then said he was involved “in everything”. I immediately wondered if he’d had anything to do with the voting change that had been passed by the school board right before the vote. When I’d asked one of the bank Trustees who was an attorney if it was legal he’d told me to “drop it”. It made me think the reason had been that Joe was now on the bank board and that if I pursued it that he could make things tough on me. The more I saw of the man the more I disliked him.
It was obvious when the school board members arrived. There was a big ‘push’ to go out the front doors to confront them. I stayed back. It turned out that the protest was to let the Board members know they wanted the meeting opened up to the public. The existing president told them “No way!” and he led the members that were with him back down the steps. As people continued to flow out the front doors I finally got there and saw them running across the lawn trying to stop them. I decided to go home. It was a classic case of attempted mob rule and I wanted no part of it.
In spite of repeated attempts to reach both Jon (the milkman) and Bob after getting home I was unsuccessful. Elle had gone to bed before the late news on TV and after watching it gave up myself. I didn’t have to make any calls to find out what had happened. Bob called me just after 7am. The Board president got word to the other members to meet him at his house and then called the police. He’d been a town Trustee and knew the police Chief well. Fully expecting trouble, he requested a couple of patrol cars to park out front of his house. As soon as the ‘rowdies’, as he called the mob, started towards the house they stepped in. The Board went ahead and held the meeting and the ‘news’ was that on a four to three vote they elected not to renew the contract of the principal. It was what Pat (the PTA lady) had been working with the ‘group’ for but my first thought was what was going to happen when the word got out. It didn’t take long to find out.
Elle had already called the bank before I got there. She’d heard that three long time teachers were about to hand in their resignations. Selfishly, I thought about Elle getting a job there but quickly dropped it. We’d agreed that Elle would go to full time teaching until Kaye was in school full time. Back on track, it sort of made sense for some of the long time and loyal teachers to leave. I knew of a couple that should’ve retired years ago. Jean had one in her first year and if Elle hadn’t been a teacher she would’ve fallen behind. I thanked her for calling and told her I’d check with her at lunchtime.
The morning mail brought some expected but unwanted news... the official written report of the regulators examination. Bert, Hobie and, to some degree, I knew what was in it. The bank could’ve started in on the recommendations that had been verbally made but had made the decision to wait for the report. That meant we had less time to implement them. So... I spent the rest of the morning in a planning meeting. When we broke for lunch I called Elle. The count was now up to six teachers who were planning on retiring or resigning with some actual names to go with it. Since I hadn’t ever thought about that possibility I didn’t know how to rate the information as to being good or bad. But, there was more. Bob, when he'd called, hadn’t told me that the Board had agreed to revisit the entire physical education program for the school. She said that Phyl, Bob’s wife, told her that it would probably be the next ‘bomb’ to go off. In some of the “’group’ meetings we had discussed the fact that ”The Coach“ had far too much power and I wondered if that wasn’t what she was meant.
One positive that came from the afternoon meeting was that there would definitely be some ’movement’ in pursuing a servicing company. It looked like my little visit with one of the examiners where I gave him my candid assessment of the Board’s lack of action was going to pay dividends. When we were done I checked with Bret to see how his day had gone. He surprised me with a huge grin and showed a thumbs up. I asked why and he pointed to Gina. I knew he had a ‘thing’ about her so it had to have been something really positive. He pulled me over behind his desk and said ”Light blue“ and nothing else. It only took a few seconds for me to figure out that he’d gotten a peek at her panties. I was jealous!
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133b)
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133b)
When I got home that night Elle greeted me with one word... ”WOW!”... and then proceeded to tell me that the fallout from not renewing the principal’s contract was all over the town. She’d gone to town to get the mail and that’s all anybody wanted to talk about. She added that a couple of her mother’s friends had some unkind words to say to her for supporting “an outsider” who was going to cause taxes to be raised. After eating I tried to get in touch with both Jon and Bob but they weren’t home. Saturday was supposed to be the first day to open up the sailing club and I’d promised Rex that I’d be there so spent the time after supper doing the lawn. There was still daylight when I finished up so did a walk around the house to see if anything needed attention. When I came to the East side, the side closest to Sabrina’s house I saw a red Ford Mustang in the driveway. I’d never seen one there before so wondered who was visiting her.
Inside the house I heard Elle on the phone with Ginger. I, more or less, knew she was going to have the bladder sling procedure fairly soon. Elle had talked with her about the whole thing, especially the recovery time, and had decided she wasn’t interested. Ginger had said she’d be “out of commission” for about six weeks and Elle, on top of her fear of any kind of operation, couldn’t see having to pretty much give up her Summer to recover. She’d lived with her ‘problem’ for so long that she’d adapted to it. I overheard Elle offer to look after a couple of her kids if it would help her out. I got her attention enough to ask if Jon was home yet. She nodded positively so I waited for a few minutes to talk with him.
I wasn’t real ‘close’ with Jon but I had respect for him and his beliefs so asked if he (and the other three who’d voted not to renew the contract) had contemplated the reaction. He hesitated a bit and admitted that they hadn’t really discussed it but went on to say that the Board president had called for a special, closed, meeting for Sunday. He wouldn’t go any further than that.
At the sailing club I couldn’t believe that so much of the talk was about the school situation. Less than half the people who were there lived in the school district all year round. I asked one of the people who only spent Summers there why the interest. He shrugged and said it was just a “change of ”pace“ to the idle, inane conversations that usually took place at the club. I thought about it for a few seconds and sort of agreed with him.
It was good to see the activity as the storm windows came down and the boat racks were re-assembled. I’d hoped that when the women arrived to make lunch that some would offer up a VPL (visible panty line) or DP (down pants). However, when they arrived around noon time the only one who offered up anything of interest was Elle. However, she knew the water hadn’t been turned on for the bathrooms so she wore a partial ‘package’. I, because I’d seen it many times before, recognized the little bulge between her butt cheeks. I’d assured her, many times, that it wasn’t noticeable to others. Truthfully, it didn’t show much more than a regular sanitary pad did. I definitely remember surveying the group and missed seeing some of the familiar faces of just a few years past. But, that’s what marriage and having kids did. I felt lucky that Elle was still participating.
Later that afternoon I ended up going to the landfill. As I’ve mentioned before, going late in the day meant less people and a quicker turn around. I’d unloaded my stuff and was making a quick ‘pass’ to see if I could score some ‘treasures’ like the previous week. The last person I expected to bump into (literally) was the president of the local commercial bank. He was digging into a pile of rags and as he turned towards his car he hit me. We both laughed. I remember saying something to him about never knowing who you could run into at the dump.But, after putting the rags in the trunk of his car he asked what was going on with the school. I really didn’t know what to say to him. His daughter was in the same class as my oldest daughter, Jean. Knowing it was near closing time I didn’t want to get harassed by the attendant like the week before so I asked him to call me when he got home.
Driving home I felt somewhat important. Even though I’d lived in town, off and on all my life, we’d never spoken before. Knowing his position I knew I had to couch what I told him very carefully. When the call came in he opened by telling me to call him”Ski“. Needless to say, he was Polish.
Once I started it was like I was a used car salesman. But, as soon as I started talking about the quality of the education in our school being somewhat inferior as compared to neighboring school districts he got his wife on the line as well. I’d used the fact that Elle had taught in a number of schools other than the one in our town and had first hand knowledge.That seemed to impress them. By the time we hung up I felt I’d made an important ally. They promised to ”get the word out“ to their friends that the changes were warranted. I'd also mentioned, in an off-hand way, that 'Polak Joe' seemed to be involved with the controversy and got a laugh from him. I couldn't draw him out on that but it did seem to confirm it as fact.
After supper I took a peek in Sabrina’s yard and saw the Mustang was there again. The fact that it was was now getting to me. The first time I saw it I was curious but now I was a bit intrigued... did Sabrina get her own car? Elle had wanted the lawn swing placed in the back yard right outside the kitchen window so she could observe the kids playing in it without being outside with them. I decided to go sit with them for a few minutes but not so much to play with them but to be in a position to see/hear activity next door. Luck was with me because after just a few minutes I heard voices. A quick peek through the hedge revealed Sabrina getting into the passenger seat of the car but I couldn't who was driving. I found that very interesting... did she have a new suitor?
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133c)
Sleep didn’t come easy that night. The school board issue was primary but the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting at the bank on Wednesday was also floating around in my brain. Awake early on Sunday I decided I wasn’t going to church. The majority of the members were truly ‘locals’ and I just didn’t want to participate in any more talk concerning the principal and how unfair it was to have ‘outsiders come in and change things. At first Elle was upset but when I asked if she wanted to put up with it she agreed.
Working at the sailing club on Saturday had really reawakened my desire to get back to sailing again. My father had let me store our Sunfish in his garage for the Winter and now, with some free time, was a good time to go retrieve it and to get it ready for the sailing season. Elle asked if I would take the older two girls with me saying that it would be a way to get them interested again. We planned on enrolling them in the sailing lessons at the club and when we brought the subject up in dinner conversations they didn’t seem all that enthusiastic. I knew it would mean more work on my part but to keep peace,I agreed.
The first thing we had to do was say hello to my parents. They were eating breakfast out on the lawn by the water. The girls, seeing the beach, wanted to head right there but I told them they had ”work to do“. So, the three of us along with my father headed for the garage. As expected, I found the boat covered with empty cardboard boxes that my father was always collecting. Seeing them reminded me of when I’d hidden my ‘stash’ of panties there a few years earlier and had a panic attack when I found that he’d cleaned the garage up. Fortunately, the boxes with my things had survived the ‘purge’. The girls felt important as they helped move the boxes and it kept them busy as I collected all the parts and pieces that made up the complete boat. When I told them I’d set the boat up in the back yard complete with the sails they started to get interested. It was a start.
At home, I left the trailer with the boat attached to it hitched to the car. I felt it would be more stable and would make it easier to work with the girls. As soon as I put the sail up with it’s bright green and white stripes the girls really got excited. Elle came out with Kaye and watched as i put the older girls up on the deck and proceeded to go over the names of all the different parts of the boat. Fortunately, there wasn’t much wind so having the sail up wasn’t a problem. Both the older girls did a good job remembering the basics which I’d taught them the year before and as I was finishing up with them they started pestering to actually go sailing in the water. I could see Elle shaking her head in a negative way. She wanted me to be the ‘bad guy’ and say no. But... I was rescued by a red mustang pulling up the driveway.
As the driver door opened I saw Martin. I remember standing there staring at him and almost not believing my eyes. He didn’t own a car and his parents car, which he used when he was visiting them, was a big gold Cadillac. Then I saw Sabrina exit the passenger side of the car. I remember this scene like it was yesterday. She bounded out of the car and ran up to the boat. With her lisp that was more like baby talk all I could hear was ”I wuv it! I wuv it!“. Then turning to me she just about ordered me to take her for a sail sometime.
I’m sure you’ve all noted my ‘asides’ about Sabrina. Well, in my mind taking her for a sail at anytime would be a test of my patience. My two girls were sitting on the deck with their feet in the cockpit and the next thing I knew Sabrina had jumped up onto the opposite side deck. Her legs were still outside the boat. Then she started to swivel and lifted her legs so they would clear the side and get them into the cockpit as well. As she did Martin and I had a nice crotch view... but for only a second or two. In seeing white I pretty much knew what they were... Carter’s cotton panties. However, just seeing them for only that short time made me think back to the flowered panties I’d seen her wearing one time before. They were still a mystery.
The story behind the red Mustang was that Martin had bought it from his brother who had been drafted. He didn’t come right out and admit it but the reason was so that he could drive out from the city to see Sabrina when he wanted. The train schedule was less than ideal and even though finding parking in the city was hard (and expensive) he was obviously smitten enough with Sabrina to do it.
There were no more peeks that afternoon. Martin made sure of that. By the time they left I’d made a half hearted promise to take them both sailing. I knew it wouldn’t be in the Sunfish... three adults (if you wanted to give Sabrina that much credit) were actually two too many. I knew I could borrow big ”B’s“ sailboat almost any weekday and there was always someone where both my folks and Elle’s folks lived who would do the same.
When I was putting the boat away I felt the time had been worth it. The girls now appeared to be looking forward to lessons especially when they heard that some of their friends would be joining them. Elle had contact with Ginger late that afternoon and found she would be going in to the city for her procedure the next morning. Elle agreed to relieve her mother from baby sitting duties for an hour or two for the days she’d be in the hospital. As Elle was telling me this she raised a surprise question... were we going to try and make a pair of dribble panties with the plastic crotch attached? It surprised me but it also reminded me that Willy, my sailing friend who ran a lingerie manufacturing company, hadn’t called me back. I made another mental note to go along with about a dozen others rattling around inside my brain.
After a number of tries I finally was able to get in touch with Bob to find out what transpired at the special meeting the president of the school board had called. He was somewhat reluctant to discuss it but did say the general purpose was to try and convince the members to rethink the decision not to rehire the principal. Of course that answer piqued my interest further and after some serious badgering he admitted that they held the course and let the decision stand. The tone of his voice told me there was more so I pushed harder. The president of the Board got so upset that he resigned his position as president and that Wally, (the plumber) one of the newly elected members, was voted to take his place. That news just took my breath away and I really didn’t hear any more of what Bob was saying. I just couldn’t believe it. As I’ve mentioned before, Wally was one of the most negative people I’d ever met and I wondered just what was in store for us all. Elle and I talked for quite a while about the situation before going to bed. I remember making a comment to her about Pat (the PTA lady) and how she was going to take the news of Wally as president. Elle actually made sense when she said it didn’t matter and we’d all have to live with it.
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133d)
Elle and I talked for quite a while about the situation before going to bed. I remember making a comment to her about Pat (the PTA lady) and how she was going to take the news of Wally as president. Elle actually made sense when she said it didn’t matter and we’d all have to live with it.
It was shaping up to be a really big week at work as the full Board of Trustees meeting was that Wednesday. One thing I failed to mention was that both Bret and I were up for our annual salary review. The idea of it drifted in and out of my conscious thoughts but I wasn’t obsessed with it like the last one a year earlier. The chairman of the salary committee was the attorney who seemed to have my best interests at heart and Hobie, my immediate boss, had dropped a hint or two about a favorable result. As the day got closer though I’ll admit I thought about it more.
Hobie mentioned that each of the sub committees was on the meeting agenda which meant it would be a long one. There was the salary committee; the gift/new account committee; branch committee location committee; transaction processing committee; examining committee and, of course, the weekly mortgage applications. It also meant that each of those sub committees would be meeting prior to Wednesday and I’d be seeing most of the Trustees, coming and going for the next few days. As far as lobby traffic and being busy was concerned it was about normal for just a week before the ‘busy period’ was to begin. It did give me time to, again, place a call to Willy. All I wanted was to know if he was planning on spending any time during the Summer, locally. As they say, ”three’s a charm“ and this time it was. He apologized telling me he’d been doing a lot of traveling, trying to open up new territories. I was encouraged when he said he’d make an effort to touch base with me because he wanted to check up on the family property. That information was enough for me to think about making an experimental pair of ‘dribble panties’ for him when he did show up. Another mental note..
When the written examination report from the examiners had arrived the previous week the one item I was told to get on right away was to hire an experienced person for the accounting area. We didn’t have any applications in the file that even came close to meeting the experience qualification that the report called for. That meant putting an advertisement in the paper, something I really didn’t want to do. I told Trish about my reluctance and she asked if she could speak to me, confidentially. That was rare for Trish as she would usually say what ever was on her mind. To say I was surprised is putting it mildly and when she got up and motioned me to follow her over to the corner by Hobie’s desk I was puzzled.
When I was hired I was met with some resistance from a group of long time employees that I dubbed ”The Polish Mafia“. Trish was one of the leaders followed closely by Laurie, the bookkeeping machine (computer?) operator along with a teller who went by the nickname of Mala. Over time I’d managed to gain some trust by both Trish and Laurie but Mala was, at best, arms length away. She’d left to have a baby a little over a year prior and when she left she made some statements that were less than complementary to the bank with the bulk of it directed at me. Having reiterated all that you can imagine my great surprise when Trish told me that Mala wanted to come back.
I’d gone out of my way to make things easier for her during her pregnancy and yet she still seemed hostile towards me so I was leery of the idea of hiring her back. However, Trish said that she thought Mala would be perfect for the accounting department. I stood there facing Trish and, truthfully, thought it was a great idea. Mala had always shown that she was head and shoulders above all the other tellers including Cara. I remembered my talks with Hobie when I’d made the comment that it was a shame she never had a chance to go to college. My mind, running 100 miles per hour on a dirt road, felt that we (Hobie, Bert [the president} and I could) ‘sell’ the examining committee of the idea especially since most of the Trustees knew her from her days as a teller. On top of that she, in spite of the fact that she was younger that Bette who would be her boss, got along well with her. I really wanted to hug Trish but I just told her that she had come up with a brilliant idea and I promised that I’d fight for it. That got a smile from her (and you’d have to have known her to know how great an accomplishment that was).
My euphoria was short lived when early that afternoon I saw ”Polak Joe“ walking across the lobby. The look on his face never seemed to change. It was a half smile that one might’ve gotten after telling a poor joke. It didn’t even change when he spoke. It was, as Bret so aptly described it, ”painted on“. I was not privy to sub committee assignments so had no idea what meeting he was attending. To me he was like a dark cloud. I now knew that he was part of the opposition to Bob’s candidacy for the school board but didn’t know the breadth and depth of it. J J’s warning about him when he first appeared at the bank just hung over everything he was involved in.
Hobie got called upstairs to one of the sub-committee meetings and as he walked by my desk he made the off-hand comment ”Wish me luck!“. I didn’t like the sound of it and although I had no reason to stay late I manufactured some things to do while waiting for him to return. His demeanor foretold of some less than good news but since all of the sub-committees were in some way related to my areas of responsibility I wanted to know what took place. The hope was that a direction for transaction processing was going to be acted upon by the full board. That to me was the most important as here we were still saying prayers that our current equipment would make it through the busy period... again.
I got the impression that Hobie wasn’t expecting to see me still there when he returned to his desk. I didn’t say anything but put both my hands up as if I were asking ”What’s up?“ He hesitated before saying anything but finally muttered ”It’s going to be interesting.“ Of course that didn’t help me out and I asked what he meant. With a look of resignation on his face he said ”We’re back to square one.“ Since I had no idea what sub-committee(s) met I was still in the dark. Finally, after big sigh he said something about the new Trustees and how they were going to have to be ”educated“. Since one of them was ”Polak Joe“ it gave me a clue... and not a good feeling.
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133e)
At home, Elle had some ‘news’ regarding the school Board. She’d gotten a call from Phyl about Ginger and learned that there was another ”special’ meeting coming up on Thursday night. After telling Elle about it she realized she shouldn’t have said anything about it and promised not to say anything. Find me a female who’s told to keep a secret, and will, would have to be a corpse. To me it didn’t make much difference since I was no longer involved and whatever they decided we were all going to have to live with. I had more to worry about than that.
Speaking of Ginger, her procedure was scheduled for the next day. Elle agreed to take her two older girls for the afternoon to give her mother a break. I didn’t really understand the operation although I knew what it was supposed to correct but I also knew Elle was monitoring the whole thing. The recovery time was going to consume most of the Summer and Elle wasn’t about to give that up. However, she truly wanted to know all she could, especially the results.
Tuesday found Hobie in much better spirits. I didn’t want to ‘bug’ him but, as I said, all the sub-committee actions would affect my areas of responsibility. The specific thing I wanted to know about was his comment that the new Trustees had to be “educated”. I don’t remember how I got him to open up on that but it boiled down to the fact that they both had come in thinking it was like a country club where they could just walk in and join committees of their choice. It was Joe that got Hobie’s ire up when he decided he wanted to be on the salary committee. How do I put it... it was the most prestigious sub-committee at the bank and the members had been chosen over a period of time. Hobie didn’t go into detail but did say that he talked his way into listening in on the discussion. THAT bothered me!. I wasn’t as interested in the other new Trustee so only half-heartedly listened as Hobie told me about his gaffe.
That bit of information had me thinking more and more about my salary increase as the day progressed. Hobie and the attorney Trustee had given me hints that I was in line for a nice raise. My hope was that Joe had been told to just observe and to not speak. The ‘sting’ of the school Board election and him knowing I worked hard to get Bob elected were factors in my thoughts.
It was about 2pm when Hank, the messenger custodian walked across the lobby floor about as fast as I’d ever seen him go. He was huffing and puffing but it wasn’t because he was out of breath so much as the fact that he’d just had a run-in with a truck driver with a delivery/ I asked what was being delivered and all he could say was that there were “a lot of big boxes”. When we got to the parking lot there was this tractor trailer basically blocking the ingress/egress to the the lot. A rough looking, burly man was standing by the back door of the trailer with his arms folded. I asked him what was in the trailer and he shot back “Eighteen cartons... where do you want them?” I got him to give me the packing list and found that they were the picnic coolers for the gift campaign. I was totally unprepared for a delivery but I knew I had to get the truck and trailer moved. The cellar door was right there and after determining that they didn’t weigh all that much, told him to toss them down the opening. While this was taking place customers were blowing their car horns to try and get the truck to move. To add to it a couple of Trustees walked by and queried what was going on.
Thankfully, the heat was off and the boiler was cold. I grabbed Bret and Hank and we tried to straighten out the mess as a few of the cartons broke open and spilled coolers all around. All three of us were all hot and perspiring by the time we’d gotten them in some semblance of order. There were two gross of them in all and I wondered what the Trustees were thinking when they ordered them The doors were closed to the public when we got back upstairs and when I got to my desk Trish had a message for me to report to the Board room. It was not what I wanted to hear.
One of the long time Trustees was of the haughty type, wanting to know everything about anything. He wanted to know who was responsible for the mess in the parking lot. I didn’t know what to answer. I tried to explain that I’d gotten no indication that the items were being delivered in spite of my request to know so we would be prepared. The same Trustee then asked why I’d had all of the product delivered at one time and why it wasn’t being “dropped shipped” when needed. I had no answer because I’d not been involved in making the order. I started to mention this when another Trustee made a comment along the lines of hoping that the ‘gift program’ would go off better than this. I never got to finish. Going back downstairs I had to pass by the switchboard. Netta was busy trying to pull her blouse down with her hand up her skirt and I got a glimpse of white. I wasn’t sure if it was her slip or her panties but, for a few seconds, it took my mind off the criticism I’d just received. The one thing the last Trustee got right was that the program was off to a rough start.
I left at 5pm and actually made it home before Elle did. I’d changed my clothes and was checking up on the nuts and bolts of the lawn swing when I heard music from next door. Of course I had to go to the opening in the hedge to take a peek and there was Sabrina, lying on a chaise lounge with a radio. It only took a few seconds for me to realize that the flowered panties I’d seen her wearing a while back were actually the bottom part of a two piece bathing suit. Lying there I could see the bra matched the bottoms which, by the way, looked just like a pair of panties. I stayed there for maybe a minute before returning to the swing. I tried to remember just what else she was wearing on that day but I couldn’t. Thinking about it some more I couldn’t think of a reason for her to have done that.
Elle showed up shortly thereafter and had Bess, Ginger’s oldest daughter, with her. She looked a lot like her mother... round, rosy cheeks with dirty blonde hair. Anne had asked if she could stay over and after Elle had assured Ginger’s mother that it was no bother, she joined our girls. Just for the fun of it we decided to make supper a sort of picnic with the girls eating while sitting in the swing. It served to take my mind off work and the Board meeting the next day.
Just as we finished up Sabrina and Martin came through the opening in the hedge. Sabrina had on a mini dress and my immediate thought was to wonder if she had left on the bathing suit bottom. They wanted to know if we would join them for a birthday party for Bebe (Pete’s girlfriend) at her parent’s restaurant. “Big B” was going to be there as well as Tom, the other member of our racing pit crew. Elle, because of having Bess as a guest declined but said it would be OK for me to go. I hesitated for a few seconds and decided...What the hell!
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133f)
As I’ve mentioned, Bebe’s parents ran a restaurant... actually it was more of a bar that served food. It was located right on a creek and fishing boats were often tied up to the pier which offered up a bit of ambience. During the Summer season it was really popular on the weekends as they provided live music. Bebe and her parents lived right above the restaurant. Since the ‘season’ hadn’t yet started business was slow and the party, such as it was occupied one end of the bar. There were probably 15 people there to celebrate her birthday.
It was the first time I’d seen “B” since the racecar was sold and he didn’t seem to be in a good mood. The reason he was home during the week was that there was an inventory problem at the company where he was an over the road salesman. His first job with them was to manage the inventory and the owner wanted him to come back and fix the problem. The reason for his unhappiness was that he made his money on commission and, if he wasn’t selling, he wasn’t making money. When I asked if he knew how the car had done since he’d sold it and he laughed. The guy wrecked it in his very first race and hadn’t raced it again. I chatted with him about Martin and his infatuation with Sabrina and he seemed to be really surprised saying that Martin had really been ‘burned’ by the last girl he dated. I told him I thought he was in for trouble because, to me, she seemed like a ‘flake’.
Neither “B” nor I got into partying as we both had to go to work the next day. We pretty much sat and watched. The big surprise was in seeing my brother show up. It was the first time since Christmas that all five of the ‘unmarrieds’ had been together. My brother had changed jobs and was concentrating his time on that. Pete, who was dating Bebe, and Tom, who was a cousin of Jon (the milkman), were really close and had created a start up business for the Summer. Martin, who worked in the city, would join them on weekends. The fact that he was involved with Sabrina was a puzzle for all of them.
“B” gave me a ride home at about 11pm and, as expected, I found Elle asleep. Sleep was something that didn’t come easy for me and I finally got up around 6am. Knowing it would be a tough day I decided to get in really early. With so much on my mind I’d failed to notice that I was almost out of gas when I left and when I was about three miles from work, ran out... NOT WHAT I NEEDED!
After about 15 or so minutes I got picked up for a ride into town. It was after 8am by the time the bank building was in sight. I rationalized that I was still way early as I got out of the car directly across the street from the bank. I walked down the side of the building and as I got near the back I saw a trailer in almost the same position as the one from the day before. It took my breath away. The back door of the trailer was open and all I saw was a wall of cardboard cartons. The driver asked if I was with the bank and I really wanted to say that I wasn’t and when I said I was he handed me the bill of lading... forty eight boxes. The size of them told me that they had to be the blankets for the new account/gift campaign. Standing there staring at them I didn’t have any idea where to put them. I mumbled something about only having room for a few of hem and the driver very bluntly said I better find a place quickly or they’d end up in the parking lot.
Hank showed up a few minutes later but I couldn’t use him to help unload as he had to man the door. The driver pulled a few cases out and other than being a little unwieldy to carry weren’t all that heavy. I’d gotten about six into the lobby when Bret and J J showed up. We all took off our ties and jackets and managed to get them all inside in short order. That’s when the real problem arose... where to put them. All available space in the basement was occupied with the picnic coolers. There was no way that we could leave them in the lobby, no matter how neatly we stacked them. The only place was under the stairs. I knew from the get-go that would be a problem. By the time the doors opened to the public we had around 40 cases stacked up there. When Hobie showed up and we explained the situation he suggested the Board room for the last of them. When he made the suggestion I sensed a little smile on his face. He didn’t come right out and say it but I got the impression that he wanted to do it as a ‘message’ to the Trustees that management needed to be involved in the decision making process.
When the last carton was stacked the three of us (Bret, J J and I) needed to get cleaned up. Not only were we wet from persperation but out white shirts were covered with black smears from the dirt on the boxes. Bret offered to take us to his house which was only minutes away and Hobie told us to go across the street and buy new shirts, charging them to the bank. Bret declined that offer saying he had clean ones at home but suggested that J J and I head over to make our purchases while he called home to warn his wife we were coming.
Bret was waiting for us when we got back but since he walked to work each day I offered to drive. We decided that we really didn’t have time to shower on our way over. Bret’s wife wasn’t there when we got there but she’d left towels and a note. The note said she didn’t need to be around as three guys showered.
When it was my turn for the bathroom I remembered that there was a clothes hamper at the bottom of the linen closet. My first stop was right there. It was kids clothes on top but I did find one pair of ladies panties. I fully expected them to be cotton but I was a bit surprised when they turned out to be the Carter’s Spanky Pants but with elastic around the leg openings as opposed to the band leg type that Elle wore. I’d seen them for the first time at Sabrina's and didn’t know if I liked them or not. I knew I had to get washed up quickly so just put them back. I can’t explain why but I was a bit disappointed.
Arriving back at the bank Trish had a message for me to report to the Board room. I asked if Hobie was there and she said he and Bert (the president) had gone up to the office of the local attorney who was on the Board. That seemed strange because as far as I knew all the sub-committee meetings were held at the bank. I asked her if she knew which Trustees were up in the board room and she started to say something but stopped short... eventually saying that it was Mr D which was ‘Polak Joe’s“ formal name. To say I headed there with some trepidation would be accurate.
Walking into the room I saw Joe with a blanket in his hand. Along with him was the other new Trustee, the attorney from the Western part of the county. Seeing me, Joe asked why I’d picked out a blanket for one of the gifts. I was speechless... thank goodness. If I hadn’t been that day would’ve been my last at the bank. I just stood there, looking at him and thinking what an a__ h___ he was. I don’t know how long it was before I answered, as calmly as I could, that he should ask the chairman of the gift committee. I fully expected some sort of retort but all I got was an ”Oh...“
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133g)
Hobie arrived back to the bank around 1:30 or so. As the corporate secretary there were certain functions he had to do before and during full Board meetings. He was obviously behind schedule and in seeing that offered to help in any way I could. He declined but did make it clear to me that he expected me to be available to come into the meeting when he called. I did ask for some direction as to what subject I might be querried on and I remember the look on his face when he retorted ”Anything and everything!“.
The meetings started at 3pm sharp and it was about ten minutes after that when I got the first call. I went up the back stairs as it was more direct and quicker. When I walked in I saw all the trustees up and away from the table and gathered around a couple of the boxes of blankets that had been torn open. Some were holding the clear plastic wrapped items and were headed back to their seats. Hobie, upon seeing me enter, came up to me and, obviously agitated, ordered me to go get a dozen or more of the picnic coolers. When they had been delivered the cartons were just tossed down the cellar stairs with a number of cartons bursting open. The loose ones had been moved into the file storage area of he basement so, with Bret’s help it didn’t take long to retrieve them and to return. I knew what was going on and I’d voiced my displeasure about it to Bret as we made our way up the back stairs. It was almost comical to see the trustees sitting at the table with some of their faces blocked by their new found ‘loot’. Bret and I were told to distribute the coolers around the table and while we were doing it the chairman of the gifts committee ordered me to get them all a tool kit, the third gift for the campaign. I used a poor choice of words when I said ”I can’t.“ The words had hardly left my mouth when one of Trustees shouted out from behind his blanket ”What do you mean? That was an order!“
The one thing I took away from the following dialog was that both Bert (the president) and Hobie ‘had my back’. They both, almost simultaneously, stated that they hadn’t yet been delivered. It was Bert who directed his next comment to the Trustee who had admonished me and said that I deserved an apology. Whatever he said was lost with with the all the side conversations that were occurring around the table. At that point Bret and I were excused. I was fuming! When we got to the landing I turned to Bret and told him that if Hobie hadn’t spoken up I was going to tell that Trustee to go f___ himself. I remember Bret standing there with his head going up and down like a bobble head doll.
I was called back about fifteen minutes later to provide a copy of the print ad that would run in the local paper the following Thursday. The paper was only printed once a week and I’d been troubled by the fact that it was a day after the campaign was to start. I’d ordered the radio ads to start on Monday but you can’t display pictures on the radio. As the ad was passed around the table the new Trustee from the Western part of the county spoke out and said that I should put the ad in the ‘Pennysaver’ papers, the free and widely distributed publication that had little editorial content. They were distributed on Tuesdays. The ad agency and I had considered that but budget constraints had nixed the idea. When I tried to explain it was good old ‘Polak Joe’ who interjected his thoughts and boldly stating that if we didn’t advertise the bank was being ”pennywise and pound foolish“, having invested all that money in the gifts. Within seconds the ‘noise’ around the table was in favor of that. Bert called for a motion to approve additional money to run an ad in that type paper for the next two weeks and it was passed unanimously. I left the room wondering why the Board even bothered to hire managers since it seemed like they were now running the place.
I was on the phone with the ad agency when the next call came for me to return to the meeting. The agency told me that not only was the bank going to have to foot the bill for the ad space but, because of the formatting of the Pennysaver type publications, we would have to pay to have the ad redone to fit it. I decided not to bring that up when I returned.
The Board had finally, after many months, gotten back to reviewing service bureaus to process our savings transactions. It had been left for the committee that had been established to investigate the bank’s options to go visit the physical plants where they would actually be processed. When I walked in I was told to set up same day visitations for up to seven members of the Board. When I heard the number seven I know my face had to have shown the surprise. The original committee was only three members. As before, I didn’t say a word and stood there as I was given a number of calendar dates that would accommodate those who would be making the trip. As I made my way back down the stairs I knew I’d have a problem with one of the bureaus as they had forewarned me that their facility could only handle a few people at a time and had asked me to plan accordingly. But, I had my ‘marching orders’.
By the time I got back to my desk everyone had gone, even Hank. On nights when the meeting ran late Hobie would take care of letting the members out. If my salary wasn’t up for consideration I would’ve left too but I was determined to find out what my raise was to be. Already a bit paranoid about it, I wondered if the actions of the day would have any effect on the final outcome. I had to wait until after 6pm for Hobie to finally appear and another twenty or so minutes for him to let all the members out the door. He knew why I was still there and, after taking a deep breath, told me that it wasn’t what he and Bert (the president) had requested. That sounded ominous and I, literally, held my breath. I’d been hoping for a 10% raise based upon the increase in my responsibilities. That would’ve been a little over $700. When Hobie mouthed the words $750 I actually thought I’d misheard him. This time I was really at a loss for words.
Before I ever got a chance to speak Hobie told me that the meeting he’d attended at the local attorney’s office earlier in the day was actually a salary committee meeting. It was to supercede the one held at the bank the day prior. In the first one, even though Joe was told that he was only an observer, he continued to ask questions about how the merit system worked. Hobie said that, based on that, the attorney feared that that Joe would try, in some way to ”derail“ the salary raise proposal that would go before the Board. What he did was to contact, by phone, the other members that he felt would back him (and the proposal) should that happen. It wasn’t really a meeting but, as Hobie described it, ”insurance“. As much as I wanted to ask what actually happened, I didn’t. Hobie finished up by telling me that the only thing that changed was all the officers increases were reduced. Then he stood up and said ”Good night“.
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133h)
The amount of the raise was a surprise but I didn’t feel as good as I should’ve. Hobie’s last comment about all raises for the officers being reduced bothered me. It was flattering to know that I’d been recommended for more but something or someone had made the Board reduce the amount. As I gathered my things up I suddenly remembered that my car wasn’t in the parking lot... it was on the side of the road three miles out of town and out of gas.
Back in those days most businesses, including gas stations, closed by 6pm. After thinking about it for a minute I ended up calling my friend James. I knew, for sure, that his service station was closed but I was hoping he’d come to my rescue with not only gas but a ride to my car. Sympathetic to my plight, he said he’d be at the bank in about a half hour. It was past 7pm at that time and I’d really not eaten anything of substance all day. I called Elle, told her of the raise hoping that would mitigate my lateness. I didn’t go into the details of the car or the rest of my day though. It was a day to remember but not for all the right reasons.
At home and eating a warmed up meal I focused my conversation on what I thought we ought to do with the the extra money, about $20 per paycheck. We’d never had a savings account and I thought it was time we did. The extra money Elle had made for the last few weeks of the school year had taken care of some of the ‘wants’ on our want/need list so there was never a better time. I told her my goal was to have $250 by Christmas and she readily agreed.
It took a little time on Thursday to ferret out all the other happenings at the Board meeting. The new branch application was progressing and they approved two potential sites. The demographics for each were being done by a professional company and the hope was that work would be done by the next meeting. Hobie said that they hoped that if all went well it might be in operation by the following Summer.
The State banking examination report had been reviewed and the Board elected not to challenge any of the recommendations. However, the idea of re-hiring Mala and to put her into the accounting department was floated. Hobie said that Joe objected saying that she didn’t meet the criteria of ”an experienced accounting person“ as requested in the report. Since the majority of the members were familiar with her from when she was teller a motion was made and approved to go ahead with that. I smiled when I heard that more from seeing Joe get rebuffed than having Mala back. Hobie told me to contact her and to set up a meeting with Bette after the ”busy period“. Trish overheard our conversation and I caught her smiling as it had been her idea.
The day went by rather quickly with the ad agency providing a ‘proof’ of the Pennysaver ad for approval and with me trying to track down the missing tool kits. That last part had me frustrated as I was never sure the person on the other end of the line understood me. I wasn’t sure but she sounded like she was Asian.
In the back of my mind was the memory of their being another school board meeting that night. The talk about the old principal was dying down which was a good thing. I’d not had time to try to find out the purpose of the meeting but, driving home, figured I’d follow up on it before going to bed. Elle greeted me with the news that Ginger was home and that she’d been over to see her. Other than a reaction to the anesthesia she said Ginger came through ”with flying colors“. I knew Elle had pretty much rejected the thought of the procedure but asked anyway. I remember her smiling and shaking her head from side to side. My memory of her comment was that Ginger would be a ”turnip’ for the Summer... buried in her house, doing nothing and waiting for Fall to come.
I waited until around 10pm to call Bob. My plan was to use the excuse of reminding him that he needed to be at the sailing club on Saturday to help open the facilities for the season. The only thing wrong with it was that he wasn’t home. Phyl, his wife, said she was wondering where he was as well. I told her to have him call if he got in before 11pm. There was no call and I even waited until the late TV news was over before heading upstairs. Bob was usually pretty good at getting back with me on my calls so i was rally wondering what was going on at that meeting.
I’d just finished showering the next morning when Bob called. I wouldn’t call his tone ‘curt’ but there was an edge to it. No details, promising them later, but told me to be prepared for the “fit to hit the shan” when the public got wind of the meeting. I told him that wasn’t being fair but he just chuckled and hung up. At work I thought that maybe J J might have some information but he didn’t even know there had been a Board meeting. In talking with him I asked how Joanie, his new employee, was making out. I don’t remember his reply but it was along the lines of me not even thinking about moving her. I then decided to check with Lena to see what her observations had come up with. I almost laughed out loud when she told me that he hadn’t seem to “bother” her but the “interesting interaction” was between he and his secretary. Lynne. I just nodded.
When Bret and I got together to try and come up with how the whole flow of new account openings would mesh with the regular customers he told me that Gina had made a suggestion. I didn’t quite follow what he was saying so suggested that he get her to join us. Lobby traffic was painfully slow only emphasizing how busy it was going to get. I watched as Gina approached. Even with Summer clothes in vogue, Gina seemed to like to stick with grey’s and blues with an occasional plaid skirt but on this day she had on a pink seersucker dress. It made her look younger, not that she looked all that old to begin with. It was short but wasn’t the shortest one there. I told her that we needed more input on her idea for how the tellers would handle posting the deposit for new accounts while waiting on the lobby traffic. She exhibited a ‘knowing’ smile and said it was simple... just give them a receipt and then mail the passbook to them later. It made sense to me even though I knew that some customers would demand to have the book but anyone who would take a receipt would certainly alleviate the crush of people we expected. I thanked her and watched her give me the ‘knowing’ smile again.
She had been standing in front of my desk and as she turned to go, Hank, the messenger custodian came through the gate to put a parcel on Bret’s desk. She didn’t see him and ran right into him, knocking him into Bret’s desk. She sort of bounced off him and onto the floor at Hank’s feet. I jumped up immediately and got quite an eyeful. He right knee was up by her face and her whole backside was showing. The two peeks I’d had of her panties had been of colored bikini’s. These were not bikini’s. I’ll admit that I didn’t see much of her crotch but I saw white panties that went all the way up to her waist. I can’t explain why, with such and incredible view, I turned to Bret to see if he caught it as well. He did and in the split seconds it took to look at him Gina had managed to cover herself up. I was really upset with myself.
To be continued...
REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133i)
On the drive home that night I kept going back to the fact that I’d seen Gina wearing full brief panties. I’d totally written her off as a ‘bikini girl’. I also was beating myself up for not having kept my eyes on them when I had the chance. The whole event had been such a surprise... to all of us. The upside was it gave me hope that there might be another chance at some time in the future.
When I originally called Bob up to find out what had happened at the school board meeting all I was looking for was his assessment of the ‘players’... how the other members of the Board interacted with each other. The call I got that evening was almost as big a surprise as my peek of Gina’s panties. Pat (the PTA lady) had pretty much dismissed Wally (the plumber) as a non factor as far as any real input to changing the do nothing culture that had prevailed on the Board for so long. From what Bob told me, man, was she wrong! Bob went into detail (which I won’t do) but the sum and substance was that they agreed to hire a search firm to find a new principal... agreed to create a new position of assistant principal for the high school and to hire an elementary school principal. I remember thinking about what all that would mean for our property taxes and wondered if those who were against Bob’s candidacy weren’t right. I did voice that to Bob but he had a ready answer. Of the eight teachers who had either resigned or decided to retire, all but one was at the top of their salary range. New teachers hired to replace them would come in at the base or close to it. The money saved would almost cover the cost of the assistant principal and the new elementary principal. That news was a bit of a relief.
But there was more. The man they called “Coach” was actually the physical education teacher for both the boys and girls. There had been ‘rumblings’ about why the girls didn’t have their own but with our kids in the elementary school, it didn’t affect us directly. Pretty much on his own he’d made the whole athletic program his fiefdom. Up until the last school year he coached all three interscholastic boys teams, both varsity and junior varsity. With prodding from Jon (the milkman), the board stripped the JV basketball team from his grasp and had hired Johnnie, Sandy’s husband. Starting in the Fall he would only coach boys varsity soccer. New coaches, both for varsity and JV would be hired for the other sports. And if that wasn’t enough, they agreed to hire a woman to oversee girls physical education program and to make attempts to generate interest in expanding interscholastic competition for them as well. I knew “Coach” and I also knew he wouldn’t like it... at all.
I wasn’t sure I’d gotten it all straight (I didn’t) as I hung up the phone. Elle knew it was Bob and when the call took so long she decided to sit down on the floor to listen to what I was saying. Nothing like listening in to half a conversation! In any case, Bob’s last words were along the lines that when the whole story got out that he might need “protection”. He said the details would be in the weekly paper but that wouldn’t be for almost a week. In the meantime it would be all “rumors and gossip” and things would get “very interesting”.
I did manage to remind him about the sailing club duties for the next day. Elle was on lunch duty and was planning on bringing the kids. The season was to officially open the following Wednesday with registration for the lessons for the kids. Since both our older ones were going to be registered it meant we had to provide a Sunfish, I figured why not take it that morning where I could get some willing hands to get it placed on one of the lower racks we’d put together the previous Saturday. Activities for the day were to start at 9am but when I arrived around 8:30 or so I was amazed to see so many cars. It reminded me of the way it was when I’d rejoined the club after I’d quit racing the horses. The debacle with the Windmill class sailboats over the past two years decimated the adult membership as far as racing was concerned. That and having young kids and pretty much eliminated most of my old racing friends. When I looked around and saw seven Comet class sailboats (like what I had raced) it was encouraging. One of them was actually my old boat. I’d raced against the guy who bought it, Howie, when I first started racing. He’d been one of the ones who had left the club the previous year and joined another club further to the East.
When I went over to say “Hi“ I glanced inside the cockpit and there was his wife lying on her stomach and up under the forward deck. Not a particularly pretty woman, she’d always had one of the curviyest figures of the adult women at the club. When I was still a teenager she sailed with her husband and I was among many who drooled as she would walk by. Ten plus years later she still had that nice round bottom and it was there for me to view as I shook hands with her husband. She, because she was smaller and could fit up under the deck, had been tasked with trying to reattach a fitting. When Howie called out my name she immediately started to wiggle her way from out and under the deck. As she did I was the beneficiary of a moving VPL. On it’s own, it wasn’t very big but with her butt sticking almost straight up as she moved backwards it looked huge as it showed through the small check print of her shorts. Upon seeing me she asked where Elle was. I didn’t even get a ”Hi“. When I sold Howie the boat Elle and I’d re-connected with them we found out they had a daughter who was basically the same age as my two oldest girls. They also had an older son and that was who was going to be racing the boat. While we were chatting Rex blew the air horn to get the workers together and started on the task at hand so that ended that.
For the first time since I’d come back from racing the horses the clean up sessions to open the club went smoothly. It was primarily because there had been no bad Winter storms and very little damage. That meant there was a lot more ‘visiting’ between members. As we ate our lunch I did a quick survey and figured that more half the people there had joined just so their kids could get lessons and there were few 'hard core' racers. That, for sure, was why Bob and Phyl as well as Fritz and Nanci had joined. It was the first time I’d seen Nanci since the night of the school board vote. Since she was the school secretary and worked closely with the old principal I just had to ask what it had been like those first few days after the principal’s contract hadn’t been renewed. In spite of her being a part of the ‘group’ she said she was saddened by the action of the Board. That surprised me as I remembered her being one who had called him a ”do nothing“ principal. She further surprised me when she said she might also quit when the new principal was hired. Life and times in a small town!
Howie and his wife, Margaret (not Peggy or Maggie but Margaret) were easily ten years older that Elle and I. I’d never been real good friends with Howie but always respected him as a competitor when we were racing. Margaret was part of what I’d eventually come to call ‘the stand-offish group’ back in those days. But now there was something in common... our daughters. They kicked it off right from the beginning. We all felt that seeing a familiar face on the first day of lessons would be a boost to the confidence. For me, it would mean I might get some more VPLs or, at best, a peek. The fact that she was in her early 40’s and I was only 30 didn’t matter, especially with the figure she still had.
To be continued...
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