BACK TO WORK... surprises & changes (part 137i)

BACK TO WORK... surprises & changes (part 137i)

Apprehension concerning how the joint interview would go notwithstanding, I was looking forward to seeing Moira again. When she relaxed she had a delightful personality. I felt she‘d fit in well with the others in the accounting department. She wouldn’t be the youngest as Mala had that distinction and certainly wouldn't be the oldest. Moira was at the back door when I pulled into the parking lot. Easy to spot because of her height and red hair, I walked up to her and asked how she felt. She had a quick, but not flip, answer that showed she had a sense of humor. I escorted her inside and right to my desk. She was dressed modestly as she had been in prior visits so there were no voyeuristic thoughts as she settled into the side chair. I was curious to know if anything had changed as far as her husband was concerned but there was no opening to pursue that thought. Bette appeared right on the dot of 9am. I have to admit that she was civil toward me but I could see that she was still upset. Because Bette had very little turnover in her department and hadn’t done any real interviewing she was ill prepared to ask probing questions. She didn’t ask much about what Moira’s responsibilities were when she’d worked in the bookkeeping area in previous employment. I jumped in and had her describe just what it was that she did as well as the equipment she used. There was a little more back and forth before I asked Bette if she had any more questions. I caught her by surprise and she just nodded her head back and forth. Then I told Moira that she’d hear from us by the end of the day. She smiled and shook both our hands and started towards the back door. As soon as she went through the area gate Bette blurted out something along the lines of why didn’t I hire her right then and there. I had to stifle a smile as I told her that it was her decision and not mine plus that her job description and salary would have to be worked out. I won’t bore you with all that but it drove home the point to her that interviewing wasn’t all as easy as seeing a person that you liked and saying ”You’re hired!“

By the end of the day we’d come to an agreement as to just how she would be utilized and what the pay would be. I told Bette she could call to offer the position. That made her day. She was dialing Moira’s number as I walked away. I hadn’t made it back to my desk when Trish, holding onto the phone receiver, motioned to me that the call was for me. It was Bette wanting to know if Moira could start on Monday. When I said ”yes’ she immediately asked if she could come back and fill out all the paperwork that afternoon. I had no problem if the woman wanted to waste gas to come in and do it so told her “sure”. The last thing I expected then was to hear Bette say “Thanks” for helping her out. I remember just shaking my head. I told Trish to put together the package of forms necessary when we had a new hire. She couldn’t believe Moira was coming back just to do it. We stood there and both of us had smiles on our faces.

I was leaving early to go out to the picnic grounds for my parking lot duty and as I got out of the back door I saw her rushing towards me. I stopped and the next thing I knew I was being hugged. When she let me go I asked what that was for. Her answer, “Because you believe in me.” surprised me. Then she stepped back and very sincerely said “Thank you. You just saved me and my kids.”  I know I’ll never forget those words. But, as I tried to excuse myself I remembered the two tickets to the picnic stuck in my desk calendar. On an impulse I grabbed her hand had tugged her towards the door. Once inside I let it go but had her follow me over to Trish’s desk. She wasn’t there, which was good in a way, and I went and got the tickets and gave them to her. Being relatively new to the area she was totally unaware of it. I apologized for not having a third ticket because I knew she had two children. That’s when I saw her relaxed smile appear again. She explained that two tickets were perfect as her son worked as a pool-boy on Saturdays but that she and her daughter would be there. Now it was my turn to smile.

The “Parking Lot Boys”, as we called ourselves, had remained the same for the three years I’d been involved. All of us had kids and we all had the same idea of getting our volunteer work out of the way so we could be with our families to enjoy the picnic itself. The guys who set up the fire pits had a small fire going and were planning on cooking up hamburgers for us to eat. The guy who donated the beer for the picnic was there setting his area up. I remember him coming out to the parking lot and asking if we’d be the “official beer testers”. No one declined. It was past 9pm by the time we finished up and actually had car headlights guiding us for the last few posts. It was the most fun I’d had since “Big B” was attempting to be a race car driver. I missed hanging around with a bunch of guys.

Before leaving the picnic grounds I staked out a place for Elle and the kids to park themselves just as I’d done in previous years. As a volunteer I could use the back entrance to the grounds which saved a LOT of time as it avoided the long lines of cars at the main entrance. It seemed strange not to have some friends with us though. Even going back to the days when we lived in the mobile home park and had to pay to go to the picnic we always had somebody with us. As we spread our blankets I wondered about Sabrina. As I said, I’d had the thought to invite her along with her boyfriend, Martin, in spite of the fact that she, more or less, annoyed me.

To be continued...