TRANSITIONING... to Autumn (Part 141j)

TRANSITIONING... to Fall (Part 141j)

Moira seemed happy to see me as I walked into her area. I’d be hard pressed to call it more that a glorified storage closet because that’s what it had originally been. The need for employee space necessitated some compromises and, unfortunately, this was one of them. She did have a desk... a 3/4 one... sandwiched between two four drawer file cabinets. There was no room for a chair to sit in while talking with her so my position was almost behind her. The circumstances behind her hiring came quickly back to me and the whole situation had been poorly handled. I remembered that my first interaction with her had been to change the name on a savings account. She’d told me that her husband had run off and left her with two teen aged kids. Remembering that I just had to ask how things were going. That was a mistake... of sorts.

However, she was mature enough to know I was there on bank business and asked if she could defer her answer until later. Of course I said “Yes” and was then able to make the request for the data that I needed for Hobie. She told me that she’d bring it down to me as soon as she could. As I remember it took about an hour. After handing the report to me she just stood there for a few seconds finally asking if I’d have a few minutes after 5pm. I was perusing the material and wasn’t concentrating on what she’d just said so answered “Sure”. It turned out that the data didn’t really support the cost of having the service bureau enter the name and addresses into their system. That was a definite blow to my plan. There was no way I could massage it to make it look better so turned to Hobie and passed it on to him.

Because it was an added cost to an already signed contract any consideration had to be approved by the Board of Trustees. He didn’t say anything at first but then said he’d take a chance and present it to the Trustee’s who’d be at the mortgage committee meeting that afternoon. To get it approved would take a majority of the Board memebers and if all the mortgage committee members showed up and agreed to it they’d be one vote short. I took a peek at just who was on the committee for the month and immediately saw that Gee, the attorney, wasn’t. Knowing how Hobie and he got along I suggested that he could be ‘the ace in the hole’.  Hobie nodded his agreement and told me I’d just have to wait until after the meeting to find out.

While the mortgage meeting was going on I brought Bret up to date and also what I perceived might happen. I knew Hobie was a practical thinker and that he’d generally been in concert with the reasoning behind my plan. He’d even backed off on not wanting Gina to be the lead teller on it. I'd realized that I’d screwed up by not getting all the details down right from the beginning but also didn’t feel that he was truly upset with me. Talking with him reminded me that if we were to go forward on it I had to get with Gina before anything was announced. I’d pretty much tried to avoid her in casual situations since making the arrangement for her interview with her new employer. Of course I dealt with her countersigning checks and to solve customer problems and afterwards she’d give me a ‘knowing’ smile. That bothered me but I hadn’t said anything to her about it. However, if the date of the conversion plan was to be in December, we’d have to announce it to all the affected employees right away. If Gina were to hear her name announced as the leader without an explanation before hand it wouldn’t be good. So, now I had to figure out what to say and when to say it.

Bret had to get home to take over baby sitting duties so I waited by myself for Hobie after everyone else had gone. That is, everybody but Moira. It was about 5:15pm when I saw her come through the gate. I’d forgotten completely about her and my offer to talk. She was a fairly tall woman and, if pressed, I’d describe her looks as ‘interesting’, what with her red hair and freckles. I opened with “How are things going” and added “with work.“ hoping to avoid getting into her personal life. But, she ignored that and proceeded to tell her tale of woe. With her new job and her son working for the Summer, she’d been able to get by. But with both kids back in school all she could see was ever increasing debt. She hadn’t paid the mortgage for the month and knew it was pretty much impossible going forward unless her husband was located and was forced to pay child support. I was uncomfortable talking about such things and was about to brush her off when I saw Gee, the Trustee who was an attorney, walking across the lobby floor. I jumped up and hailed him, asking if he could spare a minute. Gee was one of those people who could come across as being nice even when under pressure. I introduced him to Moira and briefly explained that she was a new employee and needed some ‘direction’ on a legal matter. He graciously offered to hear her story but it would have to be the next day. Once they agreed on a time Gee turned to leave. I walked him to the gate and thanked him. He just smiled and I wasn’t sure why. Then I walked Moira to the door and as I was saying ”good night“ I saw tears. I hated tears but I knew it was her way of saying ”thank you“ to me.

Hobie was exiting the elevator as I returned. Never one for overt emotion, he walked calmly to his desk and seemingly ignored me. I couldn’t take the suspense so asked if it was a “go or no go”. His answer was that it was probably a “No”, and that two Board members were concerned that our “bottom line” (financially) for the year couldn’t “take the hit” so it was tabled for the full Board meeting the following Wednesday. All I could think of was that time was money and that it was also flying by. If they didn’t make the decision soon it would be impossible to get it done in this calendar year. I knew Hobie well enough not to push the subject any further so headed for the door.

To be continued...