FINISHING OUT THE YEAR... Peggy (Part 146d)

FINISHING OUT THE YEAR... Peggy (Part 146d)

Realizing that if I put pressure on Peggy to speak up might backfire I just sat there, waiting, and not patiently I might add. I glanced at my watch and saw it was almost 9am. I don’t know if Peggy caught me looking but she finally started to speak. The look on her face was more of resignation than anything else. I waited for the tears to follow... but... they didn’t. She took her time saying that the only ones who knew what she'd told me the night before were her parents and an aunt. After looking at me when she told me that she went back to looking at her hands which were in her lap. I wish I had my Day Timer because I’m relying on memory (which is pretty good for way back when but don’t ask me what I did yesterday!) to cover the important parts of what she told me.

Basically, she said it didn’t take much to upset her and she’d ”lose control“ of her emotions... and her bladder. But, she thought that part was over... until she started having troubles at work. When she started to ‘ramble’ I told her that I knew it had been a rough period of time but the bank doors were about to open. I asked her, point blank, what had made her come in and say ”she couldn’t do it anymore“ after she’d agreed to come in and see what could be worked out for her. She leaned forward in her seat and apologized for not being good enough. That’s when I spoke up and told her that I didn't agree and had a plan for her that she hadn’t yet heard. I won’t say I pleaded with her to tell me but it was close.

She said she hadn’t slept much and that when she got out of her car in the public parking lot she had a ”panic attack“ and had ”almost embarrassed herself... again". That was why she was late getting there as she wanted to make sure “it didn’t show”. Then, when waiting to be let in the door, she decided she just couldn’t go on worrying if she was going to do it again. She was really, really embarrassed but kept on going. She said she didn’t think it was fair to the others wondering when they’d be allowed to go home all because of her. I stopped her right there and told her I was going to go over my plan for her. In looking back, I think she was surprised.

I went over all the parts and pieces for her that I wrote about earlier and then asked if she had any questions. I remember looking at her and for the first time since she’d come home from North Carolina she looked like a 19 year old. I waited for questions and after an awkward period of time she asked why I was doing this for her. It caught me by surprise and I fell back on something my father had told me back when I was first given the authority to hire and fire people... “Hire nice people... teach them the job.”

By then it was after 9am and I needed to get downstairs. I told Peggy that she wasn’t to go on the teller line but she was to go work on the School Savings name and address files as they had to be entered just like the regular accounts. I stood up but she didn’t so I asked if there was something wrong. That’s when I heard, again, “I can’t...”. I was anxious to leave but I had to find out why so I stopped and asked. Slowly, she got up and then turned around. There on the back of her khaki skirt was a wet spot in almost the shape of a heart. As soon as I saw it I remembered her telling me that she’d had a ‘problem’ out in the parking lot. I immediately apologized and told her to go home, get cleaned up and come back at noon. I started for the door with Peggy following but stopped before opening it. It was my turn to take a deep breath.

I turned to face her and (I don’t believe I did this... ) asked if the “crisis” she’d had in the parking lot was typical. (I know I didn’t use that word but it was the intention.) She wasn’t expecting that and pretty much responded without hesitation that it was... and then, after realizing what I’d asked of her, blushed. She hesitated, wanting to know why I wanted to know. As weird as it sounds I was thinking of Elle and her ‘dribble panties’. Thinking on my feet, I tried to remember back to the Summer Peggy babysat a lot for us and spent a few days doing things with us and wondering how much she knew or remembered of Elle’s incontinence. However, there was no way I was going to bring up the ‘dribble panties’. I knew Elle would kill me if she knew I even suggested them to Peggy. So, the alternative was to try an ‘end around’. Apologizing again for being ‘personal’ I asked her if I might make a suggestion. I remember Peggy giving me a funny look but nodding her approval.

We were still standing by the closed door while this conversation was going on. I asked if she remembered that Elle had a somewhat similar problem. I don’t remember her response but I do remember telling her that Elle had a ‘dribble’ problem and that her solution was to wear a pair of sanitary panties and a pad. Not exactly true but it was close. The look on her face told me she didn’t know about sanitary panties so I gave her a brief description focusing on the large plastic panel. I remember her looking intrigued and asking where she could get a pair. I told her where Elle (actually me) got hers. She didn’t commit to it but I felt she was sincere in her interest in them. That was when we finally left the room. It was after 9:30am.

Peggy was back at noon and after the tellers were all ‘in proof’ I called them all together. I explained what Peggy would be doing starting the next day. The reaction was a mix of surprise (negative) and happiness with the latter coming from the fact that they would no longer have to face the dreaded School Savings any more. I’d talked with Lillian earlier about how Peggy would be working with her and using her teller machine. She was just OK with it but when I told Jaz she no longer had to be the lunch time drive-up ‘runner'. I thought she was going to hug me. Now, all that had to happen was for it to work like I hoped it would.

To be continued...