ANOTHER YEAR... with new adventures (Part 151m)

ANOTHER YEAR... new adventures (Part 151m)

The words I read hit me like a two by four in the head. They’d hired the new guy as an assistant vice president, a higher position than I (or Bret) held and at a higher salary. It was a good thing there was no one in the building because the ”WHAT THE F__K!“ I screamed could’ve been heard in the far reaches of the basement and the cobwebs in the attic. I don’t know how many times I screamed it before putting the papers back in the tray and headed for my car. I was steady making it for Hobie’s house. Being a Friday night, with most of the stores open, traffic was bad and I managed to get most of the red lights Because of the time it was taking my mind started going over all the reasons why it wasn’t fair. First of all he was only going to oversee four employees... an assistant manager and three tellers. As manager of the main office I had eleven reporting to me. Plus I was in charge of personnel for the whole bank; was responsible for advertising and purchasing. And, as of the first of January I’d been named security officer. By the time I finally reached the road he lived on I thought I was going to explode. I stepped on the gas and was definitely speeding when I came upon a new stop light. I never went home by this road and only used it occasionally in coming to work. I debated with myself as to weather to run the light or not but decided to stop. While waiting for the it to change I was starting to have second thoughts about going to Hobie’s house.

When the light finally changed I pulled forward and over to the side. As I sat there two things came to me, the first being that the house right there was where Lorie lived. The second was that, in spite of it being January and about 30 degrees outside, there was some wash on the line right there next to the fence. I could see two bras, a slip and two panties. Sitting there I was sure that if I got out of the car and walked up to the fence I could reach over and touch them. There were lights on in the house and an occasional car passing. I decided against making that move. But what it did was to calm me down enough to realize that confronting Hobie was definitely not a good move. However, I stayed on the road and drove past his house anyway.

At home, poor Elle had to sit there and listen to my ranting. I was wound up enough that she took the girls down to the basement. Over the course of the weekend I must’ve come up with a half dozen approaches to take come Monday morning. I left for work not knowing just what to do but one thing Elle reminded me of was that I should be careful and not get Trish in trouble for steering me towards the minutes. I agreed so the only firm plan I had upon my arrival was to talk with her. The concern was to make sure Hobie, in dictating the minutes to her, hadn’t instructed her to give them back to him for proof reading as Bert, the president, had done.

When walking up to the door she saw me and I could see her expression was one of embarrassment. I immediately thanked her. Without looking at me I heard her say something to the extent that she didn’t think it was fair... to me or to Bret. I was hoping for more but that was it. Then I asked about Hobie and she told me he wouldn’t be in for a few days as he had to take his mother in law to a hospital in the city. That was good and bad news all rolled up in one.

I ‘stewed’ over that for a while and before I knew it Trish had the finished version of the minutes for me to proof. While doing it I came up with my plan of action. I decided to tell Bret and to gage his reaction. For a person as ‘laid back’ as he was it was as expected. I think his words were something like ”That’s not right.“ which somewhat echoed Trish’s thoughts. After hearing that Hobie wouldn’t be in I gave some thought to going upstairs to speak to Bert (the president). It didn’t take much time to reject that Idea because it would mean by-passing my boss, Hobie, and going over his head. Definitely not a good idea.

Right after I returned from lunch Trish came over to my desk and sat down in the side chair. She’d never done that without my asking so was a bit surprised. She had a folder in her hands and, without saying a word, slid it in front me. I saw the tab and it read Gerard Michaels, a name I’d never seen or heard of before. I looked at it and then at Trish. She sort of smiled and then got up and walked back to her desk. I opened it up and saw a resume. It was for the new guy.

After a quick scan I found myself even more upset than I’d been Friday night when I’d peered at the minutes. The thing that jumped out at me was that the highest position he’d ever held was as an assistant branch manager and it wasn’t as an officer. I found myself perspiring I was so upset. After a couple of deep breaths I went back into it again. This time I noted what bank he was with. Ironically, I’d met the personnel officer from that bank at a one day workshop in the city and we’d hit it off right away. His brother owned a Summer bungalow not three miles from where we lived so we had some common ground with which to base our friendship.  I wanted to call him right away but also wanted to re-read his experience first. Very interesting! I calculated that he’d worked for them for almost 18 years starting as a clerk and then to teller. He worked his way up to the head teller position and for the past four years he was an assistant branch manager. Doing a quick bit of math I calculated that it had taken him almost 14 years to get to that level. I knew it was a big bank, at least in comparison to us and it was possible that he’d gotten ‘lost’ . I was certainly not impressed with his history so I called my friend.

Don was a straight shooter. Today he’d be in serious trouble if he shared the information he gave to me. Basically, the guy was a marginal performer and that’s why it took so long for him to progress through the ranks. One VERY interesting fact he told me was that as an assistant manager he’d been assigned to the smallest branch with the least activity. Don covered himself by saying he’d never met the man and was just reading from a summary of his performance reviews. He closed the conversation by asking how we’d come to hire him. I know he heard the frustration in my voice when I told him I’d like to know the same thing.

To be continued...