ANOTHER YEAR... MARCHing on (Part155h)

ANOTHER YEAR… MARCHing on (Part 155h)

Alice was back to work prior to the ‘busy period’ which was a good thing. I’d called her almost every day she was out and she seemed to be in good spirits when I talked with her. She complained a bit about the headache and said she had an ugly bruise on her hip. A couple of times she told me she was ready to come back to work to get away from her mother but she wouldn’t let her, concerned about the headache. It makes sense today, what with the attention now being paid to concussions, but that was almost a foreign term back in those days. Sailing, I got hit in the head with the boom a couple of time, once enough to almost knock me overboard. I went to the hospital for stitches but nothing was mentioned about a concussion. Peggy had made a visit to apologize for the incident and one positive was that they found out that they shared some mutual friends. All in all everyone was glad to see her back and the takeaway was that there were lessons learned.

Bret and I called for a meeting of the tellers the day before the 'busy period' started. It was held in the area where the old bookkeeping machine (computer?) had been positioned. Tables had been added for additional work area but they were easily moved to accommodate small gatherings like the one I called for. It was to remind them that with the expected lobby traffic they would be under more pressure than usual. I had three tellers with less than six months experience and asked the ‘veterans’ to keep an eye on them. At the conclusion I told them they were free to go even though it wasn’t yet 5pm. I started to head back to my desk when Bret grabbed my arm and motioned for me to turn around. Alice was in the doorway to the coatroom and a few of the other tellers were standing there facing her. I couldn’t see much but I did notice Alice holding her blouse up with one hand and the waistband of her skirt down with the other. As we moved closer I got a quick glimpse of flesh… and a greenish/purple color. The others were “oooing and aaahhhing as they peered at the spot. Alice saw us moving in her direction so lowered her blouse, much to my disappointment.

The tellers quickly gathered their coats and made their way to the back door… with the exception of Alice. Bret teased her about “the show” and I watched her face flush with embarrassment. But only for a few seconds. I, still to this day, have no idea of her motivation when she offered to show us her bruise. She repeated the same motions and there before us was an ugly, egg shaped bruise about three inches across and almost two inches high on her hip. I can still picture it today… an outer fringe of yellow that turned quickly to a dark shade of green ending with a purple center. Out of no where I asked if wearing clothes hurt and she made a face that indicated that it did. But, always alert to the chance for a panty peek, I looked a little more towards her front and her navel. I saw two different elastics; one for her slip and the other for her panties. They were definitely not bikinis. I stored the image for contemplation later.

Putting herself back together she said it was hard to sleep as she was a restless sleeper and when she’d roll over on her left side she’d wake herself up. I made a point of thanking her for letting us view ‘the damage’ which brought forth more blushing. The three of us chatted a bit about the collision and Bret and I told her how we’d recreated it. She seemed surprised that we’d do such a thing but also appeared to appreciate the concern we’d shown for her well being. I remember her giving a special thanks to Bret for going to the hospital and being there until her mother arrived.

On my way home I got to thinking about Alice’s bruise and also seeing a bit of her panties. On the few occasions that there I'd been to see a bit of her panties they were bikinis. I remembered that Gina had worn full brief panties when with her period and thought that might be the case here. But then again, the location of the bruise was where the waist elastic of a pair of bikini’s would ride and that was a possibility for her choice. Not al that important, I know, but it helped me pass the time on my way home.

Other than a few “glitches” with the telephone lines which were used to transmit the data to the service center, I remember it being one of the best ‘busy periods I’d experienced. Hobie attributed it to the fact that with the new system using the service bureau the people in the lobby moved a lot quicker. However, he thought that was only part of it. With people not having to stand and wait as long they were a lot more civil and that meant fewer complaints, which always made it worse.

As for my ankle… staying off of it for those few days and then only using it judiciously after that had me in pretty good shape. I’d run into Jack, the coach, at the post office when I was still using the crutch a bit. He said he had an ankle brace that would help. I followed him back to the school and he ended up giving me a couple of them. He was right and by the time the ‘busy period’ was over I was about 90% pain free. It came at a good time as there were only four more days until Elle and I left for Florida.

The one thing that made me mad about the ankle problem was that I’d not been able to go on the inspection trip to visit the construction of the new branch. I still had lingering doubts about some aspects of it and had done my best to express them to both Hobie and Bret. Talking to Jerry was like talking to a wall. His mind was closed to any suggestions at all and he seldom offered up any of his own. Upon their return they, uniformly, agreed that it would be ready for occupancy by mid June. That meant the hoped for opening the last week of June would be met. The only thing I was directly involved in was in ordering the teller machines and working with the service bureau to get them connected. Jerry was given responsibility for staffing and supplies which galled the hell out of me. He had no experience in either field and I couldn’t get through to Hobie on it. However, Florida was my main concern as the busy period came to an end.

To be continued…