A LOT OF WORK... & play too (Part 158m)

A LOT OF WORK … & play too (Part 158m)

Elle didn’t really know but one of the women who were part of the ‘crew’. “Raa” was married to one of Elle’s high school classmates, Dick, and lived on the property right across the road from us. Even though it was a dairy farm (where Jon (the milkman} got his milk for delivery) the house had been sold and was no longer a part of it. In any case, two of their kids were in classes with our older girls. Cliffy (the driver of the racecar) was married to Beth. Cliffy was also a classmate of Elle’s but Beth grew up in another town further to the East so we’d never seen or associated with her. Alan was married to Pam, who, as a girl, had summered in the area and met him during that period in time. Buster… well, he was story unto himself (and I’ll spare you) had gotten his wife, Marilyn, pregnant while she was still in school. I had only met her briefly and wasn’t impressed. So, as we prepared for the party neither of us knew what to expect.

Of course I’m prejudiced but Elle was far and away the prettiest female there. Not only did Elle know both Dick and Cliffy form school but, somewhat ironically, she had dated Dick for a while and had also attended a prom with Cliffy. I wondered if that was going to factor in with how everyone got along. It didn’t take long to find out. Even though she didn’t know Elle, Beth made a point of introducing her to the other women and kept her involved in their conversations (such as they were). As was usual, the guys congregated in the kitchen and, because this was a car racing group, they talked cars.

Stretching a point, Pam was the only one of the females who had even a smidgen of cuteness but she wore what could best be described as ‘hideous’ clothes, at least a size too large. I didn’t know for sure if she had anything ‘up top’. Raa was a very shortened version of Barbara, a name hung on her by a family member from back when she was a baby and couldn’t say “Barbara”. A tall, thin woman, about 5’10” with one of the biggest mouths (physically) that I’d ever seen. Marilyn had no redeeming qualities as far as I could see. In the little time we were all together it seemed like she was left out of whatever was being said or done. That left Beth, an absolutely engaging woman with a big personality… and bottom. Not fat but definitely not in proportion to the rest of her body. So, from a ‘panty addict’s’ perspective it was a boring evening. The only thing that made it worthwhile was that Beth and Jaa decided that they’d bring hibachi’s to the races and when they were over would cook up hot dogs and hamburgers for the whole crew. The reason being was that to get to the races in time for warm-ups we had to leave no later than 3:30pm which meant no supper. The idea sounded good to the guys, for sure.

I know you’ve all heard the saying, “waiting for the other shoe to drop”. I knew it was coming when “Polak Joe” reappeared on the scene and had gotten the branch committee to add blankets to the new account gift promotion. It was too simple to have me just order up some blankets… Joe wanted to have the committee approve them. OK… that wasn’t a problem as there was still plenty of time. But, on Wednesday morning, the day the Northern Telecom sales rep was coming, in I got a call from “Polak Joe” telling me that the branch committee wanted to revisit the gifts that had already been chosen. I about had an apoplectic fit. I’m sure I never said a word before putting the phone back in the cradle. I wanted to scream but I’m not sure any sound would’ve come out. I have no idea how long I sat there before Trish came up to ask if I was OK… and to say the Northern Telecom guy was there.

He introduced himself and proceeded to ask if this was a bad time. As he handed me his card I remember saying that it wasn’t really the best… but I told him to give me a minute. I got up and went looking for Hobie who was now located under the stairs. I had to ‘vent’ to someone and I surely didn’t want it to be the sales rep. Hobie knew me well enough by then to know I was really, really upset. He told me to take a few deep breaths and then indicated that he’d listen. I think all I said was “Joe”. He made a face and told me to explain. I hadn’t gotten but a few words out when he stood up and said he’d take care of it and motioned for me to leave his area. As I did I knew he was following me, at least until he reached the elevator. Knowing Hobie was now involved gave me the relief I needed to go back to my ‘telephone problem’.

Norman was the guy’s name and he was the complete opposite of the telephone company rep. Very calm, it was obvious he was a ‘listener’ and he let me explain the situation without once interrupting. When he finally did speak it was to say that his primary job was to provide provide product and services the customer wanted and, should the customer ask for suggestions he’d follow through on that… never the other way around. Hearing that made me feel like I was on the right track. I proceeded to walk him trough the facilities pointing out the areas that new phones were needed and stressing that we weren’t trying to recreate the wheel. Back at my desk the one thing that he did mention that concerned me a bit was that if we were to choose Northern Telecom we would have to buy their phones. I could only hope their cost was reasonable.

To be continued…