FINISHING OUT THE YEAR... Odds & ends (Part 167s)

ENDING THE YEAR… Odds & ends (Part167s)

Arriving at the restaurant I was introduced to my first surprise. It was only a little one but it proved to be a positive one. The owner of the place had ordered up little Christmas corsages for all the women. In seeing them and the response I wished that I’d thought of it. There hadn’t been much in the way of planning for the party and the only ’bone of contention’ was about the bar. Hobie made the decision to have an open bar for the first hour. It had once been a house and then converted to a restaurant just before WWII. Houses built in the 1800’s often had multiple “parlors” and we’d been given access to two of them. If everyone showed up, including the branch people, there would have been around 30 people there. It was going to be cozy, for sure and I, for one, hoped some wouldn’t show. However, there was one person who showed up that I definitely didn’t expect to see and that was Lynn, J J’s secretary, who was out on a medical leave of absence. By 4:30pm most everyone was there… with one major exception… Bert, the president who was supposed to announce the bonus. Even though the food was nothing special and there was the traditional punch bowl, those that were there seemed to be having a good time socializing. The open bar certainly helped in that regard.  When it was getting close to 5pm and Bert wasn’t there I started getting worried about him. I was about to call his house when I saw something that really shocked me. It was Bert, dressed as Santa Clause. It was a ’stretch’ because he was so thin he could’ve been called ‘gaunt’. However, in he marched with  a hearty “HO, HO, HO…” Everyone was just as shocked as I was, even Lena, his secretary for twenty years. He gathered us around as best as the space would allow and proceeded to thank everyone for their efforts during the year. Then, in a manner just as calm as could be announced that everyone would be getting a Christmas bonus and it would be in their paychecks the next day. As you would expect, there was a loud spate of cheering that followed. To be truthful, I quickly lost track of him and didn’t see him leave. If I were to make a guess I’d say he was there for less than 15 minutes. I made a special effort to avoid Jerry but did ask Beth if she knew why he drove himself. That brought a smile to her face but no verbal answer. I was sure that if I went out to the street I’d find his wife sitting in his car.

By 6pm most of the people had gone. I stayed to make sure no one had over imbibed and to collect the things the employees had left behind. I’d walked up the street from the bank to the party and, being last to leave, had to walk back. It was probably around 6:20pm or so when I got to the bank parking lot. I didn’t expect to see any cars there except for mine. There was one, a red Ford Mustang, and I didn’t recognize it. I don’t know why I was so curious but I made my way over to it and just as I was at the taillight I noticed the car sort of rocking and stopped. I stood there for a few seconds and decided it would be best to head for my car. However, it was kind of interesting to see that kind of ‘action’ at 6:30pm on a weekday night during the Christmas shopping season with the stores open.

On my way home I tried to figure out just when Elle and I could do the Christmas shopping for the kids. I’d hoped to get a half day off for all the staff but never even got to propose the idea. I still had three days of vacation time left and had planned on taking it the two days before Christmas and the day after. By the time I got home I’d made up my mind that I’d take a half day off the next day. Lobby traffic was still slow in anticipation of the ‘busy period’ and Bret owed me a couple of favors. I proposed the idea to Elle and I remember her not being overly thrilled. Her mother wanted at least 24 hours notice for something like this. But, she didn’t say “No…”. I knew ‘pushing’ her to make a decision was not a good idea so we talked about the bank party while eating. Because I was going to be late Elle had fed the kids so we weren’t interrupted. Then, without saying anything, she suddenly got up and went into the hall. She returned in a few minutes with a bit of a smile on her face. “Ginger” was what I heard. She’d called Ginger to see if she’d not only take Kaye for the afternoon but watch the older girls after school and feed them as well. Then it was time to get out the lists of gifts we’d contemplated getting the kids and narrow it down to something reasonable.

The plan was for Elle to drive to the bank around noon time and we’d take off from there. We discussed it while I was getting dressed and I noticed Elle laying out her clothes for the day. She put a pair of knit slacks on the bed and I asked if that was really a smart choice. Her answer was that it was cold outside and we’d have a fair amount of walking to do in the mall parking lots. I couldn’t disagree but reminded her that we were heading for two shopping malls that we had no idea where the restroom facilities were located. I also reminded her that it might be wise to wear a ‘full package’ (two pair of heavy cotton panties and three sanitary pads with plastic panties). Hearing that she made a face but did go into the closet and brought out a skirt and blouse. As I headed for the stairs I reminded her to “bring spares”.

At the bank the reaction to the party was favorable but more from the bonus announcement than the party itself. To me, just being able to have the party, and outside the bank itself, was a “little victory”. Considering that for my first Christmas at the bank they almost didn’t recognize the Christmas season. I was the one to get permission to put decorations up on both the outside and inside the building. Then, the previous year, we did have a mystery Santa gift exchange in the lobby with cookies and punch. So, I was happy. There were also plenty of comments on Bert (the president) showing up in a Santa suit. So, with everybody in a good mood I approached Bret about covering for me for the rest of the day and taking the ’night shift (working until 6pm). I had to remind him about the favors he owed me but he did step up and agree to do it.

AS far as shopping, there were three malls in the county and all were to the West. The newest and biggest was the one near our branch office. But Elle had been getting catalogs from Sears, Montgomery Ward and Penney’s and had seen things in the Penney’s one that she liked. There was only one Penney’s department store in the county and it was located the farthest away. I decided to head there first. Even though I’d spent most of my life living in the county, I’d never been in the town where the store was located. It took a while to locate it but when we did it turned out to be a bonanza for us, in more than one way.

To be continued…