FINSISHING THE YEAR... Odds & ends (Part 167r)

FINISHING OUT THE YEAR… Odds & ends (Part 167r)

I’m reminded of the one time in my life when I’d gone ‘exploring’ just before Christmas looking for what my presents might be. I’d found some and I was truly excited about them. But… at 10 or 11 years old I hadn’t practiced my acting skills all that well and the excitement on Christmas morning was anything but real. When the Board meeting was over Hobie called me to his area and told me they'd approved a new branch and where it was to be located. I hoped my ‘acting’ was good enough to hide the fact that I already knew. I shouldn’t have worried because as soon as he told me he was on his way out the door. It had been a long meeting and he’d not been feeling well. I wanted to ask if I could tell anyone but I never got the chance. The next Trustee I saw was “Gee” and he confirmed that the bonus had been granted. I told him about the party to be held the next night and he thought it was a good time to make the announcement. It put me in a good mood heading home.

When I walked into the kitchen I knew Elle had some ‘juicy’ news for me from the impish look on her face. Elle had gotten a phone call from Ginger that morning asking if they could get together. Elle considered Wednesdays a “free” day  (other than when called in to teach) as she had no commitments. She’d often take Kaye to her mother’s house for lunch and then leave her for the afternoon. It was perfect as Ginger’s house was on her way both coming and going. Her husband, Jon (the milkman), was on the school board and had been one of the ones who’d ‘ambushed’ me about running for the Board at the party on Saturday night. He’d asked Ginger to get in touch with Elle and to try and have Elle “work on” me about running. Elle, playing coy, asked why it was so important for me to run. Elle said Ginger kind of “danced around” for a bit but broke down and told her that the Board was contemplating building a new school to house just the K though 6th grades. The problem was that with the current make up of the members it would never get passed… they needed one more younger person with kids in the system. I just wrote about how the Board had consolidated and absorbed one of the feeder elementary schools to try and handle overcrowding. Elle went on that Ginger told her they (the ‘group’) felt I was the most electable of the prospective candidates they’d considered. I was flattered but still very reluctant.

Even thought it supper time, Elle had chosen to sit when telling me about her visit. It wasn’t until the kids started complaining that she turned to cooking our meal. As she worked at the counter I asked if anything else came of their visit. After the party Elle and I’d talked about Johnny and Sandy and missed seeing them not only at the party but also around town. I got the impression that Elle was reluctant to say much when I asked if they’d been discussed. However, I prevailed. Sandy had a part time job at the hardware store in town and when the wife of one of the co-owners got pregnant she’d gone to full time. It was right after doing that when her Spina Bifida caused incontinence kicked up. Back in the 60’s, there were no incontinence products on the market like there are today. If you remember, Elle and I’d made ‘dribble panties’ for both Ginger and Sandy to help out a bit. But, in Sandy’s case, her problem had gotten worse and it was going to take more than “dribble panties” to prevent her from being embarrassed. So, she resigned and stayed home for a while. But, with their new house she and Johnny needed her income. Someone mentioned that with the opening of the new library in town there might be some openings. As it turned out there was one that was as close to perfect for Sandy as could be hoped for… a back office, non public position sorting through the books that had been in storage while the new library was completed. (The old library building had been condemned as a fire trap) But, aside from that Sandy was reluctant to be out in public for more than a quick visit to the store or for running an errand for Johnny.

Now, after listening to Elle and while eating I was mulling in my mind the fact that all three of these women were, technically, incontinent… and all three knew about each others problem with it… and yet Sandy had decided to somewhat distance herself from Elle and Ginger. I knew that Ginger had had a second procedure that had helped her because she’d shared the information with Elle. Elle had followed up on it but opted not to proceed. I got to thinking that possibly Sandy was depressed as from what we’d been told there was no cure for Spina Bifida. Thinking about the situation left me a bit sad as Sandy was a really nice person.

It wasn’t until after dinner that Elle picked up the conversation again and when she did it was a bit of a shock. She’d been concerned about the lack of calls to substitute teach since school had started and didn’t know why. Ginger had the answer. Nanci, one of the ‘group’, had been secretary for the new principal during the previous school year but was let go during the Summer. No one knew anything about the woman who replaced her except that she had extensive work experience in the education field… and that she had no desire to be all that friendly. Her husband had some sort of U S government job and been assigned, reluctantly, to run a project at one of their local facilities. Supposedly, she’d met the principal where she’d previously lived and ran into him one day. The next thing anyone knew Nanci was out of a job and she was ‘in’. Ginger told Elle that Jon had told her she ran the office like it was she  that was the principal and changed most of the old policies. That explained the lack of calls for Elle.

Thursday was the day of the party. I’d had Bret contact the branch to tell them that as soon as they were “in proof” to head for the party. With only four people coming I expected they would be coming in one car. But, when Bret reported back to me I’m not sure I was surprised when he told me Jerry would be driving himself. In fact, based on my past experience with Jerry, my first thought was that his wife would be with him. I had Laurie accelerate the proof process so everybody could get to the restaurant by 4pm. Bert, the president, surprised me when he said he’d be there for the whole time. With his wife an invalid, he usually left the bank around 4pm on every day but Wednesday when there were committee meetings. I was glad to hear that so that he could make the announcement of the bonus. Trish took care of the last minute details and as we hustled the employees out of the bank I was confident that everything was ready. But… I was in for a big surprise.

To be continued…