HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160i)
With Rita
gone one of my worries had passed. The next was in what would happen
when Jerry appeared. But Mike, the messenger custodian, came up to the
gate to the platform to inform me there was a piece of equipment being
delivered… the Xerox machine. The old 3M copier had been removed and
space enough for the new machine had been cleared so I wasn’t concerned so I asked Bret to oversee the placement of it. I was on my way
to see Lorie about the teller training for the new branch employees when I saw Jerry headed towards me. In
the months that he’d been there I’d never seen him get upset. But that
had changed. He was just about running across the work area as he
approached. I’m not sure what it was that he was muttering as he rushed
right past me. I fully expected to be attacked, at least verbally, but
all he did was to go to his desk, sit and just stare straight ahead. I
do remember standing there and thinking “What a wimp”. I’m not sure how I
would’ve reacted if he had let go a barrage of disparaging words to me…
but because of where we were I was sure glad he didn’t.
I’m not
sure I wasn’t shaking a bit when I got to Lorie’s work space to go over
the teller training. I tried my best to get on topic but my eyes kept
darting towards Jerry. It was Lorie who got me on topic saying she
thought she had the training assignments and schedule worked out. She
said she could start the following Wednesday and that would give them a
week at the main office and, hopefully, a week at the branch before
waiting on any customers. She told me she was going to work closely with Betsy and
hoped she would pick up on it quick enough to be able to work with what
would be her ‘charges’ at the branch. Time on the teller machines would
be her focus for all four of them. Hearing what she had to say in such a
positive way kind of lulled me into thinking things were going
smoothly. But, just as I had that thought, Bret appeared. The Xerox
machine didn’t fit.
I really couldn’t believe what he was telling
me. Really. So I trudged up the back stairs to see for myself what he
was talking about. Before I even got halfway there I ran into Bert and
Hobie as they were leaving the Board room. Hobie told me he wanted to
see me but I told him there was a problem with the Xerox. With Bret right
there he told him to look into it. Bret, thankfully, spoke up and said he'd already surveyed the situation and that's why I was now involved. That
news caused him to want to take a look himself.
As I previously had
written, The machine was to go where the old photocopy machine had been.
We’d measured the space it was to occupy and that part was fine. What
we didn’t take into consideration was the width of the doorway. When the
building was built that area was for storage and had no door. All the
walls were concrete… a special very hard type. When additional work
space was needed it was reconfigured except for one thing… the entryway.
It was approximately 28 inches wide and at least an inch more was
needed. It wasn’t a case of removing a door and door frames because
there weren’t any. We’d already found that to just drill holes in the concrete special drills were needed. Breaking pieces out was not feasible.
The
sight of the machine when it arrived had gotten the mortgage department
people all excited so they were watching the whole scene evolve. We
were committed, by contract, to accept the machine. Now the question
was… where to put it. Hobie didn’t have any suggestions and left. Before leaving he told
me to come to his desk after the machine was placed. (It finally ended up in the
vestibule area just outside the Board room.) That took almost an hour.
I’d skipped breakfast and it was now lunch time. I debated with myself
as weather I should grab a bite first or go over to see Hobie. Once down the
stairs I knew it had to be Hobie.
Naturally, I was concerned. It
would be the first time, one on one that day, and I really had no ‘read’ on his
feelings about me going to Bert in his absence. He was at his desk and
when he looked up just pointed to the side chair. He continued reading
what he had in front of him making me feel like I was invisible. It
probably wasn’t a minute before he looked up. Expecting at least some sort of
rebuke, I was pleasantly surprised that he told me that Jerry wasn’t to
make any more hiring decisions without my express approval. I, of
course, wanted to know what had led up to that decision being made… but,
wisely, kept my mouth shut. The one thing that did bother me was
wanting me to have Betsy come back to the main office to meet with the
three of us (Hobie, Jerry and me) to “clear the air”. I wasn’t sure just
what that meant but knew I had my ‘marching orders’.
By then I
was craving something to eat. But, before I got to the door I’d been reminded that the bank had
to provide access to the Northern Telecom crew on Saturday so they could install,
program and check out the new electronic switchboard. Bret had agreed to
come in just after mid day and stay until they left. There was no one
else but me to open the doors for the workers and I surely wasn’t happy
about that. Now, with racing the car, I no longer had all day Saturday
for chores and things around the house. As I headed over to the
luncheonette I saw Lorie. She waved to me to wait for her and when I did
she asked a question that I’d not even taken into consideration… would
the installation of the new telephone equipment interfere with data
transmission? With my stomach now growling, I went back inside the bank
with her and called Albie at the data center.
While waiting for
him to be located I chatted a bit with Lorie about the new phones. I
volunteered that if the test the next day went well we’d all be in much
better shape as far as communications in the bank were concerned. I
explained that we’d be able to just push buttons to speak to anyone
located in the building. That seemed to impress her. Frustrated about my
having to come in to oversee the testing, I mentioned it to her. When I
heard her say the words “I could do that for you…” I wanted to jump up
and kiss her.
It wasn’t that easy. Only officers had keys which
meant she wouldn’t be allowed to do it. There was one thing that was
clearly on my side in this matter… Lorie was Hobie’s favorite. That had
been made clear many times over (including her being chosen over Gina
for the chief clerk position). I decided to approach Hobie about it and
was much relieved to hear him say “OK”… as long as I was the one to
unlock and open the building up. When I told him Bret would be there for
the afternoon he signed off on it. I was free… sort of…
To be continued…
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