BACK TO REALITY... Same ole, same ole (Part 165i)

BACK TO REALITY… Same ole, same ole (Part 165i)

Back at the bank I was able to get caught up on J J’s interviews. Two of the applicants had come in and I’d missed them both. Trish told me the one we figured would be J J’s choice couldn’t make it until the next day which was OK by me. That meant I’d get a chance to get another look at her. My perverse nature prevailed and I gave a call to J J to get his ‘take’ on the two he’d interviewed. I was especially interested to hear what he said about the woman with some applicable experience. I was struggling to picture her in my mind but knew that if he were really looking for someone to step into Lynn’s position without having to do a fair amount of training she was the one. I gave a thought to letting Trish listen in but chickened out at the last second promising to tell her exactly what he said.

Up to the time the two women arrived for their interviews nothing had been officially released on Lynn’s situation… just that she had some serious intestinal problems. We all know how rumors get started and the first was that she’d been let go… fired… canned. It’s impossible to stop them once started but because of privacy concerns, Bert, the president, had decided that saying nothing was the best way to handle it. By the time I called J J there was another rumor and it was said she was pregnant. Trish was the one who heard that first and jumped in to try and quash that at the start. However, there had been ‘whispers’ about Lynn and J J for a long time and there was no denying some of the details. Idle or empty minds can create some thoughts that can’t be challenged and it was looking like this was one of those cases. I felt a little sorry for Trish as I knew there was some relationship between Lynn’s and Trish’s families and it was hard for her to listen to the ’noise’.

Getting back to my call to J J, it was obvious he was not impressed with either of the choices, so far. I tried to impress upon him that we were only filling the position on a temporary basis and finding people to work for an unspecified period of time was almost impossible. I specifically asked about the lady with experience and his answer was typical J J… “Did you really take a look at her?”. If I hadn’t expected such a boorish answer I would’ve been shocked. But J J was true to form. I didn’t react negatively but did tell him that if he wanted a person to sit at the desk normally occupied by Lynn, choose one… and hung up. Trish’s reaction was a little more animated but, having watched him for the past few years wasn’t surprised. In the end we fully expected him to pick the woman who was coming in the next day… attractive but with the least experience.

That wasn’t my main thought for that Tuesday. The vestry meeting that evening at the church to review the viability of the new Thrift Shoppe was ‘front and center’. Elle had volunteered to be a part of the group to go through all the clothes in the undercroft of the church but, when I was leaving for work let me know she wasn’t all that thrilled about it. I was committed to making sure that if the decision was to continue with the shop that there were rules of operation with clear cut lines of authority. The lady from the Ladies Auxiliary who had assumed the leadership was not a favorite of mine and I was sure she’d be a problem at the meeting that night. If there was one thing I was looking forward to was the day to be over.

The lady for J J’s third interview was right on time. I’d not been able to see or speak to the other two but I was determined to speak with this one. To be truthful I didn’t know what to say to her but to remind her that the position wasn’t permanent. She appeared to understand and as she headed for the elevator to meet with J J I could see Trish smiling. When about a half hour passed and she hadn’t returned I just knew J J had made up his mind. I chatted with Trish and found she had all the paperwork ready to be completed. It was another reminder that her promotion was warranted. J J accompanied her to the platform and the look on his face was one of having won a contest. But it was so typical of J J that I just sat at my desk and shook my head. Her name was Ellen and it wasn’t until she was with Trish finishing up that she told her that she had to take the bus to work. Not that it was a deterrent to her being hired but it precluded her form any overtime work. Since I often worked late I knew that Lynn, who she’d be replacing, would work late almost each and every Tuesday to prepare the mortgage submissions for the mortgage committee meetings each Wednesday. I had to wonder how J J would react to that piece of information.

At supper that evening Elle reviewed her day and working with the other women at the church. I definitely remember her saying that she took a shower when she got home. Another thing was in her telling me that the project had been “daunting”. What I was most interested in was what was left that people might buy. When I asked she smiled… and said “Not much”… but added there was some “good stuff”. I couldn’t wait to get to the meeting to have a look for myself. Arriving at the church I headed straight for the undercroft. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. The women had completely rearranged the area. The items they had kept were displayed in a manner that would make them easy to peruse. I was impressed.

We had 100% attendance at the meeting, the first time since I joined the vestry. There was one person missing… the lady who had taken charge of the Thrift Shoppe and had set it up. I took that as a good thing. The minister opened the meeting by saying that she had resigned from the Ladies Auxiliary and would not participate with the program any more. I’ve bored you enough with this thread so won’t go into the details of the meeting. But what was accomplished was the shop would stay in business and that the minister would oversee the operation of it. The three women (including Elle) who’d gone through the clothing  review would continue to be involved. To close the meeting the minister told us that the mother of the woman who had recently died in a car crash was going to donate all her daughter’s clothing to the store once the family closed out her apartment in the city. The consensus was that since she was in her 30’s her clothes would probably be in style. The question was how long it would be before the church would get them. In any case there was a plan for moving forward. I just wondered how much of it would involve Elle and I.

To be continued…