Sunday, March 18, 2018

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

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

Most panty peeks and VPL’s are complete surprises. This one surely was! As I walked up to the drive-up area I saw Woody’s whole backside just under the hem of her jacket. The best way to describe the color of the jacket is to suggest it was about the shade of iced tea. So, with her pants the color of oatmeal there was a contrast. I’d been a student of VPL’s as long as I could remember so I was able to detect crotch lines without really having to search for them. There were certain ones that would readily identify the maker of the panty. For example, there was no way not to recognize a pair of Sans Soucie or VanRaalte panties. And there were also some others that I could make an educated guess about. But in Woody’s case I wasn’t really sure. The sight of it left me momentarily speechless. I’d walked past Peggy and stopped when I saw the VPL. Peggy brought me out of my trance when she asked if everything was OK. I told her why I’d come to the area and she agreed that it was a good idea to prepare Woody for what might soon be happening. The comment brought me back to the real world.

It was little later in the morning that I got a good look Woody and her new outfit. The dress code called for the back of the jacket to cover the “dupa” or butt cheeks. This one barely did but since it had been Trish who’d been with her when she was picking her clothes out I didn’t dare say anything. Trish had been called the “dupa” police by Bret right after the dress code was changed to allow females to wear pants at work as she was critical of most of the jackets that were initially worn. In any case I didn’t have a problem with the jacket’s length although I wasn’t crazy about the color. However, it worked with pants she was wearing. I remember wishing I was in a better position to observe her during the workday.

There are no notes indicating that anything untoward happened during the first couple of days of the ‘busy period’. Having a staff of experienced tellers was probably as good a reason as any. Bret reported that Jerry, at the branch, had seen a little more lobby traffic but I dismissed it as a product of it being the industry wide ‘busy period’. I told Bret it was probably him being worried about his job and was trying to justify his salary. My reason for thinking about that subject was I expecting to be told what my salary increase would be sometime during the week. It still upset me that he was making the same salary as I was making and only had about 10% of the responsibility I carried. But, at least with Bret as the go-between I didn’t have to worry about getting into a ‘pissing contest’ with him. Bret had been good about keeping me up to date on just about everything and anything going on at the branch. Speaking of the branch, lurking in the back of my mind was just what the Trustees were doing with the report Morris, the consultant they’d hired to advise them on branch matters, had presented to them back in August. There was always the temptation to give him a call but… I didn’t know just how ‘close’ he and the Trustees had become. The last thing I wanted was to develop more negativity towards myself so chose to keep my mouth shut.

At home, for one night, I focused on making the signs for the church thrift shop. It was to open on Saturday and I decided to run an ad in the Pennysaver paper because of the confusion that aborting the first attempt at an opening had caused. I was still not ‘sold’ on the idea of it but, as a vestryman, was committed on “giving it a go”. Based upon the good will the donation of the rejected clothes to the CAST organization had generated there were some positives to the effort. Elle hadn’t given up on the project as she'd threatened and along with the two women she’d been working with had gotten some kids and baby clothes donations from the stores that Judith had suggested. Actually, sign painting is a mindless effort once the design has been established so, as I put the brush to the surface it came to mind that an effort to contact the people who ran the similar type shop at the church we had attended when living in the mobile home would be a good idea. I remembered that Elle had shopped there regularly for clothes for the kids.

I was able to contact the lady who’d been in charge when we attended that church. I’d actually seen her any number of times in the bank and, if possible, would chat with her about how her daughter was doing. The daughter had been one of the part timers I’d hired when the bank ran the first gift campaign. All I wanted was a few ‘pointers’ but she insisted that she come to the bank to meet with me. She was one of those people committed to whatever project she was involved in and it was obvious that she’d been a ‘mover and shaker’ when it came to the thrift shop. When she walked up to my desk she presented me with an outline of what to do and what not to do. She made a point of verbalizing the fact that if an item remained for more that four weeks to get rid of it. Before leaving she gave me an update on her daughter, Karen, who I remembered, vividly. A very bright girl, she was in her junior year at college but was taking courses to graduate early. I remember her more from the fact that as she sat at the table opening accounts she kept her knees spread and that I’d had many peeks at her ‘magic triangle’.

On my way home I stopped at the house where the minister lived to leave the paper that I’d gotten with ’tips’ on running a thrift shop. When I knocked on the door I was greeted by the young man I’d recently met who had been invited to live with the minister. He introduced himself as Nick and invited me in. The minister was with a parishioner so I got a  chance to chat with him. Just discharged from the Army he explained that he had no idea what he was going to be doing. I can’t explain the reason but I was impressed with him. Since Nick didn’t know how long the minister would be I just gave him the paper and headed home. I told Elle about meeting with the lady and the paper with suggestions. One of the biggest that Elle agreed with was to get more kids clothes. That night I was to work on the racecar and I hoped Alan and Dick remembered my request for their kids used clothes.

At the garage Cliffy brought us all up to date with the plans for the championship weekend. His father had a 20 foot long camp trailer and he was going to let Cliffy use it. He and Dick, along with their wives, would sleep in it but the really big thing was that they’d be able to cook for all of us and save us a lot of money. Davo had made reservations for the rest of us at a cheap motel that was less than a half hour from the track. The racecar refurbishing was on schedule but we still needed more money. When he mentioned money all eyes turned towards Buster. He’d not put anything into the operation since his original $100 used to buy the car. Usually it was Cliffy who spoke up but on this night it was Dick. He went right at him telling him if he didn’t show up with at least $50 by the weekend he was finished as a partner. In my mind it was about time.

To be continued…

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