ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 169u)

ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168u)

I’d lived almost my whole life in the general area and yet my trip to the host bank for the meeting put me into a village I’d never visited before. Back in the days of whaling, as a business, it had been a seaport for large whaling ships. My first impression was to ask how a place so small (population approx. 2,500) could be the home for a bank. It wasn’t much bigger than the town Elle and I lived in. But, there it was, right at the end of the street that led to the harbor. The schedule was to meet in the bank’s Board room for a couple of hours and then head to a restaurant right on the harborfront for dinner. I’d never met anyone from their bank so I was a bit ill at ease as I walked in. I knew the president of the bank where I’d worked before and had the met the other one a couple of times when he’d come to visit with Bert. I was a ‘fish out of water’, for sure. My hope was not to embarrass myself but, as it was my bank that was planning on adding another branch I expected to be ‘front and center’ in the meeting. The way it turned out the theme of the meeting was about growth philosophy. I had no idea as to what the bank was using as it’s philosophy but it was very interesting listening to the others. The other banks knew we were contemplating a second branch and I’d been told I could give them the general area of the location. The reaction from all three was that it was too far to the West to have name recognition and, basically, they wished us luck. The only piece of information that I was able to bring out of the meeting was that it would be at least two years before any one of them would be filing for a branch.

In the Summer the restaurant where we went for dinner had probably one of the most picturesque locations in the area. Being dark when we arrived all I could do was imagine what it was like. I don’t remember much about the food as my mind was focused on trying to decide weather to call Lynda or not. When we were all getting ready to leave I decided it wouldn’t hurt to make the call. I couldn’t tell if Lynda’s response to my voice was surprise or happiness. But, before she could really respond I told her that I really had to get home. I could tell the disappointment in her voice. She hadn’t told me why she wanted me to stop and I hadn’t asked but I did then. There was a little pause before she said there was something she wanted to go over with me but that it wasn’t appropriate for the office and that Ruthe had overheard some of the junior brokers talking about the luncheon(s) we’d had at Michael’s so that place was out. I was listening but had no idea what was so important for her to pass on to me. I’ll admit I was a bit intrigued but told her I just couldn’t do it. The matter stayed on my mind the whole way home as I played all sorts of ‘games’ with what it might be.

I reported back to Hobie and Bert the next morning saying that nothing ‘concrete’ had been decided upon. I passed on their comments about our new branch location and watched Bert smile as he heard it. It was obvious he believed Morris about the location and I hoped he was right. Having been ‘tapped’ to represent the bank at the meeting I hoped I’d be more involved in the whole process as it moved forward. It didn’t take long to find out. The postponed Board meeting was the next day. It was Joanie who showed me the agenda for the day and my name was listed as a speaker/presenter. I went to Hobie for clarification and he, very calmly, told me that I was to be added to the branch committee as an ex-officio member. I was shocked. All I’d wanted was to be asked my opinion on certain operational matters. It was completely ‘out of the blue’. I wanted to know what or who had prompted the move. I knew, for sure, it wasn’t “Polack Joe”. But, I knew enough to keep my thoughts to myself.

One thing had happened while I was away and that was when “upstairs Sandy” (who’d been filling in for J J’s secretary while on a leave of absence) was transitioned down to the Audit area. Laura had been taken by surprise by the move and was quite upset. Liz, the auditor, was supposed to have spoken to Laura about it but hadn’t and wasn’t there when the move took place to ease the situation. Trish, who was related to Laura, got involved but evidently it didn’t go well. Laura hadn’t come in and with Liz out there was no one to give Sandy any idea what was expected of her. I remember cursing J J as I tried to plot my next move. I still felt that Lynn, his secretary, had been out because of a pregnancy but I had no proof. I had to get a temporary replacement for her but couldn’t hire one on a temporary basis. To meet his requirements I had to hire a full time person and that was Sandy.

After talking with Trish I decided to go up to Joanie’s house where  Laura was living and to talk with her about the situation. Trish and I let Joanie know what was happening so she could call her mother to be prepared. Having Laura live with Joanie had been a good move for both of them. They got along well but didn’t ‘smother’ each other. They’d both gotten boy friends although Hobie, Bret, Trish and I disapproved of Joanie’s. He was a barber right across the street and… well… let’s just say he left a lot to be desired in our eyes, especially for a girl like her.

Pulling up the driveway I saw one thing to brighten my day… a pair of unmistakeable SanSoucie panties hanging from a  small line on the back porch. Over time I’d provided panties to both of them and, on occasion, I’d been rewarded with a VPL from Laura. It was nice to see regardless of who they belonged to. Laura was not happy to see me. Long story, short she’d taken the move as a negative and thought the bank didn’t think she was doing a good job. I assured her that it was not that at all and went over the situation with Liz, in detail, explaining that she was going to have to do some of the duties Liz had until Liz fully recovered. Sandy was there to work with her, not to replace her. By the time I left I still wasn’t sure she believed what I’d told her. That was my lunch hour. Laura promised to be in the next day and that was the best I could do. Sandy was relegated to filing papers for Joanie for the rest of the day.

I’d been at a number of full Board meeting while filling in for Hobie as the corporate secretary. I’d been a little nervous but not overly so. On this day it was a different story. It was like I was to be paraded in front of the Board and I was uncomfortable about it. I was to be the last item on the schedule so I had to keep busy until I got the call to come on up. When I did I was greeted by Gee, the Trustee/attorney who I knew from past experience was ‘in my corner’ when it came to dealing with other Board members. He told me to just be calm and to smile as Bert spoke to the members about me. That helped… a little bit. I did what I was told and thought it had gone well until it came time for the vote on the motion.  I was prepared for “Polack Joe” to have his ‘two cents’ but when one of the others spoke up I was taken aback. His complaint was that I wasn’t a Board member and shouldn’t be on the committee. It took Gee, at his attorney best, to explain just what “ex-officio” meant and that I was not going to be a voting member. Even with that he voted against adding me.(109)

To be continued…