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Re: Gear Up and Buckle Down [message #1995 is a reply to message #1991] Sat, 28 July 2012 22:47 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Tikatu is currently offline  Tikatu
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Registered: April 2012
Location: South Carolina
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Field Commander
Ubiquitous one
Tracy Industries NYC; Wednesday, March 28; 11 AM (4 AM March 29 on Tracy Island)

Lena walked into the building, followed by a younger woman and two teenagers, who were obviously her relatives, all carrying smallish bags. They were followed by the chauffeur, who had the larger bags on a cart. The teenagers were chatting enthusiastically about being in a limo and flying in a private jet.

She went up to the desk and showed her badge to the guard, who welcomed her back, then signed in her daughter and grandchildren. They were given temporary badges and she said to them, "Now, don't lose dem. Security is very tight here, so you'll need dese to come and go." She looked hard at the kids. "I'm counting on you to make sure you always have dese on you. Okay?"

They said simultaneously, "Okay, Nyanya." Kevin stood at attention and gave her a snappy salute. She grinned at him, then turned to her daughter.

"We'll go up and, while you and de kids are settling in, I'll go and meet de I&M staff members here." She turned back to the guard. "De housekeeper is expecting us, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Aline is her name, and she was notified last evening. I'll call and alert her that you're on the way up."

They took the rest of their luggage from the chauffeur, who promised to return the next morning at 10 AM to take Lena's family wherever they wanted to go. The guard escorted them to the elevator that would take them up to the penthouse, then went back to the desk and placed the call.

Aline was waiting for them when the elevator doors opened. With a smile, she said, "Welcome, Mrs. Matumbo and family. I am Aline, ze housekeeper. Your rooms are ready for you, and I weel have lunch ready once you are settled in."

"Tank you, Aline. Dis is my daughter, Joy, and her twins, Naomi and Kevin. " She winked at the housekeeper. "I tink you can tell which is which." (Both she and Aline chuckled when they heard the teens protest, "Nyanya!") "I am just stopping in to see which room I'll be in, den I'm going to meet de I&M people. I'll unpack when I return."

"Zat ees fine, madame. I weel take good care of your daughter and grandchildren and weel have some refreshments for you when you return." Aline showed them which rooms they would be using, and Lena put her suitcase and bag in hers, then left.

She took the elevator back down to the lobby, then went to the one that would take her to the floor of the I&M department. Upon arrival, she first checked the supervisor's office. It was unlocked and not in use. She left her briefcase on the desk, then decided to check on the employees. When she walked into the area assigned to them, it was quiet. She toured the area, and found everyone at their desks, working. No one was on the phone, so she asked half of them to join her in the supervisor's office for a brief meeting.

When they were all inside, she closed the door and said, "I am Mrs. Lena Matumbo, head of de I&M department at de Washington D.C. branch." She hesitated and looked a bit sheepish. "I guess you could say dat I am indirectly and partly responsible for Mr. Peterson being let go." She paused, shock registering on her face, when everyone broke into applause.

One of the men, noticing the look, said, "Mrs. Matumbo, you did us a great favor. We are able to do more, more quickly and efficiently, now that he's gone. He was constantly poking his nose in, trying to tell us what he presumed to be a better way to do things. Even though he had no idea of how to do our job, he acted like he did."

"He'd interrupt us in the middle of tasks, breaking our concentration and throwing our rhythm completely off," added a pretty blonde with short curly hair, whose badge said her name was Gail. "It's been a nightmare, working for him."

The others nodded. The first man, whose badge identified him as Tony, continued, "I think you'll find all of us are in agreement - including the others you didn't bring in - that he was a pompous ass who knew less than half of what he tried to have us believe he knew. We and Tracy Industries are far better off without him."

"I'm sorry to hear dat," Lena replied. "He must have had some ability once, to get to de position he had. I can't imagine someone totally unqualified being hired, especially by Tracy Industries. Well, no matter. He's gone. However," she continued, noticing the expectant look on all their faces, "I'm not here to replace him. I'm here to evaluate you all and see if a replacement should come from de ranks. And I want to hear your opinions on dat."

There was a stunned silence. "You mean you're not just going to bring someone in from who-knows-where to head up the department?" said Gail.

Lena grinned. "Some not-know-it-all to tell you what to do, simply because dey have supervisory experience? No. Tracy Industries learns from de mistakes of otters, as well as deir own. Dey want de next supervisor in dis office to know de job. Now, a question. When Mr. Peterson was away on vacation, which one of you subbed for him?

"None of us did. It was as if he didn't trust any of us, and always had another supervisor on this floor watch out for us. He would only come over once, to tell us that he'd been assigned to hold down the fort and we knew where his office was if we needed him. That would be the last we'd see of him," Tony replied.

"So you wouldn't have any idea who you've worked wit, dat you could accept as your supervisor?"

There was a negative to that question from all of those present. "We take care of each other." "I can think of two or three people who could easily be our supervisor." "I'd work under Steve or Marcie anytime." "There'd be no problem choosing Peterson's successor from among us." "I'd love it if our next supervisor was one of us."

Lena was impressed. "I'm pleased to hear you all say dat." She moved around the desk and opened her briefcase, taking out the files. She went through them and pulled two. "I heard one of you mention Steve and Marcie. Dat would be Steven McNally and Marcy Jacobs, right?"

The group assented. "They are the most helpful, and knowledgeable among us. They both get along with the rest of us just fine. And, if I remember correctly," Gail said, "they have seniority, too."

Lena noticed that a woman, standing quietly off to one side, looked stunned. She judged the woman, who was somewhat short and had shoulder length auburn hair, to be in her mid to late thirties. Their eyes met and she said, "I presume you are Marcy Jacobs."

The younger woman nodded, and replied, "I am, but I never expected that anything like this could happen to me."

Lena smiled at her. "Well, you certainly are in de running, but

I have more investigating to do before I make my recommendations. Now, I will be here for de rest of de week, watching how you do tings and how you work togetter. Who knows, maybe I'll learn someting I can take back to my group in D.C.; you never know." Everyone laughed, and she continued, "So I'll try to be as unobtrusive as possible, but don't expect me to tell you anyting about whom I will recommend. I will say dis: you should find out who your new supervisor is some time next week. Now I want you to get back to work, and let me give de otters de same news."

They all left, chatting with each other, followed by Lena, who went to the rest of the staff and brought them into the office.
She was pleased to find they reacted to her statements the same way as the first group, and that Steve seemed to be as stunned as Marcie was. She realized that the difficulty would not be in finding a qualified person, but in choosing one over the other.

She let them go back to their desks, then walked around the area, listening to them handle the calls that came in for assistance. She asked one of them for the name of the supervisor who backed up Mr. Peterson, and went to see him. Her interview with him was cordial, but gave her no information to help her make her decision.

She had one more thing she wanted to do before she left. She went to the office and turned on the computer. She sent an email to Steve and Marcie, asking them one question: if the other was selected for the position, would he or she still be able to continue to work in the department?

Finally she decided she'd learn no more that day and after telling the I&M staff she'd see them the next day, left and headed up to the penthouse to hear, she was sure, more enthusiastic comments from her grandchildren, this time about their living quarters.

Post by Hobbeth on 18/01/2005

Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!

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