Chapter 35 –
Time to let the professionals take over
I knew the situation had improved considerably when Elise said we should go out to dinner that night. As before, we both changed in the kid's locker rooms, but something important had changed. When I came out into the hallway, I found a very happy young woman waiting for me. She was wearing one of her favorite party dresses, and that was nice, but what mattered more was her manner. She was relaxed. She was happy. She knew we had overcome. Her smile was wide and constant. Gustav drove us to the restaurant he had tried taking us to several days earlier, and this time, we both stayed awake. It turned out to be a nice place -- good food, candle light, quiet conversations. We held hands, talked about the food, smiled at each other, and breathed. Do you know that feeling, where suddenly your shoulders are different? They are lower, and you feel higher. Not the best way of explaining it, but that was the way we felt that night. We worked our way through several courses, talked about nothing substantial, and smiled. It was a dinner to remember.
On the way back to the school, we started talking about going back to Green Bay. There were professionals out there who could fix the last of the streets, and rebuild the bridges. It was time to let them take over.
Back at the school, we discovered there were only two cots in the teacher's lounge we had been sharing, and the cots had been pushed together. We had the place to ourselves. Some days just keep getting better. This was one of them.
At breakfast we started planning our exit. What did we need to do before we left? We should talk to the Jouberts one last time to see how they were faring. And there was Jean and Gabrielle. And for fun, we thought we might go back and see what might be left of our hilltop park. All that could be done in one day. Today we would check in with the people we were currently working with, and if there was no big problem, we would leave tomorrow.
I took the bus back to Murphy Manufacturing to find the place looking almost normal. Four rigs were backed up to our docks, including one that was dropping off a partial load. I guess that was another sign of progress -- we could not only ship stock out, but we could accept and store new stock. Good for us. I walked through the dock area and then headed for the office. Several desks had arrived, and the desktop computers had been moved down from the second floor and put on the desks, looking like that is where they had always been. It was becoming a real office again. Four men and women were in the office, so busy working on their computers they barely noticed I was there. I grabbed a chair in the corner, pulled out my phone and was scanning an endless stream of emails (one more sign of normalcy) when my father called.
"One of your brothers just showed me a purchase order you signed for one hundred pairs of boots. The cost came to just over ten thousand dollars."
"Yes, take it from my next check."
"No, I am assigning it to marketing expenses. Your sister is currently negotiating a shipping contract with a very large manufacturer of outboard motors based in Fond du Lac. We are to move all their product throughout Canada and to the U.S. They made it pretty clear you are the reason they are talking to us."
"I never met them."
"Be that as it may, it will push up our Canadian trucking business by over twenty five percent."
"Good. But make sure LeClerk gets a piece in his next bonus."
"Done. And I hear we are also buying shotguns?"
"Yes, but that is another one I can cover. They saved my butt that first night."
"No, we'll pay. We owe those foremen a great deal." There was a little family conversation after that. I explained we would probably be going back to Green Bay in a day or two, things were running well here. Dad gave me the latest on the Foster problem. We were holding our own so far. The big winners might be law firms as we sued back and forth. Otherwise, not much more to report.
After talking to dad, I went looking for LeClerk. He was at the pallet elevator -- his baby. The computer guys were making progress. He was a happy man. I mentioned the shotguns and suggested we go over lunch. He liked the idea and started contacting the guys. Some were currently working, others would join us there.
Jut for fun, I called the store and asked if they could order in some lunch for us while we shopped. The request got bumped up two levels of management, but finally it hit someone who smelled money, and arrangements were made. It sometimes takes a while to find someone in a business who actually understands business, but if you take your time, eventually you will find that person.
When noon came, the four foremen who had been working that shift looked like school boys. They were going to get new toys, and it wasn't even Christmas. LeClerk had the biggest car, so he drove us over. The other five foremen were waiting for us in the parking lot. The instant we were out of the car, they pointed to a lighted message board hanging over the main entrance. - "Welcome Murphy Manufacturing -- warehouse heroes." All the guys had their phones out and were taking pictures of the sign. I had no idea what the shopping trip was going to cost our company, but I was already sure it would be worth it.
Inside, I told the guys to buy what they wanted - shot gun or deer rifle -- their choice. That was great, but what was better was the buffet they found by the gun racks. A big sign said "Murphy Manufacturing." Again the phones came out and the guys took pictures of each other in front of the food and in front of the guns. Suddenly all these middle-aged men were sixteen again. I loved it.
Lunch "hour" lasted until almost two, but these guys had earned it. They made themselves big sandwiches, and put dozens of guns to their shoulder before making their choices. I made myself a sandwich, stood and watched and smiled. It's always fun to throw a successful party. The one final move I made was to duck around a corner and grab a bag of freeze dried food. As the last of the guys made their choice of weapon, I called them all together and presented the freeze dried package to LeClerk.
"Guys, I am presenting this to the best warehouse manager on the continent. I know he will keep it in his office to remind all of us of the nights we sweated together. My thanks to all of you. May this bag of tasteless freeze dried food be our trophy." Then I shook all their hands and we went back to work. Total cost to the company - several thousand dollars. Value to the company? Beyond measure.