Trisha started work at the Wachovia Bank in Kennesaw, GA in late May, the Wednesday after Memorial Day. She only worked 3 days a week (Wednesday through Friday) so she could make a little money but still have time to rest over the summer from her busy course load at UGA and also have a little time to take a Monday morning class at Kennesaw State. She was a filing clerk at the start of the summer but she hoped she'd eventually get a chance to fill in as a teller as she gained some experience.
One aspect of this job that would take some getting used to was the professional business style dress that was expected from each employee. College was much more informal as was expected. However even in that day and age of casual Friday and dress down the other four, Wachovia still expected men to wear long sleeve dress shirts with ties and slacks, no jeans and certainly no tennis shoes. The women were expected to wear suits, dresses or at least a skirt. No pants or open-toed or backless shoes were allowed and hose was a requirement. Heel heights of 1.5 inches or greater were strongly encouraged. It was sort of a throwback to the early 1990s, but the Directors of Wachovia believed that if you dressed professionally you'd work professionally.
In essence, Trisha did not mind the professional atmosphere of her work and her daily tasks were quite reasonable. She was asked to retrieve files for the loan officers, the new account officers and sometimes the tellers. She then had to replace them when they were completed and this sometimes required a minimal amount of typing and data entry.
She was on her feet quite a bit, however, going between the records room and all of the individual offices throughout the building. Trisha never did like wearing pumps because she had narrow heels and had trouble keeping them secured on her feet. (Trisha had tried heel pads but they were only a temporary fix.) She did not like the constrictiveness of slingbacks much better, but even these after a while would get stretched and loose as well. At the beginning of the summer, Trisha purchased a couple of new pairs of pumps and a couple of new pairs of slingbacks (probably a week's net salary all together) to use with her job. She already had adequate clothes from her sorority functions such as dresses and skirts, at least enough to wear just 3 days a week.
As the first week went on, she began to make friends with some of the others at the bank. There was Sally who was another filing clerk who was in her early thirties and had been married for several years. She was nice to Trisha, but she sometimes acted like her supervisor instead of her co-worker, despite their related job. She felt like the age difference gave her license to do so. Then there was Don Smith the Loan Officer who always seemed to find time to talk to Trisha when she'd come in and out of his office. He was in his third summer working there and was about to graduate from the University of Alabama's School of Banking and come back to a good full-time job at Wachovia upon Graduation. Being such a young Loan Officer made him look like he was being groomed to take over the whole branch some day. "Poor" Don was the only male employee at the branch staff of twelve. Another friend of Trisha's was Kelli Caldwell, who was a good friend of both her and Amber back in high school who in fact recommended Trisha for the job. Kelli was a student at Georgia State and was a full-time teller during the summer at this branch of Wachovia Bank. The branch manager was Mrs. Hudson, a veteran who was pulled away from the larger First Union Bank several years ago to take over this fledgling Wachovia branch in the suddenly bustling Kennesaw, Town Center area of Cobb County. She was from the "old school" so she loved to enforce the professional attire rules. She was a good and fair manager, however and the staff appreciated that.
Trisha settled into her job as filing clerk quite nicely. Sally did most of her training and quickly, Trisha knew where all the files were located for the various staff she served. She quickly realized that she would not enjoy walking and standing on heels. Any time she got a chance, she was dangling and dipping or kicking them off. However, a couple of times, Mrs. Hudson saw this and told her to put her shoes back on - in a nice way, though. While trying to bend or break the bank's dress code regarding the wearing of shoes, she was beginning to catch the eye of Don the loan officer, who despite his high position was merely a few months older than her.
Don was the president-elect of the Banking and Finance Club at U of A in Tuscaloosa. He had a superior GPA and was destined to graduate Summa Cum Laude. Of course, Trisha really did not know this about him yet, but her innocence would play into his hands. Several of the tellers, including Trisha's friend Kelli, had a crush on this popular guy who seemed to "have it all together" and was obviously a rising star at Wachovia. Don was very professional and acted years beyond his actual age of 21 but he did find a place in his daily schedule to take notice of Trisha. She had something that none of those Tellers who chased him seemed to have.
Don was secretly enamored with Trisha's shoeplay. She seemed so graceful when she walked as her shoes seemed to be barely clinging to her feet in the slippery nylons. He loved to see her standing and dipping first one foot then the other out of what appeared to be uncomfortable shoes. He also noticed her dangling when she sat down to eat or to type a memo or something. The other girls at the bank were so afraid to violate the dress code (maybe they had before and been chided) and look professional around Mrs. Hudson, that they usually wore strappy dress shoes or at least kept their shoes on their feet in agony. Trisha in her naivety was willing to take the risk and engage in shoeplay in full sight of Don and the rest.
One day, Don called Trisha into his office to get her help locating some files from the records room. She came over and Don began to go over what he needed. She was standing and after a couple of minutes she began her usual alternation of dipping the right shoe then the left. Don engaged her in a little conversation about the weather, the Braves, traffic...typical Atlanta stuff. Finally right before she was ready to leave to begin her file search, Don commented, "Shoes must be bothering you today, huh?"
Trisha was slightly embarrassed but replied, "Yeah, this and every day really."
Don then got a little nervy and suggested, "When you're back in the records room (which Don had full view of if both its door and his were left open), you should be able to take them off to give you a break." Trisha replied, " I wish the same thing, but you know Mrs. Hudson. She's had to remind me 2 or 3 times about wearing shoes at all times in the office during work hours." Don then really got more nerve and quipped, "If I were the branch manager, I'd not have such a rule. I think that a comfortable employee is a happier one, or course I'm not suggesting jeans or shorts, necessarily."
Don worried that he might have crossed the line a little with that one; especially since Wachovia has a strict policy against harassment and related matters. However, Trisha was un-phased and in agreement with all of Don's assessment and simply took the information she needed and went to the records room. Shortly after that Don left his office to head to the restroom and he passed right by the records room. He paused as he watched Trisha standing on a small ladder having to stretch and go on tiptoes to reach the file she wanted. While she stretched, her feet came out of the backs of her shoe heels. Don admired her very shapely heel and ankle that was accentuated by the nice sheer nude hose. By now he had also noticed the rest of her and realized what a nice and pretty young lady she was.
The next day, Don had a few more file requests for Trisha. Again she struggled with her heels and Don enjoyed the sight. She was still not fully aware of Don's interest, however. She was just getting acclimated to this new job and besides; she was seeing Chuck, that Saturday, on their first date of the summer.
On Friday of her first week, Sally and Kelli invited Trisha and the other Tellers to gather the nearby Rio Bravo for appetizers and drinks after work. It was sort of a welcome to Wachovia everyone get-acquainted thing. Trisha had no plans so she readily accepted. They got a table of eight and settled down to chips, nachos, salsa and cheese dip as well as a few other assorted snacks to chow down on. Trisha learned more about Wachovia and specifically the main players at their branch - personality traits, work ethic, and soon. Most of the assessments were surprisingly positive, considering it was a gossip-fest.
Into the conversation, Trisha asked everyone's opinion of the dress code. Sally and several of the older tellers seemed to think the question was strange. They acted as if to question the dress code was to be a rebel. Sally said, "The dress code is to look professional. What's wrong with that?" A couple of other older tellers chimed in with agreement. Trisha added this clarification, "Oh, I don't mind the clothes, really. My only question is the part of the rule that requires hose and forbids open toed or backless shoes." Sally again replied, "Well that type of shoe is not professional and I can't imagine not wearing hose." Kelli stepped forward to agree with Trisha, "I understand her point of view. Styles are changing and in many places professionals have quit wearing hose and started wearing more comfortable shoes."
During the time the ladies sat at the table and during this particular conversation Trisha was making her own private example of why she dislikes the required footwear for the office. In an attempt to gain comfort, she kept crossing one leg then the other and dangled one pump off her toes. The foot on the floor was not comfortable either, so she sometimes pushed the foot back under her chair lifting the heel out of the shoe gripping it only with her toes. Occasionally she would stay with her foot on the floor totally in the shoe, Quickly, though, she would stretch the same foot straight out keeping the other foot crossed and when the leg stretched the shoe on that foot would also dangle before she dropped the leg down again. A couple of times during dinner, the dangling shoe fell off and she non-chalantly twisted the crossed leg moving the toes downward and claimed the shoe again. A few times she crossed her ankles and had both shoes off at the heel. No one at the table was aware that any of this was going on, but secretly about half a dozen men seated nearby and in view were mesmerized by this almost rhythmic leg and shoe exhibition.
Back to the conversation, Trisha explained how she preferred less confining shoes when she had to stand all day and about how she had trouble keeping pumps on her feet. Sally suggested, "Have you tried to wear strappy pumps or something like that? That's what I do." Trisha replied, "The problem with those is that my feet feel like they are in prison. I can't take them off when I want to and get some cool air. Doesn't anyone besides Kelli agree?" Eventually some of the older women, not Sally however, had to concede that they agreed with at least some of Trisha's points. However all realized that it would be futile to push this Mrs. Hudson.
Next the conversation vacillated then the subject of Don came up. He was the only one that seemed to draw some negative feedback from the ladies, mostly the younger single ones. One of these, not Kelli, posed the question to Trisha, 'So, what do you think of Dandy Don the Loan Officer?" Trisha paused a minute and replied, "Well, he's been very nice to me really, he tries to strike up some conversation just about every time I go in his office. He's complimented my outfit a couple of times - seems like a gentleman. This reply seemed to stun the ladies a bit.
They were immediately jealous because he did not treat any of them like that. Even the married ones who were much older would have liked it if he at least showed them some innocent attention. The girl who asked the question replied, well just to let you know, several of us are trying to get to know him better, if you know what I mean." Trisha was surprised at this indirect threat and said, "Well, don't worry about me. I'm seeing my old High School sweetheart over the summer. (She declined to mention Jay or Tim, not wanting to sound like a braggart or a loose woman.) I don't have any interest in Don, he's all for yourselves as far as I'm concerned." Soon after the tension cleared, the ladies wrapped up their chat session and went their separate ways back home.
[Author’s note: This story uses the Kennesaw Branch of the Wachovia Bank simply to add an element of realism to the story. The characters in this story nor the policy of Wachovia are in any way representative of any known person or policy.]
NOTE: This story can also be found at Dangling.Com.
