1979, CIBC Days, and Having A Baby

In 1979, I was finishing up my stint with the CIBC in Souris and starting my best job of all, Motherhood. My job at the bank certainly wasn't all roses, I made lots of mistakes, but I also learned so much.

There was a tremendous amount of training, it was on-going really, and even back in the dark ages of the 70's, the term "on-line" was casting it's shadow and already being heard and felt. The telephone systems all started to switch over to the 7 digit format. For years at home ours had been 102-14. That meant our telephone exchange was 102, and it was a party line, so to phone us, you'd press a button on the side of the phone that was hanging on the wall, and spin the crank one long spin and four little ones. Talk about primitive, and any one on that exchange could carefully lift the receiver of the phone and "listen in." And we did. Lots of news and gossip got its start on the party line! Whether it was accurate or not didn't matter.

The monthly staff meetings at the Bank were all about being prepared for the onslaught of computers and going on line. Intimidating then, although common place now.

All accounts had to have 7 digits also, rather hard on the seniors of the day, since 3 or 4 digit account numbers had worked all along. But change is always inevitable, and change they did. New cheque books for everyone!!

On the past weekend, our kids were all around for a family dinner, and afterwards, Jaime Lee and Krystal started looking through the photo albums, searching for a particular picture that Jaime Lee wanted for a project she was putting together.

And we all clearly remembered the exact photo she wanted, but where would you start? I have so many albums, boxes, and bags of pictures that a cow couldn't find her calf in that cupboard. I'm pretty organized, but that task is daunting, I figure I'll get around to sorting all those family pictures when I get old.

Anyhoooo........

Among all the treasures in Jaime Lee's baby album, was this small greeting card and envelope. And to the unpractised eye, it's insignificant. The girls didn't have a clue what it was, but it took me on a wonderful stroll down Memory Lane.

It was a card signed by each and every staff member at the Bank, and it had accompanied a baby gift for Jaime Lee, as I said good-bye to my banking days to become a stay at home Mom.

I know lots of my readers will recognize most of these names, or perhaps recognize their own signatures.

Right off the bat was D.B. McClure, who was Manager at the time and what a rogue he was. He was always prepared to entertain clients, which was code for: a bottle in the bottom drawer of his desk. And speaking of bottoms, he was never shy about grabbing one if he could........after all, he was the only rooster in the hen house! We learned to back out of his office, in case he was up for a hand full.

D.B. was the M.C. at my wedding. And as a Banker, he was fond of saying, "The best way to shorten up a long winter is to have a note due in the spring." And this is for all of you out there who actually remember what a note was. I made up many of them over my time there.

Any of you out there who need clarification on any of the names, send it in a comment, and I'll identify them for you. There was sixteen staff at the time, and all of us were busy. Not all the current changes are positive ones. It's funny how Souris needed such a big staff at the time, when every single transaction was done by hand. And now all you need is a phone since technology has ramped up business by leaps and bounds. Even my son in Alberta, if he gets a paycheck, all he has to do is take a picture of it with his phone, and it immediately appears in his bank account on PEI. Like seriously. And to take it one step further, that's not even news.......that was available about 20 years ago.

Service is gone out the window, right behind common sense. But those were the days, and a lot of fun was had behind the scenes. And again, why didn't we take more pictures?

Every now and then if it had been a particularly hard day, like pension day, same now as then, line-ups all day, the cigarettes would be flying. Mary Cecil would have a big Pepsi on the go (or was it Coke) and someone would be popping over to the drug store for chocolate, any chocolate. Lots of it.

I worked there for four years, but I was unhappy there. I was great with people and customer care, but I really wasn't good at my job and I longed to be somewhere else. What a great time to get married and start a family!

So I did, and the rest, as they say, is history.