The following day he dropped into the Man Cave for a chat. He and Paul sat down and had a heart to heart on what was really going on out East.
“So how did your holiday go Paul, did you enjoy yourselves out there?”
“We sure did Tony and I touched base with a few of my old friends and visited a few of my old haunts.”
“Good for you – so you are all bright eyed and bushy tailed now then – the rest did you good?”
“Absolutely it was definitely therapeutic, but also sad in one way.”
“Oh and what way was that?”
“Well my friend Martin is a police officer and he was telling us some stories over dinner one evening that were quite sad. Those poor people out there are really struggling; they have no job prospects, no food and precious few clothes for their kids. Maureen and I were appalled and we set out to see for ourselves just how bad it was.”
“So did you?”
“Yes we did and believe me, Tony; it brought tears to our eyes. They are good people and hard workers normally – but once the fisheries collapsed they had nothing to do and they are beyond desperate now. Martin himself was sad as he has to arrest people for stealing food to feed their kids. It’s a real nightmare out there in certain areas. Then again this sort of thing exists everywhere, even here in Markton.”
“Yes it does Paul, but from what you are saying it is worse out there.”
“Oh there’s little doubt about that.”
“Now you say that there is no industry out there - what if there was. Would the people actually go to work or are they reliant on welfare now?”
“Not on your life, they’d kill for a job. It would restore their self-respect. They are hard workers, but they only know the sea. It’s a hard life out there at sea, so hard work isn’t anything new to them – but that’s all they know.”
“Paul, that’s all they know now. What if I set up an assembly plant up there – would they be willing to give it a try?”
“Damn right they would, they’d kiss your feet for that opportunity – or anywhere else on your anatomy for that matter.”
Tony just roared with laughter at that crack.
“Well they won’t have to go that far Paul. I was thinking of setting up an extra assembly line in Markton – but I can just as easily set up in Halifax or nearby. I need good communications and shipping facilities, either rail or air, but I do need reliability. Do you think that would work?”
“I most certainly do, but there is one problem, training them.”
“Yes there is that, but what if we sent them to school while the plant is being built. They and the plant should then be ready at the same time. I can send up a few people from Markton to show them the ropes until they become self-sufficient – what do you think, Paul?”
“Quite frankly, Tony I think you are a saint.”
“Well it won’t be able the help everyone Paul.”
“Perhaps not, but it will help far more then you employ. Those you do employ will in turn help others. Hand me down clothes, food bank donations, breakfast program donations – they will all benefit from that in the end.”
“You paint quite the picture, Paul, I should employ you in our sales department – Nah , you are far too valuable where you are. Let me do some research on this Paul and I’ll get back to you. For now let’s just keep this between us. If it works out I want to surprise Cathy with this – she’ll just love it.”
“She won’t be the only one Tony, so too will Maureen.”
“Yes, I’m sure she would too, Paul.
With that Tony went back to his office to have his people check out the viability of this project and to do their due diligence on it. On paper it looked good and sociologically it was really good, but would it cut it business wise? This had to be carefully examined.
Chapter Eighteen
***
Paul went about his daily business as usual and he never said a word to anyone about his discussion with Tony. Maureen and Cathy were totally unaware of the results of their conversation and what was now in progress. The Braxton executives were now going to be involved in calculations regarding tax breaks, lower salary costs and possible inducements from the Nova Scotia government to persuade them to move there. All of this would be brought into play now. It had to be commercially viable – but if it was, Tony was more than ready to dive in and get the ball rolling.
Maureen meanwhile was totally oblivious to what was now in the works and was dealing purely with the day to day activities of the Shelter. There was certainly no shortage of traumatized women coming through the front doors. The reasons were as numerous as the women and they came in all shapes and sizes. Some of the women had brought it on themselves true enough, if one only looked at the surface. Dig a little deeper and quite often something else would appear that cast a whole new outlook on the situation. Rachel and her staff, including, Maureen, were not in the judgment business and everyone was treated equally. Addicts, prostitutes, housewives and young girls all received the same attention and help. What amazed Maureen was that all of this was going on in an affluent area like Markton. In smaller communities that were less prosperous maybe, but here where everything was available, it just didn’t make any sense to her. Those low rental housing areas out East, with no employment prospects for the people, she could see the “why?” behind everything. Here where there was so much of everything and certainly one could work if they wanted to it was totally different. It may not be the ideal job or one that they might like – but it was a job that paid money and they could at least pay the rent. Well, for certain people, welfare was an entitlement – only fools worked. Why work when welfare paid almost as much, that was their attitude? Those with physical or mental issues had little choice, but the rest were bone idle. Nobody was going to change that any day soon. Forcing them to work would be the ideal solution – but the civil liberties brigade and the unions would be all over that and so that would not happen. It certainly bothered her knowing that the folks out East wanted to work and couldn’t and yet these people could but chose not to – and they had far more facilities available to them in terms of food and clothing courtesy of the numerous thrift shops. Being in an affluent area the merchandise was of a much higher caliber and more plentiful than out East. She was bemoaning this fact to Rachel and Gwen one morning over coffee. It was something they had never thought of before. It certainly made sense now that Maureen had mentioned it. Wealthy areas would by definition have higher quality clothing, could donate more and probably more frequently too. Not having seen the poorer areas of the country, or those in the U.S. they simply hadn’t given the matter any thought. They all could see it now, but their focus was on what they could do for the people in their immediate area. They simply couldn’t help the rest of the world, much as they wished they could.
That evening Maureen related their conversation the Paul over dinner. Paul simply nodded and grunted here and there and had to bite his lip many times. Maureen was quite right, the need was far greater out there, but he couldn’t let her know what plans were now being considered to alleviate some of that need. Like Markton it was only in certain areas, the rest of the Province was doing fine. Paul pointed this out to Maureen in the hope that she might drop the topic – it didn’t work.
“These poor people are really in need Paul. Okay, so what if the rest of the Province is thriving. It is these poor people I’m thinking of. Those with jobs are doing fine, that applies everywhere, but those without; they are the ones who need the help. Here in Markton they can find a job it they want to. They may not like it, but it can pay the bills. Out East that option just isn’t there in those areas.”
Paul just shrank down in his seat rather than face this onslaught any longer.
“Yes Honey, I guess that’s true.”
Hopefully that would be the end of that topic. It wasn’t of course, but with him not saying anything contradictory it soon died out on its own – much to Paul’s relief.
&nbs
p; Once the dishwasher had been loaded they sat down together to watch a movie on TV. Paul had selected it deliberately. It was a chick-flick naturally and designed to take Maureen’s mind off the troubles of the world. It worked too and she soon relaxed, snuggled into him and became fully immersed in it. When bedtime came around they were both wiped out and were fast asleep within minutes of their heads hitting the pillow. The following morning they were both up bright and early, fully refreshed and ready to tackle all the world’s problems once again.
***
Over at Braxton Industries, Charles Graham the chief financial officer and his team were now doing some serious number crunching. So far on paper it was looking very good. The cost of living in Ontario and consequently the pay rates were far higher than out East. The cost of housing in Toronto was sky high, three times the price of out East if not more. Several buildings out there, such as the canning plant, were now lying idle and not producing revenue for the Province. Therefore it should be possible to pick one up relatively cheap and certainly for far less than in Ontario. Transportation was not quite so handy, being several hours away from Braxton’s head office, but that was not a huge and insurmountable mountain. They could live with that. Training could be provided by local colleges while the plants assembly lines were being set up. The big question was the Union’s, how would they react to this? One could of course set up a non-union shop – but that was just asking for trouble. They would have to go out there and meet them face to face and hammer out a deal.
Once all their ducks were in a row Charlie Graham went in to Tony and laid it all out for him.
“Well, Charlie all of this looks pretty positive, don’t you think?”
“I do Tony, but we have to get the unions on board, don’t forget.”
“Oh I hear you, Charlie, I do. Who are you thinking of sending up there to meet with them?”
“I was thinking of Frank Brown, he was the shop steward here before he became foreman.”
“Yes I remember that alright, but is he leaning more towards blue collar than white right now?”
“You have a point, Tony, but he is a good negotiator.”
“I’ll tell you what, let’s send Frank, but let’s hedge our bets and send Rachelle up too. In fact why not throw in Paul Machin while we are at it. He’s a local boy, can speak their language and they won’t try to pull the wool over his eyes. Frank may be inclined to give too much away, but Rachelle certainly won’t and Paul will backstop her decisions. He knows only too well what is at stake here and if extra weight needs to be applied then he will be the guy to do it. Rachelle has the business brain, but Paul has basic common sense and won’t be pushed around.”
“That sounds like a plan to me Tony, a very good one too. All the bases are covered, a local boy, a former union steward and a suit –well a skirt in this case.”
Both men roared laughing at that.
“Be careful there Charlie we don’t want to rile the feminism gods and have them descend upon us citing equality violations and gender bias.”
“That’s true enough, but Rachelle isn’t that way inclined. She got where she is on merit and she knows it. She wasn’t promoted to meet equal opportunity guidelines or quotas.
“We know that Charlie, but will those union guys?”
Charlie bust out laughing once again.
“They’ll find out pretty dammed quick if they try to hoodwink her, let me tell you.”
“You have a point, Charlie, Rachelle is not backward in stepping forward and telling it like it is. I’d forgotten that side of her.”
“Oh Yeah she can be fiery, but she has a damn good head on her shoulders and she has the status of a V.P. being your assistant – not to mention the salary that goes with it. They’ll figure out she has some clout – sooner rather than later too if they step out of line.
“Good point Charlie, yes let’s send those people. They are the ones to put this to bed and get things moving.”
Once Charlie had gone back to his office, Tony picked up the phone and asked Paul to come over to his office. When Paul arrived, Tony then invited Rachelle to join them. He then outlined his plans and what he had in mind. He was going to send a team up there to scout around for a suitable site, then, once that was in place, they would go up and negotiate with the unions.
“I am sending Frank Brown up there as well as you two,” said Tony. He was ex-union as you know, so he’ll have credibility. You Rachelle have the management brain and won’t allow Frank to give away the store so to speak. Paul you are the local boy, you know what’s what up there and won’t let any BS torpedo what we have in mind. So between the three of you we should be able to negotiate a workable deal that placates all of our interests- any questions?”
“When are we likely to be going?” asked Rachelle.
“Soon I hope, but an exact date I can’t give you Rachelle. We need to wrap the site first. There’s no point in going if we don’t have a site to build on. Once we do you’ll be going. How about you Paul, are you fine with this?”
“Yes Sir, my bags were packed yesterday. We’ll get the job done, boss.”
Tony laughed again.
“I never doubted that for a minute, Paul. I know how much this means to you. Rachelle, don’t say a word about this to anyone just yet, please. Paul and I want this kept quiet for now for our own reasons.”
“I won’t Tony, my lips are sealed.”
***
Over at the Women’s Shelter Maureen was dealing with a woman who had basically been kicked out of her home by her two step-daughters. It was apparently a very complicated situation. The house belonged to her two step-daughters and although she had been living there with their father, once he died everything changed. They had never liked her right from the start and considered her to be a gold digger. When their mother had died and left them the house they put up with her for the sake of their father. Now they their father had died they set about getting rid of her. They couldn’t legally evict her, but they made her life so intolerable that she left voluntarily. When Maureen heard the details she fully understood why the woman had left, she would have too. The woman herself seemed to be quite nice, a little naïve perhaps and a little too reserved for her own good, but basically a nice person. The two step-daughters on the other hand appeared to make Cinderella’s sisters look good. Something the social services visitor would endorse once she had paid them a visit. While they were acting within the law, and therefore untouchable, they were both a real pieces of work according to her report. It was borderline mental cruelty – but it fell within the domestic abuse area and was difficult to make a legal case out of it given these particular circumstances. She was entitled to the furniture that she and her husband had, just not the house. They were even being awkward in letting the removal guys have access to pick up that furniture. The poor woman was at her wits end, but this was now about to end. A letter from Mary Marsh got results very quickly and apparently panicked those two women. Their step-mother had her furniture two days later and both of them were as nice as pie when she called round to collect her things.
This particular lady was only in the Shelter for nine days as that was all it took to get it all sorted out. She was now in an apartment, her furniture all installed and getting on with her life. Second marriages can be difficult when children are involved, even grown children who should know better. It was by no means an uncommon situation and many women had passed through the Shelter having been subjected to this in one form or another. In this instance it could all be put behind her now and she could walk away from them for good – and this she would do. The two sisters would now be left to comfort each other – or get on each other’s nerves as the case may be.
***
Paul meanwhile had just admitted a young paramedic into the Man Cave. He was a well-built young man with blonde hair and blue eyes and his female colleagues considered him to be a hunk. He had sailed through the training course with flying colors a few years ago and was
now an experienced man, one respected by his peers. As in so many areas of life, theory is one thing practice is another. Over the years all of the traumas they encounter can, and often do, accumulate and remain dormant in the brain – until they emerge. This was not simply one particular event that the likes of Paul and Andre encountered; this was a gradual buildup of stress in this particular case. He would go out in his ambulance each day not knowing what he was about to face. Some runs were little more than driving people to the hospital, others could involve picking up severed heads and limbs off the street. Despite all their training, these things add up. They have emotions like everyone else and the twisted remains are of people, people who have families who will miss them, and certainly not wish to see them like this. The police, the fire department and the EMS team are obliged to see all of this every day and be totally professional about it. Well at times it can overwhelm them and this young man had obviously reached his breaking point. He would be treated and returned to duty – but not for some time. The first responders all had programs in place to spot these situations before they lead to a meltdown – but some inevitably fall through the cracks and are missed. This young man was one such case. He was great at his job, very caring as a person and everyone liked him. Nobody saw this coming, and sadly this is quite often the case. Light bulbs are often at their brightest just before the go out or burst. That is exactly what happened in this case. The catalyst in this case was a minor traffic accident where the most serious injury was a broken arm. There was very little blood at the scene and nobody was screaming in agony – but it turned out to be the last straw and it did break this camel’s back. He just broke down in the back of the ambulance and his partner had to drive him to the hospital with a police officer in the back. The psychologists would now take over and slowly restore him to normal health. At present he was considered to be off duty on long term disability until he was restored to his usual self. He was visited by a wide variety of people, most of them young women. Paul and Andre had a quiet laugh over it too. The looks some of those women gave them when another female visitor arrived was just priceless.
Maureen's Journey Home Page 21
