OPERATION: MAD MEN - Operator
Jun. 5th, 2018 12:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_changeling posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsWanda and Felicia infiltrate the dispatch office as new hires, looking for likely suspects.
Empire Dispatch was housed in a long industrial building out in Brooklyn near the Navel Yard. A product of the time, it provided the technical infrastructure for independent cabbies, delivery and courier services to take and coordinate services. Similar to the operators of only a little over a decade before, woman sat in cubicles with multiple lines, coordinating between the phones and the CB radios of their clients to send out the orders.
Barry Klowaski ushered them through the room in a group of six potential hires. "Ladies, this is the main dispatch floor. It's quieter now but once things pick up in about an hour, the phones don't stop ringing. Our girls can push 70 calls an hour."
Wanda nodded, eyes slightly wide in pretense as she gazed around. Barry would think she was in awe while she took in everything she could for tactical purposes, if it was needed. "That is impressive," she said, accent as suppressed as she could make it. It was nice to see that it wasn't sweatshop like, though she knew some of the real ones back in the day probably had been more along those lines. "And something I look forward to being able to do once I am trained!"
Cupping her palm, Felicia gently bobbed up the flip in her hair, playing a nervous gesture. "Totally stoked," she agreed, nodding, which was mirrored by the other girls in their line.
"Now, we got the big clients; Imperial Courier, Excelsior Shipping and West Brooklyn Cab. You girls won't hit any of those until you prove your worth on the floor here. Down here, we've got two dozen florists, a dozen delis, five local department stores and the delivery services of a hundred smaller locations. Over there is Chinatown; that pool handles the Chinee business calls. Operator will route them over, but in case you get an earful of ching-chong, send it over there." He pointed to a corner where six Asian women sat on head phones. "We also get a some Ukrainian. There's a specialty store nearby that does a lot with the folks that came over after the war. Erma handles those." He jerked a thumb at a young, nervous looking mousy blonde on a more elaborate set up."
Felicia glanced over at Wanda, shuffling closer within the group to land at her shoulder. "So. Erma then?"
Erma it was. With Felicia watching her back, Wanda got to work. There wasn't much time before the room was to be filled with the girls and supervisors again. After she twisted one end of the handset off, she fished out the small bugging device. It didn't take long to put it in place or screw the end back on. Anything that she'd shifted on the desk was meticulously put back - if Erma was who they thought she was, even something a hair out of place would be noticed.
Job done, she turned back to where Felicia was keeping lookout. Now, they waited for Erma to come back and tell them all they needed.
Empire Dispatch was housed in a long industrial building out in Brooklyn near the Navel Yard. A product of the time, it provided the technical infrastructure for independent cabbies, delivery and courier services to take and coordinate services. Similar to the operators of only a little over a decade before, woman sat in cubicles with multiple lines, coordinating between the phones and the CB radios of their clients to send out the orders.
Barry Klowaski ushered them through the room in a group of six potential hires. "Ladies, this is the main dispatch floor. It's quieter now but once things pick up in about an hour, the phones don't stop ringing. Our girls can push 70 calls an hour."
Wanda nodded, eyes slightly wide in pretense as she gazed around. Barry would think she was in awe while she took in everything she could for tactical purposes, if it was needed. "That is impressive," she said, accent as suppressed as she could make it. It was nice to see that it wasn't sweatshop like, though she knew some of the real ones back in the day probably had been more along those lines. "And something I look forward to being able to do once I am trained!"
Cupping her palm, Felicia gently bobbed up the flip in her hair, playing a nervous gesture. "Totally stoked," she agreed, nodding, which was mirrored by the other girls in their line.
"Now, we got the big clients; Imperial Courier, Excelsior Shipping and West Brooklyn Cab. You girls won't hit any of those until you prove your worth on the floor here. Down here, we've got two dozen florists, a dozen delis, five local department stores and the delivery services of a hundred smaller locations. Over there is Chinatown; that pool handles the Chinee business calls. Operator will route them over, but in case you get an earful of ching-chong, send it over there." He pointed to a corner where six Asian women sat on head phones. "We also get a some Ukrainian. There's a specialty store nearby that does a lot with the folks that came over after the war. Erma handles those." He jerked a thumb at a young, nervous looking mousy blonde on a more elaborate set up."
Felicia glanced over at Wanda, shuffling closer within the group to land at her shoulder. "So. Erma then?"
Erma it was. With Felicia watching her back, Wanda got to work. There wasn't much time before the room was to be filled with the girls and supervisors again. After she twisted one end of the handset off, she fished out the small bugging device. It didn't take long to put it in place or screw the end back on. Anything that she'd shifted on the desk was meticulously put back - if Erma was who they thought she was, even something a hair out of place would be noticed.
Job done, she turned back to where Felicia was keeping lookout. Now, they waited for Erma to come back and tell them all they needed.
