Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Second of Three Epiphanies

Chapter 57 – The Second of Three Epiphanies

There’s nothing like a funeral, a graduation and the threat of unemployment to make a person reexamine her priorities. My second epiphany: if I am going to help the troubled children of Central Florida I need a different relationship with The Boss or a different boss. This second Epiphany leads me to do two things: meet with Clyde, the boss of The Boss and begin looking for another job.

The year before, just after Thanksgiving 2002, I spent a night at Clyde’s house. It was strange. Clyde invited me to be on a “select team of rising leaders” to help guide policies at Ebencorp. Clyde’s secretary called before the meeting to tell me Clyde insisted that after the meeting I not drive “all the way home” but rather that I spend the night with him and his family. I assured her the drive from Tampa to my home was not a problem but she said it wasn’t just the drive, Clyde wanted to get to know me better. I was pretty uncomfortable but I obeyed. Now in May 2003, I feel I might have some “money in the bank” with Clyde and maybe he’ll be willing to listen to me about The Boss. I act on this despite my former boss, Stephen, warning against going to Clyde about The Boss.

I call Clyde’s secretary and make an appointment to meet with him at 11:00 am. When I arrive he greets me saying he is starving and wants to go to lunch immediately. I’m not hungry, but assume he feels more comfortable talking candidly away from the office. Curiously he doesn’t ask me what cuisine I like. He drives us to a tiny Argentine restaurant with a menu featuring meat, meat and meat – even the salad is meat salad. Clyde speaks Spanish to the waitress and I try to order something with less meat. Luckily I’m not hungry.

Clyde begins by asking me why I scheduled this meeting, but before I can utter a complete sentence, he launches into a monologue on the wonders of The Boss. When I try to ask questions to determine whether the focus on punishment is coming from The Boss or is an Ebencorp value, Clyde is evasive and continues to lavish praise on The Boss. I stir my meat soup and try to approach the subject from a different angle – the dichotomy between what Herald County wants from me and what The Boss wants. Clyde doesn’t nibble. His riff on The Boss ends when he finishes his meal, looks at his watch and announces he has to get back to work.

Driving back to Lakeboro, I feel frustrated, defeated and hungry. Back in my apartment I stay up late refining my resume and writing cover letters. It’s time to search for a new job. Two charter schools have advertised their plans to open in Herald County. I apply for principal positions at both. One company runs a school 150 miles south of here. I drive down and spend the day touring and talking with the principal. I go to interviews and wait while they process the paperwork necessary for the Herald County school board to determine whether to approve their schools. Both schools seem to want to hire me, but without the Herald County School Board ‘s approval, there will be no schools.

In May the Herald County School Board meets and rejects all applications for new alternative charter schools. The Board especially doesn’t want any school that will compete with ESAK, Ebencorp’s alternative high school. The fact that one of the School Board members also sits on the board of ESAK isn’t deemed significant enough for him to recuse himself from the voting.