We had our monthly Tough Old Geezer Skier's luncheon today. One of our group had quite a story for us. An employee in the business he owns appears to have embezzled millions of dollars! Wow! What a betrayal of the trust of our friend. In all good faith this employee heading up the business was hired with the expectation of ultimately buying this very successful operation and carrying on the legacy of the company. How this act will be played out is yet to be determined. Once a betrayal of this magnitude is perpetrated, there seems to be little opportunity for redemption.
All of us have suffered betrayals of various kinds. Some are very personal and close to home. I can think of several betrayals when I served as an academic administrator. In some cases there was redemption but for others the only answer was parting of ways with appropriate discipline.
There are other betrayals that spring from misdeeds of people you admire. I have been a decades long admirer of Garrison Keillor. (As I write this I had just read one of his now weekly columns). Allegedly he made inappropriate advances to individuals in the course of producing the Prairie Home Companion. I am not sure that the allegations were as serious as some think but clearly he was rapidly dismissed from Minnesota Public Radio and the Prairie Home Companion cancelled. In no way do I support misogynistic behavior but let's say I think that he is on a redemptive path. He, for the most part, has kept a low public profile while continuing his writing and a modest amount of performing. Thus after a year or so, he has redeemed himself with me. There are no additional reports of people coming out the woodwork with accusations. So if find myself getting my daily fix of reading The Writer's Almanac and a weekly his story telling. Just a few minutes ago I read his muse on living in a Minnesota winter. Along with the chuckles I can delight in his preference for a "winter snowscape' over a Key West sun. Too bad he isn't a skier!
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