This is goodbye.

I wasn't sure I wanted to address this in this forum, but it's the best way to get the news to the most people at the same time. I'm not even sure how I want to start b/c there's so much to say. I guess I'll start at the beginning. About two and a half years ago, I switched jobs and started at the bank I'm at now. The main reasons for the switch was that the new job was half as far away and a whole lot more money. But there was another reason that only my wife and I knew. That reason was that I was on the verge of getting fired. That's another long story, so I'll try to give you the cliffs note version.

I got a new boss in January of 2004. She was a 40 year old strong single black woman. I don't add her race to be derogatory, just to state that she was very determined in everything she did, and was embarrassed in nothing she said. Not something you see too often in white women. Anyway, I was her number one manager in terms of sales and teller staff. As a result, she set up her regional office in my building and she used me as an example to all the other managers. I was pretty proud of that position and thought I was sort of a favorite son in her eyes. That lasted about six months. I had a bad month in July of that year, and she came down on me pretty hard in our weekly regional manager's meeting. I didn't like being singled out in front of twenty other people after making her look so good for so long, so I got upset. I started yelling, one thing led to another, and we got into an actual physical fight. There was a formal internal investigation, and everyone at the meeting was interviewed. I can assure you I didn't throw the first punch, but not too many people sided with me for fear of losing their jobs. To sum up the story, I agreed to leave the bank.

Skip forward to four months ago. I got a call from the HR person at my previous bank, and I guess my previous boss had been let go due to the sales records of her branches. At first I was glad to hear the news, b/c I really didn't like her at all, for obvious reasons. But the guy said there was more to the story and it was that she was suing me and the bank. She was claiming that by making me quit, the bank had taken her best sales person and role model. And as a result, the other branches started slacking off and her sales figures had plummeted. (In case you're confused, bank managers get paid by how many new accounts they open and how many loans they book.) So she was claiming she couldn't effectively manage her staff without having the opportunity to publicly punish me. So she was suing the bank for impeding her managment and loss of wages. In addition, she was suing me for the assault. She had a friend in the Cleveland District Attorney's office who advised her there was a statute of limitations on physical assault, and that she should sue me for lost wages, hospital bills (which she never went to,) and emotional suffering.

The end to this story is that I lost in court. No one I used to work with would testify for me. I was sentenced to fourteen months in prison, of which I'll have to serve six. I also got fined $65,000 which I'll have to pay when I get out, which means we'll have to sell our house. I have to report to the prison in Elkton, Ohio tomorrow morning to start my sentence. I won't have access to the Internet until I've been there one month so you'll have to check Ell's blog for updates on how I'm doing. Two other details, my previous bank won their lawsuit, and my present bank fired me. I got screwed royally. I'd appreciate your prayers for me but more importantly for Ell. She's really concerned about bills and stuff, besides being away from me for six months. She's really trying to be strong, but she hasn't had a day without crying since the sentencing. We feel like our world's been turned upside down. I feel completely helpless and lost and I've never felt so defeated in all my life. So this is goodbye for awhile. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go through the next six months. I love all of you.