The Long View

Last year, actually about 13 months ago, our new director started. He had been the director at a library about 40 minutes north of us and in another state, and prior to that had worked in a couple of academic libraries I'm connected to (one is at a college where one nephew matriculated, the other was my work-study job while I was in grad school). His former library is also about a half hour from where Sparky is going to college, so he's familiar with the school. It's been a fun year of sharing stories.

It suddenly dawned on me--a literal flash of light occurred--that his previous library was in the same library consortium as the one where PsychoBoss worked after she left our shared workplace 20 years ago. I have kept tabs on her electronically through the years and about 5 years ago--maybe less?--she retired. Nothing untoward about all this, except when I mentioned that I had worked for the former director at [Library Nearby His] he said something to the effect, "Oh, I don't think I met her; she was...er, uh..." Retired? "...yeah, gone, before I started up there. Scuttlebutt says she had some...uhm, creative financial methods."

O M G

And still she managed to skate, for 20 years, leaving a trail of fiduciary irresponsibility in her wake with no punishment. Astounding!

(I just tracked her down on LinkedIn and found that she's working as a deployment counselor for the Air National Guard. Or something. I hope she doesn't have any contact with money. Then again, the military is a giant sinkhole of fiduciary irresponsibility so maybe she's met her match.)

My main feeling in all of this is how idiotically trusting people are sometimes, followed directly by sweet relief that she is far in my rear-view mirror. However, now that I've searched her on LinkedIn, she knows where I am. Still, I have carefully kept my mouth shut and never, ever used her name online. Today was the first time I've said it out loud in a VERY long time. It was weird saying it. Let's hope it doesn't conjure her back into my life.