People who let you down…and some who don;t

 How many times have you been greatly disappointed by someone you respected and admired?

Public figures come to mind: Lance Armstrong, who admitted doping after winning the Tour de France seven times. Woody Allen, a great film maker who married his former partner’s adopted child. Bill Cosby, the family man on TV who molested women.

Then there are the people in your own life:

—The revered editor who blamed me after inserting errors into my articles.

—The Sunday school teacher who muttered  during a Billy Graham crusade that greedy investors funded his activities.

 —The finance reporter, a good friend, convicted of insider trading.

For me, the worst was a highly respected editor in one of the big-city bureaus I worked in. His son was even an NFL quarterback.

This man had been so nice when I applied for a job, and he kept tabs on me for years, finally hiring me after I was seasoned and ready.

Several weeks into the job, there was a shakeup in the office. Suddenly, I was his boss, at least for part of the day.

I gave him work to do. He was so fast, he finished it in little time. So I gave him more.

Twice, he stood up in an office full of about a dozen colleagues. He screamed and hollered at me, using profanity, telling me that I was running a sweat shop. Who, mild-mannered me? I said nothing in return. What could I say to a legend?

Finally, a colleague went to the top boss and the boss got him to stop.

Wait. This column is getting too depressing. I only write uplifting and happy stuff.

So let’s look at others who did the reverse in life, people you could look up to after they beat long odds,

— Michael Milken, the disgraced junk bond king who turned his life around, funding cancer research after getting out of jail.  

-Charles Colson, a key figure in the Watergate scandal, who became a Christian minister and founded Prison Fellowship, to help reform the prison system.

—An alcoholic friend who overcame his addiction to be a beacon of light with Alcoholics Anonymous.

—Our difficult foster child who earned a psychology degree and raised a happy family.

—And best of all, my own daughter, who I never suspected of having business acumen, eventually running a successful business as a dog groomer!