Abuse of Power

I work for a large social service nonprofit here in San Francisco as a grant writer. Recently, my boss left the organization (let's call the organization "Doin Good in da Hood") to pursue bigger dreams. While I am happy for him, I can't say I am surprised he left and went on to "bigger and better things." He is one of those people who truly seem to have it all: smarts, looks, charm, and a seemingly nondysfunctional upbringing and well adjusted family to boot (which is probably a large part of the reason WHY he has all of these other wonderful attributes) Let's call him "Sal"

ANYWAY, Sal's been gone for a good month and a half now...SO WTF????



What the fuck, what, you wonder? Well, I just received a phone call from him. Basically he was using his charm and, I felt, abusing his good standing at Doin Good in da Hood (everyone loved him) to get me to write a grant for some OTHER organization! Now, I know there is the positive spin on this: maybe he was seeing this as a favor to me, a way to enhance my grant skills by writing a grant for a completely different organization. But listen to this: he called the freaking Executive Director BEFORE calling me. Hmmmm, very interesting. I mean, I suppose he called him to get clearance on his asking me to do work.

I am sorry, but my bitchy ass felt like screaming into the phone, "Listen, you're NOT my boss ANYMORE! You DON'T work here anymore! You don't owe anyone anything." I mean, this woman who needed the help was a friend of his and he used to help her write grants on Doin Good in Hood's time! In all fairness, I think the Executive Director knows the woman at the organization. ANYWAY, I realize this is getting terribly boring, so I'll end it. I needed to vent and this is such a great forum for that! A la Messieur Jerry Springer here is my final thought on the matter:

Some of the most cunning leaders have used an intoxicating mix of charm and abuse of power to get what they want...