"All that was a myth, he said."
Like a lot of other myths coming out of this crowd running DC, as if it were another Enron.
nytimes.com
excerpt:
In her six years with the company, Ms. Stone got up at 4:15 a.m. and was routinely at work by 6 a.m. "You either got with
the system or you were out the door," said Ms. Stone, who did not consider it oppressive.
"You could feel the excitement at 6 a.m." Ms. Stone said. "You walk in the door and got energized, all those creative
juices flowing. You worked with the best, the most brilliant. It was a great, great company."
There was also a feeling of invincibility. The company backed political campaigns, paid millions of dollars to charities
and hung its name on skyscrapers and a sports stadium. It was not unusual, before the 2000 presidential election, to look
up and see George W. Bush in the building, Ms. Stone said.
"Enron bred arrogance," she said. One executive, she said, had $56,000 on his expense account for one month. She
worried that such extravagances were bad for the company, Ms. Stone said, but it was Enron, and Enron was
untouchable.
Mr. Lindquist, 39, who said he remembered a feeling a security when he joined Enron eight years ago, put it this way:
"You can't crush a company this big, this strong. They were into everything."
It seemed to be more than just business. The company bosses talked about respect and integrity, and passed out
paperweights that said so.
"We put our trust in C.E.O.'s," Mr. Lindquist said. "It was a personal thing. You got to see the company grow," in part from
your own hard work. All that was a myth, he said.
Mr. Lindquist is not a wealthy man. His wife, Kim, cannot work because she needs to stay at home with their autistic son,
Garrett, 3. Mr. Lindquist's paycheck and some small savings are all that stand between them and foreclosure on their
home. "We don't know how we'll pay our bills," he said. With his benefits gone, too, he does not know how long the family
can continue to pay for therapies that are important to their son's development.
Mr. Lindquist is searching for work, for a new start, but with a nagging sense of betrayal.
"I don't think I'll ever trust another company," Mr. Lindquist said.
People say that all the time when they lose a job, but for Enron employees, it rings with conviction. |
