I rolled up on a major media fest that morning unlike anything that you could have imagined actually being real and immediately was drawn to the crowd of journalists that had gathered around this man with white hair that I had never seen before. I leaned the bike, took out the camera and just walked right into the circle that had formed around Mr. Moore as he was starting his answer to the question that I did not hear which came from, I do believe a radio not TV reporter.
I listened carefully and will attempt to share with you once again my lovely audience in paraphrase what I heard and more importantly what I got in emotional transfer from this fellow bag of skin and bones. He started by saying that a few years ago he held 19,000 shares of BOA stock at around about $51.50 when he discovered that the Bank was delving into the shade of lending that could be considered predatory and morally wrong. When he brought this information to Chairman of the Board(until last Wednesday) and CEO Mr. Ken Lewis he received the concern but apparently gave it no consideration. After a year passed which was 2 years ago Mr. Moore did not see any change in the Bank's practices so he donated 2,000 of his shares to a charity chosen by Mr. Lewis and immediately informed the Chairman and CEO that he will be liquidating the rest of his stock and not conducting any business with BOA in the future because he did not want to be associated with such lack of integrity in the industry.
Mr. Moore supported his answer for a few more minutes with enough information to make me realize that some of his genuine thoughts about the Bank's decisions and how they not only affect the lives of Americans but the world population as well were very similar to my own. Predatory lending, unannounced rate hikes, additional fees and all the other that seems to make life great for the Bujahideen at the top crushes the souls of the people working to stay under that huge thumb of the Bank and those who cannot even afford to do that. Operating with these practices no matter how you rationalize it is morally wrong at the quanta and will lead to huge amounts of suffering world wide. Of course this is true but you will only realize it if you take the time to look around and actually understand what is going on around you which is sometimes hard to look at. I picked up on the fact that Mr. Moore is one of those people actually paying attention and he is willing to do what is necessary to stand up and say the Truth in affect making a change.
John Moore answered another question from the tall blond about whether or not the Board should fire Mr. Lewis. He made it clear that the Board was not in a good position to do that, however with all the facts Mr. Lewis himself has the obligation to step down. Amazing, the truth on Tryon. When he got done supporting his answer he excused himself from our circle and I unexpectedly began to clap. Slowly at first then faster and louder with each smack of my own 2 hands. I don't think any of the pro journalists felt the way I did because they all looked at me with cracked out expressions on their painted faces.
Fast forward to yesterday morning and while I was dropping a job outside of the beltway in full snycro I walked right past Mr. Moore who was walking right past me. As we made eye contact I said, "You're Mr. Moore." He stopped and said, "Yes, I am John Moore" with a curious look on his face. "Oh, I am sorry My name is Billy Fehr and I heard you talk the other day, I am the one who clapped when you finished", I told him in an effort to make sure he did not think I was stalking him. I then took a moment to explain to him that I understood the truth in what he said and that some of what he was saying had been thoughts that I have had as I ponder the global situation. He seemed slightly embarrassed however also genuinely moved by our meeting and passing. John Moore then thanked me for taking the time to introduce myself as he shook my hand with an honest smile. I rode away thinking about the timing of all that is going on around me and was glad to be part of it.
2 comments:
Thanks Billy.
yer a good reporter.
and good at transfers.
energy and all.
gettin it all out there.
"the cracked out expressions"
true. true.
its pretty serious.
great story, thanks Bill
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