This story/rumor about Amy Klobuchar treating staff unkindly has bothered me from the start. I admit that my personal experience got in the way of my ability to 'just believe' what was going around so I'll share my story.
Early in my career, I worked for a Director who I (and everyone else) thought was a tyrant. She made me cry a couple of times in the ten or so years that I worked under her. And the entire situation was baffling to me. She wrote me up several times and each of those times promoted me within weeks of doing so. Seemed crazy to me. I was promoted seven times under her direction, to the highest level in her department, over people who had been there much longer. And each time I was promoted, I was replaced with at least two people, so she knew I gave more than 100% compared to other employees. Yet, she never let up on me.
Later in life, I realized that this woman had played a huge role in my becoming the person that I am proud to be - she helped me developed my ethics (preparing me for my seat on the ethics committee), and my work ethic (it would be impossible for me to go home at night thinking I had given less than 100% of myself), and the sense of accomplishment I felt knowing that I had done my best and that people knew they could depend on me. And I realized that no matter how much she asked of us, it was ever more or, maybe even as much, as she gave of herself. I was furious when she brought some work up to my bed when I was a patient in the hospital that we worked in but later, when she was hospitalized for an even more serious condition, she left her intensive care bed and came to the office in a hospital gown to take care of something that she thought couldn't be left until her return.
I complained about her. Often. Loudly. To anyone who would listen. And, had she been running for political office, my words might have been used against her. And, my words would have been honest. But, they wouldn't have been fair in the bigger picture, to her or to voters. Because we need politicians like her. So, she shook me for talking once. She also got unbelievable things for us and managed to escape any layoffs when the hospital as a whole was having to cut back. My honesty was naive.
And some people just aren't cut out for tough jobs. Fortunately, I was, and I stuck around long enough to grown. I had to think that maybe the people complaining about her were not.
For the record: I do not have a favorite candidate at this early date. I want to read, hear, see the pros and cons for all and make an educated choice.
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