Note: this one puzzled The Board of Directors Here at Spo-reflections. They couldn’t conclude if I wrote it while upset or angry or ‘just trying to be funny again’. I told them I am always trying to be funny, but no, I wasn’t upset or angry. Perhaps I was a bit peckish, particularly for seafood. Spo.

This week The Bosses sent an email telling us the business has been sold. The He-boss is going into sweet semi-retirement after decades of running the show. The She-boss will still do some management.* We are told the new owner(s) is a conglomeration of mental health clinics, thus making the place a sort of like a chain restaurant, like Red Lobster, without the cheddar biscuits . I have christened the owners The Overlords and their headquarters resides in Florida., I get the dubious new title of “Florida Man”.

I have never been through a buyout, so I don’t know what to expect. Human nature being what it is, the staff (including myself) are curious and/or anxious about ‘what happens”. Will it literally be ‘business as usual’ or will there be major changes, like uniforms with lobster bibs.

The Persian Empire (I recall) did a good job with its hegemony by taking over but not really changing things. They didn’t demand the population change their religion or goings-on or even their rulers. So long as the taxes came their way Darius the Great et. al. didn’t fuss with the status quo. The email conveys The Overloards will be taking this approach and there will be no changes, but who can say what will happen, in time? Then again, changes happen anyway in time, so it is comparing apples to apples.

A couple of counselors have approached me asking if I was staying.** Quitting hadn’t crossed my mind. If The Overlords change things to my displeasure I would retire or leave; I don’t know of any out-of-work shrinks. I’m curious to see is if supervision and work modalities change. Brother #2 and SIL #3 both physicians often grumble administrators and know-it-alls constantly tell them what to do and how to work. Happily I don’t have that. The Bosses have always taken a laissez-faire approach with me doing my job. Will the new ones make me wait on more tables, as it were? Time will tell.

My first emotional reaction to reading the news was ‘Well, maybe somebody will finally hang up the paintings”. Around the place are lots of wall hangings, all piled up, that the owners haven’t gotten around to either hang up or throw out. There is also a lot of old office equipment needing a clear out. It gives the place a sort of still moving into look. These are superficial cosmetic concerns I know, but it would make the place look more attractive. Perhaps some nice scenes of lighthouses and lobster traps would be nice.

The Overlords soon arrive from faraway Florida to shake hands as it were. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in their meetings with the therapists and the clerical staff! I can imagine these get-togethers resembling an orchestra of scorched cats with their anxiety towards ‘Will I keep my job (clerics)?’ and ‘Will you be telling me how to work (therapists)?”. The Overlords don’t have a meeting set up me, which is curious. Perhaps they think it better not to poke me. In a way, it’s a disappointment. I hear tell they are bringing lunch, maybe fried shrimp.

With all of this I am taking the ‘not to be worrying approach’. If I am turned into a sort-of Reb Lobster waiter mental health provider (oh, how I hate that word!) I can pack up and go elsewhere. When I do, I am taking with me all the wall hangings with me. After all, they are mine; I hung them up when I got tired of looking at blank walls.

*Both are well over four feet if you were wondering.

**They didn’t convey if they were seeking a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ answer.