My last story about my work at White Oak Baptist Conference Center involves an unfortunate event that ultimately cost me my job. When I worked there, we had four conference rooms that were in the same building as the dining room. There were moveable partitions that could turn one big area into four smaller ones. The partitions were designed to be sound-proof, so that one group could meet in one, and another one "next-door" and no one would be bothered by noise. There was one drawback to this arrangement. If someone wanted to use sound equipment, we couldn't cut the ceiling speakers to the other rooms. So, we never used microphones, unless it was one open room like for a youth camp assembly.
On this particular weekend, we had two groups. One was a choir that wanted to rehearse some special music. The other was a conference headed by a special speaker. The speaker was from Nashville, TN and worked for the Baptist Sunday School Board. For those who don't know, the BSSB was the place where the big honchos in the Southern Baptist Convention worked. These people made the decisions involving how state Baptist Conventions were to operate. I had grown up with many of these people, and they all seemed very nice. To work at the BSSB in Nashville was to say you had made it in the denomination. I do not mean to suggest that it was an ego trip for most workers. Most workers were there to serve God and to do His work. However, this particular special speaker had not learned the lesson on humility.
As it was my job to set up the meeting spaces, I put the choir at one end of the meeting area, and the other meeting at the other end. There were two empty rooms between them. I wanted to make sure that neither one would disturb the other. As both meetings started, I got word that the special speaker wanted a microphone. The room they were meeting in was approx. 10'x10'. Unless the speaker had a serious throat problem, he didn't need a microphone. He demanded to have a microphone. I tried to explain to him that the choir would hear his talk, and they couldn't rehearse. He then told me he didn't care about the choir. He wanted a microphone. So, my boss made me hook up the microphone.
I was monitoring the sound to try and not get it too loud. The man noticed what I was doing and demanded that I turn it up. Then, the choir director complained. They could hear this man over the speakers, and they couldn't hear themselves sing. So, I went back to the sound system and unplugged the microphone. That speaker went ballistic. He told me that I was deliberately trying to sabotage his meeting. I tried to explain to him that the choir had paid money to be there, and he was there for free. That did not sit well with this man. He went to my boss and demanded he fire me.
I was not fired that day, but soon thereafter I was told that my job was being phased out. I know I was right, but my boss was more concerned about what this man might tell his buddies in Nashville, and White Oak might lose some contributions. Despite all the fun I had at White Oak, this incident was not one of them.
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