Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, December 6, 2004.

Okay. I was going to write something completely different here, but in light of recent events.... Let me explain.

Last month, federal law enforcement swept into a local company's office to uncover a massive fraud operation. It seems CyberNET, a high-tech operation started by a fellow named Barton Watson, was really nothing more than Watson's Ponzi scheme -- he tricked investors and banks into loaning the company money and then pretty much took most of the money for himself and his wife. It finally got to the point where the scheme collapsed. Now CyperNET is in bankruptcy, over 100 employees are jobless, and creditors and customers are scrambling to get pennies back on their dollars. If you're interested in specifics, here's a link:
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1102004126205710.xml?grpress?NEG

What I was going to write, and what the comic is about, is how one person can give a whole group a black eye. Many, many of my friends are entrepreneurs, and they are good and honest people. I myself am an entrepreneur (if a reluctant one). People trust me, and I need people to trust me. So I couldn't help feeling smudged by association. Just as a good soldier would be by the Abu Ghraib scandal, just as a good priest would be by the pedophile priest scandal, just as a good teammate would be when another teammate leaves the team down.

I wasn't going to mention that Watson killed himself shortly after his lies began to unravel. I really didn't feel it was worth mentioning because of how pathetic he was in the end -- there in his million dollar home, drunk on a $700 bottle of wine, and bragging to the 911 operator about his cars and jets.

Last Thursday, a very dear and sweet neighbor boy, Nick Van Overloop, took his own life. He was all of 13. He was our newspaper boy, a close friend to our children, but mostly a great kid. If you have ever been to our house, you very likely met him. He was a pleasure to have around. And so the news came without warning. I have spent the day casting about for a reason, and I don't think I'll ever understand it. The only thing I do know is this: I think of Watson and feel nothing; I think of Nick and feel everything.