Please pray for Ryan

Back in January Ryan witnessed a violent fight between two volunteers, I'll refer to as S & D. S threw D into the refrigerator and shut him in before walking off. Ryan let D out and reported the incident to his supv. There was another witness, but he asked to be left out of it because he was afraid of S & D.

The Supv. talked to S & D and they told her they were just fooling around. She believed them and gave them a week off.

(According to the Handbook, any fighting on zoo property is grounds for termination.)

S & D then told Ryan that they would get even. They said sometime they would do something wrong and put the blame on Ryan so he would get in trouble. To "watch his back."

Today it happened.

D threw moldy lettuce at someone and said Ryan did it. Ryan was rebuked by the Assistant Director and she wouldn't listen to his protests. She gave him a black mark. A few mos. ago they did something similar and he got a black mark for something he didn't do.

3 black marks and you lose your job.

I probably don't need to tell you how much Ryan loves his work at the zoo. All of the Zookeepers have told me what a great worker he is and how he will do anything they ask of him.

He is now terrified of losing his job. He feels rather helpless. I told him this happens to most people at some time and all he can do is keep doing his best and "keep his nose clean."

He is going to talk to his favorite Zookeeper, who is in management at the zoo, tomorrow and is hoping he will take care of the problem. This manager has taken Ryan under his wing and training him in all kinds of things, knowing Ryan's goal is to be a zookeeper.

Incidentally, D was kicked out of public school this spring when he kicked a teacher in the crotch. This is the type of kid he is. And yet he seems to hang on to his job and fool people and is getting Ryan in trouble.

Please pray for Ryan and for this situation to be resolved. Ryan is so worried about losing his chance at future work at the zoo. It's all he's wanted to do.

Thanks! Oh, if you have advice, I'd be happy to listen.