Even when the first multibillion-dollar restatement came, many near Clinton, Mississippi, appeared to be more in mourning than angry. One employee, sharing the shock with bar patrons at Bravo Italian Restaurant &

Bar, said, “People are taking it with exceptional grace. In my experience with MCI, I have never worked for a better company.”431 Others, such as Bernie’s minister, give him the benefit of the doubt, concluding that he might not have known about the distortion of the numbers:

“We’ve kind of held judgment until we know the entire story and whether he had knowledge.”432 Evaluate the effect of these companies on the hometowns in which they operate. What roles do hubris and the fear of letting the locals down play in situations such as WorldCom’s?? p-9687