When I was a young newspaper reporter — no kids, no mortgage, no middle-of-the-night sleeplessness over bills — a new owner came in and fired the genius boss who hired most of my newsroom colleagues, and me.

Did I, loyally and courageously, march outside the building in protest, demanding my ditched boss back?

No, I did not.

Did any of my colleagues — most of us in a union — dare raise a public complaint?

Nope.

Ever seen your own smart, fair and decent boss get canned unfairly?

If you put your job on the line, I’m impressed, since I can’t think of anybody else I’ve seen do what nearly 3,000 non-unionized Market Basket employees did Friday. Cashiers and baggers and managers, people who depend on Market Basket paychecks, drove for miles to the company’s Tewksbury headquarters to demand the reinstatement of ousted CEO Arthur. T. Demoulas, fired last month in a seemingly never-ending soap opera of a feud with his rival cousin and shareholder Arthur S. Demoulas.

They held signs and cheered and vowed to keep up the fight until they get what they want — even if that means shutting the company down.

The board meets tomorrow to decide what to do. It’s pretty obvious.

Customers, too, are in love with what’s become the Filene’s Basement of supermarket chains. Even though there are 37 checkout lines and aisles so wide you could almost land a small plane, Market Basket “is always really crowded unless it’s 7 a.m.,” says Annie McPherson of Revere, at the Chelsea store.

“It’s good quality and always fresh,” says Sharon Secreast, a mother of five, and a foster mom as well. “The cheapest around,” said Sandra Aviles, who drives to Chelsea from Boston.

How about this: two whole pineapples for $5, fresh salmon fillets for $7.99 — almost half as much as at other stores. Fancy all natural Pig’s Fly Bread, $5.09 at Whole Foods, is $4.69 at Market Basket. They’ve got exotics like guava fruit and octopus, a coffee shop and cafe where you can eat your $5.99 BBQ rib dinner, with two sides and a dinner role, from prepared foods. It’s clean. Everybody in produce and meats wears white hairnets. And they give you an extra 4 percent off at checkout.

Market Basket is one of the most successful family owned companies in all of America. It’s raking in billions. It has loyal patrons, loyal workers and a rare, remarkable synergy among those patrons, workers, and the now ousted CEO.

The new bosses — Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch — are running ads apologizing to customers for any inconvenience the Market Basket revolt may cause them. I’m sure they’re both lovely people. Obviously, they haven’t gotten the message. Customers want the Market Basket they’ve known forever. Workers are convinced they can’t have it without Arthur T.

That’s why I said it’s obvious what the board should do tomorrow: bring Arthur T. back, or ruin what you’ve got.