As I sat staring into the screen of my laptop, stunned in silence and reeling in shock after having recently read a devastating news article, I wondered about what title I could name this blog.
The article was probably not the first of its kind written but it was provocative enough to cause me to convey my thoughts here. It made me pause and ponder at just how brief and fleeting this life that we live truly is.
On a Friday morning, an employee of a well-known US banking institution, clocked in to perform her daily duties in the position for which she was hired. She made her way to her cubicle which was located in a remote area of the company's building. The news article stated that the employee was discovered four days later, the following Tuesday morning, at her cubicle.... deceased.
Like many other readers, I was in shock. I had so many questions as to how this all happened:
Was she in good health or did she have a medical emergency episode? The cause of death was still under investigation.
Were there no other employees in the vicinity that could have passed her cubicle and noticed that something was amiss? The actual time of death was still unknown.
Did she not break for lunch or did she eat at her desk? If there was a lunchroom, surely coworkers would have noticed her absence.
Was she not a social person? If she were a loner or someone who was an introvert, then perhaps her isolation was a normal observation by her team members.
Did she have a supervisor who she would have reported to at the day's beginning or end? Certainly that superior would have been informed of any unusual behavior with this employee.
It was the beginning of the weekend.
Were there any employees who worked varying shifts? If not, then the building would have been empty on Saturday and Sunday, so if she had died on Friday evening, nobody would have been there.
But what about security? Was there personnel on site to patrol the interior and exterior spaces, considering it was a financial institution.
What about a weekend cleaning crew? Companies will sometimes hire staff to discard trash, vacuum floors, clean the bathrooms, etc.
Then I thought about the employee's personal life.
Did she have a list of friends or caring family members who were in close contact with her?
Was she a spiritual individual who practiced her faith, whatever that religion may have been? If so, was she missed at her weekend services?
Was she a private person? That could have been a possible reason why she was not reported as missing. Sometimes folks simply assume that if a sent call or text goes unanswered, it is attributed to one's busy lifestyle.
Busyness and life's distractions are thieves of our most valuable time. We can get so wrapped up in our own personal lives that we forget about the lives of others who may be in desperate need for help.
Then again, there's the other side of the equation where those who do need assistance are prone to suffer in silence, simply because they are aware of the busy and hectic pace at which others live; therefore, they may not want to become a bother or an added element to their plate.
Ours is a very mobile culture.
Job relocations, retirement moves to new communities, family upheavals and one's desire for change can either create distance or fracture, or even completely sever, once-close relationships.
I'm not sure on what foundation this employee's life was built, but to imagine that not one neighbor, family member or personal friend noticed her absence for four days is quite disturbing.
This entire scenario spoke volumes to me, as there are instances to which I can relate.
As an independent, single, and aging senior, I do tend to enjoy my private space.
As I type this, I am "preaching to the choir," as they say.
As much as I love my solitude, I realize that I, too, need to be more available to, and connected within, my community and other multi-situationships I may develop along the way.
I have to occasionally remind myself of the adage which states, "no man is an island, no man stands alone."
God created mankind to have communion and fellowship with each other.
We should bear one another's burdens.
We should love our neighbor as ourselves.
We should be our brother's keeper.
I feel that if someone in that financial office building, or within her residential community, had the type of character or personality mentioned above; someone who would have connected and maintained a relationship with that employee; perhaps this unfortunate event would not have happened.
Then again, I'm not really sure.
There is such a thing, known as life's "suddenlies," where things simply happen out of, and beyond, our control.
Medical episodes and accidents of all kinds occur on a daily basis, at any given moment in time, and in no particular place.
My sister, Dr. Heather James-Douglas, details this in her book, The Suddenlies of Life. I
highly recommend that you read a copy which you can obtain here.
In reflection, this leads me to encourage us all to check in or catch up periodically on those who are around us, particularly those who live alone. We all have been given 24 hours within each day. Can we truly not spare a minute or two to call or text someone with whom we have not been in contact for a while?
I'll reiterate the words from the original AT&T commercial ad which said:
Reach Out And Touch Someone.
It could be a matter of saving that person's life. You just never know....
This incident astonished me tremendously!!! I agree with your summation. I wondered especially if she didnt have family or friends, coworkers who would check in? How often does the company have its offices cleaned? My major takeaway is the need for us to reach out and touch someone and not assume that they are busy when we do not hear back from them.
It is painful that we have become so urbanized. As a country girl, I daresay, I don't see something like that happrning in a rural community. We need to get back to the basics.