I keep thinking about a call I had the other day at work... It was an old man. Not the rude and senile type of old man I'm used to getting, but the soft-spoken and intelligent kind. I collected his name and phone number as usual, but when he gave me his system serial number, it came up under a womans name. At first I thought it was his wife, but then he mentioned the computer had belonged to his daugter. I began to tell him that if his daughter simply "gave" him the computer, the warranty was non-transferable and I could not help him. Instead of being stubborn(like most people are when I have to tell them this,) he mentioned that his daughter did not give him the computer, but she had died recently. Then there were a couple moments of dead silence on the line. All I could say was, "I'm sorry to hear that." It came out so artificial and cold, but I didn't know what else to say. He said he was desparately trying to get some data off the computer because his daughter had spend much of her time creating a family tree that went back many generations. There was a sadness in his voice, and I felt like asking how she died... The problem he had called in about was something that my company would consider to be out of our "scope of support," because it was a "how-to" issue. I began helping him despite this fact, and while we talked I began looking through the history of his computer to see if his daughter had ever called in before she died(the computer was 3 yrs old.) In those 3 years, his daughter had called in only once about losing an unsaved document. I don't recall her name... Something like April, or Andrea... It was so very strange to look at my screen and see a documentation of a call for someone who is deceased. Judging from her fathers kindness, I'm sure she was an intelligent and kind woman.
After the call ended, I felt like leaving work. I mean, just walking out the door and never looking back. But why? Not because our policies say that I shouldn't have assisted the elderly man, but because the thought of his sadness was almost too much to bear. I felt like jumping on my desk and screaming at the top of my lungs. A cry for help... A cry that would more than likely result in some harsh words from my supervisor and blank stares from co-workers. Or maybe.... Just maybe.... I need Prozac.

Feels good to get some things off your chest, huh?

I enjoyed reading it.

No GT, you don't need a Prozac...

(This is meant as an observation, not as a criticism.)

I believe the problem with a lot of us is that we've grown up living our lives vicariously through television and/or to a lesser degree, the movies. We are so used to watching other people experience emotions that when the real thing hits us, we don't know how to deal with it. When we experience pleasure, we're disappointed it doesn't last forever. When we experience pain, we want to quickly numb the sensation with a drink or a drug. Good or bad, emotions are what make us human. Any person who doesn't want to experience the normal sensations of daily life is someone who is only going through the motions.

That was a touching story about the old man and his deceased daughter. It's sad, but at the same time it's beautiful. Don't waste the experience by wanting to numb out. Having dealt with the old man as you did has made you a better person. You have grown...

quote Originally posted by Patrick: [B] I believe the problem with a lot of us is that we've grown up living our lives vicariously through television and/or to a lesser degree, the movies./B]

I think there's some truth in that... It kinda makes me wonder what I might be like if I had never been exposed to television, radio, or movies. I'm sure I would be a noticeably different.

GT... No you don't need Prozac. It was just a reminder that you are human. You can feel compassion. It's a graphic illustration of what makes us different from lower life forms. Sometimes, the realization catches us off guard, though.

Maybe it's just the job getting me down... I really don't know. I just hate having structure in my life, and that incident more or less brought everything to the surface. Maybe it's the age-old fear of dying without really having lived. Anybody have a similar experience?

GTB,

You did what you instinctively or subconsciously knew was right. If your supervisor has a problem with that, he's a dork. If your job is in any danger over it, this is the wrong job for a guy who looks like his compass has the right setting.

If he got the files for the family tree, you probably helped him deal with his loss.
Good move.
Mike

GTB, you have got to get yourself out of that workplace. Its been obvious that you really dislike it from the posts youve put on here and when we discuss it on icq. Is it easy to find another job in SD though? The story about the old man and his daughter reminds me of a girl named Jennifer Odom that was murdered in 1993. She was a year younger than me and went to my school. Jennifer Odom was riding her bus home, when she was let off, she never made it home and nobody saw anything. Her home was only 3/10 of a mile from her stop. Jenni was missing for a week when she was found murdered in Hernando County which is the county above Pasco county where Jenni lived. Jenni was a very bright, nice and cheary person. I knew her well from school and church. Some of you may have seen the Unsolved Mysteries episode where it featured her case. Still no leads though. I had a herd time dealing with is because I saw her walking to her bus to leave school that day and I considered her a friend. I didnt think to myself, "Gee Jenni is going to be murdered today." I was pretty torn up about it. Just recently, her bus driver that saw her get off the bus for the last time came to our store and we talked about it for a while. To this day, her bus driver still gets very upset over it, it caused her to retire a week after the vanishing. When Jenni died, it made me do a lot thining about my life ahead and what tragedies I may be faced with and how I will be able to handle it.