It's one of those things that happen to everyone I suppose. Someone you work with passes away suddenly.

One of the application guys passed away Monday night. He was probably no older than 40 (some estimate mid 40's, others mid-30's). A few months back he slowly collapsed in his cubical while talking to others. Not really unconscious. Just slowly sank to the floor. A month or so he was found on the floor in the Men's room. I did notice that lately he's been looking somewhat paler than normal. But he also was in good spirits up until Friday, the last time folks saw him.

My own feelings are pretty ambivalent. With folks walked out for various infractions, both here and in other places, it's almost like he simply quit or was walked out. "Sorry, he's just not working here any more."

Some of the folks here got somewhat emotional. And I get the emotional part. I was pretty devastated over the divorce and having to put my cat to sleep last year. So I'm not unemotional.

Here we've had one other person I worked with pass away overnight. Others in the company that I don't know have passed away including a biker who missed a curve. I donated blood in his name.

When my boss at SAIC passed away when talking to our customer on the phone (he was just a year older than me), I was pretty thoughtful and it was one of the decisions that had us move to Colorado.

Others have passed as well. The guy who fell asleep at the wheel and ran into the back of stopped traffic at full speed and without his seatbelt on. The guy who was working out on the treadmill in the company gym and was found dead at the base of it by someone later. The guy who was complaining about a splitting headache and died of an aneurism when mowing the lawn.

And of course the friend who just happened to be at an Oracle meeting in New York on 9/11. He was a trained EMT in Virginia and grabbed his gear to offer his help. He was found under a fallen block.

It's unfortunate of course but it's hard to feel more than "it's too bad, he was so young" and try not to look confused when folks are crying over his death.

Anyway. Life's short. Shorter for some.

Ride Safe.

Carl

Mental note....don't work in an office with Carl.

You have to make a note?

Carl

I've only really dealt with one at work. A few retirees I worked with have passed, but they were old and it was expected so no real shock. The one that did bother me was a young apprentice, my apprentice, who got a cold that never went away. Eventually it was diagnosed as Lymphoma. he died a few months later. 23 years old and an amazingly coherent person when confronted with his own death. planned his own funeral. want the hair to stand up on your neck have a friend ask you to be a pallbearer at his funeral and know he is serious.  that one bothered me quite a bit. In typical lineman fashion we went out and got shitfaced after the funeral.

the rest, even family members, have little emotional affect one me?

Note to self,

f*ck the office people with their air conditioning and fresh coffee.

Is this a rant thread?

Jim Carroll is dead.

Cool song.

Everybody dies. People we are close to die.

At the end of 2012 I was at my wits end - darn near breakdown.  Feb 2013 I pretty much did have a breakdown.  Resigned a management position, fell apart, started to reevaluate...never quite realized just how far "gone" I was.  Chest pressure, headaches, stress, months of sleepless nights.  I was a dick on a good day...most days weren't good.

It took most of 2013 to recover from that on a personal basis.  I'm still with the same company, still hold a highly respected position, still have the respect of my clients and the industry. 

But damned if I didn't have to re-evaluate "whats important" and get my head right.  I sleep most nights, smile a lot more, laugh a lot more and don't take as many things as seriously. 

Business is not worth dying over.  I hope I never go down that path again.

At the end of 2012 I was at my wits end - darn near breakdown.  Feb 2013 I pretty much did have a breakdown.  Resigned a management position, fell apart, started to reevaluate...never quite realized just how far "gone" I was.  Chest pressure, headaches, stress, months of sleepless nights.  I was a dick on a good day...most days weren't good.

It took most of 2013 to recover from that on a personal basis.  I'm still with the same company, still hold a highly respected position, still have the respect of my clients and the industry. 

But damned if I didn't have to re-evaluate "whats important" and get my head right.  I sleep most nights, smile a lot more, laugh a lot more and don't take as many things as seriously. 

Business is not worth dying over.  I hope I never go down that path again.

Sounds eerily familiar.
Might be reaching a similar place myself.
Reevaluation time fast approaching.


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About 11 years ago, one of the client managers at the investment firm where CB and I use to work went to the gym in Building 3, changed his clothes in the locker room, and headed outside for a run through the nearby neighborhoods on his lunch break. Two hours later when he was late for an important meeting, people started looking for him. The staff at the gym did not recall seeing him return. Turns out, he was the DOA John Doe brought to the local hospital 90 minutes prior. He dropped over of a heart attack in one of the neighborhoods shortly after he left the building. Local lady saw him go down, called 911, but he was gone. Since that point, anyone who walks or runs outside and uses the gym locker room to change has to sign in and out and must carry at least their work ID (they need it to get back into the building anyway).

I was pretty ripped up about it - a) because he was one of the fittest guys I knew* and b) because we'd just started a quasi-mentoring relationship as I was interested in transitioning to client management. I'd met him in a training class a few months prior and - long story short - we had to forfeit our shoes in the class (it was a leadership style class) and we bonded over that moment. When I went to the viewing and spoke to his wife, I mentioned how I'd "lost my shoes" with her husband. She laughed and said, "He told me about that and how much fun he had that day in that class." Apparently, he didn't really want to go, but he told her that sitting next to me in the class made him glad he did. The minute I was out the door of the funeral home, I lost it.

Here at PSU, about 4-5 years ago we lost one of our trades supervisors to a brain tumor. When I started 10 years ago, he'd had surgery to have a tumor removed and been through treatment and was on the mend. Things were looking good! Until one scan when they didn't. It was incredibly difficult to watch a guy not more than 10 years older than me fade so quickly. And he was a genuinely nice guy - respected by his crew and peers, thorough in his work, friendly, kind. It was a terrible loss for our facilities family. Every now and then I'll run a historical budget report and his name will pop up and I think, "He was one of the good ones."

Here's to Jim and Brian.


*yes, I know fit people die, too

It is always a sobering moment when you learn that a coworker that you saw a few weeks before, died suddenly.
He was about my age and looked tired. He didn't wake up one morning.

Is this a rant thread?

I thought it was an office etiquette thread?

To the best of my knowledge, none of my coworkers have passed away. Clearly I provide life and longevity wherever I go.

Unlike Papa.

Very unlike Papa.

A person of interest?

 Don't know how many of my coworkers have died, but here's a list of the ones that have been killed: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/about/memoriam.htm

 Nobody I've worked with directly, but I've had some close calls.

/thread

:-(

I recently went through this.

My department is small: manager and four colleagues. I just joined the department a couple of months ago, but the two workers I share my office with had been working together for 5+ years, and within the company itself for 10+.

Kathy left work on a Friday and was never seen alive again. The alarms were raised when she failed to pick up her son from her ex's house Sunday night. The police were called and a three country search (I work near the borders of Switzerland, Germany and France) was begun. On Wednesday they found her car at a parking spot in the woods of Alsace (France). The next day, using helicopters and dogs, they found her body. She had been hiking, slipped off the trail and fell to her death.

She was in her mid-40s and was a happy person. She loved to hike and would often take off alone, so what she had done was not unusual for her. But what I think about most is twofold:

1) it happened so suddenly. I could go for a hike tomorrow and die. Or I could die while sitting here on my couch. Most don't know when their time is up.

2) Selfishly, in the days before she was found I wondered about the work. Like I said, we're a small department and each one has a full load. With someone suddenly not there, it was difficult to fill the gap. There were so many projects she was in the middle of, conversations she was part of. It was truly awkward to reply to an email sent to Kathy with "I'm sorry to tell you, but Kathy passed away suddenly last week".


Anyway... life is short. I shouldn't be sitting here on the couch 

Is it OK to have mental list of co-workers who would benefit the company were they to become ex-parrots?

Quote from: satxbonneville on July 05, 2014, 12:45:23 PM

Is it OK to have mental list of co-workers who would benefit the company were they to become ex-parrots?

No. Killing Norwegians is wrong. Even if they are Smurfs.

What if they are French or Belgian?

Is it OK to have mental list of co-workers who would benefit the company were they to become ex-parrots?

I hope so