76winger
Member
Today walked into work as normal, around 8:30, but before I got halfway through the building, I passed my supervisor on her way out of the door with tears running down her cheeks. It was evident they not the first and the look in her eye told the story of something happening that really shook up the morning for her, and as the day went on, our whole team.
We work a 24 x 7 operation where there are several team members on duty through the day to take Helpdesk calls and emails, monitor computers systems and processes running throughout the day and create electronic "tickets" for 2nd level support staff when problems occur and we can't handle them in a short amount of time. As the day ends it's reduced to a single person on duty at night when there's less calls and emails and mostly monitoring of nightly computer system process. And there's a weekend crew to continue the operations over that period of time.
Well, when our supervisor arrived this morning at around 6:30am she found the night shift member lying on the floor. This is a guy that works two full time jobs (the same job at both places), five 8-hour days at the other place and three 12 hour days on our team. He's been known to nap once in a while due to his heavy work schedule but something wasn't right today, and as she approached him, she found he had passed away in the middle of the night (at age 46).
So began a day of turmoil, reflection and counseling for those that needed it.
She went to the hospital to catch up with his wife and try to offer any consolation she could, another member of our day shift went home to rest up and fill in the night shift spot and I stayed through the day to try and keep up with as much as I could.
I'm sort of thankful the day was fairly busy which kept me occupied with work rather than dwelling too much on the experience of the morning. But I still found time to think about our short time on this earth, how precious life is and how quickly it's gone. I also wonder if he believed in any religious higher power whether it be the God I believe in or some other religion. I personally believe that when I die, I'll be in Heaven with God and Jesus and only my body will be left behind, and it will be a day to cheer rather than mourn. However for all those left behind, it's hard to see it that way. And I find myself wondering what words of consolation I can offer them. I'm a much better writer than I am a talker, so that adds to my dilemma.
It's a time of mourning for us all at the moment, but I think as time heals the wounds of today we'll all end up stronger in the end. I'll be saying a little longer prayer than normal tonight for consolation and understanding for everyone.
We work a 24 x 7 operation where there are several team members on duty through the day to take Helpdesk calls and emails, monitor computers systems and processes running throughout the day and create electronic "tickets" for 2nd level support staff when problems occur and we can't handle them in a short amount of time. As the day ends it's reduced to a single person on duty at night when there's less calls and emails and mostly monitoring of nightly computer system process. And there's a weekend crew to continue the operations over that period of time.
Well, when our supervisor arrived this morning at around 6:30am she found the night shift member lying on the floor. This is a guy that works two full time jobs (the same job at both places), five 8-hour days at the other place and three 12 hour days on our team. He's been known to nap once in a while due to his heavy work schedule but something wasn't right today, and as she approached him, she found he had passed away in the middle of the night (at age 46).
So began a day of turmoil, reflection and counseling for those that needed it.
She went to the hospital to catch up with his wife and try to offer any consolation she could, another member of our day shift went home to rest up and fill in the night shift spot and I stayed through the day to try and keep up with as much as I could.
I'm sort of thankful the day was fairly busy which kept me occupied with work rather than dwelling too much on the experience of the morning. But I still found time to think about our short time on this earth, how precious life is and how quickly it's gone. I also wonder if he believed in any religious higher power whether it be the God I believe in or some other religion. I personally believe that when I die, I'll be in Heaven with God and Jesus and only my body will be left behind, and it will be a day to cheer rather than mourn. However for all those left behind, it's hard to see it that way. And I find myself wondering what words of consolation I can offer them. I'm a much better writer than I am a talker, so that adds to my dilemma.
It's a time of mourning for us all at the moment, but I think as time heals the wounds of today we'll all end up stronger in the end. I'll be saying a little longer prayer than normal tonight for consolation and understanding for everyone.
