January 30, 2005

Blogger Worker Dead at Computer Desk Five Days

It could happen.

Birmingham, AL--Bosses of a publishing firm are trying to work out why no one noticed that one of their employees had been sitting dead at his desk for five days before anyone asked if he was feeling okay. George Turklebaum, 51, who had been employed as a proof-reader at a New York firm for 30 years, had a heart attack in the open-plan office he shared with 23 other workers. He quietly passed away on Monday, but nobody noticed until Saturday morning when an office cleaner asked why he was still working during the weekend. His boss Elliot Wachiaski said "George was always the first guy in each morning and the last to leave at night, so no one found it unusual that he was in the same position all that time and didn't say anything. He was always absorbed in his work and kept much to himself." A post mortem examination revealed that he had been dead for five days after suffering a coronary. Ironically, George was proofreading manuscripts of medical textbooks when he died. Moral of the story: Don't work too hard. Nobody notices anyway. Source.

Yes, having spent twenty-seven and a half years as a State employee, I know first hand that no one ever notices unless you do something wrong. If you're a conscientious employee doing a good job, no one notices that you're there.

Now that I have started blogging, I am beginning to feel the same way. With this paucity of comments, I am beginning to understand how Tig felt when he told us that he was leaving the blogosphere.

Come on, you guys! How about at least reading Tig's new short story and leaving him a comment. He and his navel would certainly appreciate it.

Posted by Moona at January 30, 2005 08:27 PM | TrackBack
Comments

I loved the short story--I'd been helping him with naming it, but he came up with a better name than I could ever have picked!

I apologize for my own lack of comments--I've been fighting with allergies all this week and oh man, am I ever strung out...I sorta feel a bit like Mr. Turklebaum myself. Damn, that's a sad story, though. You'd think that maybe his family might have noticed something. That's why I try to keep in touch with my parents as often as possible, calling them at least once a day--or more, if Zane does something particularly amusing that I want to relate. But then, my family has always been tight and we do what we can to keep things warm. Even though I'm on the opposite political spectrum as they are nowadays, the squabbles are kept to a minimum because You Never Know What May Happen, yanno?

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at January 31, 2005 10:29 AM