One of my coworkers, P, just lost his wife a couple of weeks ago. She had a stroke a few months earlier and was never able to get out of the hospital bed afterwards. She passed from "complications" from the stroke. Very sad. She was only 66.
So the week that P was out of the office, our supervisor got a sympathy card for everyone to sign and some people even contributed a few dollars.
During the week that P was out, R was really freaking out, thinking about how he would deal with it if his wife passed away. He went around to everyone worrying....
R: What would I do if my wife died? She does EVERYTHING for me! She always asks me, "What would you do without me?" And I tell her, "I don't know." I really don't know what I would do if she died.
So a few days after P was back in the office, R was curious to know how P was dealing with it, hoping to gain some insight as to how he would be able to deal with it if he was to ever find himself in that situation:
R: So how are things now that your wife is gone?
P: Well, things are just back to normal now. You know, you've just got to keep living every day.
R: Don't bull shit me. I really want to know. What is it like with your wife dead?
P: Really, everything is okay. Besides, she's not really gone anyway.
R: WHAT?!?!?!?! What do you mean she's not gone?????????? I thought she died!!!!!!!
P: Well, yeah of course but, I meant she just...moved on...like to a better place. So she's not really "gone." Like, in spirit.
R: Oh! Boy, you SCARED me!! For a second there I thought you meant she was still alive! And I was thinking, "Oh shit!" Because I contributed money to that.
Great way to sum up the big picture here, R, by putting such importance on the $3 that you threw in. Because that's really what's important right now. Some really "quality" sympathy there....
