life is odd sometimes.

[ricksdisconnected]

new job i started a few months ago has been tough to get a grasp of.
its not easy and the training is a monster to learn. my ass. manager
has been tough on me too. ex military. strict but doable.
poor guy tore his achilles heel a couple weeks ago. he was out playing in the
yard with a young kid and slipped on some stairs and there it went.
so there goes my training and ive been flying solo. doing every thing pretty much wrong
but working through it all.

he worked still right up to the very day before his surgery. my job has a lot of walking
distances too but he did it. a real trooper for 51 yrs. so he got his surgery
and was out for 2 weeks. left me in a damn pickle too. i dont blame him at all but its just my damn luck.
finally a place where i can get the training i need to do this type job and damned if my trainer
doesnt up and mess himself up leaving me hanging right smack dab when i need him the most lol.
again my damn luck. my job is commission only but while im in training im paid a lil bit.

so ole mitch comes back to work begining last week. a bit early for his condition but again, hes a trooper.
so the last couple days we have been lockin horns. not bad but i had to stand my ground a bit.
a lil bit of mouth coming from him but ive kept my cool. been a couple times i wanted to just let it rip but i didnt.
today was mitch's day off and it was great. no mouth. no odd looks. peace and quiet except from my damn customers.

well this afternoon at roughly 4:30 one of the guys walks up to me at work and says "i just cant believe it". i didnt know
what he was talking about. figured it was one of our customers doing what they do and asked him
what the hell happened now. he said "rick, mitch is dead". what? yeah man he died about 20 minutes ago.
i was in shock. said he was walking on his walker out of a grocery store and dropped dead right there. paramedics couldnt revive him.
i was stunned. still am.

the last time mitch and i were around eachother there was a slight tension in the air.
hes not left my mind since i heard the news. work emptied out quickly but me and the big boss stayed a few hours and
closed up shop. i went by the gas station and got me a pint of Heineken beer as i know thats the beer just last saturday
ole mitch told me he was going home to have. "just 2 of them" he said. i smiled as i just recently had a couple of them myself
after several yrs since i tasted one. they just sounded good and i grabbed a few just last saturday as well.

so im setting here finishing off the very last few swallows in mitchs honor. i cant help to be focused on the tension
between us this last week. i feel terrible. i wonder if he had known what today would have brung would it had been
different? i know on my side it would have been.

i cant help but think that how we prolly need to be kinder to people we know. even people we dont know.
we dont know when will be our last time seeing them or them seeing us if you know what i mean.
what will our last words be to somebody? what will our last actions be? what memory will they leave us
or we leave them? what bs will be be at eachother about? will it be worth it? at some point there is just no turning back.
no redo. no "i'll fix it tomorrow" thing. at some point all things will be final.
man if i could just go back to yesterday. but i cant. we cant, you cant. final remember?

so go make amends with that friend or family member that you have something against or that has something against you.
at east try. no matter how stupid it was that got you where your at today with them or how much it wasnt your fault.
if they will not receive you then at least you did your best and the rest is on them. you dont want to live with woulda coulda shoulda.
trust me. this isnt my first second or third rodeo with this. you would think i would have learned by now.

Rip mitch. sorry this happened to you brother. your friends and fellow employees loved you friend.
our last words were tense and im sorry.
thank you for all the training you have given me. maybe i can do something with it.

 

[mAx___]

Sorry to hear, my condolences.
From what I'm gathering, people of all ages dropping dead for no apparent reason has become the new normal lately.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Wow. Very sudden and frightenjng a bit.
He will not have been thinking about a bit of work tension, I am sure. Family and home will be far above work stuff. He was also likely used to confrontation given his history.
Don't let it bug you too much.
Very good points made.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Wow. Very sudden and frightenjng a bit.
He will not have been thinking about a bit of work tension, I am sure. Family and home will be far above work stuff. He was also likely used to confrontation given his history.
Don't let it bug you too much.
Very good points made.

sad thing, i just found out today that mitch was a loner. he didnt have ANYBODY
outside of work. i mean nobody. he died alone.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

maybe that's why he was so quarrelsome...

sometimes people, when they are ready to pass, change. IDK why, but, some people, that have been sickly for a long time, all the sudden seem healthy again, like, the healthiest you've seen them in years, then they go fast.

I've seen a lot of people go, as I used to be involved w/ hospice care.

Some people, hang on & on, because there's some unresolved issue that they feel, in their spirit, that they need to resolve. I've seen where, that person comes & they pass right after they leave.

Sometimes it doesn't work out & once they figure that they'll never have resolve they give up & go...

Some people, maybe they don't know that they are ready to go, but, their spirit does, & they are wrestling within themselves & they end up taking it out on those nearest to them.

Don't hold yourself under guilt. There's nothing you could have done. What's past is past & there
s nothing you can do about it now. The fact that you are thinking of the woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff, is a sign that you cared. I'm sure he knew/knows...

 

[Vinsanitizer]

maybe that's why he was so quarrelsome...

sometimes people, when they are ready to pass, change. IDK why, but, some people, that have been sickly for a long time, all the sudden seem healthy again, like, the healthiest you've seen them in years, then they go fast.

I've seen a lot of people go, as I used to be involved w/ hospice care.

Some people, hang on & on, because there's some unresolved issue that they feel, in their spirit, that they need to resolve. I've seen where, that person comes & they pass right after they leave.

Sometimes it doesn't work out & once they figure that they'll never have resolve they give up & go...

Some people, maybe they don't know that they are ready to go, but, their spirit does, & they are wrestling within themselves & they end up taking it out on those nearest to them.

Don't hold yourself under guilt. There's nothing you could have done. What's past is past & there
s nothing you can do about it now. The fact that you are thinking of the woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff, is a sign that you cared. I'm sure he knew/knows...

Words of the wise.
Update: words of the very wise.

 

[PowerTube44]

maybe that's why he was so quarrelsome...

sometimes people, when they are ready to pass, change. IDK why, but, some people, that have been sickly for a long time, all the sudden seem healthy again, like, the healthiest you've seen them in years, then they go fast.

I've seen a lot of people go, as I used to be involved w/ hospice care.

Some people, hang on & on, because there's some unresolved issue that they feel, in their spirit, that they need to resolve. I've seen where, that person comes & they pass right after they leave.

Sometimes it doesn't work out & once they figure that they'll never have resolve they give up & go...

Some people, maybe they don't know that they are ready to go, but, their spirit does, & they are wrestling within themselves & they end up taking it out on those nearest to them.

Don't hold yourself under guilt. There's nothing you could have done. What's past is past & there
s nothing you can do about it now. The fact that you are thinking of the woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff, is a sign that you cared. I'm sure he knew/knows...

Great points. Let me add another one.

Dying is no big trick, because we're all going to do it someday. We always hear that we should "respect the dead." Well, if I didn't respect someone when they were alive, then I won't respect them just because they died.

Rick, let me be clear: this isn't a reference to your post. I know you respected the guy. I just mean in general.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

new job i started a few months ago has been tough to get a grasp of.
its not easy and the training is a monster to learn. my ass. manager
has been tough on me too. ex military. strict but doable.
poor guy tore his achilles heel a couple weeks ago. he was out playing in the
yard with a young kid and slipped on some stairs and there it went.
so there goes my training and ive been flying solo. doing every thing pretty much wrong
but working through it all.

he worked still right up to the very day before his surgery. my job has a lot of walking
distances too but he did it. a real trooper for 51 yrs. so he got his surgery
and was out for 2 weeks. left me in a damn pickle too. i dont blame him at all but its just my damn luck.
finally a place where i can get the training i need to do this type job and damned if my trainer
doesnt up and mess himself up leaving me hanging right smack dab when i need him the most lol.
again my damn luck. my job is commission only but while im in training im paid a lil bit.

so ole mitch comes back to work begining last week. a bit early for his condition but again, hes a trooper.
so the last couple days we have been lockin horns. not bad but i had to stand my ground a bit.
a lil bit of mouth coming from him but ive kept my cool. been a couple times i wanted to just let it rip but i didnt.
today was mitch's day off and it was great. no mouth. no odd looks. peace and quiet except from my damn customers.

well this afternoon at roughly 4:30 one of the guys walks up to me at work and says "i just cant believe it". i didnt know
what he was talking about. figured it was one of our customers doing what they do and asked him
what the hell happened now. he said "rick, mitch is dead". what? yeah man he died about 20 minutes ago.
i was in shock. said he was walking on his walker out of a grocery store and dropped dead right there. paramedics couldnt revive him.
i was stunned. still am.

the last time mitch and i were around eachother there was a slight tension in the air.
hes not left my mind since i heard the news. work emptied out quickly but me and the big boss stayed a few hours and
closed up shop. i went by the gas station and got me a pint of Heineken beer as i know thats the beer just last saturday
ole mitch told me he was going home to have. "just 2 of them" he said. i smiled as i just recently had a couple of them myself
after several yrs since i tasted one. they just sounded good and i grabbed a few just last saturday as well.

so im setting here finishing off the very last few swallows in mitchs honor. i cant help to be focused on the tension
between us this last week. i feel terrible. i wonder if he had known what today would have brung would it had been
different? i know on my side it would have been.

i cant help but think that how we prolly need to be kinder to people we know. even people we dont know.
we dont know when will be our last time seeing them or them seeing us if you know what i mean.
what will our last words be to somebody? what will our last actions be? what memory will they leave us
or we leave them? what bs will be be at eachother about? will it be worth it? at some point there is just no turning back.
no redo. no "i'll fix it tomorrow" thing. at some point all things will be final.
man if i could just go back to yesterday. but i cant. we cant, you cant. final remember?

so go make amends with that friend or family member that you have something against or that has something against you.
at east try. no matter how stupid it was that got you where your at today with them or how much it wasnt your fault.
if they will not receive you then at least you did your best and the rest is on them. you dont want to live with woulda coulda shoulda.
trust me. this isnt my first second or third rodeo with this. you would think i would have learned by now.

Rip mitch. sorry this happened to you brother. your friends and fellow employees loved you friend.
our last words were tense and im sorry.
thank you for all the training you have given me. maybe i can do something with it.

Can't count the times I've felt that way myself, Rick. I've always said that the workplace brings out the worst in people. I'm a nice guy like you. In my case, if I get too stressed or pushed to hard for too long, I just shut down and eventually fire my boss. In the distant past, I used to try and stand my ground, fight for what I think is right, but I figure most folks don't cater to what's truly "right", or what's "best for everyone". So my only choices become either self-abuse (work harder, faster, longer, blah, blah, blah... try to be "the best"), or just move on. I've met very few bosses who were great leaders, but for the few, it was a pleasure to bend over backwards to help them, because they took an interest in me. But that's as rare as gold on Mars. Time passes, circumstances change, and I miss those few leaders, and a lot of good fellow employees. Sometimes it was enough for me to show up just for them, when I didn't even want to get out of bed. It's not always about you, your problems and how you feel today, it's a lot more about others sometimes. And when you start looking at people that way, as bad as you might think they are, you begin to understand that, perhaps they don't want all the crap they have to deal with anymore than you want yours. So why not, sometimes, throw your own crap off to the side, and just talk to someone about their crap - let them get it out. No advice, just listen. At least you'll be glad that you tried to be a friend. Once in a while you might learn something.

On regrets...

It's kinda like this, as I see it: I never got along much with my old man. He wasn't a bad guy, just never had time for me. I spent the first half of my life blaming him for this and that, until I got married, and then I got serious about a career. All the crap you have to do (in my case as an IT Tech), to take care of people's needs. You learn to be responsible, and you see how people depend on you, and also how you can't always be there right away to fix their problems. And you wish you could explain to them why you can't be there, but you just never have the time. I suddenly grew up one day when I looked at myself and realized that I'm no different than my dad. I'm sure he wanted to do better as a dad (not just a father), but there were times when he had to work 3 jobs to feed a family of four. What a revelation all of this becomes - turns out I'm really no better than him!... or anyone else maybe for that matter! That was a weight off my shoulders, because now I don't have to feel guilty about not being perfect for everyone in the world. (Fortunately for me, I got to know my dad before he passed, and we became very good friends.)

All we can do - all that is asked or required of us, is to do our best. Sometimes our best doesn't always cut the muster, but as long as we do our best, and help others to be the best that they can be when opportunities arise, well? ... I just hope one day, when I pass on, there will be a voice on the other side that will say to me, "You did your best. All is forgiven"... if I may put it that way.

Last thing...something I learned a long time ago: perhaps more often than not, things can become such a mess that they can't be easily resolved. There's nothing wrong with simply saying, "I'm sorry". "Love covers a multitude of sins".

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Great points. Let me add another one.

Dying is no big trick, because we're all going to do it someday. We always hear that we should "respect the dead." Well, if I didn't respect someone when they were alive, then I won't respect them just because they died.

Rick, let me be clear: this isn't a reference to your post. I know you respected the guy. I just mean in general.

i agree

 

[junk notes]

Thanks for slowing us down a sec or three @ricksdisconnected.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Thanks for slowing us down a sec or three @ricksdisconnected.

your welcome sir. a fella die in order for to bring you this message.
crazy way to look at it huh?
things were pretty quiet today at work in my dept. didnt speak of it but we all
knew what the issue was. Mitch's desk was empty when he sould have been setting there
barking his orders and marching us through the day in only a fashion he could do
and we appreciated it when he did.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

sad thing, i just found out today that mitch was a loner. he didnt have ANYBODY
outside of work. i mean nobody. he died alone.

Goes to show, you never know what someone else in your life may be going through day to day; the things we all hide and suppress.

 

[paul-e-mann]

new job i started a few months ago has been tough to get a grasp of.
its not easy and the training is a monster to learn. my ass. manager
has been tough on me too. ex military. strict but doable.
poor guy tore his achilles heel a couple weeks ago. he was out playing in the
yard with a young kid and slipped on some stairs and there it went.
so there goes my training and ive been flying solo. doing every thing pretty much wrong
but working through it all.

he worked still right up to the very day before his surgery. my job has a lot of walking
distances too but he did it. a real trooper for 51 yrs. so he got his surgery
and was out for 2 weeks. left me in a damn pickle too. i dont blame him at all but its just my damn luck.
finally a place where i can get the training i need to do this type job and damned if my trainer
doesnt up and mess himself up leaving me hanging right smack dab when i need him the most lol.
again my damn luck. my job is commission only but while im in training im paid a lil bit.

so ole mitch comes back to work begining last week. a bit early for his condition but again, hes a trooper.
so the last couple days we have been lockin horns. not bad but i had to stand my ground a bit.
a lil bit of mouth coming from him but ive kept my cool. been a couple times i wanted to just let it rip but i didnt.
today was mitch's day off and it was great. no mouth. no odd looks. peace and quiet except from my damn customers.

well this afternoon at roughly 4:30 one of the guys walks up to me at work and says "i just cant believe it". i didnt know
what he was talking about. figured it was one of our customers doing what they do and asked him
what the hell happened now. he said "rick, mitch is dead". what? yeah man he died about 20 minutes ago.
i was in shock. said he was walking on his walker out of a grocery store and dropped dead right there. paramedics couldnt revive him.
i was stunned. still am.

the last time mitch and i were around eachother there was a slight tension in the air.
hes not left my mind since i heard the news. work emptied out quickly but me and the big boss stayed a few hours and
closed up shop. i went by the gas station and got me a pint of Heineken beer as i know thats the beer just last saturday
ole mitch told me he was going home to have. "just 2 of them" he said. i smiled as i just recently had a couple of them myself
after several yrs since i tasted one. they just sounded good and i grabbed a few just last saturday as well.

so im setting here finishing off the very last few swallows in mitchs honor. i cant help to be focused on the tension
between us this last week. i feel terrible. i wonder if he had known what today would have brung would it had been
different? i know on my side it would have been.

i cant help but think that how we prolly need to be kinder to people we know. even people we dont know.
we dont know when will be our last time seeing them or them seeing us if you know what i mean.
what will our last words be to somebody? what will our last actions be? what memory will they leave us
or we leave them? what bs will be be at eachother about? will it be worth it? at some point there is just no turning back.
no redo. no "i'll fix it tomorrow" thing. at some point all things will be final.
man if i could just go back to yesterday. but i cant. we cant, you cant. final remember?

so go make amends with that friend or family member that you have something against or that has something against you.
at east try. no matter how stupid it was that got you where your at today with them or how much it wasnt your fault.
if they will not receive you then at least you did your best and the rest is on them. you dont want to live with woulda coulda shoulda.
trust me. this isnt my first second or third rodeo with this. you would think i would have learned by now.

Rip mitch. sorry this happened to you brother. your friends and fellow employees loved you friend.
our last words were tense and im sorry.
thank you for all the training you have given me. maybe i can do something with it.

Sorry for your loss bro, what kind of job is it?

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Sorry for your loss bro, what kind of job is it?

sales and service

 

[paul-e-mann]

sales and service

Sales and service of what?

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Sales and service of what?

Does it matter? I mean, "Sales and Service" - no matter what, it's a dog-eat-dog world, innit?

 

[tubes]

sad thing, i just found out today that mitch was a loner. he didnt have ANYBODY
outside of work. i mean nobody. he died alone.

I encounter this a bit: an older man is still keeping a job, maybe just part-time, when he is well past retirement age.
Why?
Because it's the only human company he has.

 

[saxon68]

At our (my?) age there are more and more people dropping, it happens. Seemed to start 25 years or so ago, car or motorcycle accidents, almost got shot myself by an angry husband (I swear I didn’t do it, she wanted to though!!) couple ODs, one of my friends passed in her sleep about 10 years ago, she was cleaning the house and messaged a few friends that she was going to nap then go out with them. Poof… never woke up.
Heart issues, cancer, more and more lately. 2 to covid, one was morbidly obese and it wasn’t a surprise that he passed when he got the ‘Rona, but my other buddy? He was healthy as a horse, always super active, took great care of himself with diet and exercise. Got the ‘Rona and passed within 2 weeks.

I had a cancer scare and surgery day after thanksgiving 2020, one of my good buddies died from cancer the day I was told I was cancer free.

None of us knows what’s going to happen or when, I try to be good to others, but doesn’t always happen that way

 

[ricksdisconnected]

At our (my?) age there are more and more people dropping, it happens. Seemed to start 25 years or so ago, car or motorcycle accidents, almost got shot myself by an angry husband (I swear I didn’t do it, she wanted to though!!) couple ODs, one of my friends passed in her sleep about 10 years ago, she was cleaning the house and messaged a few friends that she was going to nap then go out with them. Poof… never woke up.
Heart issues, cancer, more and more lately. 2 to covid, one was morbidly obese and it wasn’t a surprise that he passed when he got the ‘Rona, but my other buddy? He was healthy as a horse, always super active, took great care of himself with diet and exercise. Got the ‘Rona and passed within 2 weeks.

I had a cancer scare and surgery day after thanksgiving 2020, one of my good buddies died from cancer the day I was told I was cancer free.

None of us knows what’s going to happen or when, I try to be good to others, but doesn’t always happen that way

glad your still here with us bro.

 

[saxon68]

glad your still here with us bro.

Got the corona myself almost 3 weeks ago, for me it was like a bad cold. 2 days sucked real bad, but no worse than a crappy cold.

I’m still coughing and bringing up crap but it’s normal. No more headache, body aches, fever or plugged up head / ears feeling like underwater.

Wife showed symptoms the day after me, but she cleared up much faster.

Glad you guys are still here as well!!!!