How Short This Life!

I got calls from three agents in our Call Centre tonight while I was at home. These three have a mutual friend who passed away a little earlier this evening. The these agents hadn't seen him since they started working here. It seems that he passed away in an accident in his native place of Thrissur. They wanted to be granted leave as they felt that they just had to attend the funeral. They were unable to contact the BPO manager or the HR person this late at night. Thinking of me, since I sleep late, each of them contacted me from their homes to inform that they each needed to attend their friend's funeral and that they would require a leave from work tomorrow.

To each I offered my sympathies; I know that I would want to go if it were a friend of mine. However I cannot sanction leaves at all. I can however keep the management informed about the upcoming shortages in staff tomorrow and I offered to do the same. I said that I couldn't tell them what to do - to go attend their friend's funeral or to come for work. I am not authorised to do that; there are other people whose responsibility it is to ensure that the call centre is filled to capacity and/or does not suffer from too many absentees. But a friend is a friend is a friend. How can you not go to pay your last respects to a friend once he/she passes away? What about the friend's poor anguished parents? I would feel it is imperitive for me to go and hence I understand.

Just wondering what kind of a person he was - was he full of energy and vigour and enthusiasm? He was single - did he have a girlfriend? Was he planning on getting married and having kids? Was he close to achieveing his goals and ambitions? Was he hoping to celebrate something in the neat future? Surprise a loved one with a gift? Attempt to do an incredible feat? We will never know.



Song for the day - "Wayne" - CHANTAL KREVIAZUK