the war
I saw the saddest thing I have ever seen today--one of my coworkers found out that her son had been killed in Iraq. I don't know her too well and I don't know the details, but it was quite honestly the most heart wrenching thing I have ever experienced. I was talking to one of my teammates who is leaving for vacation tomorrow, going over some of her clients so I would be familiar (it happens to be GE, our largest customer) when we heard the most awful sounds from across the room. We could see a crowd gathering by peering over the cube walls. It was painstakingly obvious that someone had died from the sounds this poor woman was making. She practically had to be carried out of the building, wailing as she was supported by her teammates, crying out that it couldn't be true, her baby couldn't be dead. Everyone in the vicinity was crying their eyes out; I'm tearing up as I type this. There is beauty in true emotion--the pure humanity, the honesty, the cut through the bullshit of everyday life and being politically correct, boiled down to true feelings. This is something I will never forget. The silence after she was led away was overwhelming. People, such as I, who knew Mary Jane as only an acquaintance, who had only seen her in a meeting or two or maybe exchanged some small talk in the break room while fixing a cup of coffee, were quietly sitting at their desks, crying tears for a man we had never met and hoping our coworker will find the strength to make it through this.