Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.
I have met many different people in my life, and many of them at my current job at a call center. One of those people was Bill. He came to work with us in early 2007, and immediately was polite, kind and easily approachable. He would say "hello" to anyone who came through the doors. While he did not lack social ability, he had a severely difficult time learning the computer programs vital to his job. Many times during the shift a supervisor would have to help him with completing a call, setting his timer up, shutting it down, putting it on break, etc. This lack of computer skills had a few supervisors suggesting he should be fired. However, Bill remained.
Months later, Bill had improved vastly, even though he still needed the occaisional bit of help, and still being the last one to leave at night, making sure he had ended all his computer programs correctly. I had always observed this, thinking he must have a mental or learning disability, feeling a bit bad when people made fun of him. Still, his determination to succeed was remarkable. He had even stopped taking his breaks, to make sure he kept his job performance up.
Come Christmas, our call center had a little holiday party. We all ate and drank and listened to music. Then some awards were given out. Bill was given the award for best attendance- he had only missed 3 days of work over those many months. Our HR Manager also pointed out how greatly he had improved. He was very modest.
The holidays passed, and I came in for the last shift before the new year, Sunday the 30th. Bill called in to ask the next day he worked. I told him it would be Wednesday, and gave him his othershifts that week. The last thing he said was "If I don't get a chance to say it again, have a Happy New Year".
Wednesday came around, the shift started, and Bill was nowhere to be seen. It felt so odd, since, as I said before, he never misses work. HR called his number and was shocked to find he had passed away.
This weekend I read Bill's obituary. All of my impressions of the person I thought he was were smashed. I thought he was a crazy old man, when in fact, he was an extraordinarily learned and experienced man. He holds several university degrees, is a noted author, and has taught in Korea. He was also only 43 when he died of a stroke.
Bill, it was only in your passing that I learned such a valuable lesson. No matter what you think you know about a person, there is so much more to their life than you will ever know. We make quick judgements about people based on what we see and hear, but we will never know the whole story of their lives. You will certainly be missed.
Months later, Bill had improved vastly, even though he still needed the occaisional bit of help, and still being the last one to leave at night, making sure he had ended all his computer programs correctly. I had always observed this, thinking he must have a mental or learning disability, feeling a bit bad when people made fun of him. Still, his determination to succeed was remarkable. He had even stopped taking his breaks, to make sure he kept his job performance up.
Come Christmas, our call center had a little holiday party. We all ate and drank and listened to music. Then some awards were given out. Bill was given the award for best attendance- he had only missed 3 days of work over those many months. Our HR Manager also pointed out how greatly he had improved. He was very modest.
The holidays passed, and I came in for the last shift before the new year, Sunday the 30th. Bill called in to ask the next day he worked. I told him it would be Wednesday, and gave him his othershifts that week. The last thing he said was "If I don't get a chance to say it again, have a Happy New Year".
Wednesday came around, the shift started, and Bill was nowhere to be seen. It felt so odd, since, as I said before, he never misses work. HR called his number and was shocked to find he had passed away.
This weekend I read Bill's obituary. All of my impressions of the person I thought he was were smashed. I thought he was a crazy old man, when in fact, he was an extraordinarily learned and experienced man. He holds several university degrees, is a noted author, and has taught in Korea. He was also only 43 when he died of a stroke.
Bill, it was only in your passing that I learned such a valuable lesson. No matter what you think you know about a person, there is so much more to their life than you will ever know. We make quick judgements about people based on what we see and hear, but we will never know the whole story of their lives. You will certainly be missed.