Tag: death

BEHS 380: End of Life: Issues and Perspectives

I’m in the middle of writing my prior learning portfolio as part of my EXCL 301 class. I have turned a 12 page paper into a 30 page thesis, and am in the midst of scaling it back and working on precision of my language.

I am sad that I can’t squeeze in this passage from the Encyclopedia Britannica for thanatology:

Generally, psychologists have agreed that there are two overall concepts concerning death that help in understanding the simultaneous processes of living and dying. The “my death versus your death” concept emphasizes the irrational belief that while “your death” is a certainty, an exemption may be made in “my case.”

This passage seems plucked directly out of Terry Pratchett’s writing.

Dilbert Aligns His Goals

Dilbert: I’m concerned that my personal goals do not align with our corporate strategy. For example, I would like to be happy. What does the company want? Boss: Well, nothing along those lines.

 

Wow… how much more true-to-life can a comic get? It’s not that the company doesn’t want you to be happy, but it’s simply not what they are paying you for. This reminds me of one of my favorite Despair posters:

Demotivation Poster from Despair.com - Somtimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people.
Demotivation Poster from Despair.com

 

Ouch. Thanks Dilbert.

 

Really this should be taken as all other things that remind you

$WORK != LIFE

I had a work friend recently pass away. He might have been in his mid to late forties, not much older. Left three kids and a loving wife. Absolute tragedy and an absolute terrible thing for everyone affected by it. The world is worse off without him.

His passing is a terrible tragedy for the people most close to him, but for the people on the periphery of his life, it’s a good reminder that

$LIFE == SHORT

This guy would answer emails at 7pm at night, he would be on the phone with his customers all day and all night. He manually trawled through giant Excel sheets trying to help pick out discrepancies for his customers. All WAY above and beyond what could be expected from any employee.

I miss him, but I can thank him one last time for his help. This time he helped me recognize those things I put off in life, talking more to my Mom, forgiving my sister, playing with my kid. That previous time is worth more than all the money in the world.

 

Source: Dilbert Aligns His Goals