Grief For Co-Worker

A tragedy happened on Interstate-75 in Gainesville Thursday night. A little after 11 p.m. his way to work on the midnight shift, Ross, one of my co-workers, died in an automobile accident not of his making. It was a very rainy night on the road and there had just occurred an accident up ahead. He properly slowed his SUV down, stopped, and waited. But a large semi trailer truck, whose driver was apparently inattentive, crashed into his car (and into others), causing his death. By all accounts, Ross had done everything right, even wearing his safety belt.

Ross had a gentle, generous spirit that was infectious. He realized that we were not just processing commodities and services for sale at our job; we were also cultivating professional relationships between each other that were based on mutual respect and friendliness. Ross was always one of those people who would make you feel special when he would come up and greet you by name, without waiting for you to speak first. He was genuinely friendly, without pretense or any hidden agenda.

I have to get over my grief for my friend, but I know that he has left much of himself behind in the hearts of those whose lives he has touched.

During the last couple of years or so, tragedy has struck my workplace too often. Another of my co-workers died when he lost control of the new motorcycle he had just bought. And in two other separate accidents, the sons of two other colleagues lost their lives when they lost control of their cars and had accidents in the late night/early morning hours.

It is pretty trying to walk up to the clock that scans my time-card at the beginning of a work shift and see a sheet of paper hanging from it with somebody’s photograph on it and an accompanying message announcing his death. Ultimately, of course, the survival rate for anyone alive is zero, and each of us will bow out of this world at some time or another. But with these past four deaths, the end happened much too early, when so much more life was there ahead of them to experience.

There are some lessons that I would like to convey that, if they had been followed, would have undoubtedly saved lives:

1--When riding a motorcycle, wear a helmet and only ride it according to your ability to control it (no racing).

2--In cars, ALWAYS wear safety belts, and insist that your passengers do so as well.

3--Avoid driving when you know that you are sleepy, impaired, or distracted in any way.

4--On rainy nights, try to avoid super-highways that tend to carry heavy truck traffic.

Sometimes we can’t avoid an accident even when we do everything right. But at least we can dramatically increase our odds for survival (and those of our passengers).