Second Chance

While Human Resources members may joke that employees can drive us to drink, the truth is many have to deal with the issues that alcohol brings to the workplace. This is a true story shared by an HR collegue.

At a manufacturing facility, alcohol is not only detrimental to the work quality, it takes lives. When she had an employee with a serious drinking problem, she had to take action.

All managers, and even the company President, wanted this person fired.

When she had "the talk" with the employee, however, she discovered that the onset of abuse was immediately after the death of a child, followed by an abandonment by a spouse. And now this employee of sixteen years will loose a job.

This HR person then did something unprecedented at the company. She got the President to extend a second-chance plan to the employee. The employee had six months leave to go through a rehabilitation program and then see how things went upon return to work.

If this didn't work, however, the HR person would need a new job as well.

In six months, the employee was back on the job, performing better than ever. There was a new lease on life. Within a year, the person became the company's model employee.

The company became known as one that really takes care of its employees and referrals poured in faster than job openings. Turnover dropped to an all-time low, even in the dregs of monotonous manufacturing work.

That second-chance employee brought a new positive attitude to the job, and it became contagious. Soon, new orders blossomed as their defects, rejections and quality claims plummeted to all-time lows.

The employee was awarded many accolades and achieved promotions in time as well, not once forgetting that "one more chance" given.

We can all change a life

Looking past the strife

~ESA

 

Beneath the Cover

In 14 years of Human Resources, I've collected my share of stories about candidate interviews.

I've seen a job applications completed in lipstick, eye liner and even a green crayon, despite there being pens in the reception area.

I've had a young man take out his cell phone, initiate a call to his friend, have a 20 minute conversation (during a 30 minute interview), and then ask if he got the job.

But the most memorable is the following story:

As a Recruiter at one company, I found the perfect candidate for an managerial position. Every one of the senior staff agreed after several phone interviews. His references were top notch. We hired him and asked when he could start.

The Texan said he and his wife could be in Connecticut to start his job Monday. They arranged for a local hotel to stay until they found a place, and headed out.

Monday came; the new hire didn't show.

He didn't call.

He didn't answer his cell phone.

On Tuesday, he was still a "no show."

By Wednesday, I had no choice. I called the "Number 2" candidate and gave him the job.

We all wondered what happened to the first choice. In the end, we concluded that he got a better offer elsewhere and we would never hear from him again.

Nearly a month later, the receptionist transfers a call into my office. "It's the no-show asking if the job is still open."

I was a little irked that he had the nerve to call after all this time of silence. I used my "official HR" voice to explain that since he didn't show, nor call, nor answer his phone, we gave the job to someone else. 

Then he told me why he didn't show that Monday...

Somewhere in Virginia, on the drive from Texas to Connecticut, his car was struck in a head-on collision with a truck. He had been in a coma all this time. His wife is still in the hospital.

He had the paperwork from the police, doctors and hospital ready to testify this was the absolute truth.

Now that he was out of work with massive amounts of medical bills, he was willing to take any job. It didn't have to be the manager's position, just any job to help pay the bills. I could hear him choke up begging me for a job.

Unfortunately, I had no job to give him...

There are times when we hear something completely different than what we expect to hear. We go into a situation belieiving we know the whole story.

There could be a different story beneath the cover.

What is under the cover

Of each person we find

Take time to listen

To find story behind

~ESA

Ant and Grasshopper (Story)

(c) 2008 - Free to share or copy/paste provided story is not changed and you do not receive any funds in doing so.

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Ant and Grasshopper

Anita Ant and Gabrielle Grasshopper were cousins from the same town. Like many in small towns, they attended the same schools when they were younger, worked at the same place and lived near each other. But the one major difference between these two cousins is what they did with their spare time.

Anita would often walk around the neighborhood, stopping whenever she spied a neighbor out on their front porch or yard, and would wave to them as they went past in their cars. She always had a friendly smile and an open ear for anyone she came across, friend or stranger.

Gabrielle – Gabbie to her friends – spent all her spare time in the electronic world. If she was out for a walk, she had her cell phone to her ear and chatted with someone a great distance away. She also spent a great deal of time chatting with people online from around the world. She had many good friends online, almost more than the entire population in the small town they lived in.

One Monday, Anita saw Gabbie walking past her cubicle on the way to the restroom, she smiled and waved. Gabbie just walked right by obviously caught up in the conversation on her cell phone and she never saw the wave. Anita thought about this a moment and realized it had been weeks now since she actually traded more than two words with her cousin. She knew her cousin wasn’t mad at her or intentionally ignoring her, but was just caught up in her friends outside the town.

At lunch, Anita grabbed her plastic container from the pile of similar containers in the lunchroom fridge. She noted that Gabbie had yet to get her lunch. So she grabbed her cousin’s container and walked it back to her cousin’s cubicle. Gabbie was there, chatting online with three people via IM and holding a fourth conversation with someone on her cell phone. Anita placed the container to one side of the keyboard and patiently waited for her cousin to take a break and say “hi.”

The half hour passed quickly, and Gabbie didn’t even look up. She did nab the container, pulled a plastic fork from her drawer and started to eat, however. At the end of the lunch break, Anita, sighed and hoped that this wasn’t going to be the way her cousin behaved all the time.

As the days of the week passed, Anita realized that Gabbie treated all her co-workers the same way. Anita would take the time to get to know them and exchange news or stories with them during the breaks, but Gabbie was so wrapped up in people elsewhere, she had even stopped smiling and nodding greetings to her coworkers that saw her everyday.

Week by week, Anita realized this was also the case with people in the neighborhood and even when they both attended family gatherings. Gabbie was there physically but mentally she was in cyberspace or deep in conversation with someone miles away. Anita finally decided to bring this to Gabbie’s attention.

One Saturday morning – VERY early in the morning, Anita went over to Gabbie’s apartment and pounded on the door. She could hear a half-asleep Gabbie fumble around inside the apartment. The door swung wide and a disheveled head stuck out. She opened her mouth but only got out a startled “What the – ” before Anita jammed the door open with her foot and shoved a hot cup of coffee into her cousin’s hand.

“We really need to talk, Gabbie.”

Gabbie’s eyes widened in panic. “Someone died?”

Anita smiled. “Not quite, but close. You haven’t talked to anyone around here in almost two months now.”

“Whaddaya mean? I see you at work everyday?”

“See, yes. But we haven’t spoken in ages. You’re always on your cell phone and computer. Heck, girl, I even hear you in the bathroom stall! You really should take a moment and talk to the people around here too.”

“You’ve GOT to be kidding me, Anita! People around here are boring! Heck, we’ve all gone to the same school, had the same teachers, live the same lives. You and I even have the same jobs, for crying out loud! I want to connect with people from different backgrounds, different countries, different lives! The world is too wide to just keep yourself in one small town your whole life.”

“I agree with you there, I do go out online from time to time too. But I don’t sacrifice my life here, my contacts with those in this town. Gabbie, you didn’t even talk to anyone at Jimmy’s birthday party last weekend.”

“I was there, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, but you talked on that cell phone the whole time. You even had the laptop out a good part of the day. Couldn’t you have at least stopped talking on that cell phone long enough to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ with the rest of us?”

“So you’re upset that I didn’t sing???”

“You’re not getting it at all, are you?!?” Anita’s temper flared. “I give up! I tried but I don’t think there’s a way I could get it through your thick skull!” Anita stormed out of her cousin’s apartment.

Gabbie, shrugged, sipped her coffee and opened the laptop to check her email and see who was online. Even at this hour, someone in the world was awake.

Weeks turned to months. Gabbie and Anita’s uncle passed away and willed the duplex he owned to the two girls. Both were thrilled as their rents were rising faster than their paychecks.

When the day came to move, most of the company where they worked and a good part of the neighborhood showed up at Anitia’s apartment early to help her move. With the number of hands and vehicles they had, they were able to haul all her belongings over in one collective convoy and had her settled within three short hours.

As they passed the pizza boxes, beer and soda, they noticed Gabbie pulling up before the duplex. Anita looked around, no one had offered to help her cousin move. She tried to encourage a few of her closer co-workers and neighbors to go out and help, but many offered excuses such as being tired or that they had other plans for the afternoon. Some offered no excuse at all but simply refused to help.

After thanking everyone for their help and encouraging them to eat up the pizza, Anita went out alone to help her cousin with the first of many carloads.

While the two girls were wrestling a mattress onto the car’s roof for the third trip, Anita huffed, “What happened to all the friends you have? Couldn’t any of them help?”

Gabbie laughed and nearly slipped off the curb from where she wrestled with a rope, “Are you kidding? They’re thousands of miles away! They’re not going to come out here just to help me move!”

Anitia looked sadly at her cousin, “Who else is there to help you then?”

Gabbie froze as if the thought had taken hold a moment. Then she shrugged and replied, “Well, I have you, so I guess I can always depend on my family. Right?”

Thus Gabbie didn’t change her ways. The months became years. One day on the way home from work Gabbie was talking on her cell phone and didn’t hear the nearby car out of control. The driver’s side door of Gabbie’s car was completely crushed. Her cell phone flew from her hand, completely destroyed upon impact.

Gabbie woke up in the hospital. No cell phone. No laptop. No visitors.

Doctors and nurses came and went. The administrator said that both her place of work and family had been notified.

Hour by hour the time dragged. The little TV on the wall near the foot of her bed was definitely not as stimulating as being connected to the world had been. She was lonely – very lonely.

Hours turned around the clock once, night was over and day started again. Gabbie jumped a little when the phone rang beside her bed. Anxious to connect to someone – anyone – Gabbie answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Hi, Gabbie, it’s Anitia. I’m so sorry to hear about the accident. I just got the message this morning when I got into work. I’ll swing by after hours today, OK?”

“Is anyone else coming?”

“From here, no. Has anyone else from the family called?”

“No. Nobody since I woke up here yesterday. You’re the first.”

“Oh….. Well, you should see all the virtual cards that are pouring into your inbox. IT had to ramp up the server.”

“Swell…” Gabbie replied sarcastically as she sadly looked around at the empty white walls around her bed. She could see past the curtain all the cards and balloons and flowers her roommate had.

“Well, I need to get back to work, I’ll see you later. Bye….”

“… Bye.” Tears welled up in Gabbie’s eyes. All the friends she had. Where were they? Why hadn’t anyone come yesterday? Why is Anita the only one coming today? Where are her family members? Her co-workers? Her friends from the neighborhood and school? The people she saw everyday?”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she tugged the curtain between the beds a little to one side and smiled warmly to the stranger on the bed beside her. “Hi, there, my name is Gabbie Grasshopper. What’s yours?”

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-ESA

Imagine an Embrace

Change in perspective can make a difference.

Things haven't been good at my current company and my boss makes me increasingly irritable. The last three days, I've yearned for spare time to send out resumes and look for a new job, but I've been swamped with work.

At first, I resented the workload increase, especially as it was minimal to non-existent over the last few months. I glared at my boss' back after he'd leave more work on the ever-growing pile on my desk. I even started to bring up images how I'd like to see him "get his" in various scenarios.

This afternoon, something clicked in my head, bringing something to mind. Back in 2008, I had this color image pinned on the wall beside my laptop screen.

One day, a DHL delivery-man entered my office so I could sign for a package. While I scrawled my signature, his eyes were drawn to this print. He commented that he liked the image of Christ embracing the little girl.

When I opened my mouth to respond in the pause, he jumped back in and added, "You know, it's a nice image when you're down. But whenever you have an enemy or someone who's giving you trouble, you should also picture that person in Christ's embrace as well."

Then he smiled, took the correct spelling of my last name and walked out.

I no longer have that image but have another pinned to the wall in it's place. But the message is still the same.

I was upset at my boss and I decided to try that advice. I pictured him in Christ's embrace and ... my perspective changed.

Had I written about my boss this morning, I would have told you how he keeps dumping meaningless work on me just to get back at me because I refused to do something last week. I would have blogged how he's trying to prove that he's still "the man in charge." That is how I've increasingly felt over the last few days.

The Truth, however, is that we DID get busy after the first of the year. I should be happy; we have some sign of recovery to the business. In fact, the company just received it's first order in over 6 months today!

I was frustrated that I couldn't use company time to look for another job instead of focusing on doing an honest day's work for the pay I should be grateful to receive.

I don't know how my perspective changed as it did. Considering the level of animosity I held for my boss, it WAS difficult to picture him in Christ's embrace. It took a few attempts to succeed. But when it did... WOW!

Picture them in His embrace.
He Loves them too.
Always.

-ESA

Ant and Grasshopper (Story)

Anita Ant and Gabrielle Grasshopper were cousins from the same town. Like many in small towns, they attended the same schools when they were younger, worked at the same place and lived near each other. But the one major difference between these two cousins is what they did with their spare time.

Anita would often walk around the neighborhood, stopping whenever she spied a neighbor out on their front porch or yard, and would wave to them as they went past in their cars. She always had a friendly smile and an open ear for anyone she came across, friend or stranger.

Gabrielle – Gabbie to her friends – spent all her spare time in the electronic world. If she was out for a walk, she had her cell phone to her ear and chatted with someone a great distance away. She also spent a great deal of time chatting with people online from around the world. She had many good friends online, almost more than the entire population in the small town they lived in.

One Monday, Anita saw Gabbie walking past her cubicle on the way to the restroom, she smiled and waved. Gabbie just walked right by obviously caught up in the conversation on her cell phone and she never saw the wave. Anita thought about this a moment and realized it had been weeks now since she actually traded more than two words with her cousin. She knew her cousin wasn’t mad at her or intentionally ignoring her, but was just caught up in her friends outside the town.

At lunch, Anita grabbed her plastic container from the pile of similar containers in the lunchroom fridge. She noted that Gabbie had yet to get her lunch. So she grabbed her cousin’s container and walked it back to her cousin’s cubicle. Gabbie was there, chatting online with three people via IM and holding a fourth conversation with someone on her cell phone. Anita placed the container to one side of the keyboard and patiently waited for her cousin to take a break and say “hi.”

The half hour passed quickly, and Gabbie didn’t even look up. She did nab the container, pulled a plastic fork from her drawer and started to eat, however. At the end of the lunch break, Anita, sighed and hoped that this wasn’t going to be the way her cousin behaved all the time.

As the days of the week passed, Anita realized that Gabbie treated all her co-workers the same way. Anita would take the time to get to know them and exchange news or stories with them during the breaks, but Gabbie was so wrapped up in people elsewhere, she had even stopped smiling and nodding greetings to her coworkers that saw her everyday.

Week by week, Anita realized this was also the case with people in the neighborhood and even when they both attended family gatherings. Gabbie was there physically but mentally she was in cyberspace or deep in conversation with someone miles away. Anita finally decided to bring this to Gabbie’s attention.

One Saturday morning – VERY early in the morning, Anita went over to Gabbie’s apartment and pounded on the door. She could hear a half-asleep Gabbie fumble around inside the apartment. The door swung wide and a disheveled head stuck out. She opened her mouth but only got out a startled “What the – ” before Anita jammed the door open with her foot and shoved a hot cup of coffee into her cousin’s hand.

“We really need to talk, Gabbie.”

Gabbie’s eyes widened in panic. “Someone died?”

Anita smiled. “Not quite, but close. You haven’t talked to anyone around here in almost two months now.”

“Whaddaya mean? I see you at work everyday?”

“See, yes. But we haven’t spoken in ages. You’re always on your cell phone and computer. Heck, girl, I even hear you in the bathroom stall! You really should take a moment and talk to the people around here too.”

“You’ve GOT to be kidding me, Anita! People around here are boring! Heck, we’ve all gone to the same school, had the same teachers, live the same lives. You and I even have the same jobs, for crying out loud! I want to connect with people from different backgrounds, different countries, different lives! The world is too wide to just keep yourself in one small town your whole life.”

“I agree with you there, I do go out online from time to time too. But I don’t sacrifice my life here, my contacts with those in this town. Gabbie, you didn’t even talk to anyone at Jimmy’s birthday party last weekend.”

“I was there, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, but you talked on that cell phone the whole time. You even had the laptop out a good part of the day. Couldn’t you have at least stopped talking on that cell phone long enough to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ with the rest of us?”

“So you’re upset that I didn’t sing???”

“You’re not getting it at all, are you?!?” Anita’s temper flared. “I give up! I tried but I don’t think there’s a way I could get it through your thick skull!” Anita stormed out of her cousin’s apartment.

Gabbie, shrugged, sipped her coffee and opened the laptop to check her email and see who was online. Even at this hour, someone in the world was awake.

Weeks turned to months. Gabbie and Anita’s uncle passed away and willed the duplex he owned to the two girls. Both were thrilled as their rents were rising faster than their paychecks.

When the day came to move, most of the company where they worked and a good part of the neighborhood showed up at Anitia’s apartment early to help her move. With the number of hands and vehicles they had, they were able to haul all her belongings over in one collective convoy and had her settled within three short hours.

As they passed the pizza boxes, beer and soda, they noticed Gabbie pulling up before the duplex. Anita looked around, no one had offered to help her cousin move. She tried to encourage a few of her closer co-workers and neighbors to go out and help, but many offered excuses such as being tired or that they had other plans for the afternoon. Some offered no excuse at all but simply refused to help.

After thanking everyone for their help and encouraging them to eat up the pizza, Anita went out alone to help her cousin with the first of many carloads.

While the two girls were wrestling a mattress onto the car’s roof for the third trip, Anita huffed, “What happened to all the friends you have? Couldn’t any of them help?”

Gabbie laughed and nearly slipped off the curb from where she wrestled with a rope, “Are you kidding? They’re thousands of miles away! They’re not going to come out here just to help me move!”

Anitia looked sadly at her cousin, “Who else is there to help you then?”

Gabbie froze as if the thought had taken hold a moment. Then she shrugged and replied, “Well, I have you, so I guess I can always depend on my family. Right?”

Thus Gabbie didn’t change her ways. The months became years. One day on the way home from work Gabbie was talking on her cell phone and didn’t hear the nearby car out of control. The driver’s side door of Gabbie’s car was completely crushed. Her cell phone flew from her hand, completely destroyed upon impact.

Gabbie woke up in the hospital. No cell phone. No laptop. No visitors.

Doctors and nurses came and went. The administrator said that both her place of work and family had been notified.

Hour by hour the time dragged. The little TV on the wall near the foot of her bed was definitely not as stimulating as being connected to the world had been. She was lonely – very lonely.

Hours turned around the clock once, night was over and day started again. Gabbie jumped a little when the phone rang beside her bed. Anxious to connect to someone – anyone – Gabbie answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Hi, Gabbie, it’s Anitia. I’m so sorry to hear about the accident. I just got the message this morning when I got into work. I’ll swing by after hours today, OK?”

“Is anyone else coming?”

“From here, no. Has anyone else from the family called?”

“No. Nobody since I woke up here yesterday. You’re the first.”

“Oh….. Well, you should see all the virtual cards that are pouring into your inbox. IT had to ramp up the server.”

“Swell…” Gabbie replied sarcastically as she sadly looked around at the empty white walls around her bed. She could see past the curtain all the cards and balloons and flowers her roommate had.

“Well, I need to get back to work, I’ll see you later. Bye….”

“… Bye.” Tears welled up in Gabbie’s eyes. All the friends she had. Where were they? Why hadn’t anyone come yesterday? Why is Anita the only one coming today? Where are her family members? Her co-workers? Her friends from the neighborhood and school? The people she saw everyday?”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she tugged the curtain between the beds a little to one side and smiled warmly to the stranger on the bed beside her. “Hi, there, my name is Gabbie Grasshopper. What’s yours?”

-ESA

The Ant and the Grasshopper (Story)

Anita Ant and Gabrielle Grasshopper were cousins from the same town. Like many in small towns, they attended the same schools when they were younger, worked at the same place and lived near each other. But the one major difference between these two cousins is what they did with their spare time.

Anita would often walk around the neighborhood, stopping whenever she spied a neighbor out on their front porch or yard, and would wave to them as they went past in their cars. She always had a friendly smile and an open ear for anyone she came across, friend or stranger.

Gabrielle – Gabbie to her friends – spent all her spare time in the electronic world. If she was out for a walk, she had her cell phone to her ear and chatted with someone a great distance away. She also spent a great deal of time chatting with people online from around the world. She had many good friends online, almost more than the entire population in the small town they lived in.

One Monday, Anita saw Gabbie walking past her cubicle on the way to the restroom, she smiled and waved. Gabbie just walked right by obviously caught up in the conversation on her cell phone and she never saw the wave. Anita thought about this a moment and realized it had been weeks now since she actually traded more than two words with her cousin. She knew her cousin wasn’t mad at her or intentionally ignoring her, but was just caught up in her friends outside the town.

At lunch, Anita grabbed her plastic container from the pile of similar containers in the lunchroom fridge. She noted that Gabbie had yet to get her lunch. So she grabbed her cousin’s container and walked it back to her cousin’s cubicle. Gabbie was there, chatting online with three people via IM and holding a fourth conversation with someone on her cell phone. Anita placed the container to one side of the keyboard and patiently waited for her cousin to take a break and say “hi.”

The half hour passed quickly, and Gabbie didn’t even look up. She did nab the container, pulled a plastic fork from her drawer and started to eat, however. At the end of the lunch break, Anita, sighed and hoped that this wasn’t going to be the way her cousin behaved all the time.

As the days of the week passed, Anita realized that Gabbie treated all her co-workers the same way. Anita would take the time to get to know them and exchange news or stories with them during the breaks, but Gabbie was so wrapped up in people elsewhere, she had even stopped smiling and nodding greetings to her coworkers that saw her everyday.

Week by week, Anita realized this was also the case with people in the neighborhood and even when they both attended family gatherings. Gabbie was there physically but mentally she was in cyberspace or deep in conversation with someone miles away. Anita finally decided to bring this to Gabbie’s attention.

One Saturday morning – VERY early in the morning, Anita went over to Gabbie’s apartment and pounded on the door. She could hear a half-asleep Gabbie fumble around inside the apartment. The door swung wide and a disheveled head stuck out. She opened her mouth but only got out a startled “What the – ” before Anita jammed the door open with her foot and shoved a hot cup of coffee into her cousin’s hand.

“We really need to talk, Gabbie.”

Gabbie’s eyes widened in panic. “Someone died?”

Anita smiled. “Not quite, but close. You haven’t talked to anyone around here in almost two months now.”

“Whaddaya mean? I see you at work everyday?”

“See, yes. But we haven’t spoken in ages. You’re always on your cell phone and computer. Heck, girl, I even hear you in the bathroom stall! You really should take a moment and talk to the people around here too.”

“You’ve GOT to be kidding me, Anita! People around here are boring! Heck, we’ve all gone to the same school, had the same teachers, live the same lives. You and I even have the same jobs, for crying out loud! I want to connect with people from different backgrounds, different countries, different lives! The world is too wide to just keep yourself in one small town your whole life.”

“I agree with you there, I do go out online from time to time too. But I don’t sacrifice my life here, my contacts with those in this town. Gabbie, you didn’t even talk to anyone at Jimmy’s birthday party last weekend.”

“I was there, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, but you talked on that cell phone the whole time. You even had the laptop out a good part of the day. Couldn’t you have at least stopped talking on that cell phone long enough to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ with the rest of us?”

“So you’re upset that I didn’t sing???”

“You’re not getting it at all, are you?!?” Anita’s temper flared. “I give up! I tried but I don’t think there’s a way I could get it through your thick skull!” Anita stormed out of her cousin’s apartment.

Gabbie, shrugged, sipped her coffee and opened the laptop to check her email and see who was online. Even at this hour, someone in the world was awake.

Weeks turned to months. Gabbie and Anita’s uncle passed away and willed the duplex he owned to the two girls. Both were thrilled as their rents were rising faster than their paychecks.

When the day came to move, most of the company where they worked and a good part of the neighborhood showed up at Anitia’s apartment early to help her move. With the number of hands and vehicles they had, they were able to haul all her belongings over in one collective convoy and had her settled within three short hours.

As they passed the pizza boxes, beer and soda, they noticed Gabbie pulling up before the duplex. Anita looked around, no one had offered to help her cousin move. She tried to encourage a few of her closer co-workers and neighbors to go out and help, but many offered excuses such as being tired or that they had other plans for the afternoon. Some offered no excuse at all but simply refused to help.

After thanking everyone for their help and encouraging them to eat up the pizza, Anita went out alone to help her cousin with the first of many carloads.

While the two girls were wrestling a mattress onto the car’s roof for the third trip, Anita huffed, “What happened to all the friends you have? Couldn’t any of them help?”

Gabbie laughed and nearly slipped off the curb from where she wrestled with a rope, “Are you kidding? They’re thousands of miles away! They’re not going to come out here just to help me move!”

Anitia looked sadly at her cousin, “Who else is there to help you then?”

Gabbie froze as if the thought had taken hold a moment. Then she shrugged and replied, “Well, I have you, so I guess I can always depend on my family. Right?”

Thus Gabbie didn’t change her ways. The months became years. One day on the way home from work Gabbie was talking on her cell phone and didn’t hear the nearby car out of control. The driver’s side door of Gabbie’s car was completely crushed. Her cell phone flew from her hand, completely destroyed upon impact.

Gabbie woke up in the hospital. No cell phone. No laptop. No visitors.

Doctors and nurses came and went. The administrator said that both her place of work and family had been notified.

Hour by hour the time dragged. The little TV on the wall near the foot of her bed was definitely not as stimulating as being connected to the world had been. She was lonely – very lonely.

Hours turned around the clock once, night was over and day started again. Gabbie jumped a little when the phone rang beside her bed. Anxious to connect to someone – anyone – Gabbie answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Hi, Gabbie, it’s Anitia. I’m so sorry to hear about the accident. I just got the message this morning when I got into work. I’ll swing by after hours today, OK?”

“Is anyone else coming?”

“From here, no. Has anyone else from the family called?”

“No. Nobody since I woke up here yesterday. You’re the first.”

“Oh….. Well, you should see all the virtual cards that are pouring into your inbox. IT had to ramp up the server.”

“Swell…” Gabbie replied sarcastically as she sadly looked around at the empty white walls around her bed. She could see past the curtain all the cards and balloons and flowers her roommate had.

“Well, I need to get back to work, I’ll see you later. Bye….”

“… Bye.” Tears welled up in Gabbie’s eyes. All the friends she had. Where were they? Why hadn’t anyone come yesterday? Why is Anita the only one coming today? Where are her family members? Her co-workers? Her friends from the neighborhood and school? The people she saw everyday?”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she tugged the curtain between the beds a little to one side and smiled warmly to the stranger on the bed beside her. “Hi, there, my name is Gabbie Grasshopper. What’s yours?”

- ESA