Have You Ever Gotten Bad News At Work?
By Rozie37
@Rozie37 (15499)
Turkmenistan
March 24, 2008 1:43am CST
One of the staff at the board and care where I live got a call from her daughter at 8:30p.m. tonight. She told her that her favorite uncle had died in his sleep. She was not due to get off until 11:00p.m. When I came upstairs and saw her crying, she asked me to go and see if the other staff was here and could relieve her. She could not stop crying.
When I told her that the staff was not here, she decided to stay, rather than call someone else to come in. I told her that I would stay with her. She did an amazing job. She had to give medication to at least 60 people and she hung in there. I would have been crying so hard that I would not have been able to see.
I really felt that her daughter, who is grown, could have waited until she got home. It was very hard to see her like that. She is normally a nice upbeat person, but she was having a hard time holding back the tears. There wasn't much I could say to make her feel better, but I was able to help her stay focused and remember things.
She would be right in the middle of doing something and totally forget what she had started. I kept saying little funny things to get her to laugh and it helped, but she was in terrible pain. I only wish she could have heard about it after she left. I was very proud that she made it to the end of her shift. So has anything like this ever happened to you?
4 people like this
8 responses
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
24 Mar 08
No I haven't Rozie and hope that I never do, but then again, if I was working and got a call from my family, I would rather know then than be told later especially if they were immediate family members. Not sure why later as I suppose it wouldn't make much difference but since most of my family are overseas, I suppose anytime wouldn't be a good time to hear any bad news.
Sorry to hear about her loss :(
2 people like this
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
24 Mar 08
It would have been better if her daughter had waited. I watched her cry while trying to work the best that she could, it was really rough. I would not have been able to even see, I would have been crying so hard. Knowing the way that I get, I would have just walked off the job and wandered the streets.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
24 Mar 08
I probably would of done the same too and just left my work and gone home or wherever. I'm sure they would of understood!
2 people like this
@julievy (593)
• United States
24 Mar 08
When my father passed away from a heart attack I got the call at work. It was impossible for me to continue working so I left and went to the hospital to be with my mother. Thankfully my older sister worked for the same company so we were albe to leave and drive together. Her husband then came to meet us at the hospital to drive my mother's car home.
This was almost exactly 17 years ago, and I still remember it in detail.
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@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
24 Mar 08
Oh yes a few times. It was hard to work through my shifts but having a job is part of my requirement. I feel so sorry for the girl you're talking about but maybe her daughter told her before she got home because she knows how her mother might get upset even more if she didn't call and tell her.
1 person likes this
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
24 Mar 08
I have never received bad news at work.
My ex-husband did learn that his cousin with whom he was very close to accidentally shot himself while he was at work. My ex was about 17 at the time.
My mom was at work on my 16th birthday and got a phone call from the police that I had been in a car accident (my friend was driving)on my way home from school. My mom started freaking out right away because they didn't tell her that I was fine! They told her only after they could hear her panicking. She still left work to come and get me.
@luckymy2008 (260)
• China
24 Mar 08
Yes, what you said remind me of one day when I was in my college.
That was a quite silent dawn when all of my roommates were in sound sleep. Suddenly the phone shrilled in the dark which woke up all of us. One of my roommates got up to answer the call but suddenly she cried out loudly, saying " mum is gone, mun is gone!……", which could be heard far away.
All of us got up and soon knew the truth. The call was from her elder brother, telling her that their mother was very ill that could not come round. She kept crying there no matter what we said and did. With a great efforts she finally got on the train home. And in the such early morning, it really was a terrible thing for our six girl students!
At that time I had the same complaint about her elder brother who is older than us. Could not he tell a white lie to her even if until the daytime? Was not he worried about her grief for she is alone in this city far away from home?
Luckily her mother recovered again and she felt sorry for us then. Anyway, that was an unforgettable memory for me in my life!
@luckymy2008 (260)
• China
25 Mar 08
Yeah, we especially the girl who cried in that matter seem to be grown up after that, we lean how to care somebody else and no matter what happens, we should calm down.
@rpegan (596)
• United States
25 Mar 08
I've received tiny bits of bad news at work, but none of them compare to a bit of news one of my coworkers got one time.
On the news the night before, they were talking about a couple and a baby that were brutally killed in their own front yard. Nothing terribly exciting happens at work, so a lot of the girls were talking about it. Well, one of the girls got a call on her cell phone that the girl killed was her niece. She just started sobbing in the middle of the room. It was so horrible to witness.
@di1159 (1580)
• United States
24 Mar 08
Hello, from your post I can see that you have a lovely, courageous daughter. I too received the news of a loved one's passing at work. It was my dad. He had been ill for a long time and was at the time at a hospital near my work where I would usually go see him on my lunchtime. For some reason, I decided that day to skip the lunch visit and just go after work so that I wouldn't be in a hurry to get back. Anyway, they called me around the time I would have been there. In a way I'm glad I wasn't there as I know they tried to resusitate him and that would have been very traumatic for me. I couldn't finish out my workday though. Blessings to you and I only hope my daughter turns out half as courageous as yours.
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
24 Mar 08
It's a discussion board Piyushkhanna22. You type in an answer that's relavent to this discussion and you get paid for it. It's pretty simple and easy and you can make some wonderful friends.
