A SHOCK AT LUNCH

[karl]

For years I have dined at a particular Italian restaurant in town. One waiter in particular was always very friendly, if it was your birthday he shook your hand and if you hadn't been in for awhile he knew. He gave me his condolences when my mum died and then I reciprocated when his wife died about two years ago.

I haven't been to the restaurant for several months but was there yesterday, he wasn't there so I asked if he had a day off and was given the sad news that he passed away in October from cancer, he didn't even get the chance of chemotherapy. I was saddened to hear such news and the other staff are missing him as he had a good personality.

Rest in peace Salvatore it was always a pleasure to be served by you.

[john]

It is sad when that happens Karl, you get used to seeing people and then they aren't there you wonder if they have left, and sadly that isn't always the case.
I can always remember, going back about 20 years or so when I used to work at a printers, I always used to go to the post office at night to take all the post, and there always used to be about 3 regular ladies on. I noticed for several weeks that one had been missing and I asked one of the others, and they told me she had died very suddenly, I was shocked, she was such a nice lady and only around 50.

[karl]

I know John, I had a similar experience years ago at an Optician's in town, the receptionist was a very nice lady but had the mannerisms of a headmistress but I always got on well with her.

One time I was there for a consultation and she was missing, when I asked they told me she had passed away. The staff agreed with me that she was a nice lady despite her abrasive manner.

As you say, when you do things regularly you get to notice the same people at the same time every day and you do wonder what happens to them, sometimes you don't miss them until you see them again and then you realise you haven't seen them for awhile.

I often chat to the guys who collect the trolleys in both Morrison's and Asda as I feel it's a lonely kind of job. I noticed recently the guy at Morrison's was missing but he's now retired so that's not so bad.

[mariana44]

Strangely enough, I had it from a different angle-I would have people come up to me, even months after he had gone, asking how he was. I think that they felt worse than I did.

[jon]

A few years ago, I arrived at work as normal on Monday expecting to see my teamate, who I had last seen on the previous Friday and who had wished me a good weekend. When he didn't appear I asked if he had rung in sick or was on leave, only to be told he'd died suddenly on the Saturday, no explanation given. I attended his funeral with some colleagues but still never found out what the cause of death was; the presiding vicar said his death was sudden and "if only something could have been done sooner". In such situations one doesn't like to press the family for a reason, it seems inappropriate.

[karl]

Jon that reminds me. I had a friend who had his own record shop and I used to help put a lot. One week Jim inBlackpool and he asked me to go in every night on my way home to see if Margaret (his assistant) was alright. Her husband John used to come in every night to drive her home, that particular night Jim called me about an hour after I got home to say they drove home - John walked into the house and just dropped. I couldn't believe it as I'd been talking to him hours earlier.

Same thing also happened with my dad, I spoke to him on the phone two hours before he also died from a heart attack, it's such a shock to hear news like that and when I got the message at work I was told my dad had been taken to hospital. I imagined I would see him sitting up in a hospital bed annoyed at all the fuss but it wasn't to be.