Do you ever wonder how people at work would react if you were killed in a fiery car crash?

Perhaps there'd be an announcement at work. Your boss would call a meeting with your immediate coworkers. "I have some very sad news," she'd say. "______ was killed this morning." She'd wait for the gasps to abate, and then she'd continue. "It was a car accident."

People would sit in stunned silence. Then someone would speak up from the back. "When's the funeral?" Upon hearing the question, someone else thinks, "Do we get to miss work for this?" and then he'd be ashamed of himself for thinking it.

"I'm not sure if we're invited to the funeral," your boss might say. "I'll keep you aprised of the details." No one wants to be the first one to stand up, so everyone sits and thinks for a while. Finally your boss says, "You may all have the day off, if you'd like to take some time to grieve." Unless it's the end of the month. If it's the end of the month, she says, "Feel free to take an extended lunch."

If it's the beginning of the month, people do take the day off. Why not? It's a beautiful day. _______ would want us to take the day off, your coworkers think to themselves.

These people who barely knew you would try to have a good day off. Some might go shopping. Some might call their friends. "This person at work was killed. Yeah, no. It's horrible, really tragic. A car accident. I know! So young, too. Can you imagine? I know. Totally. Yeah. I feel really bad for the family. So, hey. Do you want to go get drinks when you get out of work? I got off early today."

After all, they barely knew you. Even the ones you thought you knew well didn't know you THAT well.

But they'd think about you all day. And they'd drive a little more carefully on the way home.