Humbling experience

Sometimes you get so busy that you forget to step back and realize how lucky you are, and how each person with whom you deal with in your job (or on a daily basis in general) may really depend on you.

I get a lot of calls from public relations people pitching things to the publication I work for (which shall remain nameless).

Sometimes I am busy and try to handle a call quickly if it's something that has nothing to do with our readership and is out of our jurisdiction.

But anyway, a few days ago a man called and I sensed something was different.

He was talking very slowly. He started off, "Hiii...my name iiiis...Herbert..."

He took a breath and added, "aaaaand...I've written a book."

"What is your book about?" I asked.

"It's about living with a head injury," he said.

Anyway, he doesn't live in our area, so it's not something we would cover. However, we did have the chance to help him, and to help people who might benefit from reading the book. I didn't want him to waste one of his review copies on us, but I said he should send us a press release. After all, we could probably put a short listing in our health section about how to find the book.

When I got the release, it turned out he wrote the book with his mother, who is from one of the towns we cover. So it actually is something we would write about!

The guy was in an accident when he was 19. I wonder how that changed him, what kind of guy he was before, and what his life is like now. I wonder if he looks back at his boyhood when he could dance and play without a care in the world.

Anyway, it was a refreshing reminder of one of the things I do in my job, the people out there who have so many challenges to overcome, and how lucky I am.