Hard-Working American Dies in Cubicle -- No One Notices

woman dies in cubicle
Please God, Don't Let Me Die HereStories like this make me want to put down the computer and go knock on my neighbor's door. Rebecca Wells, a risk management professional, died on Friday as she worked. Tragically, no one even noticed until Saturday.

Not surprisingly, Wells was described (by a co-worker) as someone who was "always working." Also not surprisingly, that's the only quote about the 51-year-old Los Angeles County woman. If you didn't notice someone died in your office, you probably didn't notice when she was alive.

In addition to this not being the way I would want to go, I can't help but think someone -- anyone -- would notice I wasn't breathing. Also, this makes me hate cubicles even more. The illusion of privacy, without affording you actual privacy. Unless, you know, you DIE on a Friday right before happy hour.

Dying in a cubicle could only be a better way to go than the following: dying in a terrorist attack, death by torture, dying in a brothel (well, I suppose that depends), dying after getting your arm pinned in between two rocks, dying from a chimp attack.

There's just something defeating about a cubicle being the last place on earth you see and experience. It strikes me as an incredibly lonely way to go. A cubicle. By yourself. I hope Wells had plenty of friends and family who were frantically looking for her, and just happened to not check at the office. I hope.

How sad is this?

Image via dan4th/Flickr