like out of some cult novel or something

like a really old person struggling along with bags of groceries or trying to make it up flights of stairs and they're obviously struggling and look like they could collapse and everybody just rushes by without saying a word. I stop and ask if they're OK or if I can help. Only takes a second or two of my day to be human.

"be the change you want to see in the world" She sat there, alone

Wonder if there’s a some foul play involved and things we don’t know…

She was in an empty building and people reacted when they found her.

call the police for a safety check.

go through life every day more or less alone.

Weeks, perhaps? No one missed her over the weekend, so it would be unlikely she would have been found any sooner.

I'm retired and widowed, and my biggest fear is that I will not only die alone but that no one will know until a neighbor comes to investigate where that nasty odor is coming from. I do have family, friends, and neighbors, but all are busy with their own lives, and text messaging, e-mail, and social media substitute for human interaction these days. (I don't do Facebook, and my "social media" consists of vicarious observation of the interaction between folks here on DU.) To think that you could lay dead in your work cubicle and no one notice until they smell the stench - God help us all.

some people in the world today are more than willing to excuse the inattention/lack of friendly interaction by coworkers or a company that didn't care enough to do security sweeps or have a security camera in her area. I refuse to accept the excuses by some and a few people just passing this off like "oh well that's the way of modern office work".

Maybe it's because I'm older that I notice it more now but the people zooming past each other every day without a word of greeting, a smile or a moment of care is a horrible thing for society. I'm the one who sees a Mom struggling with packages and kids and offers to help, I'm the one who sees people with severe mobility problems struggling with doors, stairs/packages and stops to ask if they need help, I'm the one who listens and does not interrupt when someone is struggling to get out their words, I'm the one who sees a shopper on a scooter in the grocery store looking at the upper shelves and stops to ask if I can get something for them.

I have people look at me with disdain or say things like "you're wasting your time because they'll never do anything for you" etc. They just don't get that it's not about "getting them to do something in return". It's about what's inside of me and the "seeds" that I plant for what "grows in the garden inside me."

I asked my daughter if she wanted me to text her every morning. She responded immediately with a yes. Sometimes it just a simple Hi! or hello in a different language. If you have a person in your life that you could connect to in that way, it could ease your fears about dying without anyone knowing.

She clocked in on a Friday before a long weekend. Most people there are hybrid workers, so my guess is that most people decided not to go in on a Friday before a long weekend. Her desk was out of the main flow of traffic. Four days later is when most people probably returned to the office. It's not like she died on a Monday in a packed building and was ignored until Friday, so it's not that shocking to imagine her not being discovered for four days.

The media went wild.

Turns out the deceased stayed later on Friday to wrap up projects before weekend. They had a history of heart trouble and had an attack after everyone left the office. They weren't discovered until the following Monday.

The surviving family members were angered by the attention.

but then it's been 14 years since I retired. Although I can imagine a scenario where someone died after all the other employees left and not being found until the start of the next work day, I can't imagine the scenario described in this video. There was constant personal interaction between my coworkers - so much easier and more effective to just go talk to someone who was within shouting distance rather then shoot them an e-mail. Same thing as talking to someone on the phone rather than just shooting them a text. Plus, my co-workers and I socially interacted to at least say hi and goodbye when coming to and leaving work, especially in the case of a long weekend. I feel so fortunate I didn't have to experience the social isolation of today's workplace.

Why didn't they notice her?

She was in an area without people in a large building. People reacted as soon as they found her.

How do you have a situation where someone works so remotely and there is no security camera etc. or anybody making a sweep of the building. Don't give a damn and don't want to spend the money is how that happens. If she was that remote, unobserved etc. then she was also at great physical risk from assault. I'll damned well bet she wasn't paid for taking the increased risk. The facts are that her coworkers smelled an awful smell for days before anybody investigated. Even if she did work remotely does that somehow excuse people who employed her or her coworkers for not interacting with her by perhaps a phone call etc. or an invitation to lunch?

Do you have an armed guard in your hose?

the video from was YouTube. I cut and pasted the title. So you can argue with them. It may come as a surprise to you but whoever owns a business that functions inside a building is responsible for the conduct of matters inside that building. That is why there is a person who is the "manager", "boss", "administrator" or whatever you want to call them. They are the ones responsible for the day to day of what happens in the building regarding employees and their work. It has nothing to do with having an armed guard. It does have to do with having administrative procedures in place to account for the well being, safety and circumstances inside the workplace for all employees. Part of that is accounting for their coming and going and movement in the building. It also involves having policies for a typical "security sweep" of a building at the end of the day which check for things like "desk fans" left running, personal coffee makers left on, cafeteria appliances left running that shouldn't be, personal radios left on etc. In my many years I have seen all of these things in office environments and they can all be fire hazards. Now whether the administrator themselves makes the sweep or assigns it to someone else, like a security person or other office "manager" it still has to be done in a properly managed facility.

If you don't think my definition of a "properly run" facility is correct then you would be easy fodder on the witness stand for any plaintiff's attorney if you were the one "in charge" who was charged with the responsibility but figured everybody and everything can just come and go as they please and provide no oversight. Yes indeed some managers/administrators/bosses do feel that way and just love the title and authority and cashing the check but shirk taking oversight responsibly. I'm not one of them.

There were probably some people in the building. Where things broke down was that there should have been a cleaning crew responsible for checking trash cans, cleaning bathrooms, etc. If they claim that the building was clean then the cleaning crew was not actually doing its job if they failed to notice a dead woman over a 4 day period.

I worked for a state agency where most work is still done remotely but everyone was expected to work in the office at least one or two days a week. I know that our cleaning crew checks trash cans once a day in the offices. The guy walked through every office and checked every cubicle for trash.

will be "We Leave You Alone and Abandoned"