The human connections are still critical in this age of technological wonders.

(Note that this happened to a colleague, who wishes to be anonymous.)

Peter



Hello All,

It is a beautiful, cool, crisp, sunny Saturday morning here in Redmond, and
I've industriously sorted the recycle for Monday's pick-up (if I wait for
Sunday to do it, then I always forget, and another week goes by and I must
store my recyclables until the next Monday, when I forget all over again!
<smile>  I'm attempting to be pro-active this week!)

Anyway, I've accomplished at least one thing on the day, and I'm tempted to
let that ride for the entire weekend!  So, I now feel justified in sitting
down to share an experience I had this week at work.

I had taken a few days off to regroup and refuel, and in the process I
received an e-mail from a co-worker explaining that he had left a card
beside my computer on my desk in my absence.

This co-worker is the team member about which I know the least of all my
team members.  He is Japanese, very soft-spoken, and often times I have
difficulty understanding his heavily accented English (note, this is not a
complaint, as his English - accented or not - is far superior to my
Japanese, which is non-existent! <smile>)  He is extremely knowledgeable,
and I often read his internal postings with great interest, finding that I
almost always learn something in the process.  However, he is rarely the
center of attention at meetings, not flashy or self-promoting at any level,
and if one isn't careful, one could be tempted to miss him altogether as he
quietly, but efficiently goes about his job improving accessibility for the
products with which he works.

His e-mail went onto explain the contents of the custom-made card which
included pictures of his recent wedding to his Japanese bride, which took
place in true Japanese tradition in Japan.  There was the translated text of
a poem which they shared at their wedding, as well as their address and
phone number at the new home they recently purchased in the Seattle area.

I was truly touched by his thoughtfulness of thinking to provide me with the
"alternative format" - the e-text of the card's contents.  However, nothing
prepared me for what I found when I returned to work on Thursday.

Beside my computer, on my desk, was - in fact - the greeting card from my
co-worker and his wife.  What he had failed to mention in his e-mail was
that it was also Brailled.  Their name was Brailled across the flap of the
envelope, so I would know immediately from whom the card originated.  When I
opened it up, their name, address, phone numbers,and e-mail addresses were
Brailled inside the card itself.  Okay, I confess...I started to cry.
(Donna, would you please pass a Kleenex.)

After I had pulled myself together, I ran into him in the kitchen moments
later where I thanked him profusely for his gesture, and I was even ore
touched when I was informed that he and his wife - neither one blind or
visually impaired - had Brailled the card themselves.

You can rest assured that the next time this co-worker is speaking, I will
listen a little harder not to miss a single word, and should it ever come
the time that he needs my assistance for anything, his request will take top
priority in my work pile.

While much of what I do on a daily basis is about guidelines and techniques,
laws and regulations, best practices and education, I have found that even
the smallest gesture of understanding on a personal level makes all the
difference in the world.  For after all...life is about the little things.

Sometimes the journey grows long, and we grow weary in the fight, but every
now and then something like this happens to remind us that it is all worth
while, and we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, put on the "armor of
accessibility" and charge forth once again into the battle!

My hope is that the sharing of this experience will inspire and encourage
each of you (even Roger!) not to lose heart.


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