A Character, Better to Lose Than To Find

Have you ever met someone who was just so shallow that you felt sorry for him?

My husband works with just such a boy. I'll call him Boy-Wonder, not because he reminds me of Batman's sidekick, Robin, but because at his age, it's a wonder he's not more of a man than a spoiled adolescent.

This boy is probably late 20', maybe early 30's.  He must be very wounded and that is sad, to start out life under the ladder, having to struggle and climb just to get to break even. 

Customers have often complained to my husband that this boy talks down to them.  One customer in particular, a professional photographer, won't even go in the store any more because of the condescending attitude of this boy. 

The store my husband works for is very well known for the quality of their photo processing. That has truly been their claim to fame. The BEST, absolute best quality photos come out of their lab. A major part of that has been the expertise and dedication of one employee, a young woman who had worked in that lab for the past 16 years. Last month, this woman passed away in her sleep. 

Everyone was devastated. My husband was paralyzed with shock when I told him about the phone message his boss had left on our phone. She was so young, just turned 50. A vibrant, healthy person, gone.  

Every employee in the store was in a state of bewilderment. How could she be gone. She was there, every morning when every body else arrived. Many of the other employees didn't know of a time when she wasn't there when they came to the store.  She was their friend. She was a vital part of the store....a VITAL part of the store.

The store hadn't been open two hours, all the employees standing in a haze of shock, when Boy-Wonder walked up to my husband and another employee and said, "Hate to sound morbid but this really gives us the opportunity to hire someone new for the lab!"

My husband simply walked away.  "Is this vomit or disgust rising up my throat?" he was thinking.  Probably a little of both, my love.

What happens in a person's life that corrupts the soul so much?  How does one become so shallow that life and the loss of life means so little?  What happened to you, Boy-Wonder?