Thursday, October 19, 2006

Death Notice Update

I decided to fight back against the email happy people that happen to work in the same building as me. 

Here is the email that broke the camels back:
Funeral  services for XXXXXXXX's niece, YYYYYYY will appear in tomorrow's paper. Services will be held tomorrow from 6:00 to 7:00 P.M. at QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

This email went to everyone in our agency.  Around 4-5 hundred people.  This was the second of three total emails we received about this person; not to mention the other emails of death and sickness that I get on a daily basis.  My email to my supervisor that was hence forwarded up the chain of command is below:


I hate to complain about something so sensitive as bereavement, but the tirade of emails that I have be receiving lately are forcing my hand. 

I can understand an announcement of the death of current or former employee of DDS.  I can even understand a notice of a loss of an employees immediate family under limited distribution.  I don't feel it appropriate, however, to get notices of the death of an employee's extended family.  Especially when said notice is titled so eloquently as "Death Notice." 

These "Death Notices" originate from a third party that sends them out indiscriminately.  Not to sound crass, but if you didn't know the person beforehand, you likely do not care to hear about their loss.  There are so many people that die worldwide every day that I could not possibly feel a loss for a fraction of them and keep my sanity.  We deal with people that are disabled and dieing every day here at work, we do not need the additional trauma of being reminded of our own mortality through these "Death Notices." 

Again, I apologize for the sensitive nature of the email.  If I knew the employees that incur these losses, I would hope to know from them first hand.  They would have my sympathies and prayers.  I would be the first to try and comfort them in their time of need.  Agency wide email is supposed to be reserved for messages that impact everyone.  The death of a family member of someone I did not know does not fit that criteria.  I feel that it is also insensitive to the person with the loss.  They may not want their loss advertised, especially to those that they do not know.  


Thank you for your time and attention on this matter,




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Budd, God bless you, your spelling is terrible. Anyway, I'm with you about the amount of emails and who they go to. An agency wide email about someone I didn't know is preposterous when emails aren't even sent to explain simple policy changes. However, I do believe that those emails will continue and as they do, I must say that someone's relationship (niece, cousin, grandparent, step-sibling, god-child, significant other, pastor, former voice coach, etc.) should not be criteria for not sending the email. The closeness of the deceased and the survivor may have been the most important thing to the survivor. After all, you and your wife are not blood related.