All of us could only dream that one day somebody would write such a beautiful eulogy when we pass.
I honestly had no idea where this was going until the end, and it hit me like a ton of bricks -- which is exactly what the writer wanted and exactly how it must have felt to his friends.
Sorry I didn't know you, Big Al, you sound like quite a character.
The first paragraph (or maybe it's the sub-head) is "This will be a day none here at National Review and NRI soon forget. This is the day Alex died." So I clearly knew where it was going and it still hit me like a ton of bricks.
It's a great obit. And when I read it I immediately wondered if he was yet another adult who never got an autism diagnosis: never married and not super social but also not standing on ceremony even with intimidating people like Buckley, obsessed with model trains and their tiny variations, punctual and clearly loving routine, chose work in a mailroom that was all about organization and making order from chaos, and so on.
I'm not buying the obit writer's hypothesis that Al knew he was going to die and wanted to be around coworkers so as not to die alone.
But I _am_ extremely impressed that this was, apparently, written on the very day Al died. I wonder if 2017 will be known as the year when same-day obituaries became a thing. What a time to be alive! Or ... in Al's case ...
I doubt it applies in this case, but many newspapers have obituaries on file (periodically updated, of course) for famous persons, just in case they need one soon.
They would still have to finish it when the day comes they need it, but at least they wouldn't have to rush to get things like the birth date, name of first wife, etc. right.
> Al went to the walk-in medical clinic located next door to NR. Little good that did.
This doesn't give me confidence in the health system. How is it possible that they couldn't diagnose a life threatening condition? Are these clinics being audited?
What an unfair and unnecessary way to go. RIP Alex.
There is a wide spectrum of possibilities here. On one end you have malpractice. On the other end, you have a patient that ignored the clinic's advice.
> This doesn't give me confidence in the health system.
Thing is, those walk in clinics aren't meant to be a like for like replacement for hospitals/ERs and absolutely aren't equipped to handle, treat or even fully diagnose all forms of illness/injury.
They know that as well as anyone; I'd be willing to wager they told him to go to the ER and he didn't.
Just like troubleshooting computers, you hear hooves, think horses not zebras. A massive infection of lungs and stomach, what in the world happened to that guy?
This isn't the first story I've heard about a walk-in clinic providing sub-par care. The last was someone who went in with chest pains and was told to go home and that they were fine. When they went to a real hospital they were immediately sent into the OR for emergency bypass surgery (and thankfully survived).
I flagged this (I flag lots of things, but rarely say so anymore) because this appears to be a real person who died recently, and the only place I can see this thread going is political --- not least because of where it's running.
It's a well written obit. I'm sorry for these people's loss.
It's true, and I had the same concerns. In fact the site is banned, as are most political sites (or penalized) on HN, and a user had to vouch for it.
But the thread (edit: mostly, or barely) hasn't gone there, probably because the heartfeltness of the article is so plain, and also because it manages to be unexpectedly substantive. The fact that it was written just hours after a sudden shock is noteworthy too. I'd say the article rises not just above its genre or its site but the entire category the site belongs to. There's something right about doing that in tribute to one unique human being.
All of us know a Big Al from somewhere. It would be nice to leave out speculation about whether he was on the spectrum and speculation about the health care system. He's dead. They miss him. It's pretty simple, really.
> Big Al (fact: he wasn’t big) was the most punctual and reliable of NR workers
> Why in God’s name did he come in to the offices of National Review this day? To me it is obvious. Alone in the world except for a loving sister, who lived far away, Alex Batey knew that he had arrived at the hour that will arrive for all of us. But he didn’t want to die alone. And he didn’t.
Can't say if that's accurate or not but it feels fishy that the interpretation is that Alex was ready to die and wanted to spend it with co-workers, coming from another coworker.
Sorry to be that guy, but clearly 'big Al' was the office loner (not to say loser) who nobody can really hold anything against but at the same time everybody's happy when you don't have to interact too much with him. Sister living far away and nobody else besides co-workers in his life he may have hoped that someday somebody would walk up to him and ask what's going on, reach out and offer help.
But hey! that was our funny, kinda awkward 'big Al', what can you do about it?
Fuck, this story made me so sad!
The fact that his options were a small walk-in clinic and the ER (which he apparently did not go to) is a sad indictment of the state of health care in the USA.
If the National Review wasn't ideologically opposed to the very idea of nationalized healthcare this would have been a good cause to reflect on the systemic issues that caused him to have limited options for treatment l, and that may have hastened his death
What other options would you expect? Lots of folks don't have, or are between, primary-care physicians, especially one that can see you within a few days. Even in countries with single-payer health care like Canada, these would be the same two options present.
Where do people with an urgent health problem on a weekend go outside of the US? It doesn't sound like cost of treatment was the problem, at least based on that.
What a self-serving narrative that an employee must have come in when terminally ill because he "didn't want to die alone" instead of that he was falling in line with the calvinist dogshit work culture this publication helped to sustain. Fuck the national review, I hope Alex finally got some peace.
We do this because, regardless of the politics and ideology you favor, it poisons the site for its intended use, which is the gratification of intellectual curiosity (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html). One is about flamewars and smiting enemies, the other is about thoughtful conversation. Can't do both at the same time.
[+] [-] DanielBMarkham|8 years ago|reply
All of us could only dream that one day somebody would write such a beautiful eulogy when we pass.
I honestly had no idea where this was going until the end, and it hit me like a ton of bricks -- which is exactly what the writer wanted and exactly how it must have felt to his friends.
Sorry I didn't know you, Big Al, you sound like quite a character.
[+] [-] smoyer|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Asparagirl|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sevenfive|8 years ago|reply
I interpreted this sentence as declining to discuss it, but yeah, it's pretty obvious.
[+] [-] erikpukinskis|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dredmorbius|8 years ago|reply
https://m.youtube.com/user/yardlet6/featured
[+] [-] jawns|8 years ago|reply
But I _am_ extremely impressed that this was, apparently, written on the very day Al died. I wonder if 2017 will be known as the year when same-day obituaries became a thing. What a time to be alive! Or ... in Al's case ...
[+] [-] Someone|8 years ago|reply
They would still have to finish it when the day comes they need it, but at least they wouldn't have to rush to get things like the birth date, name of first wife, etc. right.
So, same-day obituaries aren't that rare.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] icantdrive55|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] sfilargi|8 years ago|reply
This doesn't give me confidence in the health system. How is it possible that they couldn't diagnose a life threatening condition? Are these clinics being audited?
What an unfair and unnecessary way to go. RIP Alex.
[+] [-] ryanackley|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tbrake|8 years ago|reply
Thing is, those walk in clinics aren't meant to be a like for like replacement for hospitals/ERs and absolutely aren't equipped to handle, treat or even fully diagnose all forms of illness/injury.
They know that as well as anyone; I'd be willing to wager they told him to go to the ER and he didn't.
[+] [-] VLM|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] maxerickson|8 years ago|reply
Many viral infections can be unpleasant and run their course in a day or 2.
[+] [-] smoyer|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tptacek|8 years ago|reply
It's a well written obit. I'm sorry for these people's loss.
[+] [-] dang|8 years ago|reply
But the thread (edit: mostly, or barely) hasn't gone there, probably because the heartfeltness of the article is so plain, and also because it manages to be unexpectedly substantive. The fact that it was written just hours after a sudden shock is noteworthy too. I'd say the article rises not just above its genre or its site but the entire category the site belongs to. There's something right about doing that in tribute to one unique human being.
[+] [-] gadders|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sverige|8 years ago|reply
RIP Alex. May Jesus be your tag-team partner.
[+] [-] mercer|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chillacy|8 years ago|reply
> Why in God’s name did he come in to the offices of National Review this day? To me it is obvious. Alone in the world except for a loving sister, who lived far away, Alex Batey knew that he had arrived at the hour that will arrive for all of us. But he didn’t want to die alone. And he didn’t.
Can't say if that's accurate or not but it feels fishy that the interpretation is that Alex was ready to die and wanted to spend it with co-workers, coming from another coworker.
[+] [-] Joe-Z|8 years ago|reply
Sorry to be that guy, but clearly 'big Al' was the office loner (not to say loser) who nobody can really hold anything against but at the same time everybody's happy when you don't have to interact too much with him. Sister living far away and nobody else besides co-workers in his life he may have hoped that someday somebody would walk up to him and ask what's going on, reach out and offer help.
But hey! that was our funny, kinda awkward 'big Al', what can you do about it? Fuck, this story made me so sad!
[+] [-] thaaddd|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] abritinthebay|8 years ago|reply
If the National Review wasn't ideologically opposed to the very idea of nationalized healthcare this would have been a good cause to reflect on the systemic issues that caused him to have limited options for treatment l, and that may have hastened his death
[+] [-] dang|8 years ago|reply
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14533509 and marked it off-topic.
[+] [-] krrrh|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cwyers|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] knucklesandwich|8 years ago|reply
What a self-serving narrative that an employee must have come in when terminally ill because he "didn't want to die alone" instead of that he was falling in line with the calvinist dogshit work culture this publication helped to sustain. Fuck the national review, I hope Alex finally got some peace.
[+] [-] dang|8 years ago|reply
https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=false&page=0&date...
We do this because, regardless of the politics and ideology you favor, it poisons the site for its intended use, which is the gratification of intellectual curiosity (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html). One is about flamewars and smiting enemies, the other is about thoughtful conversation. Can't do both at the same time.