Mortality

I saw this guy almost every day. He knew my name. Whenever I saw him, coming back from his cigarette break, he'd say "Eric". That's my name, you see. He knew my name, and nothing else about me, except for perhaps my social security number. He worked in payroll, the business office. I used to turn my timesheets in to him, then he got promoted. He knew my name and said hi to me whenever we saw each other. I knew his name, it was Rich. That is all I knew about him, he was Rich and now he is dead. He died alone, in his apartment. Nobody knew about it for three days, but there he was. I wish I had known more than just his name.