What was he thinking?

This week was an interesting one at the office. A coworker has found himself in a lot of trouble. I mean life changing, things will never be the same for him and his family trouble. 

This week there were hushed conversations and gatherings around computers with the local paper's websites story displayed, with our coworker's picture of him in an orange jumpsuit. All with shocked and saddened coworkers shaking their heads in disbelief for what is going on with a well liked coworker. Often the rhetorical question of "what was he thinking" being asked.

None of us were there or involved with the situation, so only speculations and therories have been discussed. Some logical, some down right stupid. But it does remind me how somebody's life can change incredibly, drasticly and permamently in a matter of seconds.

The more I think about that, the more I think about the very world I know (and the world you know) can come undone in mere moments, at anytime. If during a critical moment in time poor choices lead to more poor choices, then panic, then really bad decisions or actions the results can be irreversible. Kind of like a horror or crime drama version of the 1970's sitcom Three's Company.

What saddens me the most about this current event is the reaction of some of my coworkers. The "what was he thinking" type comments, in my opinion, are a normal and legitimate response. It is a good question. The reactions I don't like are the ones along the lines of "gee just when you think you know someone" type of comments. At least for now it's too early to completely condem someone's entire life and character over one very troubling event.

Humans are interesting creatures to say the least. We're inquisitive to the point where our minds demand the answers to the things we don't know. Our minds demand answers so much, if we don't have the information to satisfy our curiosity, we will make it up on our own by speculating, theorizing and jumping to the quickest conclusion that makes sense at that very moment.

The saddest part about this process is once we make up our minds based on our imagination fueled on some incomplete details; we won't believe the actual truth if it doesn't align with our personal theory that became "fact" without knowing the vast majority of the information.