Aren't we all a little mad?

I work for what can, in some circles, be termed a start up and pressure is immense but no that's not the point. Each day we come to the office with a new face and well you look forward to getting to know another person and making another friend.

One such girl who joined us and despite all initial hullabaloo she settled in well.One fine bright, on a just-beginning-to-get-chilly-morning, she started to cry. Sitting next to me at work, she began to sob copious amounts and contrary to popular myth that women can reassure other women, I got horribly tongue tied.

Seeing her cry I did not know what to do. Gently nudged her along to our dining and in lightly veiled words told her to cry her heart out. I mean really, did I care that she was fighting with her boyfriend on internet chat?

I made occassional sounds of what I thought was comfort but nevertheless she would not stop. She kept talking about suicides and death and abuse and neglect and bad family ties and whatnots while tears flowed incessantly. They began to make me nervous. Slowly my boss got involved and though I would have liked it if things had sorted itself at our levels only, the absolute seniors in office also got involved.

And in doing so, her life came unraveled in front of the entire office - partly because of her inability to keep shut and partly because my boss could not handle a hysterical female. And yes the boss is also a female. What's worse is that a psychologist got involved and we came away with the knowledge that she, our childish immature colleague, was having a break down and it was, not in fact we originally thought, a hormonal imbalance.

What next? A colleague and I were designated to escort her home. We had to become her shadows and make sure she was deposited safe and sound in the hands of her parents. Needless to say I began to feel like I was having a break down myself.

We took her home, amidst more tears and swore never to interfere in someone else's problems (See its always a hassle when women start crying at office?)

What's worse is that she now has lost her job, because it turned out she had a history of hysteria (a euphemistic description of a version of schizophrenia am told) and has been previously admitted in institutions and also has a family history.

This brought on a larger issue for the company. They are looking to hire a lot of freshers so how does one judge? No medical exam examines the psyche plus like my co-escort and colleague pointed out, if every day one such colleague had a break down then all month we would just be comforting them and when would work get done? (Did I mention that for the above mentioned colleague and her 'episode' we cancelled a client meeting and an audit?)

All of us though came away feeling like scum, because like all bosses, this one too interferred and the result was unpalatable. Our solutions involved some beer, rum and a little slapping. We thought that would get her straightened or an entirely male suggestion that involved some horizontal tango. But somehow out seniors had visions like she would hurt herself and even briefly considered restraining (!!) here.

If she was truly unhappy with her family, we did not help matters by pushing her back with them and even if she was not, telling her family that your daughter just had a disruptive episode in office and we are sending her home for some compulsory leaver (yes the bosses went to the extent of calling her parents), ensured that freedom was not hers for taking.

And all through this I kept thinking look where the craving for attention can get you...and she, of course, felt cheated by us and probably curses us every single day....and I still don't know whether she was genuinely unwell or just wanted some one to love her (sic).