Al and Pete

Where I work there is a fellow employee who talks to himself all the time. I mean ALL of the time. Here I'll call him Pete, but that isn't his real name.

Today I asked another employee, who works closely with Pete, what it is like to work closely with Pete. Here I'll call the second employee Al, but that isn't his real name. Al happens to be a very dark-skinned African American from Alabama. I like him and always acknowledge him when I see him, and we often share good humor about events of the day.

Al said he had never before worked so closely with a person like Pete. He has been surprised to learn that Pete is very smart, and they often have really good conversations. He says Pete frequently talks to his girlfriend, who is on his key chain. Pete often gets angry at people who are thoughtless, selfish, or downright rude; but he never lashes out at people directly. He just talks to himself or his girlfriend on the key chain.

Al said he was looking forward to talking with Pete today about last night's presidential debate. He sincerely likes Pete. Al's kindly way of looking at Pete makes me feel ashamed. Whenever I have seen Pete, walking along talking to himself out loud, I have often laughed to myself, and thought, "He's schizophrenic."

Al does not see Pete as dangerous in the least. He respects him. Al does not have a graduate degree in a mental health field like I do, so he doesn't look down on Pete. Instead, Al sees Pete as a fellow human being with whom he looks forward to working along side of every day.