The late George Turkelbaum worked together with 23 other employees in an open-plan office of a New York City publishing house. One Saturday morning the 51-year old proofreader was found at his desk by an office cleaner who asked him why he was working during the weekend. When there was no response the cleaner alerted the authorities, and they determined that Turkelbaum had suffered a heart attack and died on Monday.

It is difficult to understand this story that appeared in the New York Times. How could someone be dead for five days in a crowded office without the odor of his decaying body disturbing anyone? But even more puzzling is how could 23 fellow workers be entirely oblivious of a colleague slumped over his desk and fail to ask if he was feeling well?

The Times concludes its report with this cynical moral of the story: "Don't work too hard. Nobody notices anyway."

Perhaps the real moral of the story is that there is an inhuman side in people and that they should be more concerned about the welfare of their fellow humans.