...that a shitload of money and the "sincere" appreciation of the fat boss is nothing without the arms of a significant other, the support of friends, the energy of being healthy and the smile you have when you wake up to a new day. Money isn't everything.

In the wake of Raluca Stroescu's death, I saw this text on Mediafax:
A moment of silence in parliament for Raluca Stroescu?

Raluca Stroescu, a young, attractive, smart, career woman, worked herself to death, literally, and to such a tragic story one cannot remain indifferent, even if it’s not a story about a president told to take a hike, a parliament overstepping its attributions or a constitution twisted beyond recognition.

As far as we know, Raluca Stroescu was neither a diva, nor a babe who kept score of loaded guys in a little black book, she didn’t hang out in fancy clubs, she was not the daughter, girlfriend, wife or lover of some VIP.

She was a loner, who buried herself in her work, a workaholic if you will. She was ambitious, but ambition is not a sin. She had wishes, which naturally followed from her ambition. She may have had heartaches, quickly smothered, buried beneath files, forgotten in front of the computer or left wandering on the side of the roads she traveled. And in search of what? The ….-desired high social status with everything it entails? A certain happiness? Whatever she was looking for, she paid the price and was way overcharged.

There will be enough cynics who will say Raluca was already ill or that she had chosen this lifestyle knowingly and that she ended up slipping off the track. In other words, that she brought it upon herself, she isolated herself, she was brainwashed, she had gone berserk.

Regardless of the emotions stirred by this case, questions need to be asked and certain common-sensical remarks must be made. We have leadership, training, learning and a whole new world of work relations, at the center of which lies professional motivation. There is a striking difference between what is said in seminars and what actually occurs. And that is because we live in Romania. In a third-world country. In an emerging market. On the border.

Why is it that such extreme cases, like Raluca’s, are mainly registered in companies with Greek managers? This may not be very politically correct, but one cannot help wondering. Did the company’s Human Resources Manager really not know anything? And if he did, what did he do about it? He took her to the company clinic when it was almost too late. Wouldn’t a forced vacation have been a healthier and better motivation that any speech about loyalty to the company?

What about Raluca’s coworkers? People with Ernst&Young are shocked and speechless. But their coworker’s death was not a sudden event, it was the consequence of a long-standing situation. Can people overcome their fear of being labeled unorthodox for diverging from official corporate policies?

Raluca Stroescu, a young, attractive, smart, career woman, died not of lust for life but of too much work. Without saying big words, she is a tragic symbol, a subject for debate and a national case. Who will stand up for her in parliament to request a moment of silence?

(Indira Crasnea, indira@mediafax.ro; Translated by Oana Gavrila, oana.gavrila@mediafax.ro)
From Mediafax