Sometimes you just need a friend.
I talked to an Intel co-worker today who had a sort of unusual accident. She tripped in a parking lot and cut her knee. Badly. Like, eight stitches badly. It was just one of those freak accidents. What made it a bit more difficult than you might think was that she was not at the site where she normally works when it happened. She was visiting our
Hillsboro, Oregon site and she is based in
Folsom, California. Being injured or ill while on business travel is pretty awful. I know firsthand: You’re in a hotel room, often eating alone, watching the Weather Channel, and when you’re not feeling well, it’s really difficult.
Turns out that she had friends in Hillsboro and they helped take care of her. In fact, one of her co-workers took her to the emergency room and waited with her while she got her stitches. She couldn’t walk or drive very well afterwards so another friend gave her a ride to her hotel and then to work the next day.
When I talked to her, she was doing better and was on her way home. Interestingly, it didn’t seem like she found the help her friends gave her to be all that remarkable. But I was impressed with what I heard. They sound like really great co-workers.
She went on to explain that when her co-workers come to her site in Folsom, she almost always goes with them to lunch and sometimes to dinner. If the co-workers are from an international site, she’ll take them to Costco or the nearby Outlet Mall (these are the favored destinations). She also told me about how if you show your Intel badge at the Outlet Mall, you can get a discount booklet for the shops there. Pretty cool —- I didn’t even know that. So, I thought, “Nice – this is an employee who really embraces our
Intel value of ‘Great Place to Work.”I wouldn’t go so far as to say that all Intel employees are like the woman I met. But I will say that I am often surprised as I talk to co-workers how supportive they are of each other. Through the many volunteer events we have, and the organized “quarterlies” where we knock off work early and go and do fun stuff together, there are tons of opportunities to establish a very awesome network of co-workers. Yes, even co-workers that you can call friends.
Because sometimes you just need that. Like when you trip on a trip.
