
We Know Not the Hour, but Alex Did - wallflower
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/448515/alex-batey-rip
======
DanielBMarkham
Superb bit of writing there. Wow.

All of us could only dream that one day somebody would write such a beautiful
eulogy when we pass.

I honestly had no idea where this was going until the end, and it hit me like
a ton of bricks -- which is exactly what the writer wanted and exactly how it
must have felt to his friends.

Sorry I didn't know you, Big Al, you sound like quite a character.

~~~
smoyer
The first paragraph (or maybe it's the sub-head) is "This will be a day none
here at National Review and NRI soon forget. This is the day Alex died." So I
clearly knew where it was going and it still hit me like a ton of bricks.

------
Asparagirl
It's a great obit. And when I read it I immediately wondered if he was yet
another adult who never got an autism diagnosis: never married and not super
social but also not standing on ceremony even with intimidating people like
Buckley, obsessed with model trains and their tiny variations, punctual and
clearly loving routine, chose work in a mailroom that was all about
organization and making order from chaos, and so on.

~~~
erikpukinskis
I'm curious... What benefit would you expect a high functioning autistic
person like Alex (if he was) receive out of getting diagnosed?

~~~
DanBC
A diagnosis may have helped him get medical care, which would have prevented
his early death.

Diagnosis in and of itself is often welcomed by people with Autism. This is
mentioned in all the English guidance (The Autism Act 2009, the Autism Act
Statutory Guidance 2015; the NICE guidance 2012, the national strategy
"Fulfilling and rewarding lives" and the newer national strategy "Think
Autism") which all talks about the importance of diagnosis as a first step to
understanding yourself and getting other people to accept you as you are.

Diagnosis is also an important step in getting services you need.

~~~
mercer
While I don't disagree with you on the benefits of a diagnosis, there is also
a decidedly negative side to it. So much so that apparently it's a common
practice to warn undiagnosed adults that they might not want to be diagnosed
at this point, partly because they made it this far (to put it a bit bluntly)
and partly because at least at this time there's not always much that can be
done as far as treatment goes.

That said, there's a high chance of comorbidity when it comes to things like
OCD and AD(H?)D, and especially the latter _can_ be treated.

(I'm not a licensed psychologist, so don't take this as advice _not_ to get
diagnosed. Just providing a counterpoint.)

------
dredmorbius
There appears to be a YouTube channel. Dedicated largely to model trains:

[https://m.youtube.com/user/yardlet6/featured](https://m.youtube.com/user/yardlet6/featured)

------
jawns
I'm not buying the obit writer's hypothesis that Al knew he was going to die
and wanted to be around coworkers so as not to die alone.

But I _am_ extremely impressed that this was, apparently, written on the very
day Al died. I wonder if 2017 will be known as the year when same-day
obituaries became a thing. What a time to be alive! Or ... in Al's case ...

~~~
Someone
I doubt it applies in this case, but many newspapers have obituaries on file
(periodically updated, of course) for famous persons, just in case they need
one soon.

They would still have to finish it when the day comes they need it, but at
least they wouldn't have to rush to get things like the birth date, name of
first wife, etc. right.

So, same-day obituaries aren't that rare.

------
sfilargi
> Al went to the walk-in medical clinic located next door to NR. Little good
> that did.

This doesn't give me confidence in the health system. How is it possible that
they couldn't diagnose a life threatening condition? Are these clinics being
audited?

What an unfair and unnecessary way to go. RIP Alex.

~~~
ryanackley
There is a wide spectrum of possibilities here. On one end you have
malpractice. On the other end, you have a patient that ignored the clinic's
advice.

------
tptacek
I flagged this (I flag lots of things, but rarely say so anymore) because this
appears to be a real person who died recently, and the only place I can see
this thread going is political --- not least because of where it's running.

It's a well written obit. I'm sorry for these people's loss.

~~~
dang
It's true, and I had the same concerns. In fact the site is banned, as are
most political sites (or penalized) on HN, and a user had to vouch for it.

But the thread (edit: mostly, or barely) hasn't gone there, probably because
the heartfeltness of the article is so plain, and also because it manages to
be unexpectedly substantive. The fact that it was written just hours after a
sudden shock is noteworthy too. I'd say the article rises not just above its
genre or its site but the entire category the site belongs to. There's
something right about doing that in tribute to one unique human being.

------
sverige
All of us know a Big Al from somewhere. It would be nice to leave out
speculation about whether he was on the spectrum and speculation about the
health care system. He's dead. They miss him. It's pretty simple, really.

RIP Alex. May Jesus be your tag-team partner.

~~~
mercer
I don't see how speculation hurts anyone, least of all Alex. Care to
elaborate?

------
chillacy
> Big Al (fact: he wasn’t big) was the most punctual and reliable of NR
> workers

> Why in God’s name did he come in to the offices of National Review this day?
> To me it is obvious. Alone in the world except for a loving sister, who
> lived far away, Alex Batey knew that he had arrived at the hour that will
> arrive for all of us. But he didn’t want to die alone. And he didn’t.

Can't say if that's accurate or not but it feels fishy that the interpretation
is that Alex was ready to die and wanted to spend it with co-workers, coming
from another coworker.

~~~
Joe-Z
Have you read the text at all?

Sorry to be that guy, but clearly 'big Al' was the office loner (not to say
loser) who nobody can really hold anything against but at the same time
everybody's happy when you don't have to interact too much with him. Sister
living far away and nobody else besides co-workers in his life he may have
hoped that someday somebody would walk up to him and ask what's going on,
reach out and offer help.

But hey! that was our funny, kinda awkward 'big Al', what can you do about it?
Fuck, this story made me so sad!

~~~
chillacy
Yes I did read the text. But these aren't Al's words, these are a co-workers
words, and we have to interpret them through his point of view. That's why I
said it's fishy.

Also,

> Please don't insinuate that someone hasn't read an article.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

~~~
Joe-Z
I know and I normally don't do this, so please forgive my rather emotional
response. But this obituary made me kind of angry.

To comment on your original point:

I really think there's nothing fishy about it. He probably really wanted to be
there, because his co-workers were the only other people in his life. I think
the author was spot-on with his analysis, but just left it at that and some
'playful' anecdotes about his co-workers 'quirks' without questioning if maybe
there's something to be learned from this, what I would call tragic and lonely
death.

------
thaaddd
Never really thought I'd see a NR article on HN. Good stuff, great obit, RIP
Alex.

------
abritinthebay
The fact that his options were a small walk-in clinic and the ER (which he
apparently did not go to) is a sad indictment of the state of health care in
the USA.

If the National Review wasn't ideologically opposed to the very idea of
nationalized healthcare this would have been a good cause to reflect on the
systemic issues that caused him to have limited options for treatment l, and
that may have hastened his death

~~~
krrrh
What other options would you expect? Lots of folks don't have, or are between,
primary-care physicians, especially one that can see you within a few days.
Even in countries with single-payer health care like Canada, these would be
the same two options present.

~~~
sfilargi
Maybe an ER that will not charge an arm and a leg?

The minimum charge one can expect for just walking into ER is in the ballpark
of $20k. Just for having a nurse look at you and administrate an IV.

If you have insurance, it may come down to something like $2k. It's silly
money, unless you know you are dying otherwise.

~~~
jtbayly
An ER visit can be expensive, but that number clearly incorrect. Were you just
exaggerating for emphasis?

~~~
danielvf
My only adult trip to the ER a few years ago was lower, but similar-ish.

Ambulance ride, afternoon in the ER, an MRI, an X-ray, and no treatment
needed, came to $9,000, of which I paid $6,000 after insurance.

That said, I know plenty of people who go to the ER dozens of times a year for
minor things like colds.

------
knucklesandwich
Wonder why a guy came in sick to the anti-labor publication that publishes
vile bullshit like a Kevin Williamson piece shitting on the poor people he
evicted from a home he inherited:
[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447292/underclass-
char...](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447292/underclass-character-
eviction-court-native-born-americans-entrepreneurial-immigrants)

What a self-serving narrative that an employee must have come in when
terminally ill because he "didn't want to die alone" instead of that he was
falling in line with the calvinist dogshit work culture this publication
helped to sustain. Fuck the national review, I hope Alex finally got some
peace.

~~~
dang
We ban accounts that use HN primarily for political and ideological battle.
Since that's how you've been using it, we've banned this account.

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=by:dang%20primarily%20battle%2...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=by:dang%20primarily%20battle%20ban&sort=byDate&prefix=false&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment)

We do this because, regardless of the politics and ideology you favor, it
poisons the site for its intended use, which is the gratification of
intellectual curiosity
([https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)).
One is about flamewars and smiting enemies, the other is about thoughtful
conversation. Can't do both at the same time.

~~~
knucklesandwich
If you think politics is not the realm of intellectual curiosity and that
there's nothing political about this article you're a fucking sickening human
being.

~~~
King-Aaron
While yes, there probably is a political leaning to most things one reads...
There is a time and place to promote such a discussion, especially when
dealing with obituaries.. Perhaps this isn't either the time nor the place.

