Humble Pie: The Workaholic Professor

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Professor Robert stood in the lab, a cigarette in between his long fingers and jotting down his ideas in a thick exercise book. At his age, he still look presentable. He had not become grizzled like many men of his age. His stood over 6 feet tall, wore a pair of spectacles that made him appear more intelligent than he really was. His crispy, curly silver hair wonderfully framed his wrinkled but still handsome face.

Professor Robert was a man who prided himself on his dedication to his profession. He often worked long hard hours at the lab or in his office, jotting ideas down in books, or running one experiment or the other. This made him give less attention to any other thing, including his wife, Katherina.

Sometimes, Katherina only saw her husband twice in a week, curdling herself in bed at night to keep warm. When her daughter Rosa had an accident, it was her who rushed over to the hospital to see her since Rosa's husband wasn't in town. She kept awake most of the night watching over her daughter, hoping maybe her husband would come so she could grab a wink of sleep. All these would have been enough to drive a normal woman crazy but not Katherina. She was patient with her husband, she agreed he had a lot of academic responsibilities to grapple with. Still, Katherina knew that at a certain point, the situation would be enough to break her, strong woman that she was.

The good old professor came home on Saturday evening. On Sunday afternoon he sat with his wife under the generous shade of a mango tree and had lunch. Fried chicken and rice and bottles of red wine. Professor Robert ate briskly like one in a hurry and there was a starry twinkle in his hazel eyes. All the while, in between munching and sipping, his mouth kept talking.

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“The magazine accepted my paper,” He gently spat out a piece of food. “I had worked on that idea for weeks. The breakthrough came to me one afternoon, when I was taking a tired walk in the garden. I rushed back into the house to jot the idea down. The following week the paper was ready as I'd planned. I'm glad my ideas are bettering society."

“That's good.” Kate sliced into a piece of chicken and forked it into her mouth. “I could see how much that paper meant to you by how much dedication you put into it.”

“Because of the publication, I being considered for the Jim-Schindler award. I'm so happy.” The good professor was smiling Into his glass of wine.

Kate put her cutlery down on the table and cleaned her mouth with a white piece of napkin. There was a look of worry on her face. Couldn't her dear old husband make some conversation outside his academic life? He was getting too caught up in his work that he was losing touch with reality and neglecting his paternal duties.

One evening on campus, Dr Nellie a friend of the professor's asked to buy him coffee at the cafe so they'd have a conversation. Professor Robert was was a little surprised but nonetheless agreed. They sat at the table and sipped the hot coffee and Dr Nellie was silent for a while. Then he asked:

“How's Kate?”

“Fine.” Professor Robert replied with an inquisitive look in his eyes.

Dr Nellie smiled when he noticed that. He cleaned his glasses and readjusted them on the bridge of his nose.

“You know, she came to me the other day complaining about how you've become so engrossed in your work that you seldom have time for anything else.”

Professor Robert heaved a sigh.

“Well it's not that I don't make time for other things, but there's a lot I have to work on. I am on the brink of several groundbreaking discoveries that could change lives and I can't let up now.”

Dr Nellie slumped his shoulders and stared into his cup of coffee. He didn't know how to say it but he did anyway.

“The truth is my dear friend, you have to proritize your health and your family. Academic research is good because it increases the quality of life we live as humans. But you gotta take care of yourself. Mark my words: you continue like this you ain't gonna achieve you dream of changing the world through academic research. You want us to make a bet on that?"

Professor Robert disagreed wth his friend. He believed he could continue to overwork himself and not wear not. Taking care of himself would have to take the backseat for now all that mattered was impacting as many lives as he could through his work.

Several other of professor Robert's friends spoke to him on the same issue. Like the Sunday the Reverend minister asked to meet with him after the sermon. It was obvious that Kate had talked to them to talk to him.

“I know I'm stretching myself to my limits, honey,”
He was talking to his wife after they returned from the Sunday service. Professor Robert was flipping the pages of a book on a table as he spoke.
“But you gotta understand what I'm trying to achieve here. I'm certain my ideas and discoveries can change society for good and I'm working very hard to get as many of these ideas as possible in a reasonable frame of time. For example, my joint discovery with Dr. Harry last year, produced a breakthrough in drugs for diabetic patients. It was reported that it helped reduce the number of diabetic deaths in the country by at least 8%. So also the paper I published last month on cell growth produced new insights that has…”

“I know all that,” His wife cut him off as she lowered her round, plump frame to the sofa. “I know you're doing a lot of good through your research, but, dearest husband, if you don't take care of yourself you might end up destroying the beautiful dream you have for the world.”

Professor Robert had no world to reply. He pulled his suspenders slowly back and forth.

“Ok. I have heard you.” He finally said.

But it soon became obvious he hadn't changed his mind much.

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He rushed out of the house one warm Wednesday morning, with his wife pleading with him to take a rest or a least have a bite of breakfast. Professor Robert had stayed overnight at the lab, returned home in the morning and had about 40 minutes rest. And now he was rushing back to the lab again. His wife was deeply worried. The last thing he remembered was him jamming the brakes of his Toyota Corolla and swerving wildly to the side of the road to avoid the oncoming truck.

When he opened his eyes again, the walls of the room he was was all white and a worried female face was staring down at him, exclaiming,

"My God, he's awake. Finally."

It was his wife but it took him time to recognize her. He tried to raise his tall, spare frame off the white bed, but waves of pain spread throughout his back and he fell back with deep groans.

Professor Roberts couldn't speak but Kate read the inquisitive look on his strained face.

"You have to rest honey. You've been in a terrible accident. You were just out of surgery some hours ago. The doctor will be around soon."

When the doctor arrived he explained the situation more to Kate. Because of the accident her husband had lost some of his neuromotor functions. He would be wheel chair bound for a long time and would have to be under intensive care. A return to normal life wasn't possible in a very long time. Professor Robert broke down when his wife communicated this to him.

"Turns out you were right. I neglected my health and it's led to this irredeemable calamity." Kate was grasping his hand gently while he spoke.

"I remember days ago before the accident you were begging me to rest a little more before going out again. I knew I was exhausted and needed rest but I couldn't. I remember dozing at the wheels as I drove to the laboratory. It was only the horning of the truck that woke me and by that time it was too late."

He paused while tears flowed from his eyes.

"I wish I'd listened to you. I thought I was right all along. I may never recover well to be involved in research work again. Seems I've eaten the humble pie in a very cruel way."