I work at a large mutual-fund company and am currently assigned to the client-services desk.

One Friday a couple of weeks ago, a woman named Erin, who’s seven years older than I, came in with questions about the assets she now held following her recent divorce. I’d brought her accounts up on the computer and had started answering her questions when she began to cry. Trying to be sensitive, I asked if she might prefer to move to a more private office. She nodded, and I walked her back to an empty cubicle and got her a box of tissues and a cup of water. She pulled herself together, and we continued going over her investments. I had to take a phone call, after which she began telling me a little bit about her painful divorce. Then she started really sobbing. I wanted to comfort her, so I reached across the desk... Read More