Speed Hump-Khaled

The Speed Hump

Khaled is a big man in stature and personality. When you first meet him it is as if you are driving and you hit an unexpected speed hump, it shakes you up a bit.

Then as you go along his friendship is like a corrugated road it continually shakes you and makes you drive carefully. There is always something unexpected around the corner, something that may jump out and confront you. Your foot wanders from the brake to the accelerator continually and you pay attention. You are not driving relaxed but you are driving with full attention and concentration. You become a better driver because of it. Khalid’s roads always lead into new territories.

I first met Khaled a few years ago at work. Right from the start he was not your normal docile Intern, he challenged you and he challenged the system. He asked why and how a lot. He made you question things just as he did, because it was done that way did not mean for him that was the way it should be done. It was like you had opened the window on a stuffy day and let the breeze wash over you it was a refreshing change.

Khaled wears his heart on his sleeve he would tell you how he felt in action and in words.

 

He has no reverse gear only forwards and sometimes he bulldozed you over. But he always turned around to help you back up. He was no hit and run machine.

Khaled is a time challenged individual always over or underestimating the time he would turn up. The stories of his journey to and from our place of work are the stuff of legend. At the same time he gave no thought to finishing or completing the journey on time; not for him the sprint over the finish line and tearing up the road at the whim of a minute hand.

Khaled was and is a highly tuned racing machine, despite his bulk he moves quickly over the ground and is loaded with extras that have made him one of the most valuable persons in a workplace I have ever encountered. If he was a car he would be in the Super Rally Class.

When Khaled enounced he was leaving there was a slump and sagging of our workplace that is a rare occurrence. His leaving was an event that was moving in its devastation and to be remembered by its marking.

Khaled is a man from a background that revels in family and relationships. Fierce in its passion and loyalties to those he considers in its orbit. If you were losing the race he would tow you along. If you were not a starter he would apply the jumper leads.

The conservative medical establishment that we work in is not a comfortable fit for this type of man. It craves

conformity and certainty. It seeks the wide verges, straight lines and level ground of the freeway. Not the curves and danger of a racing track. Perhaps in the future Khaled may find another track another destination, who knows?

Khaled now drives on to a new challenge a new learning. His new co-workers will know they are on a journey when they are with him and will be enriched by it, our journey just got a bit lonelier. But when we look into the rear view mirror we will laugh and smile as his shadow recedes into the distance and we will know that we are the better for the Speed Hump that was Khaled.

Khaled and Friends.