Hmmm...

My husband has this colleague at work (his other job, the one with the apes at night) who has recently started to display some strange behavior. Brent is supposed to relieve him at night, and he, consequently, is supposed to go home and sleep, then come back in the morning and start another day shift. Only he does not leave, he stays and works together with Brent, and he does a good job, carefully patrolling the perimeter, checking the security cameras, etc. Sometimes he leaves the guard shack. Brent says that he goes and sleeps in his car for a while. Then he wakes up and starts talking to Brent about life. My poor husband, talking is the last thing he wants to do (unless it's on the phone with me, of course ;))! He has to do this 12-hour shift after a whole day at work, and he would like to take a nap (not allowed), but at least relax, serf the internet in-between patrols. But he doesn't want to be rude. It is not clear what this guy is constantly doing there. Brent thinks that, perhaps, he lost his place as a result of the recession, or got divorced and left the house to his wife. Supposedly, he should be making enough money at this ape job to afford at least a small rental apartment. But who knows, maybe he has to pay  alimony... Brent doesn't want to question him directly, this person is 15 years older then him, also former military, and the guy does not volunteer any information. Their boss is aware of the situation but is ok with it, because the guy does not expect to get paid for all this overtime. So, tonight this guy calls Brent and asks for help - he needs to return his rental car, and he must do it tonight, otherwise he is going to get hit with a huge fee.
- "What are you supposed to do about it?", I ask.
- "He needs someone to take him back, since he is going to leave the car there". ("There" is in Dallas Center).
-"Are you his only friend?"
- "I guess so, he said there is no one else he could ask ..."
This is my husband for you, everybody's friend, always ready to help. Generally speaking, this is a great quality. Only, tomorrow he has to meet the pastor at 6 am, and then go to work. He is now taking a nap on the couch to make sure he has energy. I advised him to use this opportunity and ask the guy on the way back about what is going on in his life. Maybe he needs help. We'll see ... Any advice?