Coworker Series — That’s What I Call A Silent Assassin. The Story of A
Anyone who met A for the first time would be intimidated by the way he looks and acts. A doesn’t talk much, if at all, in meetings. A doesn’t smile much either, always having a serious face on. A does not like to participate social events. He would still grab a beer in happy hours, but he would just stand there and drink. A likes to code in the corner, always away from actions. Hell, what makes it worse is that A has a huge scar across his left face, making him look like a villain in a Jame Bond movie.
A is also one of the funniest guys I’ve met.
When I first met A, I was intimidated just like a lot of people. I learned this fact later on when I was talking to other coworkers. Almost every single one of them was afraid to talk to him at first, including another guy who has an equally intimidating face. Yes, judging someone by the look is bad, but the look is indeed the first impression you have of someone, and you only change that impression once you truly know this person.
My then-boss once said: “Sometime I don’t want to ask him to work on something because I think he’s going to yell at me.” Of course that never happens, but you get an idea how everyone feels about A, at least at first.
However, A is a very mellow person who has a soft voice. Voice that can go into shows like My Little Pony. He doesn’t talk much, but every time he talks, someone who hasn’t talked to him would be shocked about his voice.
He does get annoyed about it, but he’s come to accept this fact that this prejudice will not go away for a long time. We always make fun of him about this as well in a friendly manner. “It’s when the dubbing company messed up the voice actor they cast.”
A also has the best response to every topic, though these responses are not exactly main stream.
Coworker: “What would you do if you go can travel back in time?”
A: “First win lottery by remembering the combinations. Then invest in X, Y and Z until I’m rich enough to monopolize everything.”
Coworker: “Doesn’t that destroy the economy overall?”
A: “¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “
Coworker: “What if you are not allowed to know which company to invest in? Do you still have the keen eyes to figure out how to make the best out of your lotto money?”
A: “No but then I’ll just buy <my_then_company> and order you guys to work for me.”
A is a serious engineer though. He works hard and works smart, but what makes him stand out is that he always gets things done, in silence.
What I mean by that is he would not talk about the task he’s working on besides during standups, and all of a sudden he would be like “yea I finished the <very_hard_task>”, leaving everyone else in awe.
Although it seems like he likes to work alone, A is actually a great partner to work with. He doesn’t say a lot, but he would always have good input on the work and is always on point.
That’s why we call him the assassin: always gets things done in the shadow without being noticed.
I can’t say I want to be like A because of my nature of liking to talk shit about things. Shit that’s not demeaning others, just anything that would make it not as serious. Still, I admire how A can just throw in one sentence and everyone start laughing.
That’s A, the silent assassin.