A story from Joan

My sister shared with me the following story in her email. I thought it was a brilliant story so I'd like to share with you.

It seems that destiny is doomed. You know about a year ago before Mum went back to home town; I took her to a trip part of which included visiting a temple. We arrived at the temple on the top of a hill and were waiting for other tourists. A monk came and talked to me. He told me something about my past, future, etc. You know I never believe that sort of things. I only believe in myself. Now one year later, I start to form different opinions about what the monk said to me at the time.

I remember he said that I would go to the southeast orientation, and I should be careful with black man, and I will immigrant to New Zealand someday ... You know at that time I had no intention to change my life. I was also amused: how would I ever meet black man? No way! Strange enough he mentioned New Zealand. At that time I had just had a holiday from New Zealand. Of course I didn’t tell him that.

Shortly after my meeting with the monk I got a call from a lady, someone I met during a training course. She told me that one of her friends was recruiting a HR Manager for a new company and asked me if I would be interested. The rest as you know, I joined this company.

You know the company is to the South-east of my home. In this company, I get to see and work with so many dark skinned employees I’ve never seen in my life. Only now I start to think about what the monk said to me. It’s like he already saw my future.

Now the story comes:

Amongst the dark people (about 12-14 ), one guy is very black. He is also a very big man and looks almost like a black monster. He is an American Sri Lanka. Unfortunately he is one of those very difficult people. Everyone hates him and is afraid of him.

Because he has the power, he blames everybody without any hesitation and reason. Nothing pleases him and everything seems to irritate him. The anger between him and us just carries on and on. The same drama keeps being played.

Fortunately I'm coached by our CEO, a very wise man. I am very aware of how to avoid the escalation of conflicts between him and me. Still, this black man has never stopped cause me problems. When my phone rings and it is him, my heart would sink and my smile would freeze instantly. I know I must have done something wrong again…

Until one day I couldn’t take it any more. I burst out like a volcano. I had a huge fight with him. My voice was so loud that the whole office could hear. Yet no one was bold enough to interfere our fight or help us sooth down. I can’t remember what I said but I bashed his table and threw documents… The CEO, my boss, happened to be out of office on that day.

The following two weeks nobody in the office mentioned a thing about our fight although I was sure everyone heard it. I was not sure if my boss knew of this. I guessed so. Perhaps he hadn’t had a chance to talk to me about this.

Meanwhile, the cold war between me and the black man continued. We never talked in person. We tried to avoid any contact at all if possible. During our daily morning meetings where we must be in the same room, sometimes our eyes can catch each other, we would quickly move our eyes away...

I reported to our CEO about this incident eventually, and expected him to come back to me with some sort of a solution. But no. This case seems to have been dropped. I was aware that he didn’t want to blame either me or the black man. We are like his left and right hands. He couldn’t do without either.

After much consideration, I decided to write a letter, to my enemy. I am glad I did.

Now we are closer than ever. This doesn’t mean my enemy is a changed man. He of course still uses his same old way to talk to me and anyone. But I have learned how to deal with him now. If he uses professional words, then my response is professional; if he talks like in a dream, then my voice sounds like I am not awake; if he is crazy, then I'm drunk...

Despite the improvements, he still never gives up any chance to attack me. I, of course I always kick the ball back. One day he asked me: ‘Why do you always fight with me?’ My answer was: ‘Why do you always want hurt me?’ Then I smiled. So did he. Our fights continue, just in a more artistic way rather than a direct explosion.

Yesterday it rained really hard. I received an urgent call from this guy. Before he said a thing, I knew it must have something to do with the leaking problems we’ve had every time it rains. As usual, I dropped off everything, and rushed to his location. I examined the situation, talked to a few people and made some arrangements to fix the problems. All the time I kept smiling.

He knew what my smiles meant. He had boasted so many times before about the building project of the factory he was in charge, and how flawless the building is. He always claimed himself as an unquestionable expert on building projects…

He smiled too, and said to me: ‘you know, Joan, I never expect that everything is so different in china. Not only the ladies, but also the water. You know, in our Sri Lanka, when it's raining, the water is just like shower to the roof; but you China, the water is like arrow, unbelievable!!!’

Hope my story is interesting. Good night!

Joan