Then Came Terry

I was a workaholic, and everything else in my life took a back seat. Even my faith

- By WILLIAM RAMSHAW

I was always a problem solver. Great with numbers, spreadsheets, business fixes, finding opportunities. Driven. Not the touchy-feely type. Most days, I ate lunch at my desk. I worked 12-hour days. Happily. I didn't see the problem. Turns out, there was one thing I couldn't fix. Me.

One day, an email caught my eye from a systems engineer named Terry. I'd emailed him asking about the status of a software build. It wasn't his answer that got my attention. Instead, it was a symbol that was part of his signature. A fish. The sign some Christians use to advertise their faith.

I'd seen it on the back of cars, but in a work email? I went to church. Pretty regularly. But I didn't advertise it. I was puzzled that someone could be so open. I don't know why, but I decided I had to meet him.

Stopping by his cubicle later, I said, “Hi, I’m Bill, director of software support. I saw your email just now and thought I’d introduce myself.”

“Good to meet you,” Terry said. “Hope I got you what you needed.” He had that engineer vibe to him: measured, thoughtful, quiet. Not Type A like me. More laid-back.

“I saw the fish on your email,” I said, trying to think of something more to say. “You wanna go grab some lunch sometime?”

“Sure,” Terry said. “I’d like that.”

We met in the company cafeteria a couple weeks later. We worked for a software company that had once been one of the larger employers in Spokane, but it had been shedding employees for years. Terry had been there longer than the two years I had, but it was still a big enough company that our paths might never have crossed if not for that fish at the end of his email. “You golf?” Terry asked as we settled in with our food.

“No, I never have,” I said. “I’m all about work.”