It All Depends On What Team You Are On

It was the last game of the season, and it meant the league championship for the winning team. The two teams were very competitive, especially with each other, and there were more penalties in their games against each other than any other matchup in the league. 

It was the last minute of the third period. George, one of the stars of the Grant Street Gophers was on a breakaway heading towards the opposition net. They were behind by one goal.  He slowed down somewhat in order to plan most carefully how he was going to score to tie the game up and send them into overtime. He was so focused on this plan that he was completely unaware that one of the players on the opposition team was catching up with him. Just as he was about to fake a shot in the left corner, only to swing to the right and backhand the puck into the net, he was checked hard from the left side by an opposition player he hadn’t see coming. He ended up sliding into the boards to the right of the goal keeper, losing stick contact with the puck, and all chance he had to score. 

When he sat up, hoping to stand soon, he saw who had knocked him down. It was Tom, which came as no surprise. The two of them had been bitter opponents all season, each checking the other, dirty and clean, in every game that their teams played against each other. When Tom stood up, he verbally challenged his opponent, who only responded with a thumbs down and a quick skate to the bench.

When George skated over to the referee to demand that he receive a penalty shot, the referee just said that it was a legitimate check, from the side and not from the back. Nothing dirty had been done. Shortly thereafter,  the game was over, and George’s team had lost both game and championship.

The Prize Job

           Every summer in town, 18 year old boys, competed for the prize job, that paid the most, and could lead to a career as a skilled mechanic.  It had been a tradition in town for years.  Five applicants had been chosen to work for a week at the job, with good pay, and after the week was over, two of them would be picked by the boss to continue there throughout the summer.

           The five were chosen, and sat in the boss’s office to learn what the boss wanted of them, and what it would take to keep the job for the duration of the summer. George got there a little late, but still felt positive about his chances. Then he saw Tom, who sat two seats away from the remaining seat. They both glared at each other, but said nothing out loud. They did not want to make a bad impression in front of the boss.

The boss made his speech. Above all else he emphasized the value of being a ‘team player’ at work. In his words, “There is no place in the factory for soloists.”

The week passed slowly. George and Tom tried not to work with their hockey opponent, but that was not possible, as the boss shifted the boys around each day. On the day they worked together, they shared few words with each other, and rarely looked directly in the other’s eyes. When they did talk to each other it was strictly about the job that they were doing. Still, they worked well together, both dedicated to the job at hand, both silently respecting the job that the other was doing, making both of them look good. George could see that Tom was the most efficient partner that he worked with during the week.

Another one of the five boys competing was also a hockey player, so Tom and George knew him, neither liking him. His name was Sam. He was a loud mouth, and would oftentimes  yell from the bench at the opposing players on the ice.

George and Tom both found him hard to work with. Sam did little, and didn’t help his partner much. And he bad-mouthed the other workers. When he spoke to the boss he sucked up to him, saying that he was learning a lot from the boss’s stress of engaging in teamwork.

Interview Time

When it became time for their interviews, Sam pushed his way into the boss’s office, so that he would be first, while the others stood outside. He said in his usual loud voice, how some of his work partners did not practice ‘good teamwork’. He singled out Tom especially, as he had heard others speaking of how good Tom was to work with.

           George was second in line. He began his interview with the words, “First, can I say something?” He tried not to say this too loudly. He didn’t want the others to hear him, like he had heard Sam.

“What Sam said about Tom was so wrong. Tom and I were opponents in hockey, often checking each other as hard as we could. But he is a good worker, and is definitely a team player.”

           When his interview was done, and he was leaving the boss’ office, Tom stood up and shook his hand, saying rather quietly, “I never liked playing against you on the ice, but I like working with you, even though we did not talk much. Thanks for defending me with the boss.”

           The boss came out of his office and said, that he was going to look over his notes, and decide that night who was going to work for the rest of the summer. He would call them all around eight o’clock.

           When he did so, he told the two hockey opponents that they would be work teammates throughout the summer. Both of them went separately to the same pub later that night to celebrate. When George walked up to the bar, he saw Tom, suspecting, correctly, that his hockey opponent had been picked for the summer job too. He sat down beside him, saying to Tom, “This does not mean that I am not going to run into you a few times on the ice during the next season, but I will try not to hit you with my elbow like I did once or twice last season”. Tom replied, “I’ll be ready for the checks, and you had better be ready too. You know that I hit hard. But that won’t apply to our work this summer. We do work well together when we are on the same team.”