My Tom & Jerry Story!

As a child, I remember sitting with my sister for hours and watching the Cartoon Network. Flintstones, Swat Cats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Johnny Quest, and Centurions, I have watched and enjoyed them all and more. Infact such was, and still is, my fascination for those shows that I can still watch them today! But there was also that one cartoon which I never really liked much but nevertheless had to endure for lack of having something better to do in between my favorite shows. Tom and Jerry! With apologies to its fans and ofcourse Hanna-Barbera, I must say for some reason it just wasn’t on my must watch list. I was never quite touched by the charm of the rivalry between a house cat and a mouse. Little did I know then that a grown up version of this cartoon would eventually become a part of my life. Confused?

Fortunately or unfortunately I am one of those engineers, who unable to do anything worthwhile joined the IT Industry. And from day one I was inducted into the Testing Clan. It was in those days that my very first Team Lead warned me about our rival clan, The Mighty Developers. Initially I didn’t understand what he meant but several cycles of STs and UATs down the line, I now realize what he meant! These tribes, the Developers and Testers, are the warring Toms and Jerrys of the IT industry. They are always at each other’s throats. Who’s Tom and who’s Jerry, well that depends on which side you belong to! But it wasn’t until recently that I met the meanest Tom of my career!

These past few weeks I have been bullied so much by the Tom (read ‘nasty developer’) in my team that I had to pen something down to vent my frustration. I have tried and tried to be the coy version of Jerry but alas it was to no avail. Every time I did my work (read ‘raised defects’) Tom came right back at me with a brazen tone and foul words. He made every attempt to intimidate me with a mallet (read ‘reprimand me for raising defects’) to stop me from doing my job and I was to a certain extent frightened as well. But then I realized that Tom is just a foul mouthed tyrant who just wants to escape responsibilities by coercing others. So taking a leaf out of Jerry’s traits, I approached the Spike (read ‘manager’) of my team, to make Tom toe the line. I thought Spike would see through Tom’s cruel shenanigans. But I was in for a surprise. Going against the set pattern, Spike sided with Tom leaving me in a lurch. Well I should have known since Spike was himself a Tom once! Maybe my next stop should have been at the cubicle of the ‘Mammy Two Shoes’ of my team. But I knew better!

And ever since that disastrous rendezvous I have been itching to get right back at them. But what can I do, I’m just a tiny Jerry in their midst. Of course, I have already imagined them burning in a huge cauldron while I pour sweltering oil on them. Or that I have left them suffering in a locked room infested with maggots. Silly I know! But peaceful nevertheless!

On a serious note, we will always face such situations and such people in our work place. It might not be easy and you as a woman might feel insecure and maltreated. But don’t stop doing your job due to that. I almost did but then I realized that’s what he wanted me to do. And I couldn’t give him that satisfaction, especially after he wrongfully yelled at me. I don’t know about men but sometimes when you are the only woman in the team, some ill-bred men make it a point to abuse you with words. Fight back in any way you can but don’t buckle down under pressure!