...continue from Back in 2011

The same person, at different timing of our life, plays a different role in making us a better person.

This colleague of mine...

From the very first project in my engineering career, to the second and then third, we never failed to be on the same project office and same team - that's 3.5 years of Patience Training for me. The more I complain to people about him, the more he tends to follow me around.

Exactly 4 years after I wrote about him, it's 2015 and we are still colleagues. Time flies!
We haven't been on a same project for the last 18 months and haven't been in the same office for the last 12.

He is:
One ego-man,
who boasts about past experience,
exaggerates his olden days stories,
always mentions his wife whenever he's got a chance (if there's no chance, he'll create one),
tends to fall sick quite often during the cricket season; when he comes in after a day of sick leave, we'll ask him 'How was the game yesterday?' and he'll always smile back because we knew him too well,
and is the King of 答非所问 (his answer doesn't relate to your question); after going on for 10 mins, he still hasn't got to the point of answering your question.

Without his presence, it's more peaceful in the office. Less talking and no boasting. That also means that, it's all work and no fun because we are missing a joker character in the team. Hahaha.
Me and my other colleague would joke about how much we miss having him around. We love and hate him at the same time.

He recently returned from a project office and started showing off to me the 3D bridge model he created for one of the bridges. I was like, 'Oh Wow!....Oh Wow!....Oh Wow!'. It's no big deal really, hehehe. Reminds me of how I encourage my little nephew whenever he shows me something he achieved.

He also told me that the project urgently requires someone to carry out some design works and he has 'sold' my CV to the team leader. He said, 'I told them you're very good, and fast, and experienced.'

=_=""

He could be merely wanting to boast about how strong our team is or he really thinks I'm good, fast, and experienced. Either way, thanks for 'selling' me away and all the nice things you said of me.

The reason I brought up the previous post is to remind myself of how annoying he used to be once upon a time and how much has changed between us.

I used to dislike him so much so that when I attended a talk on 'How to Deal with Difficult People', he was the main subject in my head. When I attended a Metta Meditation Workshop, the speaker told us to send Metta to the people we dislike, he was the subject which appeared second (because at the time of the workshop there was a more annoying colleague before him).

He is still the same old him - Joker as ever, but the way I see him has changed.
I am still the same old me - maybe a little more patient towards him, and he has learned to appreciate me as a colleague.

The same person, at different timing of our life, plays a different role in making us a better person. People may not change, it's our view and perception that change which makes us able to accept/deal with them now but not then and vice versa. It is the difficult people in our life who will train us to walk the tough.

I'm grateful to have this joker as my colleague. He has certainly trained me well. :)