Casual Conversation

I have a coworker in his late twenties who’s been here (Germany) for about 15 years. The vast majority of my coworkers are immigrants like myself, and he’s the second longest in Germany. He’s from Syria and he’s seen horrible things, which gives him a groundedness that I appreciate. He understands what’s important and he’s not easily flapped, but he’s also hyper aware of social cues, which means that he’s great with customers, skilled with the passive aggressive contingent of coworkers, and he can explain it to the rest of us when we’re bumping against a German cultural norm.

Our cleaning lady at work has been out for recovery from an operation for the last six months, but she’s 78 and she’s not going to be able to get another job if we replace her, so my store manager doesn’t want to do that (the rest of us generally agree with her, but it still sucks). We’ve been pretty understaffed as a result and this coworker half-asses (3/4 asses?) all our tasks and finishes on time. I tend to full ass all the tasks and finish late, while the other coworkers either half ass everything and finish late or half ass some tasks and finish on time. When he and I work together, we finish on time and with everything complete.

He and I have very little overlap on paper, but he’s just a solid dude. I’m autistic and he appreciates that I say exactly what I mean, and I feel the same way about him. We both seem to have the understanding that this is the work we’ve agreed to do and there’s no point in wasting time bitching about it instead of just doing it.

Plus, he sometimes gives me a nug when his dealer gets him a new variant. I’ve never bought weed from him, nor would either of us want to mix that in with our workplace, but it’s a very welcome gesture. I’m vegan and eat a lot of middle eastern food at home, and he always seems super appreciative when I bring hummus or mujadara in (which is honestly an additional compliment).