Another day in the worm's life

They are found in every office; at every business. Like their real-life counterparts, they are the lower strata of corporate evolution. And much like the wrigglers, they toil hard and long for the "greater good", while languishing at the bottom of the chain. They are the worms.

You’d have come across him - a co-worker, or perhaps he works under you (that kind never gets to boss over someone else) A pale, quiet, guy, extremely efficient and so well adapted to the job he does, that he is rarely moved from the confines of his current position. He starts his career, say as a tech, and finishes at almost the same position. He'll have juniors, but never subordinates, forever languishing at his post, watching a succession of progressively younger people moving up ahead of him. He'd even question the superior powers about this, only to be told "You are vital where you are". Apparently there are plenty of folks to take up higher posts, and none who could come into his position, but the irony would largely be lost on the worm.

Like the real worms, these office versions, too, are past experts at ingesting waste and producing amazing outputs. They'd take up the hopeless jobs; projects other folks would refuse to touch with a barge pole, and turn them into successes. Quite an admirable feat, that.

Only the worm typically, is spineless. He could be depended upon to do anything set for him exemplarily, and send it up the ladder, so that more often than not, somebody else can get the credit for it. He'd resent that occasionally, but forgets the indignities quite quickly.

Oh, the worm's not always meek. He turns, and quite often too. But it's remarkably easy to convince the worm to turn back to the way you'd prefer him again – as bait, of course. A difficult job with no takers? Convince the worm to go on it. A crabby customer? Shove it on the worm.

 He'd protest at times, but that's no big deal. Sit the worm down, give him a little pep talk or plainly bulldoze him to do your bidding, even if it does mean shooting himself in the mouth. If he does the job well, you could all the credit in suggesting him in the first place. If you are really, really smart, you'd cleverly hide traces of the worm's effort and pass it across as your own big idea. You can get away with it - he's the worm, after all. And if the job is botched, the worm could always be trusted to shoulder the blame uncomplainingly. You don't even have to put your weight behind the worm - he'd be quite willing to play scapegoat, too. Bless him, he's that green.

Of course, efficiency, knowledge, ability to work hard - all these are exemplary qualities, traditionally guaranteed to get anyone far. And they do work- most of the top notch executives are known workaholics with brains that could beat Einstein’s.

So does the worm. But with some differences.

The top guys work smart. The worm sticks to working hard. And while the guys who evolve to the top usually have egos almost as big as their IQs, the worm has an astonishingly small sense of self-respect.

And that's the real tragedy of the worm. He could be one of the top dogs. He has all the makings in him. But by some quirk of cruel fate, his risk quotient is negligent. He's too wary of upsetting others, too afraid of losing his job. So he'll stay where he is, content to plod along, often with meager pay, always working, and always letting others reap the benefits. He'll do anything set to him, and do it well. Always the follower, never the leader.

 He'd never realize that to forge his way ahead, he'll have to drum up the mental strength to stick to his guns, stiffen his spine and make sure he doesn’t get trampled upon. He wouldn't think it’s OK if he happens to annoy folks a little by politely refusing to comply with their unreasonable demands. No, he wouldn't realize any of this. He'll just wriggle and squirm so much you'd think he'd get away.

But he won't. He'd be back in office, going along just the same as usual. It'll just be another day in the worm's life.