He arrived early, his thick-rim glasses glinting in the
morning light, and his coffee cup steaming in the quiet break room. For a
moment, the world was still.
Manager Mike found him, clipboard in hand, and smiled. “Alright, Sam. Today, no
emergencies. Just meet the team, settle in, and get a feel for how we roll.”
Sam let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Sounds perfect,” he
said.
Meet the Team:
The first to greet him was Ravi, the senior team mate, who
had an easy smile. “Welcome aboard, Sam. Yesterday was quite the debut. You’re
already part of the family.”
Priya walked in with a stack of printouts, her eyes bright. “Glad to have you,
Sam. We’ll get you up to speed on our performance headaches.”
David gave a calm nod. “Remember — backups are life. If you ever need a refresher,
let me know.”
The junior DBAs were huddled around a whiteboard, deep in
debate.
Asha gave him a friendly wave. “I’m Asha — I’ve got a million questions for
you, so hope you’re ready!”
Raj was already tinkering with a PowerShell script, a grin on his face. “If you
ever want to automate something, I’m your guy.”
Neha smiled, her quiet confidence obvious. “I’ll walk you through the
dashboards later. No pressure.”
And Arun walked in last, half-asleep after his night shift. “I’ve got the
nights,” he said with a yawn. “You’re the Crazy DBA for the day shift!”
The Extended Universe:
Sara, the SDM, dropped by, juggling a half-dozen tasks at
once. “Hey, Sam — good job yesterday. Let’s keep things calm today, okay?”
Lazy Sysadmin Larry was lounging in a chair, already complaining about disk
space. “It’s probably not us, but we’ll look,” he said, smirking.
Network Ninja Neil was buried in his cables, only pausing to nod at Sam. “If
it’s network, you’ll know,” he said cryptically.
The NOC team sat in their quiet corner, screens glowing with metrics and
alerts.
Later in the day, Sam joined his first customer call —
thankfully, this one wasn’t a crisis. Just a chance to meet faces and learn
voices.
The Customer Call:
App Owner Olivia smiled politely. “Welcome, Sam. Performance is everything for
us — hope you’re ready.”
Director Daniel was calm, his words measured. “Good to have you onboard, Sam.
Let’s keep things smooth.”
And in the quiet corner, M.D. Mark watched with a quiet, unreadable gaze.
As the call ended and the chatter faded, Sam looked around
the room. The team. The NOC. The calm customer voices. It was a world of quirks
and characters, all somehow working together.
He adjusted his glasses, feeling the weight of the day settle into something
more comfortable.
“Yesterday, I earned my nickname,” he thought. “Today, I’m learning how to wear
it.”
The coffee was cold. The work was endless. And Sam was right where he belonged.
