Countdown to Chaos
High-stakes tests are supposed to put machines under pressure, not people. But when timing, ego, and tension collide, even a dry run can turn into something explosive. This story shows how one key turn nearly pushed a workplace past its breaking point.
Countdown to Chaos
I worked in a manufacturing lab that specialized in testing products before final acceptance. I’m a first-generation Latino and had many coworkers with similar backgrounds. My accent wasn’t as strong as some of theirs, which led to comments that I was “trying to sound white” to get ahead. At first, it was just annoying banter, but one coworker “Ricky” took it much further.
We had an important dry run before a high-profile test the next day. These dry runs are critical - they make sure everyone is aligned, procedures are clear, and any issues are caught early. One step in particular required turning a key before a software command was sent. If the key wasn’t turned in time, we’d have to restart the process, losing 30–45 minutes. Testing slots were tightly controlled, so mistakes like that weren’t acceptable.
Ricky was in charge of the test, and I was running as backup/assistant. The engineers were bombarding Ricky with questions as we approached the critical key turn step. I looked over and saw him getting overwhelmed with their questions. At the 60-second mark, I let him know that the key turn was coming up. We were now inside of 60 seconds of the software command being sent. With 30 seconds to go, the key still hadn't been turned. I reminded him again about the key, but either he ignored me, couldn't hear me, or was too focused on the engineers’ questions. With ten seconds to go, I reached over in front of him and turned the key.
He immediately shot me a look, stood up, reared his back, and started the motion to punch. I immediately made the decision not to react and take whatever punch came my way since he outranked me. Our boss immediately stepped in between us and pulled him back. He told Ricky to step back, while Ricky kept arguing that I needed a good punch. Everyone at this point took several steps back (including the engineers who were peppering Ricky with questions). Our boss kept telling Ricky to go outside to de-escalate things, while Ricky kept exclaiming that I was purposefully trying to make him look bad. On the way out, Ricky went back to grab his water bottle and bumped my chair hard. Everything was silent when he left the lab. Our boss stayed with him for about 15 minutes, and they both came back in. The rest of the dry run went without a hitch.
After the pre-test was over, our boss told us to stay behind to have a coming-to-Jesus meeting. Once everyone left, Ricky immediately started accusing me of trying to make him look bad and that he had everything under control. He kept saying that I was gunning for his job by pretending not to have an accent (Ricky had a relatively strong accent) and that I made him look incompetent in front of the group. I countered with the fact that I told him several times, our test schedule was very tight and having any delay would have been bad, and I had no desire to take his job. I was there to be of assistance, and I saw him focused elsewhere, so I made the call to ensure the test wasn't delayed. There was a back and forth for the next 15 minutes with him throwing accusations my way, and me countering all of them. Eventually, we agreed to disagree and shook hands, saying we were still willing to work together.
The next day went without any drama. Our boss sat next to Ricky and made sure he wasn't being overwhelmed or distracted during critical steps. He was seated between Ricky and me, just in case. Ricky and I used to hang out a couple of times, but that incident changed our friendship and work relationship. We never worked together on a test after that, which is unfortunate because he was very knowledgeable, and I was hoping to learn from him.
