Tomn是公司里的实习生，最多20岁的模样，唇上蓄着些暴露稚嫩年龄的初生胡茬茬，每天穿一样的灰色T恤，不爱跟人讲话。Tomn的身份很可疑，我猜是公司某个大老板的公子。他不干一般实习生的杂活，有时候上班就是读小说、上网聊天，整个人陷在椅子里，压得椅子都变了形。Tomn看上去有点书呆子气，大家也都不太跟他搭讪，一是因为他蜗居一隅，很容易就被忽视了；二是他沉着脸钻进书里，别人不好意思打扰；而最主要的原因是，他操一口纯正的美国英语，说中文时手舞足蹈却还是表述不清。

因为工作关系跟Tomn多了一点接触，才知道他并非ABC。据说仅仅是小时候在美国住过一段时间，后来一直在台湾读书，不过上的是国际学校。我表示匪夷所思。一个中国人住在中国，却始终不会讲中文。Tomn耸耸肩，也无法解释。

最近有个国外的案例需要Tomn跟全公司解释，他在msn上问我可不可以不由他主讲。跟Tomn的对话蛮有意思，他有点意识流，让我时而摸不着头脑。别看他外表木讷，内心可是非常自负。呵呵！有趣的孩子！

Tomn says:

OK...and, er, do I have to do any actual talking?  Deathly fear of public presentation, see.

Cher says:

up to you

Tomn says:

If I have a choice, I choose silence.  And hiding.

Cher says:

what if you don't have a choice

Tomn says:

That depends, but I hear that ritual suicide is good.

Tomn says:

Seriously, I would go the route of constant babbling, going back, "uh," "er," "ah," and feverent hoping that I'll just collapse for no reason.

Cher says:

may i ask what kind of job you really have an interest in

Tomn says:

Preferably a quiet one where I communicate entirely through the Internet.

Tomn says:

Or short face to face meetings that don't involve too much public speaking.

Tomn says:

Aside from that, I am open to anything.

Cher says:

why fear of talking to people?

Tomn says:

Childhood phobias?

Cher says:

anything happened then

Tomn says:

Put it this way: I was quiet, I wore glasses, I didn't like sports or music, I read books a lot.

Tomn says:

You are coming up with conclusion, yes?

Cher says:

far from conclusion yet

Cher says:

what kind of books you love?

Tomn says:

Anything, really.  But history is good.  Also general fiction.

Tomn says:

And if you want I should spell it out for ya, let's say simply that my classmates often regarded me as weak, shall we?

Cher says:

but do you regard yourself as weak

Tomn says:

That depends on which arena we're competing in.

Cher says:

where are your strengths in

Tomn says:

Intellect, essentially.

Cher says:

so you are weak outside but strong inside

Tomn says:

Oh, for Chrissake.  I got consistently pushed around back in the day, all right?

Tomn says:

As a sort of result, I now possess an inherent distrust of either Russians or men who are overly loud and friendly.

Cher says:

as for men, you mean human beings or just male

Tomn says:

To some extent both, but more the latter.

Tomn says:

At any rate, I prefer to contact people where I'm comfortable: That is, through the written word.  Or typed, whatever.