First Day At Work

Butterflies in my stomach I step out of home. The journey serves to take my mind off my worries and keep it focussed on being annoyed at my co-passengers and the guy at the ticket counter. One thing about Mumbai is that it takes a person on hour on an average, give or take 15 minutes, to get from anywhere to anywhere. Yes! There is always some way to connect point A and B in 1hr +- 15min. That’s the trademark of a true Mumbaiker…measuring distances in terms of time. But this isn’t a post about Mumbai. It is about my first day back.

Does everyone go through similar fears on a new job? I suppose so, human beings are very ‘phobic’ creatures. All the things that ate into my feeling good today:

– What of this am I supposed to know and what can I ask about without sounding stupid?
– Who are these people really and what did they like about me?
– What if this whole thing is a conspiracy and my life is like The Truman Show (I swear new jobs always make me think that!!!!!)
– What if I throw up right in the middle of the office? (Didn’t I feel that not long back…oh, wait, that was my first day in kindergarten…)
– What if I faint and die here and they don’t know what to do with my body because I haven’t given my records as yet?
…and of course the biggie…
– Looks alright..hard to say…but….will it turn out alright?

And now that I’m done with my rant, I can sit back and look on a day that wasn’t too bad. Met lots of strange people who smiled at me and some even knew my name! Some of them have grand plans for me (or rather my time!).
I can’t resist ending this rather boring and self-absorbed post on a light note…

Big boss: So how was your first day?
Me: Pretty good I think.
Small boss: Yeah, we’ll ask you at the end of the month again.
Big boss: Now, now we don’t want people thinking we’re running a sweatshop here!
Small boss: Oh, we aren’t?
Big boss: Too bad the paperwork couldn’t get done today. That’s HR’s job and they aren’t in today. Anyway…I’m glad you got settled in today. I thought all that might have got delayed.
Small boss: No, that’s HR’s job and they weren’t in today!