The first day on a new job is a harrowing experience. It creates impressions on all those you work with, and sets the stage for your success (or failure) with that employer.
Probably my most memorable first day on the job was literally my first day on the job – any job. I was fifteen years old, and I got a job bagging groceries at the local supermarket. Ron Grant was the manager on duty, and he met me at the door. Ron was never one to smile much, but he was a good guy, and he knew his job very well.
What he didn’t do as well, was to remember people’s names. From my first day onwards, my name was always “Brad” – the curse of having a last name that is many others’ first name. In the months to come, I’d hear him paging Brad time after time, and then wonder why Brad (whoever that was) never answered.
Ron toured me through the whole store, stopping along the way to introduce me to everyone on staff that we met, and to point out the things I might need to know for my new career wrapping groceries. He also doled out advice that was very useful and well intentioned, but easily could have been included in the best-seller, “Sh*t My Dad Says.” Needless to say, I learned some new words and expressions that day, that came in very handy when I recycled them back at high school.
I learned in the months and years to come, that Ron oriented me to my new workplace completely of his own initiative. The organization really had no process for bringing people on besides the requisite signing of the official paperwork.
At the end of this orientation, he returned me to the front of the store, where I’d spend the next several years bagging groceries.
“Any questions?” asked Ron.
“Nope… I’m ready to go.” I replied.
“Great”, he said, as I turned to get started. “Hey Brad,”
“Yep?”
“Your fly’s open”, he said without cracking a smile.
Presumably, he’d noticed this before he’d toured me through the whole place, but had waited until now to share this news with me. It’s been a while since I’ve been teenage boy, but I’m assuming at the time I would have had checklist of basic hygiene items – such as making sure one’s zipper was properly secured. Apparently, first day job jitters successfully eclipsed basic personal maintenance items.
Walking around in a public place with your fly open — I suppose that’s one way to make a first impression on when starting a new job.