Young and Naive
I sometimes think about things in the past and laugh, thinking how naive I was at certain times. I am sure we all do this from time to time, sometimes it is good memories, sometimes it is bad memories. Yet, all of them have made us the people we are today.
One instance I recently thought about was my first job. Back a few years ago, well OK, many years ago I started working at age seventeen. A friend of mine called me early one morning and asked if I would be interested in a part-time job for the summer doing proof-reading for a small newspaper. Fortunately, I said yes and went in to talk to the person who would soon become my boss.
Keep in mind, I went from being an only child living at home having my parents take care of me, to having a job in the adult world in a matter of an hour, so it took a little getting used to for me.
I remember that my work hours were from 11 AM to 5 PM. I worked the summer months, so school did not interfere, and when I started my senior year, I only had one period at school. This worked great once I found out that my part-time summer job was going to continue for a few more months.
Naturally, once I got to the office (at 11) and other people started going to lunch (at noon), I figured it was lunch time for me too. When everyone started going out to lunch, I got up and went to lunch also. I even went with some of the others at times, so thought nothing of it.
This went on for several weeks until one day, my boss called me back and told me that I really did not have a lunch hour since I did not come in until 11 am. At that moment, you can imagine how I felt. Here I was coming in at 11, then leaving at noon for lunch when I was supposed to stay there working. I tried to justify my feelings by blaming my boss for not telling me sooner, but I guess that really does not work.
All I can say is that my boss was extremely understanding, and it became a joke between us. Obviously, it did not affect my job performance because my part-time summer job became a 26-year career. The thing I learned was that if you do a good job, are honest, likeable and dependable, you can do some silly things and still keep your job.