My First Real Boner on My New Job

I’m in my third week of work at my new job. Today is a day of meetings, for the most part. I’ll have some time at the end of the day to work on a grant proposal.

It’s been fairly easy transition. The staff has been helpful and patient with me as I learn my new role. I feel comfortable with the exception of the usual anxiety when I cannot perform as quickly as I want or if a task is entirely new, such as taking part in my first public outing this weekend.

Mostly, I’ve been organizing, doing some inventory, asking questions, and doing a fair amount of what I am calling file diving!  This means I’ve been delving into the files left by the person in the position before me.  It’s been arduous mostly because I am used to a Mac and this system is PC based with a dedicated server.  But, I feel like progress has been made.

However, today was the first meeting of the committee through which I am supposed to work. They meet at a coffee shop in the downtown area of our city.  I went to leave my house, about 50 minutes prior to the meeting, feeling like this left me time to make the 15 mile trip and find parking in a public ramp or on the street. The streets are very messy right now, due to a 10-12 inch snowfall we had yesterday!  So, I was counting on the ramp – one I knew well from volunteering at the Children’s Museum years ago – being my best bet.

I loaded my car and pressed the button ignition. It didn’t start! I knew immediately this meant that my keys were not in the vehicle, they were not in my coat pocket or my purse.  Where were my keys?! UGH! Immediately, it came to me! They were on my husbands dash in his truck. We went for a ride on Monday night (which is an entirely different – but good story) –  and, by accident, I left them there when we got home! Tuesday was a wash, because it snowed all day. A coffee clutch I had was cancelled and my work hours were completed at home in the afternoon. This meant I never realized that my keys were still in my husband’s truck.  I never left the house, other than to help shovel.

Ugh! Really! My husband was not at home, he (and his truck) were at the YMCA.  I went into action. I emailed my coworker and the former committee chair who was coming to help with the transition. I had tried to get cell phone numbers on Tuesday but the server kept telling me the file I was trying to open was empty. As a last resort, I called the office to try to find a team member who was already in and at their desk.  I needed a cell phone number!  Luckily, by the time I retrieved my coffee from my car, I had a text message with a cell phone number.

I called.

My coworker answered!

I explained my predicament. I was going to be late. My keys were with my husband, in his truck, while he performed his morning swim at our local YMCA. His cell phone sat on our kitchen counter. I had messaged him twice before I realized that this is where it sat.

Luckily, I am working with an extremely competent and tolerant group of people.  My coworker assured me she was in town – she lives farther out than I, in the opposite direction – and had been worried about the snowfall the day before. She would be on time for the meeting. I could come when I had the means (my keys) to do so! Thankfully, I hung up and waited.

After only a few more minutes, my husband drove in our driveway.  I put on my coat, grabbed my keys from him and left.

Thirty minutes later I walked into my first committee meeting for my new job – entirely, embarrassed.  I was thirty minutes late.

It did all work out. My coworker wanted to talk about a project that she has been in charge of and is rapidly coming to fruition. My absence and the delay in delivering the agenda I had planned, allowed her to do so. The committee members were gracious and understanding.

Embarrassment, notwithstanding, we continued with our meeting. I think we even finished on time!

Why would I write about this today? Well, it is something that happened. It is also important for me to acknowledge that I cannot, no matter how hard I might try, be perfect. There was a reason my keys were left in my husband’s truck. The reason is another story for another day’s blog post. It is a good story, another story of serendipity.

But, for now, I just leave you with my first goof at my new job, a tolerant and gracious group of co-workers, and knowledge that none of us – no matter how hard we might try – are perfect. It was all a good reminder.