My first day of school

The first day of work is a bit like the first day of school: you never know what is awaiting you*.

At 9 am sharp I was at the Security Office of my new work place. 9.05 at the Human Resources, and at 9.15 I was accompanied to my Division and handed over to Mahri, the Division’s Assistant, a sweet Iranian-French that speaks Italian with a funny roman accent…

A few minutes of greetings and at 9.20 Mahri started bringing me around to introduce me to my new colleagues.

- Ron, may I introduce you Mr. Marchisio, the new Country Program Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan?

(Afghanistan?)

- Marie, may I introduce you Mr. Marchisio, the new Country Program Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan?

(Afghanistan??? Wasn’t it supposed to be Pakistan only???)

- Tian, may I introduce you…

[…]

At 9.45, by the time we had finished my first round of introductions, what initially was a slight doubt had progressively become a frightening suspicion.

At 9.50 I was brought to the Director of the Division:

- Oh, Matteo, welcome on board. We were waiting for you. Please, come in, I’d like to share with you a few thoughts I had in the past days regarding your role and responsibilities…

The first day of work is a bit like the first day of school: you never know what is awaiting you…

(*) See also: http://www.matteoandmathilde.org/2010/08/my-first-day-at-bank.html - My first day at the Bank.