new world

The only place I’ve ever worked where I had to go through such an intensive orientation and training program was Disney World, many many years ago. But unlike Disney World, I was not required to know the names of the seven dwarves at the end of it all.

I had a nightmare on Thursday night, after a trying day which involved maps I couldn’t read and getting lost on my way back from lunch while trying to find my office. I dreamed that I was starting school again and I kept getting lost trying to find my classes. I can’t believe where I work. There is a store down the hall from my office. There is a post office, a bank, three cafeterias and a gym. Each day I have to consult my map to find the different rooms and buildings I am supposed to be in for my next training class.  I lose my car every day and I spend at least ten minutes wandering around trying to find it at the end of the day.

In my orientation class there were lots of people from different departments all over the company. Luckily, in my group there was another scientist who will be working in my department so I didn’t feel so alone. He is from China and there is the obvious language barrier, as I discovered when I asked him if he knew where I could find a shredder close to our office. He started laughing and kept asking me to say it again. Shredder? Shredder? Ha ha, what is this thing you are talking about? He probably thought I was talking about something kinky because when I asked him to tell me about his first impression of American culture, he told me SEX. “When I think of America I think of SEX because you are very free here.” He was probably very disappointed that orientation was not a week long orgy.

Anyway, Joey is having a hard time with daycare, but mostly just in the morning when Eli drops him off. Eli is very clever to take charge of dropoff and leave me out of it. He knows that at the first sign of distress I would scoop the child into my arms, bring him back home with me and promptly resign from my job. And then I would spend the rest of my life watching Sesame Street and building block castles while ignoring phone calls from the bill collectors. Sort of like how I’ve spent the whole summer up to this point.

I had a hard time on Monday when I looked at the clock and saw that it was Sesame Street time. And then at lunch when I only had to worry about myself and I didn’t even know what Joey was eating. And then again at nap time when I would normally be settling Joey into his crib and kissing him on the head before settling down in my own bed down the hall to read for a while.

My new life is strange and exciting and scary and exhilarating all at the same time. But I’ve never felt more that this is the right thing, that this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing at this point in my life. And nothing beats walking in at the end of the day and seeing Joey’s eyes light up as he drops whatever he’s doing and rushes at me screaming, “MAMAAAA!!!!”

It makes me feel like a hero.

Comments

[Mallika]

How is work going so far, Jaeme? I hope you're settling in nicely and that things are flowing along!

[Dan]

Congrats on the new gig girl!

-- I'm writing this from mine :)