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The One Thing to Remember on Your First Day at a New Job
This rite of passage says very little about your workplace and its people
When I’m nervous, I tend to move quickly. If I’m speaking, I start walking to the podium before I’m finished being introduced. If I’m at an important lunch, I eat too fast. And, apparently, if I’m starting a new job, I introduce myself to co-workers in the men’s room before I’ve even arrived at my desk because that’s exactly what happened on my first day at Esquire.
The encounter went like this:
[Two men at the urinals.]
Hi!
Hi.
[I flush. Start washing my hands.]
I’m Ross.
Bob.
[Bob flushes. Starts washing his hands.]
It’s my first day.
Oh?
Yeah. I’m the research director at Esquire.
Ah.
[As we’re drying off our hands, I reach out to shake Bob’s hand. Without any alternative and with a bemused expression, Bob shakes my hand.]
Now, there are many unwritten social rules for the men’s room at the office: You may look north-south, not east-west. No fine grooming. And no shaking…
