Welcome To The Jungle
When I first joined the company, so many colleagues said it to me, “Welcome to the jungle”. Almost everyone said that phrase to me like it was a normal greeting for a new employee. As a greeting when they first met me, during lunch break, some even when they meet me at the restroom. I was wondering, was I entering a lion dent or something like that? The look in their eyes, the way they said it, it’s just so suspicious. When I asked why they said it, they just responded with, “you’ll see”. And yeah, I saw it.
It was only a week after I joined that I felt I was entering a lion dent. I got scolded by the head of the sales team. The way he got angry.. you would feel like you’re ruining the whole company. Lucky my boss jump to my defense so I didn’t get eaten. But as I walked back to my desk, I felt like my soul was being taken, like I just met a dementor. At a later time, I knew that it wasn’t just me, even someone who’d been working for more than 5 years would look soul-less coming back from his office. Over time, I start to get used to the situation. No such thing happened again. Maybe I’ve learned to be some kind of a Tarzan.
It was a year after, when I was in the middle of handling the endless task, that I saw an email coming from HR department. “Oh, they got a new team member”, I thought to myself when I read the new employee notification that morning. It’s always nice to see something other than request or question from sales team or colleague on my email. Take my mind off of the tedious job.
Actually, I wasn’t always fully unable to enjoy my job. It was pretty good, at first. But after a while, every time I walk out the door in the morning to go to the office, it just.. didn’t feels right. Dont’ get me wrong, I never despise my job. There’s always something to learn from everything we do. I was just unable picture myself keep doing it for the next 5 or 10 years and it makes it hard to keep doing it. Okay, I digress. Let’s back to welcoming the new team member of my neighbor.
Not long after I read the notification email, I heard someone introduce her to all their team member and a few minutes after, I saw her being introduced to the employee sitting across my desk. She was standing just a few feets from where I sat. I didn’t really pay attention since I was busy with work, but I took a glimpse at her.
She was wearing a red blazer. It was four years ago, but I’m pretty sure she was wearing a red blazer. I still remember because at first, I was mistaken her as a part of CS team. It was only after I look back at the email that I realize she’s a new member of the accounting department.
Talking about her, well.. she was interesting. She has a different aura. The way she greeted her teammate.. Hmmm… how do I describe it.. She looked.. friendly, lively and cheerful, yet a bit shy. And her name, what a short name. And she looked glowing. Maybe because of the red blazer she’s wearing. That’s really interesting, isn’t it? She looked shy, but she’s wearing red on her first day at work. Maybe not really shy. But she didn’t look like someone who’s trying to be the center of attention either.
But that time, I didn’t really think about her. I was just curious, how long she would last. Her predecessor couldn’t even pass the third month. The accounting department is surely not the place where you can just relax and have some chit-chat. She was also friendly, her predecessor. Maybe it’s one of so many qualities the employer seek for the team member, I don’t know. Unfortunately, wasn’t good at handling the job in hand.
And now, they replace her with someone who’s walking into the room like she’s there to have a good time. And somehow, I was a bit worry. Maybe not really worry, I was just thinking, did she aware of what she’s getting herself into? Did anyone greeted her with “Welcome in the jungle”? Would she be ready to handle the loaded job and endless working hours? What if she couldn’t do her job well and someone talk bad about her? It’s not that I personally worry about her. I didn’t even know her. It’s just.. she looked nice. And naive. I wondered, how would she deal with the tough working world?