Cinco de Mayo

Nerves. Mistakes. Awkward moments. All things that characterize my first day on the job at Carl House.

Thankfully I was able to catch my first mistake of the day before someone else did, where I absentmindedly forgot to zip up the side of my dress! I had already driven away from my house before I noticed it. How awful/funny would that be for me to walk in on the first day, proudly showing everyone what color my "unmentionables" were. Talk about first impressions. This did serve an important purpose, though, as it enabled me to laugh at myself and not take the day so seriously.

Once I got there, I was expecting one of the spring interns to already be there, ready to guide me through my first day as we had previously talked about. Just as I also expected in the back of my mind, neither one was there. So at first I thought I had to face the day alone and bother the poor soul that was around with my questions. But eventually Jessica came to save the day!

Of course, on my first day Carl House received an unusual amount of calls for a Monday, and I was not very confident about handling the phones. I dreaded being that girl who answered the phone and didn't know what I was talking about. Everyone knows how frustrating that can be if you're on the other line. It's not good for customer relations. But you gotta learn somehow, so they just let me jump right in. At first, I would accidentally send people to voicemail when I shouldn't have, or completely forget that someone was on hold, or actually transfer them to the right number and then realize I didn't ask the Carl House person if they were able to take the call. And when I would greet walk-in guests and direct them to the right place, I wasn't aware that I had to ask the Carl House staff-person if it was alright for them to go there.

But that's why you make mistakes. So you can learn from them. Cliche, I know. But so true. And by the end of the day, when it was just Faye and me in the office, I finally felt like I was getting it. I hold myself to a high standard, to learn things fast and start being efficient. And I actually felt like that happened today. There's never a better feeling.

We'll see what tomorrow holds, as Faye and I brave the office alone once more... :)