Comment dis tu "yeehaw" in Francais? Week 4, Day 1

Today was my first day actually doing my job.  'Twas a bit nerve wracking.  I naively thought today would be one more day to study and shore up my inadequacies. I was wrong. I'm glad that I had no idea today was the day because it would have ruined my weekend.

When my boss told me to sign onto the phone, I told him, "But, I have no idea what I'm doing."

He told me to come to his office.  So, we met in his office.  He asked, "What did you mean 'you don't know what you're doing'?"

I told him again with as much earnestness as I could muster, "I really have no idea what I'm doing."

"Be more specific," he told me.

"I don't know how to navigate the various systems. I don't even know what systems to pull up.  I'm going to fluster easily," I tried to explain.

My boss said, "Well, explain to your mentor what you need help on."  And, off I went.

I was so overwhelmed that I wasn't even scared.  When I was setting up in my mentor's cubicle, we chatted.  I confessed to him I was retarded when it came to this, and I was clueless.

He responded, "Of course you are. Everybody is when they start."

He spoke the precise words that I needed to hear.

So, he and another mentor joked with me as they helped me pull up the different programs I needed and do all my log-ons.   Then we did my first call, and it wasn't that bad.  The first couple of phone calls he did the majority of the computer work while I spoke with the member.  It was a really smart way to acclimate me.  I felt far more comfortable-- I now had a bungee cord as I plunged off the cliff.

By the end of the day, I actually took one call on my own.  It was successful.  The different programs started to make sense.  I sensed a flow, a logical rhythm in it.  The guys showed me short cuts and different (easier) ways to perform the same processes.

I had a really good time with the guys who mentored me.  They're my little brother's age.  So, I treated them as such.

Nobody was overtly rude to me.  Two people hung up on me when I told them I was unable to do what they wanted me to do... because it was illegal.  (I didn't say the illegal part.) My mentor told me that it's far better to be hung up on then to be yelled at.   I think I agree.  The members were really patient with me.

I was supposed to work out after work.  I met a friend for Mexican instead.