First Days

The First Day on a job can be stressful; at the same time a First Day can be (and often is) an exhilarating experience. In some ways, it’s kind of like the First Day of school!

After my First Day on the new job yesterday, I started thinking back to some other First Days over the course of my career. I have had some good ones.

Of course we all have to start somewhere. My first part-time job, where I worked when I was a senior at FHS, was at Rax Roast Beef. I really worked hard at that job and I think that is where I really honed a work ethic. Naturally, when you are the man responsible for cleaning the bathrooms, filtering the dirty fryer grease and washing all the dishes, there isn’t a lot of glory!

After about six months of hard work, I got promoted to Salad Bar!

One of the things I will always remember about my Rax experience was how we clocked in. We put a time card in a slot in one of the cash registers and plugged in our Social Security number (and then pushed ‘send’). I memorized by SSN by the constant clocking in/clocking out procedure.

For a first one, it was a good job.

The work ethic I learned at the Rax job would serve me well many years later when I was working in the newspaper business. In newspaper, you work hard all the time.

I remember my first days as the first editor of the Farragut Press. I was hired to be the first editor and I was part of the team that helped start that paper. I am very proud of that experience, too. I remember setting up our shop in Farragut Towne Center - just down from where the Farragut Press is currently located.

It was a fun and exciting time to be in Farragut and I’m proud to have been a part of that.

Soon, I jumped into the world of P.R. and my first P.R. job was at Children’s Hospital. For your first day at Children’s, they used to have you start on Tuesday and you had an all-day, fun, orientation called 'Tuned in Tuesday’ (they may still do this for all I know).

It was a great way to learn about the hospital and to develop a new group of friends with all the other folks who started to work at their new jobs the same day.

First Days can be fun and memorable. When I was hired at Maryville College, MC was in the midst of celebrating its 175th Anniversary. My first task was to read the college history and come up with 175 facts about MC. Believe me, at such a colorful and beloved institution, it wasn’t hard to count to 175!

And that fall at Homecoming, alums and fans of all ages enjoyed the festivities.

JG

Originally posted 11/13/2012