8:08 p.m. | 2003-05-29 Employer Initiations � Wild Goose Chases. For those who�ve been employed several/many times, there are always at least a couple of days that you don�t forget. Your first day and your last day. For those who either are stay-at-home parents, or run a household (even of 1), you always remember your first day, and often, there�s never a last day. If there is, you certainly remember it. Anyway, I remember my first day working within the legal field. I was hired by a two-partner law firm to do pretty much anything they didn�t want to do and/or that needed to be done. I was in my second year of law school at the time. And, I had absolutely no experience in the legal industry. Up to that point, I had spent years in the data processing (information systems) field. I showed up for work promptly at 8:00am dressed in a suit and wearing heels. I had to wait for the attorneys to arrive, so I busied myself getting to know the receptionist. The attorneys showed up at 9:00am and informed me that they were leaving to do a deposition (out-of-town), and would be back sometime in the afternoon. Then, they left. Not really knowing what I was supposed to be doing, I set up my work area, cleaned and organized the office, and read a few files. The partners returned at 4:00pm and informed me that I needed to file some papers at the Secretary of State�s Office (SSO) before 5:00pm. I asked for the papers and directions to the SSO. I mean, time was a tickin� and all. I was told that I first had to complete the papers and then file them and they weren�t sure where the SSO was. Then they handed me blank forms and pointed at the typewriter. By 4:45pm, I had successfully completed the papers � after painfully extracting the applicable information from my bosses and had copied the SSO address from the phone book. I then hurried, as much as you can in a straight skirt and heels, out to my car to drive to the SSO which closed at 5:00pm. I wasn�t that far from Downtown so I got there quickly, parked illegally in some lot, as I couldn�t find a space, and headed to the SSO. Except, I couldn�t find it. It just wasn�t there. Oh, did I mention it was August and over 100 degrees out? Yeah, so I�m clackety-clacking up and down the street wondering where the hell the SSO went. Finally, I walked up to the unmarked building that carried the proper address and noticed a very tiny piece of paper taped to the inside of the door. The note was so small that I had to press my face up to the door to read it. That�s when I learned that the SSO had recently moved and was located several streets away. There was hope! Until I looked at my watch. It was 5:00pm. Defeated, I walked slowly to my car and drove back to the office during rush hour traffic. I was quite humbled that I hadn�t even managed to successfully complete my very first assignment, albeit I almost did. I was worried too, as the attorneys had stressed, repeatedly, that the papers HAD to be filed THAT day. Not only had I flubbed my first assignment, I just screwed over some poor clients. I felt really bad. But, I went back to the office and told them what happened. They laughed and laughed. Ha Ha Ha! It didn�t really have to be filed that day, they were happy to know where, for sure, the SSO was located (�Oh yeah, we heard they moved�.) and I could file the papers the next day. They seemed to be particularly entertained by the thought of me running around in a suit and heels in 100-degree weather. In fact, I know one of the attorneys still tells that story to others, except he says I was wearing a wool suit. Frankly, I was just glad that I hadn�t accidentally screwed over the clients. Not that it would have been my fault technically, but that kind of shit rolls downhill, you know? That was also one of many wild goose chases they sent me on, though I never relied on them for pertinent information (addresses, directions, operating hours, etc.) after that. The ironic part? As soon as I read the note on the door, I realized that I knew exactly where the SSO was because, in my previous job, I had actually spent several years watching them build the building across the street from where I worked. That made ME laugh. It�s that kind of thinking that makes it believable that I would wear a wool suit in August. Alas, my brain is an enigma. your thoughts? seed flower