On my first day at my new job, I walked in nervous but determined to make a good impression. A man approached me immediately, looked me up and down, and said, “No time to waste.” He handed me folders, gave me rapid-fire instructions, and pointed me to a desk. He seemed confident, in charge, and completely at home in the building.
So I got to work.
An hour later, my phone rang. It was HR asking why I hadn’t shown up for orientation.
Confused, I said, “I’m already working. David gave me tasks.”
There was a long, heavy silence on the line. Then the HR manager said slowly:
“…We don’t have anyone named David.”
My stomach flipped.
Within minutes, two supervisors showed up and gently asked me to describe the man. As soon as I finished, they exchanged a look — part relief, part amusement.
“David” was a former employee who had retired months earlier but still wandered in from time to time. He loved the job so much that he struggled to let go, and sometimes slipped into old habits… like giving new hires assignments he genuinely believed were helpful.
When they brought him back to meet me properly, he was sweet and deeply apologetic. The supervisors reassured me, thanked me for diving in so eagerly, and finished my orientation with smiles.
By the end of the day, what could’ve been a disaster became a story I’ll never forget — a reminder that sometimes first impressions aren’t wrong… they’re just misplaced in time.
