The New Guy

Being The New Guy in the manufacturing realm is instant ostracism.

The New Guy will find himself eating a solitary lunch in front of his computer for months to come, staring enviably at the retreating forms of the many individuals within his department who are headed out the door to meet for lunch at the choice spot of the day. Not one of them will turn to acknowledge his existence, much less, actually putting forth an invite for him to come. That could mean sudden death for the invitee. The only thing worse then being The New Guy is being the ONE who invited The New Guy along.

Disturbing as it may be, this practice has been followed since the beginning of manufacturing history. Wherever there has been a manufacturing plant, there has invariably been The New Guy.

Even the most hard core and gritty of New Guys find themselves in need of someone, anyone, whom they can call a friend, someone within the manufacturing plant they can cling on to with dear life and hope like hell that process of association will give them a foot into the door of their own click.

Unfortunately, I have found myself in the midst of a New Guy fly paper attack. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get myself unstuck. In my situation, however, the new guy is single and "needs a woman bad".

I had been lucky, for the most part, for the first few weeks of his employment. Our interactions and conversations had primarily taken place at my desk, and thankfully for me, my desk is far enough and secluded enough from the production floor that only a few people knew he had any interaction with me at all.

That is, until the fateful day our HR Manager insisted The New Guy begin attending our daily production managers meetings.

As you will find in most manufacturing plants, there are always routines and habits that are adhered to in every situation. In meetings everyone will always sit in a certain seat. It's just an unwritten law.

An unwritten law that The New Guy will have no clue about.

That said, I shall continue on with 'that fateful day' the new guy attended his first production managers meeting.

Everyone had begun to gather around the conference table in their usual seats when The New Guy appeared and sat directly to my left. Because we are anal creatures of habit, all eyes were upon The New Guy, he had sat in the seat of one of the regulars.

"Are you supposed to be here?" Allison, as usual, wormed her way in, staring speculatively at him as he looked upon us.

"Yes," was his only response. He was unwavering.

"You're in the wrong spot, we all sit in a particular spot, and that's not yours," Ted, the obsessive compulsive one of the bunch, was smoothing his assuredly sweaty, anxiety ridden hands upon his jeans.

"I don't see any names on the seats," still unwavering, this man had balls.

"We just all sit in a certain spot everyday, otherwise, Ted will have a stroke. He's like that," I laughed, trying to ease the tension. I felt embarrassed for him, yet, at the same time, I really didn't want him sitting next to me any more then the rest.

It was at this specific moment in time that Steve came strolling through the door, 15 minutes late, as usual. Stopping in mid stance, he stared down at The New Guy.

"Hey there. Are you supposed to be here?" Steve stared quizzically at The New Guy.

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, well, that's my seat you know. I always sit next to her, I steal her pen, she catches me, it's our thing." Steve remained standing, fully expecting The New Guy to vacate his usual seat. The New Guy didn't move a muscle.

"Looks like you're gonna have to find a new seat," pulling a pen out of his notebook, he lays it on the table before him. "Here's a pen if you really need one that bad." The entire room is silent as Steve takes his seat next to The New Guy.

Fearing the worst, I sat in silence next to the scene as it unfolded. If I acknowledge and comment it could be disastrous for me, the association between myself and The New Guy would be set in stone, I would be ostracized right along with him.

I chose to be oblivious to the entire exchange, so far, I appear to have come through the scene unscathed.

Let's just hope my luck holds.