The Ignored Read Free

“Yes?”
    “I’m a new employee. I just got hired, and I’m not sure
where I should—”
    He motioned toward the elevator with his head. “Take the elevator to
Personnel. Third floor.”
    It was exactly what he had told me last time, when I’d come for the
interview, and I was about to say something to that effect, jokingly, but he had
already dismissed me in his mind, again looking past me to the other employees
entering the lobby.
    I thanked him, though he wasn’t listening, and walked back to the
elevator.
    Two women were already waiting for the elevator, one in her early
thirties, one in her mid-forties. They were discussing the younger one’s lack of
sexual interest in her husband. “It’s not that I don’t love him,” the woman
said. “But I just don’t seem to be able to come with him anymore. I
pretend I do—I don’t want to hurt his feelings and give him some kind of confidence
problem—but I just don’t feel it. I usually wait until he’s asleep and then
do it myself.”
    “These things go in cycles,” the older woman told her. “Your interest’ll
be back. Don’t worry.”
    “What am I supposed to do until then? Have an affair?”
    “Just close your eyes and pretend he’s someone else.” The woman paused.
“Someone bigger.”
    They both laughed.
    I was standing right next to the younger woman, but I was close to both
of them, and I could not believe that two strangers were talking like this in
front of me. I felt embarrassed, and I kept my eyes on the descending lighted
numbers above the elevator door.
    A few seconds later, the door opened and the three of us walked in. The
younger woman pushed the button for the fifth floor; I pushed the button for the
third.
    The older woman started talking about her husband’s impotence.
    I was grateful when the elevator door opened on the third floor, and I
quickly stepped out.
    There were five people behind the counter in Personnel: two middle-aged
men seated at computer terminals; an elderly woman standing in front of a desk,
taking a sack lunch out of her purse; another elderly woman sitting at another
desk, and a pretty brunette girl about my age standing next to the counter
itself.
    I looked for Mr. Kearns, and although I didn’t remember which
interviewer he was, there was no one behind the counter who looked even vaguely
familiar. I walked across the floor, stepped in front of the girl. “Hello,” I
said. “My name’s Bob Jones. I—”
    She smiled at me. “We’ve been waiting for you, Mr. Jones.”
    I’m late, I thought. It’s my first day, and I’m late.
    But the girl continued to smile, and I realized as she handed me a
manila envelope that it was not even eight o’clock yet. How could I be late?
They’d probably been waiting for me because I was the only new employee they had
today.
    I opened the envelope. Inside was a paperback-sized booklet titled AII Employee Handbook , several pamphlets, a pen, and a sheaf of forms that
I was apparently supposed to fill out.
    “There are a few formalities we have to get out of the way before you go
upstairs and meet Mr. Banks. You have to fill out a W-4 form, medical, dental,
and life insurance applications, a drug-free oath, and additional information
for our personnel file that did not appear on your application.” The girl walked
through a small gate and stepped out from behind the counter. “We also have what
we call our Initiation Program for new hirees. It’s not an official presentation
or anything, but there’s a video that runs about a half hour and an accompanying
survey. You’ll find the survey form in the packet I gave you.”
    I stared at her blankly, and she laughed lightly. “I know that’s an
awful lot to absorb at once, but don’t worry. Right now, we’ll just go down to
the conference room, and you can relax and watch the video. Afterward, I’ll go
through all the forms and everything with you. By the way, my name’s Lisa.” She
smiled at