A New Beginning.....

So I have a question for you. 

When taking off a band aid, which do you prefer?

1. To slowly peel the band aid back, all the while trying not to pull out every hair that is stuck with it. The goal here is to remove the band aid. Leave the hair intact . All while causing the least amount of pain as possible.       OR...
2. You just rip it off and get it over with? Leave bare patch of skin where the hair used to reside. You might scream and holler like a two year old at first, but a couple seconds into it you are just fine.

Why would I ask this?

My days of unemployment are coming to an end. I have accepted an offer to return to work with a company out of Inver Grove Heights Minnesota. I will be starting work on April 10^th right after we return from a quick trip out to North Carolina to see Jenny, Sam and our Grandson Remi.

Now I have been out of work since January 1^st and this new position is an amazing opportunity, with an amazing company, that should reward and challenge me for years to come. 

However with the start of this new chapter in my life brings up the question of what to tell and when. To be specific how or when do I tell them that I am missing my stomach. I know that I do not have to tell them anything, but lets be honest, it is going to come out one way or another. Heck there is a real possibility that that I will not even make it out of day number one without it coming up. Since this is the first time I have started a new job since I had the surgery, what do I do? Do I just let it come up and work through it, or do I just rip off the band aid off, tell them and get it over with.  

Secretly I am dreading that first day, where the team says “let’s take the newbie to lunch.”

What if they decide to do that and take me to a buffet? Remember I am a horrible date at a buffet.

What if they decide to take me to a place like Subway or Davanni’s where my lunch options are really limited? I love both of these places, but have not eaten there since I had my stomach removed.

Believe it or not the best place for me to go to lunch at is a bar and I am not sure how that will look on day one. Bar appetizers are almost the perfect size, I can eat one third to one half depending on what it is. The rest can be boxed up and I will have lunch for the next couple of days. But going to a bar for lunch on your first day, may send the wrong signal to my new co-workers.

Still if I don’t tell them, and we go to lunch, the group will be staring at me wondering why the heck I am not eating. Do I not like the place that they chose? Do I not like the food? Do I not like to eat? Why is he so skinny? Is he sick? Should we have hired him in the first place? Now none of these question may come up on the first day, but they might. And if they do I am going to have to tell them. So what do I do. The first few days is when teams and executives want to meet the newbie and see what they are all about. It is my opportunity to give them a good first impression of who I am, and I really don't want the fact that I do not have a stomach to dampen the day. The fact that I do not have a stomach has nothing to do with who I am professionally, but it is still there. It is always there as shadow over everything I do. 

What to tell and when. This should be interesting to say the least.  I will let you know how it goes.. 

Maybe they will wait until day two and then it is no big deal!

And though it's always been with me
I must tear down the wall let it be
All I am, and all that I was ever meant to be, in harmony
Shining true and smiling back at all who wait to cross
There is no loss
(The Wall    Kansas)