A Story

This is a personal story from a classmate.

I was a new hire at my first job in Edirne, filled with both hope and anxiety. I had a good boss, but he was very strict, and I was a bit scared of him. One day, he tasked me with compiling a very important report by contacting each customer directly and taking their input. I quickly got to work and started speaking to the customers. This might have been an easy task for many, but my anxiety made it very difficult for me to communicate with people. I was shaking and sweating, barely managing to put together the words. But I pushed through, and after a week I was done. I had written everything on a piece of paper and was ready to submit it to my boss. When I came in for work the next day, I looked through my documents to see that the report was GONE. I felt terrible and started looking for it, but it was nowhere to be found. The deadline was in two days and I could not possibly speak to each customer again. I also could not ask for an extension or just tell my boss that I had lost the report, because I was afraid that he would get angry with me or even fire me. So I simply started waiting, filled with fear. Two days later, my boss had still not asked about the report. But those two days were like torture. I spent every waking second thinking of a solution, afraid to talk. I even considered looking for a new job immediately. On the day of the deadline, my boss finally called me into his office. I prepared myself for the worst and went in. He looked calm. He spoke to me about a new project and how I would fit into the team. At the end, he said something along the lines of "Oh, that reminds me... good work on that report!" I asked him how he could have it when I never turned it in, and he told me that he had simply seen it on my desk two days ago and taken it. I had never felt such panic and relief at the same time. I finally told him what happened and he started laughing loudly. Then he told me to just talk to him next time there was a similar issue. I went back to my desk and continued my work, thinking about why I had to be like this, and hoping I would never have to go through a similar experience again.