First day on the new job wasn't too taxing. It's really weird. In normal times, the time before I got sick, I'd be embarrassed to have taken such a simple job. Now I was grateful that I made it through the first day.

"Did you not sleep well last night? You seem tired." my boss' boss said. I guess she's the uber-boss. She was training me.

"Me? I guess I'm just undercaffinated." I said, hopefully lightly....

"You're just yawning a lot."

"Oh, that. Sinus trouble. It's the pits." I wasn't, strictly speaking, lying. I always have sinus trouble of some kind. My sinuses are just huge. It's frightening how huge they are really. Cavernous.

Anyway.

The worrisome sign: When I said, brightly "Tell me about my new boss." the silence went on for so long that I actually looked down at my watch to begin to time it....and it went on for 30 more seconds after I started watching. That person wasn't there today, Monday and Tuesday being her days off, and she won't be in tomorrow.

And, of course, Thursday and Friday are my days off...making Saturday the new Monday for me.

It turns out there was someone in the position who "didn't work out" right after the person who "quit unexpectedly" (which was why I was told the position was open. And I always ask. I've learned something in 40 years) But, still, I don't feel quite as alarmed as I might. My boss is from the U.K. and I wonder if she might not be a little like the boss I once had who was from New Zealand whom nobody else could stand.

My New Zealand boss, in the grocery store, had a very formal and somewhat distant way of talking to people, while at the same time being rather direct. For instance people used to get upset because she would come down from the office, come up to the line, ask the last person to put of the "closed sign", turn off the cashier's light and say, "It's now time for your break."

Personally, I thought this was great, because that way the customers knew I wasn't just making it up, and I could always tell what she wanted me to do. The other managers used to stand in the customer service window and yell down the line and make hand signals, and half the time I couldn't tell if they wanted me to take my break, or move down to register one, or if they were just giving me the finger for some unknown reason.

The New Zealander also seemed somewhat un-curious about people's personal lives. But it was not that she was heartless, she just came from a place where discretion was still seen as a virtue. For instance, when my father got sick, my ex-husband called the office and told her the extent of the trouble, but asked that she not tell me, saying that he was on his way to get me and that it would be best for him to break the news. After he told me that they'd found my dad had colon cancer and it was no small thing, I went back into the market to arrange to take some time off from work.

"I hope you aren't too angry with me, but I did follow your husband's instructions, since he is your family. However, I have already covered your schedule for the next week and there will be no problem covering it for however long you need to be off. Though, of course, I only told the girls you have a very serious family problem, I didn't disclose the nature of it."

"You covered my whole schedule while I was just now sitting out in the car?" I asked, stupidly.

"You would be surprised to know how well liked you are, though, of course, some girls are just looking for the hours." she said, all just as matter-of-factly as ever. And she was right. I WAS surprised, and some people did just want the hours. "But, please do call me and tell me how you are, if you don't mind. I do hope all this comes out as well as it possibly can." And, since she was always either matter-of-fact or sincere, I had no trouble believing she really did give a darn how the whole thing came out.

The point is that her management style wasn't particularly American. She wasn't trying to be everybody's friend, or even anybody's friend. But as long as you showed up and did what she asked you never had any trouble with her. I also imagine that sitting by yourself in a tastefully beige, but beige nonetheless, condo for hours at a time would not be to the liking of most extroverts, who would be most likely to apply for such a job interacting with the public. The thing is, you have to wait for the public to show up. The rest appears to be data entry and stapling papers.

And tomorrow is indeed another day.