Bounced!

As I’ve mentioned before, the company for which I work is located in a fairly shady part of town. For that reason, all of the buildings on our campus are secure, and they require a badge for entry. One has to scan a badge twice to get to my office — which is good, because I sit with all of the company CEO’s.

So yesterday, I was sitting at my desk, minding my own business, when there was a knock on the office door. I was the only one who seemed to hear the knocking, so I got up and opened the door, assuming it was just a coworker who lost their badge.

When I opened it, though, I didn’t see a coworker. Instead, I saw three people: a woman and two men, dressed in white shirts with logos on them. I assumed they had gotten lost trying to get to the front desk and had somehow ended up on my floor. They caught me off guard, so I awkwardly stood there trying to figure out who they were and what to say to them. One of the men broke the silence: “Hi. We want to see the CEO.”

“Uhh… Ok…?” I said, like a true professional, thinking, There is no way I’m going to let the three of you into the CEO’s office when I don’t know who you are. Lord knows, I don’t want to be responsible for letting in some stalking murderers!

They didn’t have badges or guest passes that I could see, so I stood there, still awkward, trying to decide the best way to handle the situation. Finally, I said, “Okkkkk, uh, hang on.” I turned around and let go of the heavy door, inadvertently slamming it in their faces and locking them outside.

My coworkers, having witnessed my discomfort, were all staring at me when I turned around. “Why didn’t you let those people in?” someone asked. “What’s going on?”

I said, “There’s like some weird guys out there wanting to see the CEO? I don’t know who they are.”

As I was saying this, the CEO’s assistant came walking through the office to the door. “Is Sarah here?” she asked me.

“Uh, I don’t know,” I hesitated. “There are some strangers knocking on the door.”

She breezed past me, opened the door and let them in. All of a sudden, everyone in the whole office seemed to recognize the strangers, getting out of their seats to hug them and greet them like long-lost friends. What the heck?!

As soon as they went into the CEO’s office, the coworker next to me said, “Do you know who that is?”

“No,” I said. “A vendor?”

“No!” she laughed. “That’s Sarah Fisher. The race car driver. She drives our company car in the Indy races, you know? It’s, like, a big deal. And you just shut the door in her face!”

I had no idea.

For the rest of the day, everyone made fun of me.

Just my luck.