h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Being a newcomer is not always easy, but you can't expect your new colleagues to take all the first steps - you'll have to work on it yourself!

It recently came as a surprise in the office where I work when, one of my colleagues, after having worked a couple of months, complained of us others ignoring him at lunch time...

Some bring their own lunch, some go out for lunch, and then there are some of us who dash out and buy some take-away which we then eat in the lunch room at work - we ask around among those of us who usually eat together, and then 2-3 of us go out and buy food for all

When I was new, they forgot to ask me since I was sitting in a room at the far end of a long corridor - but hey! I soon learnt at which time they would go out, and then I would walk over to check who was buying. Sometimes I was so busy I forgot about the time (and they forgot me) - but then I'd buy my own food and then join the others in the lunch room. After eating together a couple of times they soon started remembering to ask me.

This guy who complained, he'd just sit in his room sulking at lunch time, unnoticed. Anyway, we felt a bit guilty thinking that maybe we ought to have remembered to ask him, so the next day I asked what he wanted for lunch before we left, which seemed to please him. We were all somewhat surprised that he chose to eat the lunch we brought him in his room instead of together with us others - so what was his point?

I realized that the reason we had forgotten to ask him at lunch was because he had done this a couple of times before - but we don't run errands! We buy food for those of us who enjoy each others company during lunch! No wonder we forgot to ask him when we never saw his face at the lunch table...

Sometimes when you think people are ignoring you they might simply just forget to ask you - the only one who can do something about it is you yourself! Stop sulking and become active!