I (27M) recently joined a company and this is my first time working with a large agency like this. I’m relatively young in the team, everyone except two is older by 6-7 years. Also, I’m one of 4-5 guys in the company and the only one in my department.
We were brought to the HQ for a two-day workshop on Monday, and we introduced ourselves and had the first session. The CEO would take the next session and we were asked to be there at 11am.
On day 2, I stupidly wanted to “explore” the way to office (it’s a 17 mins walk – 900m). Everyone else was taking a cab as they didn’t want to walk the way, but I’m running short on money. I was following Google Maps on my phone and was stopped for jaywalking. I avoided a fine, telling that I was new to the city and I was not a call, but the police asked me to keep my phone inside and due to that I lost my way. I ended up being late to the office by 14 mins, reaching at 11.14am instead.
Needless to say, I was scolded by my reporting manager and her boss, the Head of Content. It’s justified, as I should’ve just gone with the team instead of walking on my own. I thought that would be the end of it.
After the team dinner later, everyone went for ice-cream in two cabs and I was in the second one (I’m lactose intolerant so I didn’t need to be there urgently.) when I got down from the cab, nobody spotted me and I got lost searching for them. My reporting manager (she knows I wasn’t having anything) called me and scolded me saying this is not a vacation and I should be with the team at all times.
Now, for the two weeks I have been here, everyone treated me nicely and kindly. Since being late and getting lost yesterday, my team is treating me differently, alienating me and making references to me being late as an example. For instance, the CEO was supposed to meet my reporting manager today but he’s late; were flying back today and my reporting manager says that she will be late but meet him before we leave because of “what happened yesterday.”
The CEO is a nice guy (or at least seems like one) so he hasn’t said anything except a gentle slap of the wrist saying that being late is not cool (I promised that I won’t be late again and he said he trusts me that I won’t).
I’m scared that once we fly back my manager (and others) will start treating me even worse and that can impact my job here.
What should I do now? This is my first time working in a big company in a metro and I really don’t want to lose my job and be alienated. Can anyone suggest what I can do here to make the situation better?
P.S. I’m also autistic and have difficulty understanding the vibe and social cues.
TL;DR: TIFU by being late to a workshop hosted by the CEO and making everyone angry at me. Need help on navigating the situation and not getting fired.