Basic Trope: Something goes seriously wrong on a character's first day at a new job.
- Straight: Bob starts his new job at Trope Co. Inc. A few hours into his workday, the sewer backs up, with predictable results. And since there's No Such Thing as H.R., everyone has to keep working.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob starts his new job at the Tropetown Nuclear Plant. Just as he sits down at his desk, there's a reactor explosion and a core meltdown.
- Trope Co. Inc. goes under just as Bob sits down at his desk.
- Bob applies for a work at Trope Co., not knowing that it's an Evil, Inc.. The first day he's to work there, their Zombie Apocalypse experiments burst loose, causing The End of the World as We Know It.
- As soon as Bob arrives for his first shift, Satan and his minions burst in to exercise a little damnation, making it a literal "First day from Hell".
- Downplayed:
- Bob goes to use the copier on his first day at work, and it jams.
- Bob gets stuck doing the grunt work no one really wants to do.
- Justified:
- These problems have been imminent for a long time; Bob was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Bob got Kicked Upstairs, and has no idea what to do, but everyone looks to him for answers because of his high rank within the company.
- Inverted:
- After many years working at Trope Co. Inc., Bob from Accounting is finally ready to retire and move to a beach condo in Florida with his wife Alice. Unfortunately, on his last day of work, the building collapses, killing everyone inside.
- Bob's first day at work goes so well that he's given a raise and a promotion before he even takes a lunch break.
- Subverted:
- The disaster is quickly averted, or isn't nearly as bad as it seemed.
- Bob's first day goes without a hitch.
- Bob has been working for Trope Co. for many years.
- Double Subverted:
- An even worse one happens.
- But the next day is a total disaster.
- It's his first day in a new department.
- Parodied:
- Bob is The Jinx.
- The Peter Principle
- Bob gets a new job at an office in Hell, Michigannote , where everyone has a terrible first day.
- Zig Zagged: Some people encounter a major disaster on their first day, others a moderate-sized one, others a minor one, and still others have no problems whatsoever.
- Averted:
- Bob has no problems at work, maybe even a good first day.
- Bob is unemployed.
- He has a job, but the audience rarely (if ever) witnesses it.
- It's not his first day on the job, just business as usual.
- Enforced:
- Finagle's Law, Disaster Dominoes, The Peter Principle, Kicked Upstairs, Bob is a Walking Disaster Area...
- An Aesop about how promotions and "dream jobs" aren't what they seem.
- The writers believe that having Bob being a rookie will justify for him being The Watson.
- The writers believe that "rookie with no idea of what to do" is a good character flaw for Bob, enhancing the disaster's drama.
- Lampshaded: "Some first day this turned out to be!"
- Invoked:
- Bob is starting a new career in a field or department he has little experience in.
- The Bad Boss arranges for everything to go to hell as soon as Bob shows up, just to screw him over.
- Exploited: Alice is upset that she didn't get the promotion she wanted (because it went to Bob), so she makes his work life a living hell in hopes that he'll abandon the position and she can get promoted.
- Defied:
- Bob is not promoted, assigned, or whatever resolution the executives would do to send him to the upcoming disaster area.
- The position Bob was hired for does not hire inexperienced people. Result: Bob is an Experienced Protagonist who has probably seen similar messes before.
- As soon as things start going wrong, Bob's Benevolent Boss takes over, making sure that Bob doesn't get overwhelmed on his first day.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed:
- Bob takes his disastrous first day as a bad omen and quits on the spot.
- Managment takes Bob's disastrous first day as a bad omen and fires him on the spot.
- Bob's inexperience is a direct cause for things going From Bad to Worse.
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