02:14 - 09.02.08
Down the Rabbit Hole
That magic telephone call about a job interview came about 10:30 this am. The predicted storm had already blown through the city so it was just darn cold, but without the wind. Set the time to meet for mid-afternoon to allow for enough time to get some hot soup down first. I have been living off homemade soup for the past week or so - my stomach being the area of my body showing the stress of not having found work yet. First up a sweet potato and legumes mix, then a miso/peppers/yoghurt concoction since this is the time of year I usually do a cleansing fast anyway. Just plain tomato soup today to be certain that the body behaved itself while out in company.
Three young women sharing the train on the way downtown. They hadn't dressed for the cold so they huddled together on one seat. One was relating the tale of how someone had stolen her cell phone and used it to call their home in Tennessee. Maybe they had panicked because of the storms/tornados there and had no other way of checking in with family. The young woman had called her own number and left details of how to return it to her as a long shot. The person who had taken it followed the directions and left in the mailbox of the designated drop off site. Stuck her with the bill though. One of the others was relating her experience with foreign film - an East Indian movie. She said she really enjoyed it except that she couldn't understand the dialogue. No doubt. One can ask for copies that have subtitles, but since it was a class assignment perhaps part of the task was to interpret the film without having recourse to the verbal cues. Hard to say.
My interview was at the far end of downtown so the travel time was just over an hour. I still had half an hour to go until the scheduled time and that was just as well. Something blew in under my one contact lens and really stung my eye. I was so blinded that I first walked into the mens washroom on the floor where reception was located. Realized my error immediately when I saw the facilities of course and beat a hasty retreat. Way to make a good impression, eh? I don't think anyone noticed since the hall was deserted and I just moved over to the next doorway. Wasn't certain what kind of omen that was. When I signed in at reception there was still about a 10 minute wait. The receptionist had a beautiful jacket that I asked about which segued into a discussion about shopping both her and in the US. A lot of people from this city make regular visits to some of the cities in Montana and Idaho for at least one big shopping trip a year, you see. I was a lot calmer - halfway through a cup of coffee - by the time the one interviewer arrived to escort me to the meeting room.
The agent who had called me had given me quite a bit of detail about the proposed assignment when she had called that morning, but very little of what happened next had anything to do with that assignment. First up one of the scientists joined us. I wondered about that, being it was supposed to be just a temporary assignment converting their documents to a new system. Hmmmm. That original task was covered in a perfunctory manner in the first five minutes. Then the first interviewer stated "well it looks as though what you really like to do is take charge and run things". Where was she going with that? The bulk of the hour's visit was spent being asked about my supervisory/administrative work with elections. How did and who did I hire. Why those people. How did I deal with the pressure. How did I supervise. How did I deal with conflicts. Me interspersing the questions with concrete examples. It seemed as though the interview was for an entirely different position than the one I had been coached about that morning. I felt blind-sided to say the least. Some very personal questions about my interests and choices based on the list of volunteer work I had done. I only list that because a lot of my skill sets were developed in that context. "What do you want from this company?" I thought I had been sent to interview for a straightforward six month assignment doing one specific task, but the comment was made that this was potentially a long term or permanent job that had little to do with what I had been initially told. I hadn't formed any sort of opinion of requirements for working with them. Usually, in the assignments I've had the past decade, I go into a company, do as I'm told - well sort of - within the parameters of the contract, then move on. All I've asked for is my paycheque.
The female interviewer kept challenging my responses both about work and personal issues as though I was being inconsistent but I wasn't the one who had changed the parameters of the work being required nor had I submitted my resume with any other intent other than to demonstrate I could do the original assignment. I left feeling rather confused. A very pleasant gentleman joined me on the elevator on the way back to terra firma chatting about the weather. Good thing, because I felt as Alice might have when she had returned "Through the looking glass". Which dimension was I really in and where had that white rabbit gone??? It's a very rare occurrence when I am nearly rendered speechless as I was at that point. I found it a bit difficult to respond at first. "Cat got my tongue?" Called the agent when I arrived home and expalined what had occurred. She sounded as surprised about the change as I was. Glad to know I hadn't misunderstood her after all. I was beginning to wonder if the cold had frozen my brain you see. And that's my story today dear diary. Good night for now.
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