Friday, December 08, 2006
4 Interview
He arrived on time and helped himself to a half a cup of coffee from a pot that was staying warm near the receptionist’s desk. After ten minutes of sipping, a young woman came out from behind the receptionist’s desk and introduced herself. They exchanged “Nice to Meet You” and he followed her to her office.
“It’s good to be here,” he said, sitting down. “Thanks for having me down here and taking the time to interview me.”
“No problem, no problem,” she said. “That’s just part of my job.”
“Ah, just so I got this straight. I’m actually not sure I have your name right. It is Rev?”
“La Rev,” she said, looking him in the eyes. She had these gray blue eyes that sort of locked him in a dazy gaze. “People who know me call me Rev. But my whole name is La Rev.”
“So is La your first name?”
“I don’t really think of it that way. I don’t have a first name and last name like everyone else.”
“So it’s all one name like Madonna, or Homer?”
“You like Madonna?”
“I don’t know. She’s alright. Some of her stuff. I don’t keep up. I saw that she was trying to adopt a baby....”
“Oh, yeah, I heard about that....”
His throat was getting a little dry, kind of scratchy in one spot. He had only a little bit of coffee left in his mug. But it was cold and he didn’t want to drink it. He was swallowing but that wasn’t helping.
“Is there any more coffee, or some water or something?”
“Yeah,” she said, and left the room briefly, returning with a bottle of water. He couldn’t help but notice that she was wearing a skirt, no hose, and flip-flops. She had smooth, white legs. She handed him the bottle.
“Thanks,” he said.
She was smiling a bit.
“Is something funny?” he asked.
“Oh, no,” she said. “I just thought it was funny that we were talking about Madonna.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “I guess I wouldn’t think that that would be something I’d talk about at an interview.”
“You said you didn’t like her stuff that much, though?”
“Ah, well—can I ask: where is this interview going?” he said. “This doesn’t seem like the typical questions I would get at an interview. Is this normal?”
La Rev scratched with her pen against a notepad. It wasn’t clear whether she was actually writing something or just making a scribble. She looked up and he could see that she was biting part of her lip, the lower right side.
“I have a confession to make,” she said.
“OK....”
“You’re not going to get this job.”
“I’m not?”
“No.”
“Then why am I down here?”
“Well, I thought that since you applied I might as well go ahead and interview you.”
“But there is no job?”
“Right.”
“Well, why are you still interviewing people if you already have someone for the job?”
“You’re the last person I’m interviewing.”
“Then this is kind of a big waste of my time, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “My boss just decided yesterday to hire from within. I had your resume in front of me yesterday and I was gonna call you and tell you not to come in, but something on your resume sort of caught my eye, and my boss isn’t in the office today, so I figured what they hey, I’d have you come in. Don’t take this the wrong way. You’re qualified enough.”
“Something on my resume?”
“Yeah. It said you were a poet?”
“Yeah, ahh, I’ve only gotten a couple of things published so far.”
“That’s more than me,” she said.
“You write?”
She nodded.
Next: Rev Likes the Cubs
