Yesterday I went to a job fair held to fill positions in a vast new Irish pub and restaurant opening in February. You walked into the hotel, filled out an application and walked into a room for a 2 minute interview. I did somewhere between neutral and great. BUT there was one question that I dropped the ball on:
Interviewer in a snappy, pin stripe 3-piece suit: So, do you know anything about Irish culture?
Our Hero: (what? it's a pub in goddamn Denver, what kind of specialized knowledge do you need to serve someone a pint of Murphys?) Oh, um, no.
What should have happened:
Iiasps3-ps: So, do you know anything about Irish culture?
OH: [laugh gaily, smile wide] oh, I have a somewhat skewed idea of Irish culture. [insert cute, quirky anecdote, like:] A branch of my mother's family is Irish (even though I'm not) and we once went to one of there reunions. I vaguely remember clog dancing, nuns, and a de-frocked priest being there as part of the family.
[or]
I met a lot of Irish people while backpacking through Europe this summer, man do they drink a LOT. I remember [insert tinkling laugh] one of them offering me vodka and orange out of an old, cleaned out chamber pot at one hostel in Prague! (ok, maybe not THAT story)
[or]
Potatoes! Red hair! Leprechauns! Guinness! Shamrocks! Don't pinch me I'm wearing green! HIRE MEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
I need to find a Polish bar, because that's really the only culture I know much about. I could tell them about trying bimber (which is Polish moonshine, it comes in different colors and burns allllllll the way down to your stomach) and impress them with my correct pronunciation of the Polish word for bison and my knowledge (and pronunciation) of bison grass as a flavoring for vodka.
On another tangent, people show up to these things in all states of dressed-up and dressed-down. I showed up (I was interviewing for a bartending position, did I tell you that? well now you know) in gray pin-striped dress pants and a nice blue top and necklaces and blow-dried hair and lipstick. There was a guy there in a tux, but then there were people there in jeans and tee-shirts wearing hiking boots etc. Maybe Denver is leagues more laid-back when it comes to dressing up than CA is. But, the interviewers were wearing 3 piece, wool suits in dapper shades of charcoal and heather, so I dunno.
2 comments:
I think we need to change the name of your blog. But that is the only thing that needs changing. I love reading your Denver Adventures and I really like the colors you picked (they remind me of something outrageous you might have found at the flea market). Best of all is the short description you've left of yourself, which only says, "I'm bubbly." How succinct. How short, sweet and YOU. I really miss people such as yourself right now. Less than two months to go and I've finally gotten homesick. I think it's because of this blog.
I like the name of the blog and the blog. :)
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