I have a job interview this morning that I very much do not feel like going to.
It's at a radio station. It could be okay. I'm trying to get my brain in gear so that I can at least attempt to make some sort of impression. It's no easy task. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night which is causing my stomach to be upset. My sinuses feel like shit. And I'm basically doing this to appease other people. I already accepted the symphony job and even though it doesn't pay very much I find it to be a rather appealing prospect by comparison. So, I just want to get this whole thing over with.
I had an interview at the public relations firm yesterday.
That was actually the one I found to be more promising when I scheduled it. It was a receptionist position, but the woman I talked to on the phone made it sound rather fun, and I thought it could be an interesting place to work. Plus, she told me on the telephone that I was a good fit, and that her receptionist's last day was Friday (today) and that she planned on getting someone in by Monday. She asked me to come in the next day (Thursday) but I told her there was no way I could do that, I had too much going on. She finagled me into agreeing to come in anyways.
I got there a few minutes early, which seemed to make her happy.
She was a bleached blonde wearing this bright pink suit jacket and black slacks. She was about as waspy as they come.
"Oh, you live in Dearborn?" She asked. "I don't know Dearborn at all. I've lived my whole life on the east side of town so I've never been there." Now, this in and of itself is strange to me. I've always had a bit of wanderlust. I took an Amtrak for three days straight when I was nineteen, from Philadelphia to San Francisco, because the notion of being stuck in the same place where I grew up was so unbearable to me. To be in an urban area your whole life, and not explore as much of it as you possibly can, is a very alien concept to me.
"Oh yeah, I know the east side a little," I said. "My boyfriend's family is there, and we used to visit a lot when I lived in Chicago."
"If his family lives on the east side, why would you move to Dearborn?" She was completely confused by this.
I explained to her that we simply transferred our lease, and they had a really nice apartment complex in Dearborn, and that my boyfriend had gone to college in Dearborn and was fond of it.
Oh yeah, she also told me that she had never seen Chicago, which was sort of odd to me being that she has spent her whole life only five hours away.
Yes, most definitely very waspy and suburban.
We talked some more about the position. She said she wanted someone that appeared not only courteous and responsible but friendly and perky all the time, so that even when they were feeling sick, you could never tell when they were having a bad day. Not just that the clients couldn't tell, but that the other employees couldn't tell.
Oh fuck that. That is so not me.
She went on to say that her receptionist was the best receptionist she had ever seen in her life.
Oh, fuck that, too.
I've been in that position before, where you come in and replace the person that everyone adored. It's no fun. You can never do well enough to compare with the previous person, the expectations are completely unrealistic. It's the same reason why performers don't like to follow someone on stage that the crowd just loved.
So, the interview wrapped up quickly. She told me that she was doing two more interviews the next day and that she wouldn't know for certain until Monday. I thought this was odd by contrast with what she had said earlier. It wasn't that I minded that she gave me a polite excuse, since at this point I didn't particularly want the job, but that she didn't seem to concern herself with the fact that this was obviously a lie based on what she said to me on the phone.
So, Rob and I went to Brazil's for coffee then went out to eat at a Lebanese restaurant. It was absolutely amazing. The food was delicious and we have enough leftovers to last us a few days.
Detroit is still pretty surreal. I'm not sure how I feel about a city that exists almost entirely in the suburbs. I wish I could start at Wayne sooner than the fall if for no other reason than to give me an excuse to go into downtown Detroit every day. It's hard, too, to escape the feeling of being here on a long visit and living here.
We're having a get together tonight with some Detroit friends. It's a combination between a celebration of Rob's birthday and a housewarming party. So that should be fun at least.