The Art of the Interview / Shutdown Shit

 As we all get older, we start to wonder "is this how interviews were supposed to be?"

I mean, I remember my first job after VCU only being one interview, and then starting work in no more than 2-3 weeks.

Every on I've had after that? One interview with the office heads, then one with their director. Then you wait for a response for a few weeks. Then you get offered the job. A process that often can take 1-2 months, depending on when you hear back from the initial job announcement. 

Is this what we signed up for? This reminds me of that one video that the dude from Blue's Clues made about why he left the show. No, it's not bc he went to jail, even though we all thought he did. It was because he went to university. Oh the irony. Or is better to say, similarity? Syntax isn't important right now.

One thing that I've learned about the art of the interview is you kind of have to be having an out of body experience. Rather than being possessed by the ghost that haunts your living space or whatever, you almost have to be everybody but yourself. You have to do whatever it takes for you to embody whatever mundane qualities that they're looking for (mundane, because there are only so many different ways to ask the same question about the same thing for 20-30 minutes.) Eye contact matters. Posture, unfortunately, matters. Dress matters! It's ok if you don't want to wear a tie for the second interview, I just wore a sweater over my Nordstrom button down that I got from Goodwill (which was a STEAL). Concise answers matter. It really comes down to delivery. 

SIDEBAR

Now onto the shutdown...

Can we really even be surprised? 

It's the same shit every year. Gridlock in both chambers of Congress. A defense bill that should have already been passed gets nixed by individuals who shouldn't have the right to represent any sort of body politic. The House leaving a day early? It's like they don't even want to pretend they give a fuck, so it seems.

The good? A WaPo article makes claim that the probability of a stop gap is there, which is good until the end of October. Then the shenanigans start again. The bad? It's all bad honestly. The question is when are we going to have non delusional leaders who aren't being led by a man who may or may not be (he def is) a convicted felon? 

Having an opinion on American politics hoy en dia isn't even worth it. You are either a libtard, a fascist, or a communist. Hell, they changed it from being a communist to a socialist actually! It's polarization has turned our already inept leaders into defunct losers, or just showing that they were always that way in the first place.

Alas, I shall enjoy my coffee on this rainy DC day, and revel in the fact that I am still the most interesting and attractive man in this backwards city. Carry the hell on...

Ratio

 Scenario: My boss calls me into their room for a "counseling" session, aka she tells me what I'm doing great at, and what I can do better. Obviously when she said that I was a pleasure to be around and had such a gracious attitude my head was in the clouds. Then, as she gave me my criticisms, my head was still in the clouds. Who cares, I was having a moment.

After the boring part where we were talking about work, the floor was open for whatever was on our minds. We bounced off of each other. She mentioned how she hadn't lived in the states for more than 7 years, how she was eyeballing a job in NYC to be closer to family, and things of that nature. I followed up with how I was having a hard time transitioning from BK to DC, and blurted "I fucking hate DC." She wasn't surprised by my choice of words. I got to say, she's a cool cat. But then, in that moment, I was in fact having a moment. I realized that I can't compare two cities that are known for two different things. In layman's terms, I can't extract orange juice from an apple. She echoed my subtle disposition to my new found point of view, and could see a sense of relief on my face as I realized that I, myself, was the problem and not where I was living. 

That night, I went to bed with a different mindset. Also, to be transparent, I know this sounds corny as shit. But, to be transparent, I don't give a fuck. Anyway, I woke up the next day actually living in DC. I let the cicadas sing all night outside my window. I let the natural sunlight creak through my blinds to wake me up at dawn, only to be 15 minutes late to work (just like everyone else). I was finally doing what I had been planning to do all along-- to just be. I don't know why people have such a hard time doing that, and it confuses you even more when you see yourself falling down that same path. Still, it's important to realize when you are priming yourself for disappointment, and to mitigate it right then and there.

Sure, I can miss other cities. Shit, I still miss Santiago. And the shitty city. But isn't the whole point of being, specifically being in your 20's and even your 30's, to experience new cities, new happenings, new, things? There's a lot to like about DC if you actually put your mind to it. That's kinda where the beauty lies. You, for all intents and purposes, get what you put into it. I've learned to enjoy my commute to my job where although I think most of the people in my building are complete jabronis, it's still a place that breeds tons of intelligence and intelligent people. I hate to say it, but it's true. I've come to fall back into the southern-esque way that some folks move, speak, talk, and just are around here. It gives me slight tinges of being back in The Field. I was even blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd on my way to the skatepark today. I've come to enjoy my neighbors giving me the gossip about my drag of a neighbor who's been calling the cops on my car to give me tickets. Sidebar: that was lame as fuck when I figured that out. I've come to enjoy my quiet block, and having the fall air hit my face as I open my back door first thing in the morning. I've come to appreciate a lot of things that I should have been in the last few months in the last few days, and I hope that this trend continues.

It's weird. You feel like you've been in a place for so long when you haven't even been there for a year. It's been almost 6 months for me. That's enough time for some tangible, noticeable change. And I'll allow it. 

So there's that. Take whatever you might from this. Or take nothing. I don't care. Here's a picture of the DC streetcar.

If you saw this in person, you'd understand.