Daniel Amos Message Board | Print: this is a true story, i'm not joking but i am scared!

Posted by tchandler on 09-23-2003 at15:23:

this is a true story, i'm not joking but i am scared!

my company asked me to interview some prospective new employees, and i swear i think i must've met some of berger's previously unknown siblings. the following berger-like encounters are all true:

one guy inexplicably kept responding to me in sentences that had absolutely nothing to do with what i had previously said or asked of him. we were talking about technical, geek-related stuff. in regular conversation, the equivalent would be something like this:

me: tell me where you live.

him: there goes bill! his pants live in infamy!

me: ... um, ...well, what sort of work did you do in--

him: feeeeeeeeeeeed! behold my golden saxaphones!

me: ... ... ... i see ...

and it went on like that for an uncomfortable period of time. honestly, i'm not exaggerating.

the next guy was in his fifties, but with obvious dyed JET BLACK facial
hair(!) i went out to the lobby to walk him back into a conference room.
i said "hello, i'm tim." he pretended not to hear and kept looking at a magazine. finally he looked at me, looked back down at his magazine and then LEAPT out of his chair.

we started walking towards the conference room and he immediately began grumbling about the traffic and i said yeah, i hate that too, or something.

i looked away and then looked back to my side, expecting him to be walking beside me or just slightly behind, like you do when walking beside someone down a hallway. when i looked back to my side, he wasn't there and i couldn't find him anywhere. i realized he was walking DIRECTLY BEHIND ME within a foot of my back(?!) i had to stop myself from suddenly spinning around.

when we got into the conference room, he began to inappropriately grin and wag his eyebrows at me as i gave him the job description. he began mumbling and then blurting out words that, again, had nothing to do with the conversation. "...(yipsilanti!)... ... ...DISMOUNT!"

and when i showed him the software that he would be working with, he looked at it as if he were a new-born babe, staring at the pretty lights on the christmas tree for the very first time ever. (in other words, it was as if he had never even seen a computer before.)

how could this happen? it was all so berger-like, it was just uncanny. honest, friends, i'm not making any of this up.

Posted by Dr Rich on 09-23-2003 at15:35:

wow, that is too funny...

so, which of the two did you hire? Tongue

Posted by tchandler on 09-23-2003 at15:37:

hey, Dr.

if it were up to me, i'd hire both of 'em. the days would go by really fast with those guys around.

Posted by baxter on 09-23-2003 at15:37:

Is that uncommon in your field, Tim?

Because in social services we have social workers and supervisors who don't know the slightest thing about interpersonal relating or child rearing. i expect it anymore. i'm sorry it is seeping into other fields.

Posted by tchandler on 09-23-2003 at15:39:

baxter--seriously? you have actual workers who act like that? (you are joking, then...

Posted by Dr Rich on 09-23-2003 at15:40:

quote:

Originally posted by baxter
Is that uncommon in your field, Tim?

Because in social services we have social workers and supervisors who don't know the slightest thing about interpersonal relating or child rearing. i expect it anymore. i'm sorry it is seeping into other fields.

that's right you are in social services too! You know all too well too! Tongue

Posted by Dr Rich on 09-23-2003 at15:41:

Shocked

RE: hey, Dr.

quote:

Originally posted by tchandler
if it were up to me, i'd hire both of 'em. the days would go by really fast with those guys around.

oh yeah, I would think they would be a lot more normal than a lot of guitar players! Tongue

Posted by Dr Rich on 09-23-2003 at15:42:

Attention

quote:

Originally posted by tchandler
baxter--seriously? you have actual workers who act like that? (you are joking, then...

I bet his is joking a little, but it would not be too far off...

Posted by baxter on 09-23-2003 at15:51:

quote:

Originally posted by tchandler
baxter--seriously? you have actual workers who act like that? (you are joking, then...

Tim, you know i am a serious man...

But i was not in jest. Another example came up this morning. Our staff has been sharing concerns about a particular family for months. They are wonderful people but have definite limitations. We have advocated that very specail care be taken in matching children with this family. The advice was not heeded, and now there are numerous problems (that should have been easily forseen). This may not seem parallel to your descriptions, but the lack of awareness is almost identical.

Posted by Squidzit on 09-23-2003 at16:14:

Tim, maybe it was some DAmber's you were interviewing! Confused

Posted by Berger Roy Al on 09-23-2003 at16:18:

Ha Ha

Chandler, you big dope, that was ME with the "obvious dyed JET BLACK facial hair (!)" Hmmmm, let's see..."obvious dyed jet black facial hair"....could that be a DIGUISE?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAGXK

Posted by tchandler on 09-23-2003 at16:26:

but berger, your hair is already dark brown. how would dying it black be a disguise?

Posted by Berger Roy Al on 09-23-2003 at16:27:

... ... ... ...What?

Posted by BigDork on 09-23-2003 at17:57:

Like that time when we were fishing and the car wouldn't start so we had to eat all the pie.

Posted by baxter on 09-23-2003 at19:06:

RE: Ha Ha

:

quote:

Originally posted by Berger Roy Al
Chandler, you big dope, that was ME with the "obvious dyed JET BLACK facial hair (!)" Hmmmm, let's see..."obvious dyed jet black facial hair"....could that be a DIGUISE?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAGXK

Posted by EdHead on 09-23-2003 at20:06:

quote:

Originally posted by BigDork
Like that time when we were fishing and the car wouldn't start so we had to eat all the pie.

Oh yeah...i remember that...Bob.

What?....

Oh, the uniform....I'll go change.

Posted by Space Ghost on 09-24-2003 at21:24:

RE: this is a true story, i'm not joking but i am scared!

quote:

Originally posted by tchandler
...and when i showed him the software that he would be working with, he looked at it as if he were a new-born babe, staring at the pretty lights on the christmas tree for the very first time ever.

Didya' ever see that cartoon short on TV Funhouse called 'The Baby, The Immigrant, & The Guy On Mushrooms'??? What you describe above is pretty much it. Funny as all get-out!

Your story also brought to mind something I heard a comedian relate one time. He was talking about job interviewing skills and how you basically have to BS your way through the whole process, because if you're honest you won't get the job. As in, let's say the interviewer asks you 'Where do you want to be in five years?' You probably shouldn't answer with 'Well, hopefully I'll be at home collecting long-term disability.' Big Grin

SG

Posted by Shemp on 09-26-2003 at12:56:

Mr.T

Cun i feel out an applacashun.

i like work... my now job smells and i wants to torture my boss....

Posted by Joey T. on 09-26-2003 at14:30:

Thumb Up!

quote:

Originally posted by Shemp
Mr.T

Cun i feel out an applacashun.

i like work... my now job smells and i wants to torture my boss....

sure...

)

Posted by doppelganger on 09-27-2003 at23:52:

RE: this is a true story, i'm not joking but i am scared!

He must have been messing with you. Maybe he wanted to keep the unemployment checks coming so he blew the interview. Myself, when I go to to a new dentist, I have the desire to the check every box under "illness" just to wig them out a little. Perhaps he just wanted to freak you out a bit.