Worst Interview Ever

Do you ever have random memories just pop into your head? I wonder sometimes if other people think like I do. Sometimes I remember things for a reason, but then there are those times when I'm doing something very routine, not really thinking about anything in particular and I get my own little unprompted blast from the past. That happened to me this morning while putting on my mascara. I thought I'd share it with you. So here you go:

Shortly after Jacob was born, I found myself looking for a new job. I had several interviews during that summer, but this one in particular will always stand out. It was at the local newspaper for an editing position. It was a group interview set-up, so there were probably 3 or 4 staff from the Altoona Mirror in the room. I had purchased a suit and was attempting my best self-presentation when the room was suddenly filled with a putrid stench, the kind that comes from someone who is about to have an attack from a nasty bowel virus. "Ew," I thought. "Someone in this room has a serious gas problem."

Everyone simply continued talking, ignoring the smell, so I followed their lead, but with great difficulty. I didn't want to make someone feel uncomfortable, so I continued to politely answer questions. But then it dawned on me that they may think that it was ME who was the culprit! That when I left my interview, they would all stand around talking about that horrid smell and, with no one wanting to admit to such an embarrassment, they would all assume it was the interviewee who caused it! Oh no! Just the thought that these people who I didn't know, and who I was trying to impress, would think that I would come to an interview and release such foulness made me horribly embarrassed.

The more I thought about it, the more embarrassed I became. I could feel my face getting redder an redder. Even my ears felt like they were on fire. They had to have noticed me blushing, which made it worse, because then I thought that the fact that I was blushing would probably confirm their suspicion that it was me behind the stink! Finally, someone took pity on me and said, "Oh, the nasty part about working at the news paper factory is the smell you get from the printing."

Whew! Of course it was the paper! I live next to a town with a paper mill and it was indeed the exact same smell. I was so relieved...and also so dismayed that I was stupid enough not to figure it out on my own. Amazingly, they offered me the job, but I turned it down. I couldn't work under those conditions!

What's your worst interview experience? Ever have someone put up a stink for you?