What a pleasant set of interviews I had this morning, with some very good people who do very important work.

And boy, do I not want that job.

I left those gentle souls today feeling too big and loud for the rooms we were in, which is pretty amazing considering I’m barely 5’3” and mostly an introvert, besides. Wow.

At one point I was introduced to someone I’d be working with, and the supervisor all but shushed me when I said “Hello, there!”

Using my OUTSIDE voice, apparently.

Once I caught on to the fact that the job was all about being smaller, I started playing the game where you give the right answers that make the person nod approvingly and write things down. “I like being concise,” I said, then giving an example of how concise I could be.

Yes, yes, the woman nodded, writing “concise” on her notes.

She was a shy person, and had carefully typed her list of interview questions ahead of time, with 2 inches of white space between each to write things in.   “Nugget,” she wrote, nodding. “Summary.”

Under “Are you an Extrovert or an  Introvert?”  she noted  “Introvert, with surprises.”  (I quite liked that one!)

This is a research job as opposed to a clerical job, and much better paid as well. But while I was hoping it might be a way to get in the job door for future things, it seems I’d be sitting in a basement cubicle embedded in a labyrinth of offices carved out of what used to be the “bargain basement” of a vast (and long-defunct) department store. Where I’d hardly ever see anyone else at all, let alone any natural light.

Where I’d spend 8 hours a day looking stuff up on computers and whispering a lot.

I called my husband from the parking lot afterwards, and told him that I hoped he wouldn’t tell me I wasn’t trying hard enough if I actually was offered this job and then  said “no” to it.

I also told him I was going to go home now and look up some information on my computer about getting another degree.