Tag: China

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My Sister

My sister’s life lies somewhere between inspiration and calamity. She is the bravest person I know. But she also has life skills that lead her to exclaim that her life is “mostly a warning for others”.

My sister makes principled decisions anchored in what will be most meaningful for her and for others. She then lives the hard consequences with courage. She gave up a surefire job after college to work as an unpaid intern at a museum. There she made critical contributions to a new display on race relations. To make ends meet she lived in my aunt’s basement and waited tables. Out of conviction, she then left the comfort of her familiar life to move to a new city where she endured a soul-withering job, but found her soulmate. She recently left a top-tier college for a new post at a small Midwestern school. She believes in their cause and in her ability to make a difference there. She is an inspiration….

….and a warning. Take her recent trip to China. On her very first day in Beijing she became separated from her tour group. Soon hopelessly lost within the labyrinth of the “Forbidden City”, she was obliged to show someone a card that the tour company had given her. Written on the card in Cantonese was something to the effect of: I have lost my tour group. Please call my tour company at…. A panicked guide soon appeared for her. Life Skills – 0.

Next was a boat trip up the Yangtze River. Onboard she shared a cabin with her travelling companion. It had a small balcony off the side of the boat. One evening my sister prepared to go up on deck for dinner. She shut off the cabin lights. She closed and locked the balcony door and the cabin door. Seated alone at her dining table, my sister became increasingly annoyed that her roommate was taking so long to join her. Finally she began to eat on her own. Sometime later her roommate appeared, none too pleased. For quite some time she had been locked out on the balcony. She had since been pounding on the balcony door and yelling for help. She was finally rescued by someone in the adjoining room. Life Skills – 0: Calamity – 1.

Near the end of the trip it came time to buy gifts for the family back home. My sister discovered that to do so in a local Chinese shop, one had to barter. She does not like to barter. So instead, she returned to Philadelphia and went straight to the shops in Chinatown. There she bought all sorts of Chinese knick knacks for our family. No bartering, and we were none the wiser. Besides, she reckoned all the stuff came from the same place anyways. Life Skills – 1.

[If you know others who might enjoy a lighthearted story to begin their week, kindly forward them WordsfortheWeary. The more the merrier.]

Image found at funnysigns.net

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The Interviews – 16/10/2017

I was once offered employment by a naked man in a public shower. This is pretty typical of my career, which mostly consists of jobs for which I am unqualified and interviews that do not follow a script. Let me explain before you come to the wrong conclusion.

I knew a professor at college who was really into running. I am really into not running. Yet for some reason we found ourselves showering next to each other at the Athletic Center one morning. He asked if I wanted to be his Teaching Assistant while he lathered with shampoo. I said yes while I soaped my armpits. We maintained strict eye contact with one another throughout this exchange, because if there is one thing for which I am categorically unqualified, it is to be naked in a public shower.

In another instance, I was interviewed by someone who had just arrived that morning on an overnight flight from China. He kept falling asleep during our interview. When he would momentarily roused himself, I would continue answering his original question until he dozed off again. We only got through three questions in 45 minutes, which I credit with getting me a job for which I was woefully unqualified.

During another interview, I was asked how I felt about working for Jews. Seriously. I was so caught off guard by the question that it’s one of the few times in my life I have truly been at a loss for words. I must have stammered something affirming because the interviewer offered me the job. I learned later that he was a rabbi – who knew?

I was once asked by a friend to interview for a job I didn’t want but for which, for a change, I was actually qualified. During the proceedings she asked me to identify “the most creative tools” I use when communicating with others. With nothing to lose (except our friendship, perhaps), I decided to really go for it with my response. I slowly stood up, fixed the panel with a steely gaze, took off my suit jacket, and said without a touch of irony: “Interpretive. Dance.” Then I dialed up the uncomfortable with a few choice moves. Despite these heroic efforts I was offered the job.

Perhaps the most memorable interview was for my first “real” job. I was so unqualified for this one that I had to borrow my roommate’s suit, since I did not own one at the time. I can still recall the moment I entered that intimidating office foyer, ringed by racks of promotional material. I tried to exude managerial competence as I strode towards the interview panel assembled across the room. Instead, the trouser cuff from my roommate’s borrowed suit caught the corner of a pamphlet rack, spinning me off balance. I careened headfirst into the adjacent rack, pulling it and all the resources down upon me with a crash. I lay there, winded, as pamphlets scattered into the air like a thousand paper snowflakes. Agonizing Silence. Agonizing Shame. Eventually, mercifully, one of the interviewers exclaimed, “What an entrance! I mean, HE NAILED that landing!” Somehow, I got the job.

And so, after procrastinating by writing this story, I go now to interview for yet another job for which I am unqualified. I’ll let you know how it goes. If all else fails, I may simply revert to showering in public.

 

 

Photo credit goes to www.tes.com