If The Culture Fits — Wear It
On Interviewing With The Right People
Savagery
It’s no lie, technology has helped the world become smaller in the last couple of years. More mayhem and more goodness are shining through the plethora of channels available to information-inclined individuals, let alone the ways that behemoths of industry and governments are spamming and propagandizing everyone. It seems to creep into our lives more and more each waking moment. The pure amount of nonsense one must put up with these days for simple tasks, like phone calls, is nauseating. “Which line shall I use?” or “Which app is our call on?” are now daily chores we must go through to complete one single conversation that can take less than five minutes of speaking. There is a folder on your smart phone labeled Talk, and in it are six apps for — you guessed it — talking.
Now that you remembered the correct app to use, you log in with your safe and unique username and password combination only to get a message that your password has expired and needs to be reset. Safety first. Now that’s done, and you realize that your phone call is with someone who is not a contact, at least not in this talking app, and so you search for them. Luckily, you know how to spell their name and find it within a few seconds. Alas, you need to connect to have a phone call…so you extend an invitation to be “friends” in this one talking app. Friends forever, or until the app developer goes out of business and leaves you two hanging. Well, luckily for everyone you are now ready to talk, so you click the button that says Call. Damn, you realize your 4g LTE just blipped and dropped the data service the app relies on to function, and so you have to wait and try again. It’s ringing now, and although the connection is spotty, you know it’s going to go through and now you need to re-clear your throat but feel it’s too late in case your new found friend picks up and hears it, only to be so dissatisfied with your Talk app etiquette that they hang up and defriend you. Alas, there is no answer.
Maybe you were too late, and after all that trouble to catch them in the precious few seconds of attention they were willing to give you, you missed your chance to truly connect. You catch yourself thumbing through your phone screens, and notice how organized everything is — now that you have categorized all your apps into folders aptly named for their supposed function. “Brilliant”, you think to yourself, as you mindlessly open the folder named Communication and click on one of the email apps you have. Apparently, your notifications didn’t work properly because you turned them off to get some sleep the other day, and so you missed the email message, sent two hours before your supposed time to connect, stating that it would be better to reschedule the phone conversation you were supposed to have. The more you see of what they call modern civilization, the more you think of what you call savagery. And everyone is in on it.
Where We Left Off
Your daily interactions used to be personal, authentic, and genuine. As a human communicator, you have a need to participate in real conversations with real people. That’s hard to do when you are dealing with so many distractions and layers and channels all coming from so many directions and perspectives. So what gives these days? People know how to throw words around to get you to do something, but it is in their actions, behaviors and desires that tell you who they really are.
You have been working remotely with people all around the world for many years, likely more than they have. Don’t worry, this isn’t a throwing match on who started, them or you, because they don’t care if you beat them. Gold star in advance. You do, however, care very much about your time here on earth, and that means right now. It also includes the hours that you prepared for a phone conversation that never happened, only to find out it has been “moved”. How do they a move a phone call anyway, without disrupting the clockworks? Besides, don’t they have calendar apps and ancillary phone calls to cancel and reschedule for them? These days, there are several people involved with every professional conversation, from the speaker to the listener to the appointment setter to the appointment keeper to the chipmunk answering all requests for connections at the center of the earth.
Your grandfather would tell them that they have let things go right down the toilet, just like General Patton did. Whatever you do, don’t confess a thing.
In any case, here’s the point…if you want to earn a decent living on this planet while still doing something decent with your time with room left over for you and your love of _____________, then let’s be real — right now. Authentic, genuine, empathetic, understanding, forgiving, loving, and above all, interested. Because if they act like they don’t give a damn, then either should you.
Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five billion strangers.
~ Robert A. Heinlein
First Impressions Never Die
It’s Friday, several days later, and you are off to a new conversation, much to do about nothing, to your chagrin. Wasn’t there a reason for this Talk app call? You don’t want to ask, because you know what it was…it’s a job interview. Not just any job, really, more like a dream that has unfolded in front of your eyes. The universe has handed you a shot at the uncovering The Secret, and you have attracted that which you have created over and over in your mind’s eye. Even the third eye is on board (but don’t tell you parents, they still believe in eternal life with streets of gold and endless high fives with Jesus).
You start to wonder how you ended up in this mess. And by mess, we mean talking to us and being confused about how things are not going better. You created us, and for some reason you were not happy with something and so here we sit, on the edge of perfection and unable to jump. Like the monks always say, drink your coffee in the afternoon (but without milk) and be careful what you wish for.
We tried, but we were too busy for you at the time of our original call
If you have something to teach us about how to be a better group of people, then please tell us. We really do like feedback — our website says it’s so. But do not hold onto a grudge or harbor bitterness into the future, and let this first impression ruin your dream. After all, it is your dream, and not ours. We are busy with our own dreams.
When can you start?
