different and I knew it. I was attempting to do something I hadnt done beforeintentionally turn my life on its ear. The traveling that came with this job, if I got it, was a challenge Id finally have to face, a mountain Id have to climb. There was something inside me desperately wanting to push myself out of the comfortable nest Id created and to tackle the one thing that kept my life from being nearly perfect.
Maybe it was the specter of never traveling by myself for fear of what I might get into. Or perhaps it was the fact that I was going to be Terry and Tommys spinster aunt, the funny one who is set in her ways and always wears her clothing and hair as if she were trapped in another decade. Odd Auntie Suze. Sweet, pleasant, fearful.
I could imagine Mickey whispering to the boys and their wives someday, She should have married and had children but you know about her PROBLEM. The way Mickey would say problem it would no doubt sound as if it were written in capital letters. She never thought any man would want to marry a woman who was so unpredictable in her sleep. A shame, really. Did I ever tell you about the time she actually drove her car to an all-night restaurant in St. Paul and asked for Belgian waffles to go?
Although I didnt admit it to Mickey or anyone else, its not far offme giving up, that is, and permanently having to reconcile myself to the fact that my sleep activities were keeping me from ever living a normal life.
So here I am, riding the elevator to the thirty-fifth floor to interview for a job that will throw everything I fear my way. Its like jumping off the high dive and then checking to see if theres water in the pool, but what else can I do?
Suze! Welcome! Clifford Ford, owner and president of Restwell Insurers Mutual, greeted me. Restwell Insurers . Ironic, isnt it, that a company that guarantees its customers that they will sleep better at night with all their insurance needs met would have me as an employee?
Hello, Mr. Ford, nice to see you again.
I was immediately disappointed when he said, I am double-booked today so Im unable to sit in on your interview. Everyone is looking forward to seeing you. Now if youll come this way
I had an inkling of what it must have been like for the sad souls who made their last trip over the Rio di Palazzo, on the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. The bridge connects the Doges Palace with the prisons and its said that the view from the bridge was the last thing convicts saw on their way to prison.
Id never been so confused. This whole interview and potential job are a classic approach-avoidance conflict in a nutshell. And Im the nut. If I get it Ill be terrified; if I dont get it Ill be devastated. Fear or rejection. Trepidation or rebuffwhich to choose? Neither. But thats not an option. One or the other is going to be the new theme of my life.
Restwell Insurers Mutual does everything tastefully, even interviews. The relaxed atmosphere of the interview room, its comfy chairs and good pastries lulled me into complacency. I felt so at home, in fact, that I was not as cautious as I might have been. They caught me a time or two doing my best deer-in-the-headlights imitation.
Tell me, Ms. Charles, are you open to overseas travel? Weve acquired a company in London and plan to send some of our people to that office to train staff there.
I was struck with fish mouthwide and gaping.
Theres been an upsurge in claims in the southeastern part of the country. Would you consider traveling for as long or two or three weeks at a time? That question had me gasping for air like a guppy that had jumped out of the bowl and onto the carpet.
Two or three weeks? Ha! They had no idea how much trouble I could get into in just an hour or two.
Funny how a dream come true can also be a nightmare in the making.
Apparently my head was at least together enough to get me the job.
Your interview must have been amazing, Darla gushed when I met her in the lobby on the first floor of the
Maybe it was the specter of never traveling by myself for fear of what I might get into. Or perhaps it was the fact that I was going to be Terry and Tommys spinster aunt, the funny one who is set in her ways and always wears her clothing and hair as if she were trapped in another decade. Odd Auntie Suze. Sweet, pleasant, fearful.
I could imagine Mickey whispering to the boys and their wives someday, She should have married and had children but you know about her PROBLEM. The way Mickey would say problem it would no doubt sound as if it were written in capital letters. She never thought any man would want to marry a woman who was so unpredictable in her sleep. A shame, really. Did I ever tell you about the time she actually drove her car to an all-night restaurant in St. Paul and asked for Belgian waffles to go?
Although I didnt admit it to Mickey or anyone else, its not far offme giving up, that is, and permanently having to reconcile myself to the fact that my sleep activities were keeping me from ever living a normal life.
So here I am, riding the elevator to the thirty-fifth floor to interview for a job that will throw everything I fear my way. Its like jumping off the high dive and then checking to see if theres water in the pool, but what else can I do?
Suze! Welcome! Clifford Ford, owner and president of Restwell Insurers Mutual, greeted me. Restwell Insurers . Ironic, isnt it, that a company that guarantees its customers that they will sleep better at night with all their insurance needs met would have me as an employee?
Hello, Mr. Ford, nice to see you again.
I was immediately disappointed when he said, I am double-booked today so Im unable to sit in on your interview. Everyone is looking forward to seeing you. Now if youll come this way
I had an inkling of what it must have been like for the sad souls who made their last trip over the Rio di Palazzo, on the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. The bridge connects the Doges Palace with the prisons and its said that the view from the bridge was the last thing convicts saw on their way to prison.
Id never been so confused. This whole interview and potential job are a classic approach-avoidance conflict in a nutshell. And Im the nut. If I get it Ill be terrified; if I dont get it Ill be devastated. Fear or rejection. Trepidation or rebuffwhich to choose? Neither. But thats not an option. One or the other is going to be the new theme of my life.
Restwell Insurers Mutual does everything tastefully, even interviews. The relaxed atmosphere of the interview room, its comfy chairs and good pastries lulled me into complacency. I felt so at home, in fact, that I was not as cautious as I might have been. They caught me a time or two doing my best deer-in-the-headlights imitation.
Tell me, Ms. Charles, are you open to overseas travel? Weve acquired a company in London and plan to send some of our people to that office to train staff there.
I was struck with fish mouthwide and gaping.
Theres been an upsurge in claims in the southeastern part of the country. Would you consider traveling for as long or two or three weeks at a time? That question had me gasping for air like a guppy that had jumped out of the bowl and onto the carpet.
Two or three weeks? Ha! They had no idea how much trouble I could get into in just an hour or two.
Funny how a dream come true can also be a nightmare in the making.
Apparently my head was at least together enough to get me the job.
Your interview must have been amazing, Darla gushed when I met her in the lobby on the first floor of the
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