Happy Spring

The whole job-finding thing isn't going so well for me. I know it probably isn't going too well for a lot of people since words like "recession" and "layoffs" and whatnot are being thrown around willy-nilly, but Adrien getting her job back at the museum and more "Now Hiring" signs popping up all over have given me hope.
Yesterday I had a job interview for a Testing Assistant position at BYU's Independent Study office. I didn't realize about 50 other people were all there volleying for the same spots. In any case, it didn't turn out very well for me. First of all, let me tell you that I haven't been walking around on campus since I was at EFY before my sophomore year of High School. Back then Deseret Towers were still standing. So my perception was way off in where things were supposed to be with those tall guiding towers. The directions the person gave me on the phone when she called to invite me to the interview were rushed and jumbled and I didn't understand them at all. So I checked a map of campus online, which turned out to be decieving, showing the road it was on to be a major one, when it was actually more like a driveway. So I eventually parked a couple streets further down and decided to walk, since the map showed it wasn't far. I saw a building just in front of me that had "BYU Catering Services" slathered all over it. This building was right where the Independent Study building should have been. So I walked past it and continued down the street, estimating that this road was about where 1430 North should be, but not being entirely sure. Eventually I came to the Bean Museum (not a museum of beans, for those unaware, but of several dozens of taxidermied animals staring at you with huge glass eyes) and wondered if I was anywhere near my desired building. I saw a streetsign ahead of me and rushed to look at it...1430 North. Okay, so I was on the right street, but where was the building? It should've been where the catering building was... When I came to the Marriott Center I decided I'd better call someone for help. The phone number I had written down for the Independent Study office was different from the one in my phone, so I was wary about calling it just yet. I called Adrien, I called Autumn, I even called my mom, who knows the campus better than me even though she hasn't been here in a while either. No one was answering. Finally Autumn picked up. "Hi are you terribly busy right now?" "Kind of, I have class in a second." "Okay, really quick, do you know where the Morris Center is? Independent Study?" "Um I think so, where are you?" "By the Marriott Center" "Yeah I think it's just north of there, past the big parking lot, but I'm really not sure" "Okay thanks, bye." So I walked past the Marriott Center to find just north of it was... a housing community. Great. Maybe she meant way north, and a lot to the east, where there is a building that has some blue on it...the lady on the phone yesterday said something about big blue letters... Unfortunately a lot of things are blue on campus, it being a school color and all. It is now ten minutes past my interview time, so I take a chance on the number I have written down and someone from Independent Study answers! "BYUindependentstudyofficemayIhaveyournameplease" "Uh, it's Shannon, but I actually just have a quick question." Suddenly the voice becomes more human. "Yes, what can I help you with?" "Um, I have an interview I'm late for but I have no idea where you're located. I'm lost." She laughs. I guess it is a little funny. "Where are you?" "By the Marriott Center" "Okay, let me pull up a map, I'm going to put you on hold." She needs to put me on hold for that? One of Beethoven's symphonies blasts through my tiny speaker. "Okay, do you know where the Horace Building is?" "Uh...no." "Okay, well all I can really tell you is to go to the Horace Building and walk through it and the Morris Center is just on the other side." I climb a massive staircase and find myself in a parking lot behind the Bean Museum. "Okay, where is it in relation to the Life Science Museum?" "Do you mean the Bean Museum?" Sheesh lady. Not the time for technicalities. "Yeah. I'm in a parking lot behind it." "Yeah, it's just east of there." I look east and see...a fenced off area with construction going on behind it. "Is there construction going on next to the building?" "Yeah. But you really should just go to the Horace Building and walk through it." "Okay, thank you. Bye." I hang up and see that Adrien tried to call me while I was on the phone with Unhelpful. I try calling her back but she doesn't answer. I discover that my blistered feet have taken me back to the catering building. Finally she picks up. "Hey what's up?" "Um yeah I have a job interview twenty minutes ago and I have no clue where it is?" "Okay stop walking. Where are you?" I describe my surroundings. "Yeah, you're actually right in front of it." Seriously. "Argh." "Yeah it's on the other side." The fourth side, the only side I didn't pass by. "Okay thanks." "Yeah, good luck." I walk up to the building and see Morris Center and then a big blue banner with BYU INDEPENDENT STUDY emblazened in white letters. Man. I'm parked like 100 feet away. I go in and tell the large sweaty young man at the desk I have an interview at 3:45 and I got lost. "I see." He goes to tell the people I'm here. I'm told the girl in the 2-piece suit will be going before me but they're running a bit behind so it'll be a while. Right. My heels are throbbing, my heart is still pounding from the staircase and the tension, and I'm partched. Luckily I brought my water bottle. 2-Piece Suit looks at me timidly. "Are you here for a job interview too?" I say "yeah" a little scratchily and stare out the window at Y Mountain. A lady comes in complaining about something or other and Large/Sweaty talks to his coworkers about how Macey's water is superior to all else. About 20 minutes later, I'm finally called back.
Sitting in two swivel chairs are two smiling girls. This might not be so bad. They apologize for being late, I don't remind them I was supposed to be here a long time ago. They ask me a couple of routine questions, but my mind is still a muddle from the past hour. They throw a question out I can't think of a single answer to: "What are your weaknesses in the workplace?" "Uh...." I sit there stupidly for a while until I sheepishly say "I have them, I just can't think of them...right now..." The girl with the clipboard says she understands. She moves on. I answer the next question and as I'm saying it, I think of a good answer for the previous one. "And I thought of my weakness, it's..." but before I can finish the sentence it's left my mind, probably to get a nice chilled glass of water, and I'm left hanging mid-sentence, with Clipboard looking at me in (fake) anticipation. "It's..." Quick! Think of something! I consider telling them nevermind, but I don't. I make something up that is a little incoherent. Clipboard interprets it the best she can, which happens to be in contradiction to the answer I'd given to the question before. "No, that's not what I mean, I mean that sometimes..." I give another answer that really doesn't have much to do with what I just said, but doesn't make sense either. "I don't know" I mumble. She looks at me perhaps a little sadly. "Okay, let's move on." She writes something down. Darn it. I don't really need a Mistake Man like JD on Scrubs has, but I think it would be appropriate in this situation. I make up my mind to get the school paper on my way out and check the classifieds. I definitely didn't get this job.