Tales from Hotel Durant – Four (and Twenty) Rooms

Hey All,

I'm Maude. First time blogger, long-time snarky bitch. Transition should be seamless. . .

Commentators have been asking for a “lighter-side” of the 2009 OCIP string. There’s a suggestion that perhaps N&B can provide a place where we can all regale each other (anonymously, of course) with tales of awkward exchanges in the hallways and across the interview table. Never one to disappoint, I’ve offered to contribute the first tale. Warning: it requires back-story.

I often compare the entire atmosphere over at 2600 Durant during this time of year as not unlike a brothel. Dozens of slightly-annoyed, slightly-nervous, but mostly-dazed 20-somethings line up in a hallway, and knock at a pre-designated bedroom door to present any and every orifice before the mercy of whoever is on the other side. Sure, sometimes it’s gentle, pleasant, even fun. Other times, it’s purely perfunctory. And of course, occasionally it can be downright painful – though it never lasts much longer than 20 minutes.

Normally, this analogy works fine for me. Hell, it even kinda put me into a light and jovial mood before entering a room. “Hello ladies & gentlemen, what’s your fancy? I can do it all!” Sometime in the midst of phase one, I was ending what had been a relatively pleasant and only occasionally awkward session/interview with two attractive young men from Firm X. As I got up to leave, they asked whether I had many others to see that day. I answered “Yes. I like to call it ‘Rinse & Repeat.’”

. . .

Awkward silence, nervous chuckles, followed by closing door and rushing realization of what “rinse & repeat” could also mean in the hotel/brothel setting. Suffice it to say, that interview ended with a callback.

So feel free to post your awkward, hilarious, or otherwise memerable experiences. No need to be crude, just because I went there . . .