Orange and Black

Today I went for a job interview in Preston. I knew from two phone calls last week with Louise that there was something odd about it before I even left the house today but I was further convinced when I walked up to the building and the company sign was a print out sellotaped to the window.

I went in and asked for the person that I was supposed to be meeting only to be told that they had the day off. They didn't know who I was supposed to see and neither did I. A rough looking old bird handed me a clip board and said "'ere you are love, fill this out." I sat down in the waiting room on a cheap sofa (not that I'm a snob when it comes to furniture...) and filled out the form. There were three other people in the room with me, the guy next to me (black suit / white socks) had his head in his hands and rocked backwards and forwards.
The waiting room had woodchip wallpaper painted bright orange and all the woodwork was painted black. Radio one blared from the desk in the corner and I was treated to a live rendition of blinded by the lights (without the swearing) which cheered me up no end.

The other three people were invited to go upstairs and I was - er - ignored completely. Ten minutes later I was still alone in the waiting room. Twenty minutes later - still there. Eventually someone came into the room and when I asked how much longer it would be - five minutes maximum. Ten minutes later I was finally invited to go upstairs. I clambered over the office chairs and sat down in front of what appeared to be a teenager.

She asked me a handful of pointless questions before she finally asked - "So what can you bring to this company?" I began replying by talking about maturity and experience and then came to a sudden standstill. It was at this point that I said that I couldn't actually answer her question because I still had no idea what their company did - and to be honest I still don't know! I started getting a bit pissy to be honest but despite this ten minutes or so later she decided that I should come back for the second of four interviews. I don't think I'll go...