The North Carolina Unemployment Insurance Office distributes a list of 18 tips that will “convince the employer that it is good business to hire you”. Most are standard advice that you would expect to find: learn as much as you can about the company, be prompt, dress appropriately. Some seemed a bit elementary. In this category were: be polite and courteous, answer employer’s questions honestly, don’t discuss your domestic and financial troubles. But, one of them seemed outright strange to me. Tip #12 advises you to “avoid any arguments with your prospective employer”.
At first, I snorted a laugh and thought this should be preceded by a reminder to “be sure to take all your medication”. Who in their right mind would do this? What could happen in an interview to start an argument? Then DING! I remembered basketball tournament season here in the south, March Madness, a time when college rivalry is tantamount.
When I learn that family, friends, or passing acquaintances are trying to lose weight, I know I am about to be educated, again. I involuntarily receive all kinds of information about foods I eat and don’t eat. Information such as calorie counts, amount of fat, and grams of carbohydrates. Fiber and gluten are also brought to my attention. Everything—on my plate, in my refrigerator, at the grocery store—suddenly develops a dietary sub-text. This is very helpful because, being I am rarely on a diet, I forget that the light cream I put in my coffee has four times the fat of 2% reduced-fat milk, and that packaged gravy mixes have practically no calories (because they are made from unpronounceable chemicals). Sometimes, I am treated to a new recipe for a low-cal, low-fat but tasty entree or dessert, often using low-cal, low-fat, tasty ingredients I don’t have in my pantry.
accidental goddess 