we'll call you...

every once in a while something happens where i seem to sink into a black whole of communication. no matter who i call or email, i don't hear back from anyone. not a soul. which makes me terribly paranoid that i may have inadvertently offended any number of people. but then the phase usually passes and life goes on.

well, the phase is upon me.

i'm currently waiting for a phone call from a director i was going to work with, the agent for my voiceover work (i'm not legally allowed to talk about this), and a company i did some editing for. - actually, i did hear from them. they haven't called because the actual program was completely cut and everyone lost their job. so, i suppose that wasn't all about me. - but no matter what, i always wonder if i unknowingly say or do something that results in a complete loss of work or respect.

back in december i applied to be a manager for a makeup counter in the mall. there were three initial phone interviews and because of my accounting and business background, they thought i seemed like a good candidate. but that was before the fourth and final phone interview - the personality test.

a woman called (i hadn't spoken to her before) and she sounded generally pissed. the first couple questions focused on how i came up with my customer service standards and i answered that it was from personal experience, and i went on to explain a situation in a certain mall at a certain time when she suddenly yelled, 'look! we have 75 questions. this is supposed to take an hour. that's it! so stop going on and on.' after that i gave as close to monosyllabic answers as i could, but then she would ask me to expand on the answers i thought were pretty final. such as...

'do you like yourself?'

'yes.'

'how do you know?'

'how do i know?'

'yes.'

'if i like myself?'

'yes.'

'in what way?'

'answer the question however you see fit.'

'how do i know if i like myself.'

'yes.'

'um...well, i know because i bathe everyday?'

'is that your answer?'

'sure.'

and then, in a related question:

'do other people like you.'

'yes.'

'how do you know?'

'because i do. i don't know. they tell me? or maybe because they've asked to associate with me on more than one occasion? i don't know.'

i didn't get the job. or another phone call. or anything.