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An Interviewing Mishap Turns into a Triumph

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

A couple of years ago, I was working on a contract for a company in California. They decided to send a consultant to my city to help me get up to speed on their product. I was to meet the consultant at the airport hotel for two days of interviews.

I put off preparing for the interview until the night before. That night, we had unexpected company and a minor family crisis. As you can guess, I not only didn't get prepared, but it got much worse.

The morning of the interview, I woke early, knowing I had extra work to do before I left for the airport. Murphy's Law struck again - big time.

Not only couldn't I get Microsoft Word to stay open long enough to print my list of questions, but as I was walking out the door I realized I hadn't used my tape recorder in a few months and it might need fresh batteries. We keep an assortment of batteries in a small wicker basket on a bookcase, so I grabbed a couple and rushed out the door, my briefcase thumping behind me.

I had never been to the airport hotel so I had a little trouble figuring out where to park. Once I finally found a place, I thought that my troubles were over. Little did I know that the biggest ones were yet to surface.

The consultant met me in the lobby and we went to a quiet room to go over the product. His vast knowledge of the product reassured me that I would get everything I needed to create a great user guide. As he prepared his computer for the presentation I took that opportunity to put the fresh batteries in my tape recorder.

I removed the old batteries after verifying that my suspicions were right about them being dead. I pushed my hand into the front pocket of my briefcase where I had stashed the other batteries I had taken from the basket and pulled out two AAA batteries. I tested them with the small white dots on the side and sure enough they were well charged. Bells rang alarmingly in my head as I fumbled with the back of the recorder. Something wasn't right.

The batteries were too small.

My tape recorder took AA batteries not AAA batteries.

I fished around in the pocket of the briefcase looking for more batteries. None. Near panic, I opened every zipped pocket and quickly searched for more batteries. I couldn't find a single AA battery.