The Secret Life of Carolyn Glauser, Episode 2

I've wanted to work for Boeing for years, I think even since before Chrysler, or at least right around the same time.  I'm on their regular job email list, and I've applied to several over the years.  A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, I finally got an email asking if I'd be able to interview for a job with them.  I just happened to have a day off later that week, so I asked if we do could it that morning (it was just a phone interview).  It worked for the two managers who would be interviewing me, so we made it happen.  The phone call went really well, and it turned out the job sounded really interesting to me. From what I could tell, it was a lot like my favorite assignment at Chrysler, only with way bigger engines.  But it was in Seattle, which I know nothing about, and I had done some research and had a feeling the job wouldn't pay enough to justify a move to Seattle, so I was only mildly excited.

A couple weeks later, the hiring manager emailed me again and asked if I'd be willing to fly to Seattle for another interview and to meet the team.  I wasn't sure how serious I was about this job, so I asked him what the salary was.  He gave me a ballpark range, and I was right- it would pay basically what I make now, but in a city with a roughly 20% higher cost of living.  But, I still had a couple days off (I like to save a few random days off for the end of the year in case surprises like these come up), and at the very least, it would give me a chance to see what was up there, so I said sure.  So a week before Christmas I flew to Seattle.  It was just a day trip- I flew up there in the morning and back that night.  And I fell in love with Seattle.  I parked my car on a frozen tundra at the airport in Salt Lake;  it was 7 degrees and the parking lot was covered in ice too thick to even see parking spaces.  When we landed in Seattle, it was about 50 degrees, sunny, and everything smelled like plants.  I love that smell!  By the time I got my rental car and drove the forty minutes north to Boeing, I was too warm in my winter coat.  Later in the day, I ended up taking off my suit coat too and was just walking around in a short sleeved blouse.   In the middle of December! It was fantastic!  And it was gorgeous.  The city looked like a normal city, but all the surrounding area was pine forests and mountains.  I've always secretly felt like I belong in the Puget Sound.  I just hadn't ever been there.  But now I've seen it, and I love it.

And I really liked Boeing.  The campus was really pretty, and walking through the building where the job would be, I felt like I was back at Chrysler.  It had very much the same feel.  I felt at home there.  I sat and chatted with the hiring manager for a bit, and then I met with the team.  I thought it was going to be an interview, but it turned out they just wanted to see if I could fit in with the team.  So it was about a half hour conversation between me and three single guys about my age.  I've been preparing for that interview my whole life!  We talked about our hobbies, our favorite tv shows, favorite cookies, etc.  I thought it was fantastic.  And that was that.  Afterwards, the hiring manager came back and walked me back to the front door and said he'd get back to me.  I thought it wasn't quite worth a flight to Seattle, but whatever.

I had a few hours before I had to be back to the airport, so I drove to a little park that had a great view of the city and took my first selfie.  You can kind of make out the space needle in the background of the picture.  In real life, it looked much bigger.  I don't know why it turned out so distant in the picture.

Back at the airport, I found out that flights were being cancelled because there was a freezing fog in Salt Lake and planes couldn't land.  And then even if planes could land, all connections out of Salt Lake had been cancelled because planes couldn't take off.  So people were scrambling all over to figure out their travel plans.  Luckily, my plane was big enough that it had the right instruments to land in the fog.  But it was still delayed a couple hours.  So as I sat there on the tarmac, wondering if I'd get home that night and glad I had also taken the next day off work, I was just wishing I could stay in Seattle where it was warm and sunny.

A week after Christmas, my phone rang while I was at work and it said it was a Washington number.  I ran outside to take the call, with my hands shaking.  The whole process had gone so well, I was pretty sure I was about to get an offer, and the only thing I was worried about was how I would sell my house and then afford a new one in Seattle on a too-low salary.  But it turns out I didn't need to worry.  The hiring manager said they all really appreciated my going out to meet them, but they didn't think I showed enough energy during the interview.  I thanked him and that was that.  But after I got off the phone, I realized I have no idea what that means.  I'd been more enthusiastic for that job than I've been for anything in a while.  And it was barely an interview.  It was a conversation.  How could I have shown more energy?  Did they want me to do jumping jacks?  So the next day I emailed him for clarification, just so I could show more energy in future situations, but he never got back to me.  And, just to throw a little salt in my wound, I'd spent all Christmas preparing myself to give two-weeks notice when I got back to work.  Instead, on the day when I'd been planning to do it, one of my favorite co-workers gave his two-weeks notice.  Jerk!

My People

Many years ago, when I was just a wee thing doing my undergrad at BYU, there were a few people who I'd run into all the time.  I'd see them in my classes, all over campus, at the grocery store, at sporting events, etc. They were just THOSE people, who were ALWAYS there.  I never knew their names or anything about them.  They just happened to always be in the same places as me.  I called them 'my people'.  For instance, if I saw one of them at a restaurant, I could say to my roommate, 'That guy is one of my people,' and my roommate would know what I was talking about.

Today at the grocery store, there was a guy who looked very familiar.  He was there with his wife and kids, and I kept ending up in the same aisle as them.  Then, I ended up behind them at the cashier. Every time I saw them, I tried to figure out who this guy was.  Finally, as I was unloading my cart, I figured it out.  He was one of my people!  He'd been in my Econ 110 class, and everywhere else on campus and in Provo that I ever went between 1998 and 2002.  And now he's back in the neighborhood.  Or maybe they're just in town for the holidays.  In any case, it seems my people are my people for life.