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10:08 p.m. - 2005-01-13
Judging a book by it's cover.

Idiot Savant

The minute the obese carrot topped young man opened the door I could smell the cologne, heavy with a base note of patchouli and altogether too much of it, mixed with an underlying odor of B.O.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"I'm here to see Greg about the Engineering position." He replied. "I'm Bob Burquist."

I took in the spectacle that stood before me. He was about 23 or 24 years old, short red hair, 250 pounds and he was dressed in a faded wrinkled denim work shirt with two of the neck buttons wide open and a pair blue jeans so encrusted with road salt that they were no longer blue. I looked up at his doughy white face covered with red freshly picked pimples.

"Have a seat, please." I said to Bob Burquist. "I'll tell him you're here".

I returned to my desk and tried to get back to my work when Bob Burquist decided that he wanted to talk to me.

"I'm lucky to be talkin to you today." he said. "Did you hear about that big house fire in Lombard the other day?"

I shook my head.

"Well, that was my house." he said. "I have nothing else to wear to an interview besides these dirty clothes."

He continued to tell me about the fire while he picked his face.

I thought, "surely this kid doesn't own his own home, he must be talking about his parents house."

He went on and on and I couldn't resist throwing in a couple of questions to discern whether it was his house or his parents and I not only discoverd that it was indeed his but that it's a double lot with an old farm house and a smaller but uninhabitable house next to it. All in all, a $ 350,000.00 piece of property.

The first thing that crossed my mind was how does this smelly, pimply faced kid afford a $350,000.00 house. I didn't have to talk to him long to figure that one out. As the conversation went on he talked about exactly how the house was built, how houses were built 100 years ago as opposed to now and the various complexities of homeowners insurance policies. He described intricate wiring systems and the current electrical code sanctioned by the village of Lombard. He patted himself on the back for being smart enough to get enough extra insurance that his home will now be completely rehabbed and paid for by the insurance company.

The Vice President and Chief Engineer of our company came out to greet him. I looked at him to see if he was taken aback by the way this young man was dressed and how he smelled. Greg treated Bob Burquist with all the respect he would treat an older man in a suit.

Before I left for the day, I passed the office where the interview was being conducted. Bob Burquist was explaining the fabrication of a complicated piece of test equipment, picking at his face, while the Chief Engineer looked on with great interest.

Must be one of those highly intelligent, excentric people. I guess old excentric people start out as young excentric people. I actually started wondering if maybe he wouldn't get the job.

P. I. Yarnsmith

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