There's a time and a place for funny; who knew?

My most infamous job interview involved a non-profit environmental group (who shall not be named here, as don't burn bridges, my dad always says - but I digress). Job was a fellowship involving forest protections and management. Oh yeah, I'm all over it. Made it through the phone interview; it's narrowed down to three people. I borrow money, buy the suit (and the ridiculous shoes), get a plane ticket, navigate the city streets and arrive for the interview (all sorts of shiny and perky).

Job interview begins. Questions about forest management - how familiar am I with the statutes, am I able to translate the alphabet soup of common forest abbreviations into English, etc. Nailed those questions. Even start discussing my vision for the fellowship (don't ask me what that vision was now, but I'm convinced it was brilliant). And then comes the following question:

Q - How do you commune with nature?

A (me) - I get naked and roll around in the mud.

Dead silence. Could have heard a pin drop in the room (and thanks to Sprint for the fiber optics visual of a pin dropping that floated through my head; I'm such a product of marketing).

My next few thoughts: I'll get my coat? - apparently funny and forests do not go together - and damn these ridiculous new shoes (blisters on feet). In a futile attempt to salvage my response, I mumble something about canoeing. Icy cold, nice try stares were the reception.

I returned to my friends' place, kicked off the shoes, ripped off the pantyhose (in an entirely un-sexual way), grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat on their porch. After arriving home an hour later, they asked how the interview went:

A - I'm really not the person they were looking for.

I stand by my answer; how miserable would I have been working there. Yikes! Although apparently I should have asked these people for help: www.job-interview-questions.com