North Dallas nice

by Granny Girl

Last week I got a call from an employment agency in Dallas, wanting me to come in and register with them because they had a good job prospect for me in commercial real estate. The job prospect was in north Dallas, or Uptown, and paid really well. That put me into a bit of a tizzy because I had recently lost some weight and my dress pants no longer fit. Not so long ago I had a great working woman wardrobe. As I lost weight I donated the clothes to a group at my church that help women get back in the workforce. This motivated to keep the weight off or go naked!

The agency called in the morning. The appointment was for that afternoon. I scrambled to get my resume and list of references printed up, Google the map and directions and get that printed, and find something to wear. After much trying on and discarding, I came up with a striped gathered broomstick skirt in colors of turquoise, blue, brown, black and beige. I wore a soft, unstructured turquoise jacket and a black camisole, brown boots and a brown purse. Not great, but not tacky.

When I walked into the interview room the recruiter gave me a quick look over. If I hadn't been watching for it I would've missed it, but it was definitely a look over. She like my resume and took my references list and said she would pass it on to her client. It was at that point that I told her, "I know that I'm not presenting the polished, professional look your client will expect." And then I explained the whole weight loss, size change thing. I told her I had been looking for presentable suits but it was hard to find them in a size 2 petite short. I promised I would go that very day and get some clothes. She said, "Thank you for telling me that. Most people wouldn't. And yes, you really need to get something." Talk about candor!

Yesterday morning she called me to set up the appointment time for the interview, so we set it for yesterday afternoon. Her last sentence on the phone was, "Be sure to wear your suit." I did wear a suit (thank goodness I got the pants hemmed!) and headed off to Uptown. There really is a different vibe there. I parked in a parking garage, walked across the marble floored lobby, got instructions from a nice lady who said I looked lost (I was, because the elevators only went up to the 18th floor and I had to go to the 20th, but the nice lady told me the trick to that), and then I went up the elevator (that announced each floor stop in a whispery, scary voice) to the 20th floor. Two very professional ladies interviewed me. Neither one wore a suit.