Today I received what has, sadly, been the closest thing to an offer of employment since I got back: a cold call. A guy who mispronounced my name and had no idea what work I had done in my life asked me a few vague questions ("Have you ever supervised?"), then tried to schedule an interview for tomorrow at 10:15 in Framingham. He was sketchy on the details of the, uh, job for which I would be interviewing.

When I refused to say whether 9:30 or 10:15 would be better for me until he told me what the job in question was, he sighed and said, "It's called American Income."

"The company?"

"Yes. Now, 10:15 is good?"

"But what does it do?"

"What does what do?"

"The company."

"Insurance. We make available low-cost insurance extensions to union members across America." Everyone uses the phrase 'across America' in normal conversation. It's never part of a script. Never.

"And what would I do?"

"You would be on the management team. Training salespeople."

"The management team? You're aware that I don't have any experience or interest in insurance or sales?"

"Can we schedule the interview now, sir?"

I will admit that it was hard to turn down an interview. In fact, though I am embarassed to admit it, I said, "10:15 is fine." I don't know why. I called back later and cancelled.