Love me or Don't hire me...

So like I said, I’ve got just a few days to let the real Ana shine through and toss all professional advice on personal behavior into the wind. I don’t know why I thought I had to play it meek and mild. I would rather be myself and not consider the alternative of razor blades every morning when I get up to go to work. My firm rarely hires their summer associates anyway – and it’s not like I could continue the wide-eyed, fresh-faced naïf permanently if I were hired.

Today I was having lunch with two associates and a partner from another office. The associates were pretty chatty while the partner was older and staid. Someone asked about my prior work experience, and I launched into my colorful resume, ending with my brief stint at an independent newspaper.

“Did a bunch of people there have tattoos and piercings?” an associate asked.

“Uh-huh,” I said and waited for him to ask me if I had any.

He did not.

Darn.

“Yeah, the paper was a trip,” I added. “It’s the only place I’ve ever worked that had two smoking sections. One for the cigarette smokers and one for the pot smokers.”

The two associates suddenly became quiet.

The partner erupted in laughter.

Of course he probably ran back to hiring committee and was like, “Absolute no on the Ana kid,” but oh well. It’s just nice to be me after six weeks.

Later in the day, the doting-partner called to make sure I’d eaten lunch. We’re going to have to come up with a way to let him down easy.