Today I have an interview at a local newspaper for one of their reporter positions, and I am thrilled. When the editor called me yesterday, I excitedly flew into a mock panic as I stared at myself in the mirror, noting my desperate need of a new dye-job and my short, stubby, picked-at nails.
I resolved to wake up early the next morning and find myself a cheap nail station to buy myself a sexy new set of nails to round out the physical being that would present themselves for hire at 3:30 this afternoon.
As I trudged out the door at 8:30 a.m., I found myself drowsily thinking, "Why the hell do I have to do this again?"
No, not the job interview, the nails. I find the whole business of walking in a place and sitting before someone I don't know for two hours while they file, brush, and paint my fingernails into a beauty they could never possess on their own accord very awkward. I also resent the fact I have to spend money to make myself presentable for a job, when I am drowning in debt, and could never dream of justifying an expense like nails otherwise.
However, it is Cosmo 101 to get your hair and nails done before an interview, or as a matter of course in your career. As I was told in school years before, "It makes you look clean, professional."
It would also empty out my abysmal bank account.
Plus, a male friend of mine is interviewing for the same job. Do you think he is going through all the stress of looking pretty? No, I doubt it. His professionalism isn't based on the length and polish on his nails, or his newly dyed hair.
And so, I decided to take a stand against this latent form of misogyny and NOT get my nails done. I will file and paint their little stubs myself, and perhaps get some nice nails if I get this job and can afford it. But beforehand, it's just not logical, or fair.
Plus, without the fake nails I can garden, play sports, play PC games, and a bunch of other things that get harder as your nails get longer. Let's be real, if I had fake nails, in a week they would look like the ones below. Missing nails and the gunk left behind when they break off is definitely not professional.
So off I go on the great social experiment of our generation: Can Lydia get a job with fugly nails?
Friday, September 11, 2009
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