Although desperate to find work, I passed on a job I found on an employment website. It was for a wastewater plant operator.
Among the job requirements: "Must be able to swim."
My friend's son worked at a fast-food restaurant when he was in high school. One night while he was manning the drive-thru, a customer told him that the intercom wasn't working properly.
My friend's son went about filling the order while a female co-worker fiddled with the intercom.
After making some fixes, she asked, "Is that okay now?"
"Well, no," the customer replied. "Now you sound like a girl."
The company where I work provides four-foot-high cubicles so each employee can have some privacy.
One day a co-worker had an exasperating phone conversation with one of her teenage sons. After hanging up, she heaved a sigh and said, "No one ever listens to me."
Immediately, several voices from surrounding cubicles called out, "Yes, yes we do."
I was halfway through a meeting with a photocopy salesman, when he suddenly mentioned his wife and children, and how content and happy he was.
I was puzzled, but let him continue. It was only when I glanced down that I understood his reason for imparting this personal information. The table leg against which I had been rubbing my itchy foot wasn’t a table leg at all.