When I was Cool

I went on a job interview with this Web site, Kiwibox.net, built and written entirely by high school and college-aged kids. They were hiring for a managing editor and senior news editor’s position with at least two years experience. They required that the candidates have strong knowledge of ”pop culture” in the the entertainment and music industries.

When I got to their office, a girl, maybe 19 or 20, seats me at a table and asks me to fill out a questionnaire. The questions were, “what’s your favorite movie? Fave actor? Fave bands? Fave fashion designer?” My answers were, 80s metal— Def Leppard, Tesla, AC/DC, Terminator films, Christian Bale, and the fat guy from Project Runway.

The young girl took my questionnaire, read it over, then brought me into a conference room where three young people sat across from me — all were under 22. Asian guy in the middle, snooty and cold, started grilling me about American Idol. I told him I stopped watching that show because it got boring. Then he said, “well do you watch TV?” I said yes. He then starts grilling me about Britney Spears and her latest appearance on a TV show. (I couldn’t name which show.) Then he asked me if I had any questions for him. I said no. Then he turned his face away from me to indicate that the interview was over. Did not say thank you for coming in. Refused to look at my portfolio.

I think I got eliminated from consideration for this job because I couldn’t name that show that Spears showed up on.

Ok, maybe the 80s metal and Terminator was an outdated answer but they asked what my favorite movies and bands were. They didn’t ask that my answers had to be “recent bands and movies.” I think they were all laughing at my answers. “Def Leppard, yuk, yuk. Who does she think she is? She’s so uncool.”

Oh, they also asked me for my date of birth on the questionnaire. Totally against the law-- employers are never allowed to ask for the age of candidates at an interview. They saw that I was over 30 and said, “she’s soooo old and soooo unhip. No way can she work for us.”

Remember when hard rock was cool? Fading, bipolar, fat, nasally, bleached ex-Mickey Mouse clubber over AC/DC?

I don’t get the kids these days.

Pope Brings Hope— Let The Healing Begin

The arrival of Pope Benedict had a stunning effect on our city this weekend: For the first time in years, it appeared that faith had returned to jaded New Yorkers and everyone was genuinely moved.

The most startling revelation about Benedict’s trip to NYC was that when he apologized for the miscreant priests in his Church, he held himself accountable and that gave humanity to the Church that John Paul was never quite able to accomplish.

The Catholic Church for so long has been viewed as a restrictive ruling arm, cold and unsympathetic. But Pope Benedict changed that perspective swiftly. “It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way. Their mission was to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. We are deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible that this cannot happen in the future."

Empathy and compassion— that was all it took to start the healing process but why did it have to take so long?

What About Bloomberg?

Hasn’t it occurred to people that the reason why America is so divided among political lines is because we keep electing politicians? If we want unity, wouldn’t it make sense to elect a businessman into the White House? Someone who is accustomed to leading people in a single mission. Someone who has a strong record in building from the ground up. Someone who isn’t afraid to change sides twice over.

I’m talking about our dear old mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Yes, he the champion of the brilliant congestion pricing idea. He that tickets everyone who double parks, smokes indoors, cooks food seeped in trans fat oils. He that fought so courageously for the Olympics in NYC which would have meant new jobs and tourist revenue.

Tell me Bloomberg does not have the best interest of his citizens.

Yes, we whined. We hated the “no smoking in bars” law. We hated getting ticketed for every little traffic violation. Who can avoid them in this crammed city? But then, who balanced the budget after the gigantic deficit left behind by that Mafioso that calls himself America’s mayor?

You heard Trump say, “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.” Well that’s what the election should be about. Just business. Get the job done efficiently. Economically. Swiftly. Forget all the yapping going on between the Democratic candidates and take a look at the empire that Bloomberg has built. No other candidate in history has such an enormous wealth of power and accomplishment to call his own.

If people are worried about a recession, news flash folks— we are already in a recession. There ain’t gonna be enough Clinton/Obama/McCains to pull America out of this stack of debt that W has so generously placed before us.

Bloomberg does not have a first lady. He does not have party that he belongs to. But get him in the White House and the country will be running like the thriving super power that it once was.

Bill and Hill’s Last Stand— It’s All in the Lie and the Way it’s Told

It would make sense to fight it out. Bill did it so why shouldn’t Hill? The problem is that when Hillary lies, she just isn’t as charismatic as Bill was when he was fibbing. So they want the White House back in their hands and from the little flags they were planting— NYC office, NY senate seat, it seemed as though Bill and Hill were making good progress towards this goal.

The problem is that Hillary’s campaigning efforts really did nothing to show her to be a charismatic leader capable of running a divided country. No matter the PR strategies, Hillary always just comes across desperate, hungry and apologetic. Even when she got caught up in the Bosnia lie, she appeared stunned and pathetic: “I misspoke,” was her lame response to continued probes from the media.

With all the egregious sexual escapades that Bill has been caught up in, he always comes out shining. But poor Hillary. When a journalist catches her in a lie, it’s that familiar, ‘deer in the headlights’ expression. Hill, Hill. Hill. Please don’t try this at home anymore.

Now that she’s so close to losing it all, she’ll have to look back at what once was. She should ask herself, would I have fared better if I had done the opposite of Bill?

I guess we will never know.