Did He Throw A Fit On His Application, Too?

I’m working in the box office on a slow day when a man who looks to be in his mid-fifties enters the building and walks in.

Man: “Are you hiring?”

Me: “Not at the moment. We just finished hiring new employees the other day. But if you’re interested in working here, keep an eye out on our website, as we usually hire new employees multiple times a year.”

Man: “Well, that’s the thing. I heard you were hiring and applied a month ago, and I wasn’t selected to be interviewed.”

Me: “Ah, I’m sorry. We usually get a lot of applications when we are hiring, so I wouldn’t take it personally. If you’re still interested in working here, I’d say just keep putting in applications, and chances are, sooner or later, you’ll get an interview.”

He narrows his eyes and becomes suddenly furious.

Man: “I demand to know why I didn’t get an interview!”

Me: *Taken aback* “I’m sorry?”

Man: *Shouting* “I need a job! And I demand to know why I didn’t get an interview!”

Me: “Sir, I have no way of knowing why you didn’t get an interview. It could be any number of factors. Plus, like I said, we get a lot of applications, and we can’t necessarily interview and hire everyone.”

Man: “I need a job! And I need money! I’m new in town! And I don’t have anything! I want a g**d*** interview!”

Me: “Sir, please do not shout in our lobby.”

Man: *Continuing to shout* “Why wasn’t I given an interview?!”

He then starts swearing and screaming weird, excessively detailed tragic stories from his life for about a full minute — people he knows who died, people he knows who are in jail, etc.

My manager hears the racket and comes out of her office. She calmly talks him down and asks him for his name and phone number so she can “check his application and see if we could fit in an interview for him.” This seems to please him and he finally leaves.

Me: *Shocked* “Are you honestly going to give him an interview?”

Manager: “No, I just needed his name so I can flag it in our system and put out an alert to ignore any applications from him in the future. There’s no way in h*** I’m giving that guy a job. I’m not having someone that volatile working with you guys. If he comes back and acts up again, get me and I’ll call the police.”

To his credit, he came back about a week later and offered a genuine-sounding apology for his behavior, which he attributed to a recent family death putting him on edge. He also made it clear that he knew he wouldn’t get a job with us due to his outburst. We haven’t seen him since. I do hope that he’s getting over his issues, though.