Get With The Times, Pops

I used to work at a retail store well over a decade ago. One day, I had someone around sixteen or seventeen walk up to me with a sheet of paper in hand. The kid’s whole demeanor was begrudging, as if he would really rather not be there.

Teen: “Um, excuse me. I wanted a apply for a job and wanted to know if there was anyone I could give my resume to.”

Me: “Oh. Well, we are looking to hire, but we do that all electronically. You can apply online at our site or at our electronic kiosk over by the customer service desk.”

While I was saying this, the kid looked back distractedly, then sort of slid up closer, and then interrupted me, talking a little more quietly as if he didn’t want someone to hear.

Teen: “I know. I’ve already applied online, but my dad is old and refuses to believe in the Internet. He keeps insisting I need to do it in person or I won’t get the job, and he’s driving me insane. Could you maybe just take this and throw it out later just to make him happy, please?”

Now that I knew to look for it, I noticed an older man standing back in the direction the teen had glanced earlier, watching us, clearly intent on making sure his son applied for a job “correctly” in his eyes. I made sure to speak up a bit in hopes that the father would hear me.

Me: “Yes, I can do that. I’ll make sure your resume gets to where it needs to go, and hopefully, our manager will contact you shortly.”

Teen: “Thank you.”

I got a relieved smile from the teen as he handed me the paper and went back to his dad. The dad spoke to him for a second and then clapped him on the back as if in pride, and they walked off together.

I had to check out the young lad’s resume out of curiosity, and it was a pathetic little thing owing to the fact that the only thing he had to put on it was a single summer job from the previous year. I found the whole encounter amusing enough to share it, and the resume, with my manager, though.  

The kid eventually got a job with us shortly before I left the company. Whether that resulted from his online application or my manager laughing over the non-resume got him noticed, I honestly can’t say. I’ve always liked to pretend it was due to the resume, though; there’s just something amusingly ironic about the thought that the father might have ended up being correct about how to get a job but for all the wrong reasons.