ArchivedLogs:Interviewing Corey

Interviewing Corey
Dramatis Personae Corey, Doug, Melinda
In Absentia	2013-04-14 '
Location <NYC> Montagues - SoHo
Montagues harkens back to the day when SoHo was filled to the brim with artists, with its mismatched furniture, all plush and decorated heavily with carved wood, but remains trendy enough to keep its newer patrons by making sure that furniture is clean, in good repair and inviting. The antique tables all have been reinforced to seem less creaky. The real draw of the cafe is the smell: fresh roasted coffee mingles with perfectly steeped teas. Spices from crisp pastries mingle with the tang of clotted cream but don't overwhelm too much the scent of chalk on the menu boards. It is a typical lazy day at this SoHo coffee and tea cafe, but that is mostly laziness on the side of the customers. They seem pleased to move slowly through the lines at the caffeine counter and talk pleasantly with the cashiers and baristas. The staff members enjoy the friendly atmosphere, but keep themselves hopping, taking orders and delivering drinks just as quick as normal. The sandwich counter is also buzzing with people, but all in all, it's a relaxed atmosphere. Melinda, the assistant manager, is roaming between those two stations, flitting around in the back and appearing from time to time at a table she has claimed for herself in the dining room, a few sheathes of paper and a laptop computer saving her place when she is up and about. Someone drops off a tall glass mug full of coffee, somehow okay with the fact that Mel is over in a corner discussing an open mic time with a young person holding a guitar. She accepts a thumb drive from this person and gives them a wave as they leave, finally heeding the call of her recently made cappuccino. Montague's is not Doug's usual coffee haunt. It's familiar, though, and that's all he cares about. Dressed for the warmth of the day in jeans and a blue t-shirt with the Serentiy encapsulated in a mason jar on the chest, and a pair of green Converse sneakers, he has a laptop bag slung across his chest and his phone in his hand. A slight smile plays about his lips as he reads the text there, and when he looks up, he casts his gaze around the room as if searching for someone. Or maybe a table. Spotting Melinda, he raises a hand in greeting as he steps to the counter to place his order -- a cup of coffee with an espresso shot, and a pastry from the case that looks more cream than puff. " -- and a glass of ice water with lemon, thanks," he finishes, and turns to scan the room again as he fishes out his wallet. Coming into the coffee shop, Corey was wearing a nice navy blue polo shirt and a pair of khaki pants to at least make a good impression. The place didn't seem the sort that wearing a tie would do him any good, but polo shirts were at least into business casual. He even had a small folder under his arm to hold papers, but even with the nervousness of an interview coming up, a smile still crossed his lips. Looking through the place establishment, he paused at the side of the door to get a breath of the scent of coffee as he scanned the people in the place. Melinda waves to Doug as she arrives at her table, settling into her seat quietly and immediately leaning toward her glass, cupping it in her hands and blowing on it gently. She misses Corey's initial entrance for a little while, her mind rather scattered at the moment. Doug got her attention first, so he's keeping it for a little bit. She sips carefully then looks down at her paperwork. Oh. Yes. Interview. She checks her cellphone for the time, then looks around the room for Corey. When Doug finishes paying for his order and it's set on the counter, it's immediately apparent that the blonde has not thought things through. There are two glasses and a plate, and he has only the two hands. Still, he makes a game effort of it, balancing the plate on top of the water glass and picking both up carefully as he cradles his coffee in his left hand. Success! This will work! And, surprisingly, it does. Despite the water glass being much thinner than the circumferance of the plate, the balancing act is effective, until he goes to move away from the counter, and bumps into Corey. Fortunately, no cream puff or water touches the other man. Unforuntately, it /does/ end up on the floor, creating quite the mess. "Oh, damn," Doug says, frowning at the other man. "Sorry about that. You didn't get any on you, did you?" As he was moving towards the counter to announce his presence, the sudden bump and clatter caused Corey to wince and immediately bend down to start helping. "No, no quite alright. I was trying to find someone, I wasn't looking carefully myself." Offering up the plate and cup to the man, he gave a sheepish smile and looked towards the mess more on the floor. "None on me, but I can't say the same for the floor. Here, let me buy you another one, and I can see about some napkins at least. Ah, but this probably wont look good on me." At the sound of crash, clatter, and splash, Melinda bids a fond farewell to her hot coffee and stands up, looking to see where the mess is. She shakes her head when she sees who is there and reaches up a hand to wave at someone in the back. They fetch a mop. Melinda meets the mop at the counter, asks the girl to get the wet floor sign, and wheels mop and bucket to the mess sight. "Hey guys. I have it from here." She inhales and looks at the mess. "Doug, tell Bill over there I said he could comp you another puff thing." She leans the mop handle against a wall and scoops up the puff mess back onto the plate with a cloth pulled off of her apron string. "This your friend?" "Oh, hey, I can do that," Doug says when Corey bends to help. "It was all my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." He grins at the other man. "I was sort of looking for someone, too." He winces when Melinda comes up, and offers her an apologetic smile. "Hey, Melinda. I'm sorry about this," he says, frowning at the creamy mess. The question gets a shake of his head. "We just met. I can't say I made a good impression, though." He picks flecks of puff from the edge of Corey's shoe, and winces. "I'm sorry if I spoiled your coffee date," he offers. "I can explain things to her, if you like. Maybe she won't hold it against you." With the approaching mop and Melinda, Corey gives her a smile of thanks and he took a step back from the mopping so he wouldn't be in the way. As Doug started to apologize, he shook his head with a smile. "As lovely as being here on a date sounds, no I was here for a job actually. No harm no foul, my resume's still intact after all." He patted the folder at that as he offered a hand to Doug. "I'm Corey by the way, and there are worse ways to meet people. Hot coffee, or shards of coffee cup for example would have been." "Don't worry about it, Doug. Stuff like this happens all the time." Melinda looks up at Doug as she cleans, straightening a minute later to start using the mop to make this all go away. She is wringing out the mop when Corey mentions job hunting and laughs a little. "Well, then you're here to see me. Going to have go give me a minute, and I'll be right with you." She sloshes the mop into the watery creamy mess and starts to dissolve it and absorb it into the mop and then into the bucket. Doug frowns at Corey's explanation, and scrunches his nose. "Oh, crap. Then I'm /really/ sorry." He steps aside when Melinda indicates, and lifts a shoulder. "Yeah, but still. I hate making work for other people with my own dumbassery." He grins, though, and shakes Corey's hand. "I'm Doug," he says. "And very thankful that I was able to hold /on/ to my coffee. Otherwise, you might not be so cheerful about it." He lifts his eyebrows at the explanation, and his eyes crinkle. "Mel requires a resume from her barristas?" he teases, glancing at the older woman. "This place /is/ high-end." "Oh, pleasure to meet you then. At least I'll know what to look forward to if this happens all the time." Corey grinned at that, looking around for a place to set his folder before coming back. "Anything I can do to help? Or is this a one mop joint?" He stood at attention beside Melinda waiting for orders as he looked to Doug. "Well, I wasn't sure what was needed honestly. Work enough jobs and you find that its better to ere on the side of caution, at least I didn't wear a tie. It seemed a bit too awkward for this," he said with a gesture to the establishment. "There's not much to be done, Doug. How would it look to the cliental if I handed you the mop and told you how to do it by the cafe standards? Might be amusing, but it wouldn't really be welcoming." Melinda is relatively quick in her mop duty, moving the mop back to the bucket and wheeling it toward the back while someone else places the sign that indicates that the floor is wet. "Guys, really, it's fine. They pay me to do this. I get money. Don't worry about it." She shakes her head again and lifts the counter as she wheels through. "I'm going to wash my hands and I'll be right with you." And then she's gone. Accepting the order, Corey nodded and stayed out of the way looking to Doug. "Well, at least its my most interesting job interview this year. I don't think anything will top the one waiter job where they thought I was interviewing for the all male revue." Running his hand through his hair, he had a bemused look on his face. "If I'd been a better dancer, I might have gotten it. Would have been a pay bump at least, but I think the waiter job was the better idea long term." Chuckling at that, he looked to Doug with a hrm, "Guessing you're a regular enough customer here at least. Is the place fairly calm over all?" "Still." Doug sounds unconvinced, although his expression remains amiable. "I'm sorry about it." He nods, and purses his lips as Melinda heads off, fishing out his wallet and dropping a five in the tip jar. "All-male revue?" he echoes. "I think I've seen ads for that place. It's near here, isn't it?" He grins, and closes one eye in a wink. "Not that I've ever /been/, of course." The question gets a wrinkle of his nose. "I'm not really a regular," he confesses. "I come in here on occasion, but I usually hang out at Evolve, on the Lower East Side. This place is considerably quieter than /that/, I can say that for certain." He lifts a shoulder. "But I don't know how they are in general. Their open mics can be busy, from what I hear." Melinda returns shortly only to have an eyebrow climb high on her forehead at the mention of all male revues. Well. "Maybe you can take Doug there some time." She gives the blond a wink and looks to Corey, extending a hand in greeting. "I'm Melinda. I'll be your interviewer for the afternoon. We've already squared away that you're a helpful individual, why don't you order yourself some coffee and come find me at my table." She nods to the pair and drifts back to her true love at the table. mmmmmmcoffeeee. "Not one in this state, only just been in town a few days." Corey was blushing slightly as Melinda approached, and shook her hand. "Coffee it is with the interview. I like it better already." He put in for a coffee with plenty of cream and sugar and looked to Doug as he waited. "The name sounds familiar, I think I wandered in there the other day. Met a nice paramedic on her second shift, so can't say its all bad." Collecting his coffee with a smile to the barista, he headed to meet up with Melinda at her table. "Hey, I'm down," Doug says, giving Melinda a wide grin before giving Corey an appraising look. "It could be fun." Then he's waving as Melinda departs to her table, and nodding at Corey. "I go there a lot," he says, looping a thumb in his laptop strap and tugging at it lightly. "It's a pretty good mix of people." He offers a nod as Corey's coffee comes up, and a thumbs up. "Good luck on your interview," he says, and then he's turning back to the counter to get a replacement pastry. He'll come back for the water. Melinda settles into her chair, finding her coffee just a degree or two below optimal and starts drinking it a little more quickly to ensure its still warm while she drinks it. She looks up when Corey sits and smiles. "So, Corey? You said you had a resume?" Sliding his coffee cup to the safety of the table, Corey opened up the folder and pulled out a resume, which was a tad long on occupations and skill sets, but less so on education. "I did at that. Though after what Doug says I hope its not too much? I mean, I figured it couldn't hurt at least." With a smile he relaxed into the chair, and just breathed in the the scent. "I can give you the quick blurb though, since well, relevant experience is a tad different just than experience over all. I've done coffee duty a few times, the last one was in South Carolina, but I've done customer service pretty often. Food service, wait staff, clean up and the like." By the resume, its pretty easy to see he's done a lot of job hopping, not the best marks for long term help, but he's done a Lot of things. Melinda takes the resume and begins to look it over, her finger tapping on a business name or two when it catches her attention. Hmmmm. "Nah. Don't worry about it. People are using resumes a lot these days, on account of the economy being so bad and jobs being in high demand." She lays it down in front of her and folds her hands over it. "So, I see that you move around a lot. Why did you move to New York City?" "Oh was just kinda working my way up north. When you grow up in Florida, you hear the stories about New York from all the snowbirds. It seemed like a place where I might be able to find myself, if for no other reason than, with that many people, and that many possibilities, I'd be bound to find what I was looking for." Corey smiled at that as he took a sip of coffee. "I'm drawn to things where I can help people out after all, service industry is all about helping others isn't it? And well, Philosophy degrees don't exactly qualify you to do much world saving. But hey, serving one's fellow man isn't too bad a gig is it?" "It's kind of what I've fallen into. I also have some ties in volunteer work as well, if you're looking for extra opportunities to help that don't require a pay check." Mel grabs her mug and leans back in her chair, looking at Corey as she sips. "I'm a transplant as well. Do you know much about the New York mentality? Are you okay with rude, demanding customers?" "I don't mind it. At least volunteering isn't something that requires me to have specific degrees on the subject." Corey seemed thoughtful as she questioned it, and gave a shrug. "Well, I tried to offer a man who looked like the thing from the black lagoon a cup of coffee and a more positive outlook on life. If I can try it with that, I doubt someone from the Bronx would be much scarier." It wasn't flippant or sarcastic, it was just the truth, or at least it wasn't some exageration. "Someone having a bad day needs the smile, a pastry and a cup of coffee more than some others after all. I'm not perfect, I'm sure I'll have a bad day like anyone else given exposure enough to it, but hey, I'd have to be a robot to never change." "Well, we don't really have robots available yet for all of our service requirements." Mel teases a little and rubs at the side of her nose. "So, a guy that looked like a creature from the black lagoon? You didn't have any problems with him - in general?" She her gaze is pretty intent as she starts questioning him on mutants. "There are a fair number of people around who wouldn't go near someone who looked so different." "Eh, I figure its not like he had any choice in the matter. There but for the grace of God go I isn't it?" Corey's eyes took on a far off look, with coffee cup in hand. "Its pretty much like all the major civil rights cases the past hundreds of years. Hating immigrants, african americans, gays? Is that really what humanity is meant to do? You spend four years contemplating the nature of Why and it gets to you pretty deeply." Chuckling at that, he shook his head letting some of the blond hair fly freely. "Really when it comes down to it, its just fear. People are afraid of whats different, afraid what could happen, or what if they are different themselves? I mean what if I was a mutant? How would I feel if people treated me different for something I was born with? When neonazi's look to you like you're the answer to their prayers, it really makes you wonder deep down where you stand in life." Melinda nods quietly, looking him up and down. "Well, I mostly ask, as we strive to treat everyone fairly, and while we are not a predominately mutant locale, we don't turn people away unless they are actively causing trouble, humans and mutanthumans alike." She leans back to watch his response to this. "I've got no problem with that. I don't think I'd want to work in an establishment that actively hated others, one way or another." Corey gave her a smile at that, figuring she'd appreciate the sentiment at least. "Do you have applicants that do have problems with it? I would kinda figure a place like this would be more liberal clientelle wise anyway. It's really got the whole artsy thing going." Looking over his shoulder, his gaze passed over the clientelle enjoying their refreshments. "Well, we don't get many in the way of physical mutants in the dining room, but we do have them from time to time. The other issue is that we already have one working in the back who has seniority over any new hires, so if you had a problem with him, you wouldn't be here long." She shrugs a little and finishes off her coffee. "Look, a lot of this is really just making sure you work well and get along with the other employees and the patrons of course. I can start you tomorrow, if you like, and if you're free, and we'll just play it by ear for a while." Offering her his hand, Corey smiled. "Sounds like a lovely arrangement. I hope that there isn't too much to learn here, and at least I know the difference between a latte and a macchiato already." He seemed fairly peaceful now that the nervousness of not screwing up too badly was settled. "And I'll be happy to meet any of the rest of the staff whenever they're available. At the very least I'll have plenty of things to do with my free time. I met a fellow named Micah the other day who helps with the local gardens, and you've got an in with volunteer work. Hope you don't mind me being too much a do gooder." There was a slight chuckling at that, having heard arguments against it before. Melinda nods and smiles, turning her glass mug in her hands. "I'll introduce you around tomorrow. Are you good for an opening shift? You'd have to be here at 5:30am." She reaches out and gives Corey's hand a shake. "I'll also have all the paperwork you need to fill out then too." She shrugs. "I don't mind do gooders. I'm kind of in that crowd as well. Just make sure that you make your shifts and we'll be good." "I haven't had a sick day since I was in elementary school, so unless I get hit by a bus I should be able to make my shifts. And I'm used to it, the new guy gets the harder times." Corey's smile just seemed to be always on, but so was the livelyness about him. "Anything special I should know about? Like a water boiler that sprays everywhere if you turn the nozzle wrong, or other hazards that you just don't notice anymore?" "I... Don't know what to say. I'm more of a demonstrate as we go kind of person, so I can give you the ins and outs of the cafe when we start. You might be working in the back with Shane a lot to start, washing dishes, food prep. He's a bit surly, but polite. Good guy, when you get to know him." "Well, then I guess I'll have to be watching closely to make sure I don't miss anything." Finishing his coffee off with a nod, Corey thought abit. "And I hope we'll get along just fine then. Anything I ought to know about him? Or is this going to be part of the trial by fire?" He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling it might be something to worry about. "Oh. Well, I could tell you stuff about it, but I don't know. He's kind of... he's blue. You'll figure it out from there." Melinda gives a little bit of a shrug and smiles. "I don't think he'd like to be described as a creature from the black lagoon, but yeah. Kind of trial by fire. He's polite at work. Very well mannered, I swear." She gives a smile. Chuckling and shaking his head, Corey smiled. "You've got to admit, its pretty evocative imagery to describe him if you hadn't seen him. He's got a really colorful bit of language at least, though he doesn't particularly like my worldview." With a smile, he glanced to her inquisitively. "So since I've probably already got off to a bad foot with him, any advice? Aside from avoiding espousing a positive world view and that things are looking up?" "Shane has had a pretty tough time lately, and he's pretty young, so it's hard to tell. Maybe he'd like being a sea monster. Maybe he'd just prefer it if you left him alone. He likes fish tacos, though. If you help him procure some when he's jonesing, he might be your friend for life." Mel turns her empty cup again. "You want a refill?" "I wouldn't mind it, thank you. So bribery and giving him his space, gotcha. I'll remember that." Shaking his head, Corey drummed his fingers against his folder on the table. "I hope he gets the comfort he needs. He seemed to be fairly bitter at the world, and I can only imagine it will continue to treat him that way for some time to come." "Ohhh... Don't talk like that around him." Melinda shakes her head, lips starting to pull down in a frown. She gets to her feet, thoughtfully. "Come on, I'll show you the back." "Oh, I know that by now. We'll see, maybe I'll get lucky and it will all work out alright." Corey nodded and gestured forward. "Lead the way boss lady, plenty of new duties to acquaint myself with." He rose from the table and looked about the establishment once more, nodding to himself.