Running Late

Mindy is already awake when the shrill of the alarm sounds. She has been awake since 4am, anticipating the job interview she will have later this morning. She really, really wants this job. It is a dream job for her. Not only is the job a dream job, but the location is also ideal. If she gets this job, she will no longer have a two hour or longer commute to get to work. This factor is especially important in the winter when there is usually so much snow on the ground. Mindy had watched the weather forecast last night and it predicted that it would snow four inches overnight. 

As Mindy shuts off the alarm, she is already making her plans for making sure she will arrive on time for this very important interview. She decides to check the weather just to make sure there had not been a change and, sure enough, for once, the weather forecasters had been correct. It had indeed snowed four inches overnight. Mindy realizes she had better get a move on because she does not have a garage and she will have to shovel snow from her car and windows before she can even get going. “Damn! Instead of lying in bed thinking about interview questions, I should have just gotten up!”

After quickly performing her normal grooming routines and putting on her perfect interview outfit – a tailored black blazer, black slacks, a crisp white collared shirt, and a pair of closed-toe, low-heeled black pumps. She chose not to carry a purse, but rather a thin brown leather portfolio case that contained several copies of her resume. She styled her dirty blonde hair up in a loose, textured bun – she wanted to appear professional, but not too uptight. Mindy takes one last look at herself in the mirror before she heads to her car. “How could they not hire me?”

Mindy uses the app on her phone to start her car. Hopefully some of the snow will be melted by the time she actually makes it to her car. It takes her several tries to get the app to work. “What the heck is wrong with this thing? Today of all days, it chooses to be a butthead!”

 After opting to wear her snow boots for cleaning off the car and the drive to the interview (she’ll change into her pumps once she arrives), Mindy puts on her red scarf and parka and heads out the door. As she makes her way to her red Ford Escort, she cannot believe how much snow is on the ground. Her car is parked some 20 feet away and the snowplows have not yet made it to her apartment complex to clear the driveways and the side roads.

“Shit! It’s going to be a nightmare to make it out of here!” she says. She trudges through the snow slowly, the heavy wet snow feeling as though she has put weights around her ankles. She has just about made it to her vehicle when – whoosh- her feet slip from underneath her and she falls backwards in a heap of snow.

“Are you all right, Mindy?” her neighbor yells from across the street.

“I’m fine, Helen, thank you.” Mindy says as she rises. She moans as she realizes she must have twisted her right wrist as she tried to catch herself going down. 

Mindy finally makes it to her car. She is glad she used the remote start as some of the snow has already melted. She loads her items in the car, her portfolio, water bottle, and her purse. She then grabs her scraper and begins the task of clearing away the snow from the rest of the car. 

She glances at her watch and realizes she has 50 minutes until the start of her interview at eight o’clock. That should be enough time for her to finish cleaning off the car, drive to the interview, and walk through the door at least ten minutes early for her interview.

As she finishes getting all the snow off the car, with some difficulty due to her wrist being a bit sore when she tried to catch herself as she was falling, she is ready to back out of the parking spot and head to her appointment. It’s now 7:17. She turns on the radio and listens to the weather report for the road conditions. She hears the announcer say. “The I-5 is currently blocked due to a multiple vehicle accident. If you were planning to go to downtown Anchorage, please use the side streets.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Mindy says. That is the exact route that she needed to take. Will she make it on time if she takes the side streets? She glances at her watch. 7:20. No choice but to take the side streets. She plans her route. She’ll head down Dimond, turn left on C street and keep going until she arrives at the office building where her interview will take place. Normally, it would have been faster to take the freeway, but because of the accidents on the freeway, this route will be better. She’ll make it with like five minutes to spare – fingers crossed.

Mindy heads down Dimond. Things are going smoothly as it looks as though the snowplows have been down Dimond. It is still snowing, but Mindy drives slowly and steady and she is making her way. Traffic is amazingly light with few cars on the road. She arrives at her second stop light and slowly applies her brakes. Her Bronco slides a bit, but eventually comes to a stop. 7:30.

When the light turns green, Mindy proceeds. When she arrives at C street, she turns left. Not long now and she will arrive at her destination. The snow has really started to fall down and it is difficult to see the other vehicles in front of her. Mindy drives for about a mile when suddenly she is forced to come to a stop in the middle of the two-lane road. There are two semi- trucks stuck in the road, unable to go up the slight incline of the road due to the amount of snow on the ground. They are blocking both lanes of the two-lane road. One of the truck drivers is out of his truck attempting to put chains on, but it is slow going. There is a line of vehicles behind both semi-trucks and no way to turn off the road, no way to turn around. Mindy looks at her watch: 7:45. 

“Shit!” She thought she would have been there by now. She would have been there had it not been for the semis stuck in the road. There is no way she will be early for her eight o’clock interview. She decides she will call to let the interviewer know that she will likely be late. Surely, they will understand. 

Mindy tries to find the phone number in her cell phone. She calls what she believes is the number, but she gets a recording. Mindy leaves a voice mail stating that she is stuck in traffic and does not believe she will make it there on time. “It would be better if I could have spoken to an actual person”, she thinks. But that’s the best she can do. 7:59.

After thirty minutes, one of the trucks is finally able to move and all the vehicles slowly make their way down C street. Mindy cannot believe this has happened to her. She is tempted to not even go to the interview but decides that maybe someone got her message that she was running late. 8:29.

Mindy arrives at the office building. She must drive around for ten minutes before she can even find a parking space. Another delay. This had absolutely been the worse morning of her life.

By the time Mindy parks her car, walks to the front door of the building, takes the elevator to the third floor, and arrives at the office of her job interview, she is a full one hour late. 

“I’m Mindy Jones. I’m here for my interview,” she says to the receptionist. The receptionist looks at her incredulously.

“You’re late”, she says.

“I know. I couldn’t help it. Didn’t you get my message? I did call. Traffic was just awful. There were semis stuck on the road.” Mindy knows she is babbling and knows this is doing her no good. 

“Have a seat” the receptionist says.

Ten minutes later, Mindy is called back to a conference room for her interview. It does not go well. After her harrowing morning, she found it hard to answer the questions and frankly was ready to just go back home.

So much for her dream job.