New Shoes

2004 May 10, 10:37Looking around the Microsoft campus it was easy to tell people who were there for an interview from the programmers who worked there. All of the people who were dressed formally, a suit or tie was an obvious sign, were there for an interview. I spent my time between interviews talking to other over dressed people between interviews. The usual topics of conversation included name, city of origin, computer science background, and the crazy problems our interviewers had asked us. Going through these topics with one such person, who incidentally was the only woman I saw interviewing, I asked what school she was attending. She told me she was just finishing her Masters in Computer Science at [some college] and I told her where I was from. She then asked me, "You have your Doctorate in Computer Science?" "No," I said, "My Bachelors... I'm working on my Bachelors." "Oh," she said, "Well you look very mature." I'm fairly certain that's a first for me -- being told I look "very mature" that is. Unfortunately, at that point my tram showed up and I had to travel to a different building. Now I'm left wondering what made me look mature. It could have been the gel or the slacks or the tucked in shirt. The day previous while dressed casually, hanging out with my friend Jeannie, some of her friends thought I was her age, about eight years older. The common element between my two appearances were my new black dressy-ish shoes. Maybe its just that easy.