I once interviewed for a senior post X in Washington. The interviewer was this super-serious dude that always wore a suit, Bald hair, serious look, slight lisp so you know he was bullied and is compensating, the whole package. Luckily, my boss knew him, so I was privy to some inside information, like his nickname, which imho sounded really fucking stupid but who am I to judge. Let's just say it was Unicorn McDonald. Let's say his real name was Ulek Norris.
He started the interview with some general overview of the interview process, the job, etc, and to lighten the mood I went "so hey should I call you Unicorn McDonald?" This was followed by a long silence and the whole atmosphere turned dead-serious. After some 5-second pause, he said, with a really serious tone, "No." Being the fantastic, enigmatic person that I am and completely non-autistically in tune with the change in the atmosphere, I figured I explain what just happened. So I went, again in a light mood, "Oh. Ok. Its just that my boss so-and-so always calls you Unicorn McDonald, and so does everyone else in my office. So what should I call you?" Big smile from my side, which was returned with a dead-serious stare: "You should call me Ulek." Ok, I thought, weird. I don't know what just happened. The interview continued on very formally.
Fast-forward 7 months, to an office party, where this guy is also there. He's walking around somewhere in the background, trying to talk with people, with surprisingly little success given the respect his position should earn him. I am sitting with my boss and some office folks, drinking beer, and this guy comes up as a topic. My boss goes "I'm so afraid that I accidentally call him Unicorn McDonald" to my co-worker. A light bulb goes on in my head.
"oooooohh........"
"What?"
"I think he knows...."
The best interview ever. I actually was offered the job.
