So I got an email a few days about applying for a teaching job in Baltimore.

 

 

Dear David Wheeler,

Thank you for your interest in a Special Education position with Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS).  We appreciate the time you spent participating in the screening interview.
 
We are pleased to inform you that you will be entered into our pool of candidates for the remainder of the 2016 – 2017 school year and for openings that are projected for 2017 – 2018.  In order to move you into the candidate pool for principals to see, you MUST apply to Job ID 1154.  Once you have done this, please send me an email so that I can add you to the pool immediately. School administrators will then contact you for interviews and if you are selected we will contact you to make the offer for employment. You may want to consider obtaining your final official transcripts from any colleges or universities you have attended.   Although there is no guarantee you will be hired, if an opportunity arises for you, it will help expedite the process if you have them readily available.  Do not send them to us at this time but keep them on hand in the event you are hired by BCPS.
 
We appreciate your interest in serving our school system and wish you continued success in your future endeavors.

 

So I reply with…

 

Hello Katie,

 

To which she replies…

 

Good morning, David.

I am confused.  We are obviously emailing back and forth, so I am not sure how I used the incorrect email address?  Nonetheless, I still can’t find your application in our system using “David Wheeler”.  You’re sure you submitted an application through Applicant Tracking?

 

I then write back again….

 

I’m still David Wheeler and I’m still in California. Perhaps the David Wheeler you think you are speaking with lives on the east coast and has a different email address.

 

I then get this back…

When did you interview with BCPS and was it at a Job Fair or Recruitment event or did you do the screening interview at our office?

 

And finally, I got nuclear on her as I forward it….

 

Hello Superintendant Dallas Dance,

 

 

 

 

 

And now I’m forced to think back upon the stupidity my own boss is dishing out and thinking “Is the world really that full of idiots?” I also spent three years in the Army, so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut…

Small factoid. Back in 1993, when enlisting in the Army, I was asked to take their equivalence of an IQ test, aka the ASVAB (if my memory is right)? Well, I scored so high they accused me of cheating. I had to go back in and take the test a second time. My score the second time was “1” point lower. Apparently, on one of the questions I wasn’t sure about, I guessed African swallow instead of European swallow. My bad.