Should have known!

[jackdavinci]

It sounded like a job offer or a job fair. But it turned out to be a multi level marketing thing. I even asked to make sure but I guess I wasn't clear enough.

And they made me take my hat off. Which is obnoxious anyway, but particularly annoying because the room lights were super bright and hurt my eyes.

And there's something about being in a room full of true believers that makes me feel utterly alone in the universe.

But the speaker was funny, at least, and I got to play dress up which is good practice for a real job offer so no big loss.

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by jackdavinci

...I even asked to make sure but I guess I wasn't clear enough.

Somewhat cynically - I think you might have been perfectly clear, but overestimated their intention to be upfront and honest with you about it.

[Sarabellum1976]

Originally Posted by chrisk

Somewhat cynically - I think you might have been perfectly clear, but overestimated their intention to be upfront and honest with you about it.

This. These people know that they get better turn-outs and better recruitment if they just tell some lies. (Oh, of course it's not MLM or a scam! It's the biggest bestest hugest employer ever, and Amway needs people just like you! Don't you want to be rich? Look at how many people are rich, right here on this piece of paper entitled Rich People! Won't cost you a dime to get rich! But we need to make sure YOU are legit - because we are EVER so legit - and that's why whatever amount of money you have should be placed in our hands.)

I had a co-worker get caught up in the Herbalife scam - he was not a naive or stupid person in the least! - but no amount of evidence or debunking could dissaude him from going "all in" once he'd been programmed at a couple of meetings.

Lost all his savings, and very nearly lost his job (for pestering co-workers and customers to join Herbalife) by the time he finally realized that he'd been lied to.

MLMs need to go the hell away and stop preying on the people who can least afford to be fleeced. (The poor, underemployed, unemployed, retirees, students, recent immigrants, etc.) But of course those are the people desperate enough to listen to the spiel, and the recruiters know it.

[FairyChatMom]

Ah, memories... I was a mere child of 21, recently arrived in San Diego (I was in the Navy at the time) and the girl who worked at the flying club invited me to a party! I was so excited, since I rarely get invited to parties anyway, and here I was, new in town, and already having a social life!!!

And when I arrived, that's when I first hear the term AMWAY. For all that I was usually a pushover for salesmen in those days, I managed to resist the lure of becoming one myself. And now, 37 years later, it still hurts to know I wasn't really invited to a party...

[voltaire]

You donned a suit, tie, and hat to (what you thought was) a nondescript job interview/fair?

My two cents: Lose the hat for the next interview, unless you're auditioning for a part on Mad Men.

[Sparky812]

Originally Posted by FairyChatMom

And when I arrived, that's when I first hear the term AMWAY.

LOL, I was at a reunion of friends from university where one of our old roommates insisted repeatedly that he needed to talk to each of us in private. Finally, one of my buddies tells him to knock it off because he was getting as annoying as an AMWAY salesman. The shocked look, red face, and ensuing apologies were priceless.

[MoonMoon]

Originally Posted by voltaire

You donned a suit, tie, and hat to (what you thought was) a nondescript job interview/fair?

My two cents: Lose the hat for the next interview, unless you're auditioning for a part on Mad Men.

Better a fedora than a baseball cap. Please tell us it wasn't a baseball cap.

(Either way, gentlemen remove their hats indoors, dude.)

[jackdavinci]

Originally Posted by chrisk

Somewhat cynically - I think you might have been perfectly clear, but overestimated their intention to be upfront and honest with you about it.

Yeah. I've considered that. I used the term "pyramid scheme" which could have been interpreted as a Ponzi thing rather than MLM. But it's just as likely he understood and misrepresented things. OTOH the people there seem to really believe in this stuff so he may have been honest but deluded.

[jackdavinci]

Originally Posted by MoonMoon

Better a fedora than a baseball cap. Please tell us it wasn't a baseball cap.

(Either way, gentlemen remove their hats indoors, dude.)

I don't believe in your bizarre hat religion from the 1950s. I'm not a time traveller or a member of whatever culture that was born out of. And I find the weird adherence to it in particular while abandoning other sexist tropes of the era unfathomable. It like people who are against gays because of Leviticus but eat shrimp.

Besides which I have a sensitivity to light so being without some protection can be quite uncomfortable, and really it is presumptuous to insist people remove their clothing.

Anyway it was a nice hat, one that matched the semiformalness of the rest of my outfit. I might have taken it off for a personal interview, but it turned out to be a large convention hall in a larger hotel. I'll honor the bizarre religion in personal meetings, churches, and courts. But I'm not about to volunteer in a giant public hotel lobby or meeting hall.

[smee goan]

Could blame a politician here, but...

SPOILER:

private sector is doing fine