Quite Contrary

Mary is eager to make a strong positive impression at her new out-of-town job interview. But from the start, fate seems to be working against her. She takes care to have the hotel deliver a wake-up call, but the call comes late, forcing her to scramble to get showered and dressed. Repeated attempts to hail a taxi on the busy streets come to naught, eventually leading her to make the trek to the office on foot. Once arriving at the empty office lobby, she calls for an elevator, only to have it suddenly flooded to capacity with a stream of morning workers; she has to take the stairs. But despite the setbacks, she manages to make it to the office on time for her long-awaited interview. But if Mary was anxious to make a good impression, the staff seem determined to make a poor one. The receptionist delivers profanity over the phone with an ever-present smile, and then explodes at Mary for a perceived slight. Workers storm by in heated argument. And once the interview itself commences, Mr. Brown, the interviewer, goes off on personal tirades that digress into completely irrelevant directions. And throughout it all, nobody allows Mary to utter a single syllable. When she finally does manage to speak, she certainly makes an impression of her own.