Gender Isolation, Pizza at Teach for America

I was the only guy at my Teach for America interview. There were four female candidates and two female interviewers. I gave my five minute lesson plan on the plot structure of the short story "Imposter", about a man accused of being a robot who has to prove his innocence, only to find out he's a robot and explode, destroying the earth in his fireball. There's a movie version with Gary Sinise. But no one really knew how to respond to my presentation. I made worksheets with a plot curve and five listed scenes - the students and I were supposed to work together to place the scenes on the curve. While we were filling out the worksheet as a group, every time I called out a plot point - exposition, rising action, climax, and so on - someone would answer, "B," which was "Spencer realizes he is the robot and detonates, destroying earth." I don't care if you like science fiction or not - I think it's pretty clear that can only go at the end of the curve, at the resolution. I know of no stories that continue after the main character and the earth are destroyed.

The interview was on the thirty seventh floor of the Chase Building in downtown Dallas. I've never been up that high. I got there at eight in the morning, right as it opened. I was wearing my new suit; I felt like I knew something no one else did, like the combination of a safe or where to find a great cheeseburger. On the elevator, someone asked me where I worked. I gave him a high five.

The thirty seventh floor is a law office, all of it. It's gorgeous. A third of the walls are glass, and all of the chairs are good for your lower back. They have this kitchen that's a bigger version of the ones I've seen in the houses of rich friends that I've broken into. It was all steel and granite, with refrigerator set aside especially for Coca Cola. I want to be a lawyer when I grow up. After my interview (where I talked about the importance of male teachers - that's right, I did feel awkward as the only guy) I wandered in there to eat the plums, but I found six boxes of pizza on the kitchen island. No one was there, so I began to eat. There was a flatscreen showing the Weather Channel. It was supposed to snow in Dallas. I watched it and kept eating pizza.

By the time the actual lawyers showed up, I had eaten half a box of cheese. Someone said "excuse me," and I turned around. There were a few seconds of silence, where I felt guilty about the pizza slice I was holding, then I pointed over my shoulder, through the glass doors were the interviews were, and said, "I'm with America." They backed off after that.