Blog #2: Oops I Did It Again

The one time I needed to mushfake a Discourse I was not familiar with more than I have ever had to mush fake a Discourse before, was when I was applying for a waitress position at a restaurant in San Diego that was much more of a fine dining restaurant I was used to working in. So it is safe to say, oops I did it again, I found myself in a position where I needed to be more mindful than usual on how I was being perceived by the person I was speaking with. I thought, what, how hard could this be? I have a ton of serving experience. However, just never for as nice of a restaurant as this fine dining restaurant was I was applying for at the time. I had experience abroad in Stockholm at a fine dining restaurant, called American Table by Marcus Samuelsson. 

At the interview, I presented myself with the uppermost confidence and a big smile on my face, I felt unstoppable but once the interview questions came around, I found myself totally tongue twisted, which usually never happens to me at an interview. I felt that I had so much experience and that I was absolutely more than capable of this, but just not the right fit at the time for that specific place. I powered through the interview to find out later that I was considered for the position and invited back to a second interview. I was so excited. I had done it, I convinced them….almost. All I needed to do was do it again at the second interview. I had never been through multiple interviews, always either hired on the spot, or hired after the one interview. I found that at this specific restaurant I needed to create an entirely different “identity kit” that was far different than the identity kit I was used to presenting myself with at any other waitress position and at any other restaurant. In James Paul Gee’s, “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics Introduction” Gee describes identity kit which includes the way you dress, your body language and gestures that are made, and the way you talk. (7). All of these things that I need to be aware of in different situations of mushfaking a Discourse. Just as Professor Flewelling explains, in school as a professor or student a different Discourse is taken on to be seen as professional or taken seriously, rather than how one speaks, or acts in a different setting such as at home where you are most comfortable. 

Second time around at the fine dining restaurant I was so nervous, plus the manager who was interviewing me was so attractive that I could barely concentrate,  or remember what he was saying or even keep a straight face because I was so mesmerized. These two interview experiences were the most challenging I had ever been through for the position I was applying for. The entire time I had to fake how much I knew about all kinds of different types of alcohol from wine to hard liquor. I am well educated on what drinks to pair with certain foods and entrees, so the interview process flip flopped between from feeling confident, to not so confident, to overly confident and all over the place. Moreover, the questions they presented were so challenging that I was not expecting them and had to basically tell myself the entire time to, “fake it till you make it.”