FA+
Shop
403
Views
Views
5
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / General Furry Art
Species Raccoon
Size 120 x 92
File Size 42.7 kB
Report this content
More from Walt46
Listed in Folders
The Applicant
A Thursday Prompt story
© 2020 by Walter Reimer
Prompt: serial
“Your ten o’clock is here, Ma’am.” Her assistant was an earnest young beagle, who seemed more than a little obsessive about punctuality. Still, the raccoon sow conceded, he was very good at his job. The answering smile she gave him faded as she looked over the online resume on her computer.
There was such a thing as a ‘serial employee,’ a person who regularly changed jobs for a variety of reasons, mostly due to simple incompetence. This fellow, though . . . the bear had gone through six jobs in the eight years since he had graduated from college with a BS in chemistry. The jobs were an eclectic mix of professional (he’d interned as a chemist with one of the huge pharmaceutical labs, at a very attractive salary) to the almost embarrassingly menial (running a digger for the Stabbem and Slabbem Mortuary in Kansas City, for minimum wage).
That brought up another point. Most people with an employment record like his rarely ventured from their home city or state. The applicant had – well, three of the jobs had been here in the United States, while the others had been in Germany, Egypt, and China. Complicating things further was the fact that all of these employers had supplied, upon request from her office, fairly glowing references.
She felt she had to have some face time with him. Just to try to understand him better.
Her ears perked and she hastily donned what she called her ‘professionally pleasant’ face. “Come in, please.”
The bear was about average height and build, with an open and friendly look about him. “Mr. Maltravers, good morning,” the sow said. “I’m Anita Wash.” She stood to shake paws with him, and waved him toward a chair. “I’ve asked you in for this interview because I have one or two questions about your resume.”
Maltravers sat forward, ears perked toward her. “Yes, Ma’am?”
“For starters, your employment history wouldn’t exactly give us the confidence to tender you an offer in the job you’re applying for.” Time to cut to the chase; she folded her paws on top of her desk and asked, “Do you plan on starting a career here with ConHugeCo?”
“Yes.” Her ears perked and the bear added, “I and my parents agreed that I should have some experience of the world before I settled down into a career. Of course, I got a degree before I started, so I’d have something to fall back on.”
An eyebrow rose. “That’s very smart.”
Maltravers gave an easy smile. “Thank you.”
“And the range of jobs you worked – that was part of this ‘gaining experience?’”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“So, Globaler Apotheker in Wurzburg, then to Alexandria . . . ʺ
“A family there was looking for a tutor to teach their children English.”
“Then back to Kansas City?”
He nodded. “The mortuary’s a family business, ever since Luciano Mortis started it in 1880.” Her gaze flicked to her monitor. The current head of the family said that Maltravers was a hard and uncomplaining worker. The al-Suleimani Family in Alexandria had expressed regret at his departure, saying that their sons liked him.
“And Guilin, China?”
“They were looking for volunteers to work at their wildlife sanctuary and research facility. For room and board,” he added with a chuckle. “It was very gratifying work.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. They’re trying to save the feral giant pandas. They’re beautiful animals, and their cubs are cute.” Another chuckle. “But a bit of a pawful, believe me. With my background, I was put to work helping formulate dietary supplements for their captive breeding program.”
“Which brings me to this item on your resume,” Wash said. “What, exactly, is a ‘panda fluffer?’”
Maltravers’ composure slipped a bit, and he looked nervous. “Well, one of the great problems they have with getting pandas to reproduce is that they’re not very good at having sex,” he said hesitantly, “so a bit of help was needed to, um, get the males in the mood, so to speak.” He met Wash’s gaze, and blinked as she sat there staring at him, slack-jawed. “Ms. Wash?”
“Hm? Wha- oh! Sorry about that – “
“My fault.”
“Well, you won’t be asked to do anything like that here,” the raccoon sow said. She quickly looked over the rest of his resume. “You’re applying for the chemist’s job in our Foods Division.”
The bear nodded.
“And you are prepared to make this your career?”
He smiled. “It’s what I trained for, Ma’am. The head of department at Globaler Apotheker – “
“Yes, Doctor Goldschmidt spoke very highly of you.” Wash smiled, but the expression was just the tiniest bit forced. “Welcome to ConHugeCo, Mr. Maltravers.”
end
A Thursday Prompt story
© 2020 by Walter Reimer
Prompt: serial
“Your ten o’clock is here, Ma’am.” Her assistant was an earnest young beagle, who seemed more than a little obsessive about punctuality. Still, the raccoon sow conceded, he was very good at his job. The answering smile she gave him faded as she looked over the online resume on her computer.
There was such a thing as a ‘serial employee,’ a person who regularly changed jobs for a variety of reasons, mostly due to simple incompetence. This fellow, though . . . the bear had gone through six jobs in the eight years since he had graduated from college with a BS in chemistry. The jobs were an eclectic mix of professional (he’d interned as a chemist with one of the huge pharmaceutical labs, at a very attractive salary) to the almost embarrassingly menial (running a digger for the Stabbem and Slabbem Mortuary in Kansas City, for minimum wage).
That brought up another point. Most people with an employment record like his rarely ventured from their home city or state. The applicant had – well, three of the jobs had been here in the United States, while the others had been in Germany, Egypt, and China. Complicating things further was the fact that all of these employers had supplied, upon request from her office, fairly glowing references.
She felt she had to have some face time with him. Just to try to understand him better.
Her ears perked and she hastily donned what she called her ‘professionally pleasant’ face. “Come in, please.”
The bear was about average height and build, with an open and friendly look about him. “Mr. Maltravers, good morning,” the sow said. “I’m Anita Wash.” She stood to shake paws with him, and waved him toward a chair. “I’ve asked you in for this interview because I have one or two questions about your resume.”
Maltravers sat forward, ears perked toward her. “Yes, Ma’am?”
“For starters, your employment history wouldn’t exactly give us the confidence to tender you an offer in the job you’re applying for.” Time to cut to the chase; she folded her paws on top of her desk and asked, “Do you plan on starting a career here with ConHugeCo?”
“Yes.” Her ears perked and the bear added, “I and my parents agreed that I should have some experience of the world before I settled down into a career. Of course, I got a degree before I started, so I’d have something to fall back on.”
An eyebrow rose. “That’s very smart.”
Maltravers gave an easy smile. “Thank you.”
“And the range of jobs you worked – that was part of this ‘gaining experience?’”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“So, Globaler Apotheker in Wurzburg, then to Alexandria . . . ʺ
“A family there was looking for a tutor to teach their children English.”
“Then back to Kansas City?”
He nodded. “The mortuary’s a family business, ever since Luciano Mortis started it in 1880.” Her gaze flicked to her monitor. The current head of the family said that Maltravers was a hard and uncomplaining worker. The al-Suleimani Family in Alexandria had expressed regret at his departure, saying that their sons liked him.
“And Guilin, China?”
“They were looking for volunteers to work at their wildlife sanctuary and research facility. For room and board,” he added with a chuckle. “It was very gratifying work.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. They’re trying to save the feral giant pandas. They’re beautiful animals, and their cubs are cute.” Another chuckle. “But a bit of a pawful, believe me. With my background, I was put to work helping formulate dietary supplements for their captive breeding program.”
“Which brings me to this item on your resume,” Wash said. “What, exactly, is a ‘panda fluffer?’”
Maltravers’ composure slipped a bit, and he looked nervous. “Well, one of the great problems they have with getting pandas to reproduce is that they’re not very good at having sex,” he said hesitantly, “so a bit of help was needed to, um, get the males in the mood, so to speak.” He met Wash’s gaze, and blinked as she sat there staring at him, slack-jawed. “Ms. Wash?”
“Hm? Wha- oh! Sorry about that – “
“My fault.”
“Well, you won’t be asked to do anything like that here,” the raccoon sow said. She quickly looked over the rest of his resume. “You’re applying for the chemist’s job in our Foods Division.”
The bear nodded.
“And you are prepared to make this your career?”
He smiled. “It’s what I trained for, Ma’am. The head of department at Globaler Apotheker – “
“Yes, Doctor Goldschmidt spoke very highly of you.” Wash smiled, but the expression was just the tiniest bit forced. “Welcome to ConHugeCo, Mr. Maltravers.”
end
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Raccoon
Size 120 x 92px
File Size 42.7 kB
Listed in Folders
eocostello suggested "panda fluffer" as the idea for a story, and I said I'd get it into the Prompt.Also, Luciano Mortis of the Stabbem and Slabbem Mortuary earned a reputation, out there on the frontier, as a fast paw with a pistol. Guess what his nickname was.
Comments