Say you’ve got this job. It’s a job serving the public, which, as any former retail slave will tell you, is often no picnic. So you kind of want a different job. You go to one of those fancy employment websites on the internet, and they tell you that networking is a much more effective way to find a good job than just blindly sending out résumés. Great, you think. But you’re not going to come up with any opportunities hanging out with your deadbeat friends in your off hours, and the only people you meet at work are your customers. What to do? Use what resources are available to you, the website advises. And so you do. Unfortunately, the one thing that none of the employment websites tell you is that when your icebreaker is wondering aloud whether your new potential networking contact is about to be incarcerated, you’re probably dead in the water.

Quote of the Week

At a bank on K Street, a man in a suit is getting a cashier’s check from a young female teller:

Man: “Would you please make that out to ‘Clerk, D.C. Court of Appeals?”’
Woman:[gasps] “You goin’ ta jail?!?”
Man: [clearly surprised by the question] “No, I’m a lawyer trying to get registered with the D.C. Bar.”
Woman: “Oh.” [perks up] “Hey, you need a secretary?”

After the jump, causes worth fighting for, a TSA lecture waiting to happen, and childish games for a neurotic age.

Judging from our swollen mailbox, spring is the season for eavesdropping. Send your overheard exchanges to overheardindc (at) gmail (dot) com.

Photo by Flickr user Kelly Nigro.