TULLY'S CORNER: Meet Vickie (and Becky) Knapp from Reno

TULLY’S CORNER

Introducing Vickie  (and Becky) Knapp:

Today I invited myself to sit down at the tall corner table next to the window and just in front of the community bulletin board inside , where a nice young girl looked both alone and kind enough to share her story:

Turns out her name is Vickie Knapp and she is 16 years old and visiting Pleasanton for the first time from her hometown in Reno, Nevada. She gets lots of sister points from me, because the only reason she came was to provide company for her 21-year-old, sister, Becky, who had to drive from their home in Reno, to Tully’s in Pleasanton, for her fourth (and let’s hope final), interview with still more executives from R.F. MacDonald Co.

 If you know me even a little, you know I put job interviews right up there with OB/GYN appointments.  I understand they’re necessary, but who doesn’t just want them over with as quickly and painlessly as possible?

So bless both of their hearts.  With the current price of gas, and nothing but a casual interrogation by two men in shirts waiting at Tully’s, still they left at 5 a.m. to drive four long hours to reach their Pleasanton destination on time.

Oh, just hire her and get it over with.  Honestly.

Anyway, Vickie was just as pleasant and sweet as she could be.  She is a sophomore in high school, just recently received her driver’s permit, and I have no doubt she’ll be a great success in life, as science is her favorite subject. When she’s not busy with school or homework, she’s hanging out with friends, going to the movies or reading her favorite author, Ellen Hopkins.

I’m guessing part of her good nature is the result of growing up with 4 other siblings; two older brothers, one older and one younger sister, and loving parents of course.

When I asked her about her initial impressions of Pleasanton, she said, “People told me I would love it.  I would want to move here.  It’s very pretty.  I like it here.”

 Every once in a while, I would glance over with great compassion, and see that her sister was still being interrogated  - I mean, interviewed, by the two men.   By the time I had arrived, Vickie had been sitting alone for almost an hour.

“What are your plans afterward?”  I asked her. “We have a lot more to offer than this — some great restaurants, fun shopping, cool trails.”

And that’s when I learned that unless I intervened, they would have spent four hours driving, then one hour interviewing  (and for Vickie, one hour just waiting) and then straight back in the car for the four-hour drive home.

On my next glance over toward Becky, I noticed they were finally wrapping things up, so invited myself over to, you know, help out.

I introduced myself as a freelance writer for Pleasanton Patch, briefly explained my “random and/or intentional interviews at Tully’s Corner column,”  and requested a business card of theirs for the link in the story, “and hey, it’s free marketing.”

Then I leaned in a little closer, and said, “You are taking these girls to lunch aren’t you?  You’re not going to let them drive 4 hours here, and then 4 hours back, without a nice lunch, I hope.”

And to their credit, ("their" being:  Jim MacDonald, President, R.F. MacDonald Co., and Robert Sygiel, Vice President of Pump Division) well, they politely provided some cash that would allow these two beautiful young sisters to enjoy lunch here in Pleasanton before they headed home.

Becky has a favorite salad at the , and they both like that restaurant, so I offered directions to . They plugged it in their GPS, and we went our separate ways.

I’m going to trust that no company would even request a fourth interview, especially if it included such a long drive, unless they were very interested in hiring that individual.  So... “Congratulations Becky!”   I wish you much success in all you do!