Rejection

I had been expecting some news on two entirely different fronts this week.

The first was a rather simple thing - the potential of having the opportunity to purchase Royals opening day tickets. I have not yet had the chance to see the most important game of the year for Kansas City baseball fans in my 18 years of life in this city. It's the one game that every team is on equal ground, everyone's record is 0-0 and it's the first chance to catch a glimpse of what could be in store for the rest of the season.

The home opener is the only game guaranteed to be a sellout every season. The game is played during the day and people gladly skip work to head out to Kaufman no matter what the weather is like. Tickets to the game are not available to the general public, however, if you are a member of the online ticket site, you can register for a chance to have the rights to buy a pair of tickets. I am a member of this site, so I registered.

The second piece of news I was expecting was on a much grander scale. A few weeks ago, I had applied for what would essentially be my dream job. Shockingly, not long after I submitted my resume, I landed a phone interview. Shortly after that, I went in for an all-day, in person interview that seemed to go rather well (I could be wrong on this topic, but perception is relative). I made sure to keep my expectations low because I don't actually need the position at this point in my career.

This morning, unexpectedly, I got the news on both topics within 90 minutes of each other. First was the job - a form letter from the HR department saying that they "have identified other individuals whose qualifications are more suitable for our particular needs at this time. Regrettably, we are unable to consider you further." This, while disappointing, was not particularly unexpected to me. However, the letter does not help me in any fashion going into the next interview for whatever position that I may find interesting in the future. Was my interview decent? Was I really being considered - or just a token to fill out a list of candidates? What could I do to improve my chances for the future? Now, by having taken that interview and receiving this response, I have not improved myself in any way whatsoever for the future because I have no feedback of any consequence.

Ninety minutes later, I find out that I was not selected for the rights to opening day tickets. Another dream gets crushed - again not entirely surprising. With the sudden 30 degree drop in temp from yesterday to today and the prospect of another week of the freezing cold, this week has gotten off to a pretty poor start. I'm pretty much not looking forward to anything right now. Why did I have to get so much bad news right at the beginning of the work week?