Interview Questions

The question was: "I am ready to interview my first manager on Monday, and need 10 good questions to ask." Most employers like to ask behavioral interview questions. Questions like these tap into your job candidate's previous behavior and performance, rather than questions that focus on what the interviewee might do in the future. Most companies have adopted a behavioral interviewing strategy because people's past performance tends to be the best indicators for their future performance. Also, an important part of our interviewing strategy is not just developing the right questions to ask, but also creating a list of adjectives that describes the traits you're looking for in the position (some of your interview questions should tap into making sure you're hiring the right person for the right position). For example, if I was hiring a store manager, these are some of the traits I'd be looking for: honesty/integrity, ability to manage people/leadership skills, creativity, strong communication skills, confidence, resourcefulness and organizational skills. Here are 12 behavioral/trait-based interview questions for you to ask your candidate, and a few things to keep in mind as you listen to the anwers: Question 1: What would motivate you to optimal performance? Answer: Not only should you be looking for the candidate to be motivated by money (especially if you're offering a bonus program which I highly suggest), but also get a sense that the candidate really loves managing people and making customers happy. Question 2: Can you tell me about a time at work when you faced a difficult situation and how you worked to resolve it? Answer: You're looking for an answer that ensures your candidate is resourceful and/or can handle a tough situation. Question 3: How would you measure the success of this position? Answer: You're looking for an answer that focuses on hitting the (sales) goals for the store while doing a great job managing the team. From my perspective, a great store manager is not only goal-oriented, but also loves working on a team. Question 4: Can you tell me about a time that you handled a tough customer situation, what happened and how did you resolve it? Answer: You're looking to make sure that the candidate has strong customer service skills. Question 5: Have you ever had to use your creativity/resourcefulness to solve a problem, what was the situation and how did you resolve it? Answer: Again, this question addresses resourcefulness and creativity. A variety of answers are acceptable as long as the candidate is referring to past examples instead of what they would do in the future. Question 6: What would you do if you suspected that an employee was stealing? Answer: You're looking for the manager to come to you, or investigate the situation. This question taps into their integrity and ethics.

Question 7: Are you the type of person for whom things never seem to fall through the cracks? Answer: The candidate shows a strong sense of ownership and organization and gives specific examples. Question 8: How do you feel about making a tough decision? Anwer: The candidate indicates that they are very comfortable and provides a specific example of doing so in the past. This question may also tap into their leadership skills as well. Question 9: What principles guide your conduct? Answer: Candidate stresses honesty, integrity, and truthfulness. Question 10: What role do you believe relationships play in making a sale? Annswer: Indicates relationships are very important to making a sale and in creating repeat customers. Question 11: What do you use to develop a quick rapport with customers? Do you use any special techniques? Answer: Identifies specific techniques for developing a rapport/connecting with customers. Question 12: How important is it for you to develop a strong rapport with your employees? Why is that? Answer: Emphasizes the importance creating a relationship with staff so they are happy and feel motivated to perform. Good luck. Interviews are always challenging for everyone involved. I'd love to hear about the results.

ABOUT DRDO
DRDO was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the then already functioning Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organisation (DSO). DRDO was then a small organisation with 10 establishments or laboratories. Over the years, it has grown multi-directionally in terms of the variety of subject disciplines, number of laboratories, achievements and stature. Today, DRDO is a network of more than 50 laboratories which are deeply engaged in developing defence technologies covering various disciplines, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing and simulation, special materials, naval systems, life sciences, training, information systems and agriculture. Presently, the Organisation is backed by over 5000 scientists and about 25,000 other scientific, technical and supporting personnel. Several major projects for the development of missiles, armaments, light combat aircrafts, radars, electronic warfare systems etc are on hand and significant achievements have already been made in several such technologies.

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) works under Department of Defence Research and Development of Ministry of Defence. DRDO dedicatedly working towards enhancing self-reliance in Defence Systems and undertakes design & development leading to production of world class weapon systems and equipment in accordance with the expressed needs and the qualitative requirements laid down by the three services.
Vision & Mission Vision

DRDO is working in various areas of military technology which include aeronautics, armaments, combat vehicles, electronics, instrumentation engineering systems, missiles, materials, naval systems, advanced computing, simulation and life sciences. DRDO while striving to meet the Cutting edge weapons technology requirements provides ample spinoff benefits to the society at large thereby contributing to the nation buliding.

Make India prosperous by establishing world class science and technology base and provide our Defence Services decisive edge by equipping them with internationally competitive systems and solutions.
Mission

Design, develop and lead to production state-of-the-art sensors, weapon systems, platforms and allied equipment for our Defence Services. Provide technological solutions to the Services to optimise combat effectiveness and to promote well-being of the troops. Develop infrastructure and committed quality manpower and build strong indigenous technology base

Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, SA to RM, Secretary, Defence R&D- Scientific Adisor

Research Boards of DRDO: 1) Aeronautics Research and Development Board 2) Armaments Research Board 3) Naval Research Board 4) Life Sciences Research Board

DRDO launches Prithvi II successfully on 9 June 2011. Defence Food Research laboratory was established in 1961.

DRDO successfully flight-tested its indigenous surface-to-surface strategic missile Prithvi (P-

II) on 26 September 2011 from ITR, Chandipur, Orissa.

Dr W Selvamurthy, Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller R&D (LS & IC), launched Lukoskin, a herbal product for Leucoderma, on 7 September 2011 in DRDO Bhawan. The product, developed by Defence Institute of Bio-energy Research (DIBER) (formerly Defence Agricultural Research Laboratory), Haldwani, will be a boon for the patients of Leucoderma.

Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune celebrated its 53 Raising Day in a grand manner on 1 September 2011. Shri Anil M Datar, Outstanding Scientist and Director, ARDE.

rd

Dr Prahlada takes over as Vice Chancellor of Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune.

Missile systems
Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) was developed by Indian Government to develop missile design and development. Some of the missiles are as follows: Prithvi Agni The Akash is a medium range surface to air missile system The Trishul is a short range SAM.( Surface-to-Air Missile) The Nag Anti-tank guided missile (Snake in English) is a guided missile system Brahmos missile Prahaar is a solid-fueled surface-to-surface guided short-range tactical ballistic missile by DRDO of India. Arjun Main Battle Tank. Akash Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile.

Major Products/Technologies

Air-Borne Telemetry Receiving System All Electric Type Weapon Control System for ICV Antenna Systems Bhima Biomedical Devices for Internal Use (Implants) Biomedical Devices for External Use Briefcase SATCOM Terminal Code Programme Diagnostic Products for Infection Imaging EOCM-Class Laser System Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) FSAPDS, Ammunition Indigenous X-Ray Industrial Tomography System Integrated Weapon System Simulation Kaveri Engine Lakshya Laser Warning Sensors Light Combat Aircraft Manipulator Arm MBT Arjun Missiles (Agni, Prithvi, Nag, Trishul, Akash) MMIC Model-Based Data Fusion Naval Weapon Systems Nishant Palmtop Green Microchip Laser Module Pan/Tilt Platform for Vision Systems Pinaka RaDIATion Protection Products Rajendra Radar Rapid Quantification & Detection Techniques Pesticides In Fruits & Vegetables Recovery Parachute System Sangraha Sanyukta Special Materials Technology for Dengue Control Technology for Titanium Sponge Production PASSAGES

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Aesop, a Greek author famous for his fables, is supposed to have lived from about 620 to 560 B.C. Aesop's fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments, especially children's plays and cartoons. Aesop's fables are brief, succinct stories featuring animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and illustrate moral lessons which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim (saying). Click any chapter on the right. Next, click "start test" button and begin typing. A WOLF, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf's right to eat him. He thus addressed him: "Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me." "Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was not then born." Then said the Wolf, "You feed in my pasture." "No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted grass." Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well." "No," exclaimed the Lamb, "I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me." Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations." --The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny. A BAT who fell upon the ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be spared his life. The Weasel refused, saying that he was by nature the enemy of all birds. The Bat assured him that he was not a bird, but a mouse, and thus was set free. Shortly afterwards the Bat again fell to the ground and was caught by another Weasel, whom he likewise entreated not to eat him. The Weasel said that he had a special hostility to mice. The Bat assured him that he was not a mouse, but a bat, and thus a second time escaped. --It is wise to turn circumstances to good account. A LION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." The Lion laughed and let him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came gnawed the rope with his teeth, and set him free, exclaimed "You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor; I now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to con benefits on a Lion."

A CHARCOAL-BURNER carried on his trade in his own house. One day he met a friend, a Fuller, and entreated him to come and live with him, saying that they should be far better neighbors and that their housekeeping expenses would be lessened. The Fuller replied, "The arrangement is impossible as far as I am concerned, for whatever I should whiten, you would immediately blacken again with your charcoal." --Like will draw like. BOY was hunting for locusts. He had caught a goodly number, when he saw a Scorpion, and mistaking him for a locust, reached out his hand to take him. The Scorpion, showing his sting, said: "If you had but touched me, my friend, you would have lost me, and all your locusts too!" COCK, scratching for food for himself and his hens, found a precious stone and exclaimed: "If your owner had found thee, and not I, he would have taken thee up, and have set thee in thy first estate; but I have found thee for no purpose. I would rather have one barleycorn than all the jewels in the world." HE BEASTS of the field and forest had a Lion as their king. He was neither wrathful, cruel, nor tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could be. During his reign he made a royal proclamation for a general assembly of all the birds and beasts, and drew up conditions for a universal league, in which the Wolf and the Lamb, the Panther and the Kid, the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, should live together in perfect peace and amity. The Hare said, "Oh, how I have longed to see this day, in which the weak shall take their place with impunity by the side of the strong." And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life. WOLF who had a bone stuck in his throat hired a Crane, for a large sum, to put her head into his mouth and draw out the bone. When the Crane had extracted the bone and demanded the promised payment, the Wolf, grinning and grinding his teeth, exclaimed: "Why, you have surely already had a sufficient recompense, in having been permitted to draw out your head in safety from the mouth and jaws of a wolf." --In serving the wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pains.

FISHERMAN skilled in music took his flute and his nets to the seashore. Standing on a projecting rock, he played several tunes in the hope that the fish, attracted by his melody, would of their own accord dance into his net, which he had placed below. At last, having long waited in vain, he laid aside his flute, and casting his net into the sea, made an excellent haul of fish. When he saw them leaping about in the net upon the rock he said: "O you most perverse creatures, when I piped you would not dance, but now that I have ceased you do so merrily." CARTER was driving a wagon along a country lane, when the wheels sank down deep into a rut. The rustic driver, stupefied and aghast, stood looking at the wagon, and did nothing but utter loud cries to Hercules to come and help him. Hercules, it is said, appeared and thus addressed him: "Put your shoulders to the wheels, my man. Goad on your bullocks, and never more pray to me for help, until you have done your best to help yourself, or depend upon it you will henceforth pray in vain." --Self-help is the best help. TRAVELER about to set out on a journey saw his Dog stand at the door stretching himself. He asked him sharply: "Why do you stand there gaping? Everything is ready but you, so come with me instantly." The Dog, wagging his tail, replied: "O, master! I am quite ready; it is you for whom I am waiting." --The loiterer often blames delay on his more active friend. Once upon a time, when the Field-Mouse was out gathering wild beans for the winter, his neighbor, the Buffalo, came down to graze in the meadow. This the little Mouse did not like, for he knew that the other would mow down all the long grass with his prickly tongue, and there would be no place in which to hide. He made up his mind to offer battle like a man. "Ho, Friend Buffalo, I challenge you to a fight!" he exclaimed in a small, squeaking voice. he Buffalo paid no attention, thinking it only a joke. The Mouse angrily repeated the challenge, and still his enemy went on quietly grazing. Then the little Mouse laughed with contempt as he offered his defiance. The Buffalo at last looked at him and replied carelessly: "You better keep still, little one, or I shall come over there and step on you, and there will be nothing left!" "You can't do it!" the Mouse replied.

"I tell you to keep still, "insisted the Buffalo, who was getting angry. "If you speak to me again, I shall certainly come and put an end to you!" "I dare you to do it!" said the Mouse, provoking him. Thereupon the other rushed upon him. He trampled the grass clumsily and tore up the earth with his front hoofs. When he had ended, he looked for the Mouse, but he could not see him anywhere. "I told you I would step on you, and there would be nothing left!" he muttered. Just then he felt a scratching inside his right ear. He shook his head as hard as he could, and twitched his ears back and forth. The gnawing went deeper and deeper until he was half wild with the pain. He pawed with his hoofs and tore up the sod with his horns. Bellowing madly, he ran as fast as he could, first straight forward and then in circles, but at last he stopped and stood trembling. Then the Mouse jumped out of his ear and said: "Will you own now that I am the master?" "No!" bellowed the Buffalo, and again he started toward the Mouse, as if to trample him under his feet. The little fellow was nowhere to be seen, but in a minute the Buffalo felt him in the other ear. Once more he became wild with pain, and ran here and there over the prairie, at times leaping high in the air. At last he fell to the ground and lay quite still. The Mouse came out of his ear, and stood proudly upon his dead body. "Eho!" said he, "I have killed the greatest of all beasts. This will show to all that I am the master!" Standing upon the body of the dead Buffalo, he called loudly for a knife with which to dress his game. In another part of the meadow, Red Fox, very hungry, was hunting mice for his breakfast. He saw one and jumped upon him with all four feet, but the little Mouse got away, and he was terribly disappointed. All at once he thought he heard a distant call: "Bring a knife! Bring a knife !" When the second call came, Red Fox started in the direction of the sound. At the first knoll he stopped and listened, but hearing nothing more, he was about to go back. Just then he heard the call plainly, but in a very thin voice, "Bring a knife!" Red Fox immediately set out again and ran as fast as he could. y and by he came upon the huge body of the Buffalo lying upon the ground. The little Mouse still stood upon the body. "I want you to dress this Buffalo for me and I will give you some of the meat," commanded the Mouse. "Thank you, my friend, I shall be glad to do this for you," he replied, politely. The Fox dressed the Buffalo, while the Mouse sat upon a mound near by, looking on and giving his

orders. "You must cut the meat into small pieces," he said to the Fox. When the Fox had finished his work, the Mouse paid him with a small piece of liver. He swallowed it quickly and smacked his lips. Please, may I have another piece?" he asked quite humbly. "Why, I gave you a very large piece! How greedy you are!" exclaimed the Mouse. "You may have some of the blood clots," he sneered. So the poor Fox took the blood clots and even licked off the grass. He was really very hungry. "Please may I take home a piece of the meat?" he begged. "I have six little folks at home, and there is nothing for them to eat." "You can take the four feet of the Buffalo. That ought to be enough for all of you!" Hi, hi! Thank you, thank you!" said the Fox. "But, Mouse, I have a wife also, and we have had bad luck in hunting. We are almost starved. Can't you spare me a little more?" "Why," declared the Mouse, "I have already overpaid you for the little work you have done. However, you can take the head, too!" Thereupon the Fox jumped upon the Mouse, who gave one faint squeak and disappeared. --If you are proud and selfish you will lose all in the end. There was once a young man who wanted to go on a journey. His mother provided him with sacks of dried meat and pairs of moccasins, but his father said to him: "Here, my son, are four magic arrows. When you are in need, shoot one of them!" The young man went forth alone, and hunted in the forest for many days. Usually he was successful, but a day came when he was hungry and could not find meat. Then he sent forth one of the magic arrows, and at the end of the day there lay a fat Bear with the arrow in his side. The hunter cut out the tongue for his meal, and of the body of the Bear he made a thank-offering to the Great Mystery. Again he was in need, and again in the morning he shot a magic arrow, and at nightfall beside his campfire he found an Elk lying with the arrow in his heart. Once more he ate the tongue and offered up the body as a sacrifice. The third time he killed a Moose with his arrow, and the fourth time a Buffalo. After the fourth arrow had been spent, the young man came one day out of the forest, and before him there lay a great circular village of skin lodges. At one side, and some little way from the rest of the people, he noticed a small and poor tent where an old couple lived all alone. At the edge of the wood he took off his clothes and hid them in a hollow tree. hen, touching the top of his head with his staff, he turned himself into a little ragged boy and went toward the poor tent. The old woman saw

him coming, and said to her old man: "Old man, let us keep this little boy for our own! He seems to be a fine, bright-eyed little fellow, and we are all alone." "What are you thinking of, old woman?" grumbled the old man. "We can hardly keep ourselves, and yet you talk of taking in a ragged little scamp from nobody knows where!" In the meantime the boy had come quite near, and the old wife beckoned to him to enter the lodge. Sit down, my grandson, sit down!" she said, kindly; and, in spite of the old man's black looks, she handed him a small dish of parched corn, which was all the food they had. The boy ate and stayed on. By and by he said to the old woman: "Grandmother, I should like to have grandfather make me some arrows!" "You hear, my old man?" said she. "It will be very well for you to make some little arrows for the boy." "And why should I make arrows for a strange little ragged boy?" grumbled the old man. However, he made two or three, and the boy went hunting. In a short time he returned with several small birds. The old woman took them and pulled off the feathers, thanking him and praising him as she did so. She quickly made the little birds into soup, of which the old man ate gladly, and with the soft feathers she stuffed a small pillow. "You have done well, my grandson!" he said; for they were really very poor. Not long after, the boy said to his adopted grandmother: "Grandmother, when you see me at the edge of the wood yonder, you must call out: 'A Bear! there goes a Bear!' "' This she did, and the boy again sent forth one of the magic arrows, which he had taken from the body of his game and kept by him. No sooner had he shot, than he saw the same Bear that he had offered up, lying before him with the arrow in his side! Now there was great rejoicing in the lodge of the poor old couple. While they were out skinning the Bear and cutting the meat in thin strips to dry, the boy sat alone in the lodge. In the pot on the fire was the Bear's tongue, which he wanted for himself. All at once a young girl stood in the doorway. She drew her robe modestly before her face as she said in a low voice: "I come to borrow the mortar of your grandmother!" The boy gave her the mortar, and also a piece of the tongue which he had cooked, and she went away. When all of the Bear meat was gone, the boy sent forth a second arrow and killed an Elk, and with the third and fourth he shot the Moose and the Buffalo as before, each time recovering his arrow.

Soon after, he heard that the people of the large village were in trouble. A great Red Eagle, it was said, flew over the village every day at dawn, and the people believed that it was a bird of evil omen, for they no longer had any success in hunting. None of their braves had been able to shoot the Eagle, and the chief had offered his only daughter in marriage to the man who should kill it. When the boy heard this, he went out early the next morning and lay in wait for the Red Eagle. At the touch of his magic arrow, it fell at his feet, and the boy pulled out his arrow and went home without speaking to any one. But the thankful people followed him to the poor little lodge, and when they had found him, they brought the chief's beautiful daughter to be his wife. Lo, she was the girl who had come to borrow his grandmother's mortar! Then he went back to the hollow tree where his clothes were hidden, and came back a handsome young man, richly dressed for his wedding. Weren't they supposed to put in a left-hand turn lane three years ago? he thought as he waited through three lights at the intersection with Exchange Street. The rain started when he crossed Miller, increased as he turned onto the professional building's drive. Walking in from the physicians parking lot, his umbrella was useless against the sheets of water blown in a pelting slant. He didn't make it up to the office until almost 8:30, and he sat shivering in wet clothes while he tried to race through the morning's files. His first patient was running late. She took up more time than she had been allotted for her presurgical, repeating all kinds of inane questions about her upcoming procedure. Except for the occasional episode of teenage acne, he rarely saw anyone under forty.He specialized in cosmetic dermatology-Botox injections, chemical peels, nail fungus treatments. Hopeless cases of upper-middle-aged women trying to look the way they did at twenty. Imploring him like Rumplestiltskin to spin straw into gold. Stiltskin, yes, that's exactly how they saw him. As if he might boost up faces with the lift of a magic wand. These people kept him in business, but he knew what they refused to admit: youth is only eternal in fairy tales. Blend in the age spots, smooth out the wrinkles, thicken the lips-still, old is old. No one can escape it. The doctor reveled in it. He wore his age like a weapon, like an accusation, refusing even the mildest of his own remedies.Once he had wanted to change people's lives, save them from the crippling effects of facial disfigurement. Now he only wanted to make it through each day. The doctor had a very comfortable

routine. He rose every morning at six o' clock, sipped coffee and watched the weather report. In the office by 7:30 to review files and get ready for the first patient at nine. He would prescribe creams and ointments, perform minor surgical procedures under local anesthetic, do follow-up checks. Two hours off for lunch, then out the door by five on the dot. Stop by the florist for a fresh bouquet-something to match up with the multifloral pattern of Clara's curtains, all the better if on sale. Home by six to catch the evening news while he ate whatever the housekeeper had prepared him for dinner. Though he used to enjoy cooking occasionally, he'd rarely touched the stove since Clara died, some twenty-odd years ago. Didn't seem worth the energy to cook for one. The housekeeper made large meals that could be frozen in individual portions, placed a different selection in the oven to warm for him each night. He ate slowly, commenting to himself on one news story or another, and left the dishes in the sink. In bed by nine, where he would read the latest medical journals, lingering over photos of freakish skin disease. Cutting-edge disorders undergoing treatment at cutting-edge clinics with whole staffs of researchers and technicians. A private practice like his, in an off-the-map town like Pekore, Ohio, couldn't compete. New York, Houston, even Cleveland-that's where things were happening. But Clara had picked this place. A place for children to roam shady neighborhoods, a place for lives instead of careers. So Pekore was where he stayed. Now, the pages in these monthly journals were his sustenance. He found some meaning, in the painful beauty of human eyes suffering behind inhuman faces, that was entirely absent from his own office full of truly ugly people parading through with their psyches shattered over trifles. At 10:30, by an instinct so ingrained that his bedside clock had become a redundancy, he would tear himself away from even the most engaging of case studies, mark and close his journal, switch the light and fall almost instantly into an animal sleep. It was not a strenuous existence. He didn't like to be strained. But on this particular Monday, he was strained. The late-spring weather hung low and heavy, with crackles of lightning threatening to burst the sky open. A fire at one of the old farmhouses along 271 had emergency vehicles blocking his usual route. When he tried to turn around, the crowd of gathered on-lookers slowed his retreat. Then traffic on Mason Road, his only alternate,

inched forward at less than half the normally crawling rush-hour pace. Weren't they supposed to put in a left-hand turn lane three years ago? he thought as he waited through three lights at the intersection with Exchange Street. The rain started when he crossed Miller, increased as he turned onto the professional building's drive. Walking in from the physicians parking lot, his umbrella was useless against the sheets of water blown in a pelting slant. He didn't make it up to the office until almost 8:30, and he sat shivering in wet clothes while he tried to race through the morning's files. His first patient was running late. She took up more time than she had been allotted for her presurgical, repeating all kinds of inane questions about her upcoming procedure. Would she need someone to drive her home? Of course not-only a small amount of lidocain is used locally. How soon would she be able to return to work? "There's no light," the doctor said, pointing to the two doors. Large red lights had been installed over the center of each door, but neither was lit up. "How am I supposed to know which room is next?" "I' m sorry," his nurse said. She fingered the dial on her hearing aid, gave a nervous little whimper of a laugh. "It must have slipped my mind. Room one is next. Mole removal. Then three for a first consult." The doctor shook his head. He disliked the nurse. Disliked the way things slipped her mind, disliked her habit of fooling with her hearing aid every time she was under pressure, disliked her cheery commentary during surgery, her skinny ankles sticking out of scrubs that were always a little too short. She was a constant annoyance to him. But she had been irritating him for nearly fifteen years, and he was sure that her familiar irritation was better than the new, unknown irritation of any possible replacement. "I don't know why I bother," the doctor muttered as he opened the door to room one. "Put up lights to make things easier on myself, and you can't even remember to use them." He said little as he sliced the mole off the man's back. He was glad this patient was male-no small-talk would be expected. He didn't even pause to look reflectively out the window and offer an observation on the weather like he normally did. He was behind schedule. The mole was unsightly but not dangerous. The man's wife probably sent him in. The doctor had performed thousands of mole removals, but in his agitation he cut a little too quickly, headed too deep and had to reposition the blade. The wound came out jagged-looking, not a perfect circle. He could hear the wife

already, complaining, demanding the refund or the blemish smoothed. It would be easy enough to fix, but not now. He put a band-aid over the spot, instructed the man to clean it with hydrogen peroxide and antibiotic cream, apply steroidal ointment to the scar twice daily after the scab had fallen off, wait for a call with the lab results. He hurried on to room three, noting that the nurse had uselessly managed to turn the light on now that he already knew where he was headed. "What seems to be the problem today?" the doctor asked as he crossed the threshold of the exam room, not looking up from the chart the nurse had prepared even though he wasn't reading it. "Nothing 'seems' to be the problem," said a voice surprising for its rawness and youth. "If you want to know what is the problem, I have a mole. New, and too dark." "I see," the doctor said. The patient was a thin blond girl, fair complexioned, sixteen from the age on her chart, though she looked younger. She was already lifting her t-shirt, pointing to a spot a little above and to the left of her navel. The doctor balked at her abruptness. "Is your mother here?" "In the waiting room," the girl said. "Where she should be." "I see." He took the magnifying glass out of the pocket of his lab coat to inspect. It was alarmingly dark-almost black against the paleness of her skin. He thought he saw the tell-tale traces of a red highlight over the dark circle, but cursed his eyes for their murky imprecision even with the aid of magnification. "Yes," he said. "It needs to come off." He turned to the nurse. "Make a record, atypical nevus, upper left quadrant abdomen, unraised, approximately two millimeters diameter, abnormal darkening, slight irregularities of color and border. Propose shave for biopsy." The nurse placed her glasses ridiculously at the end of her nose and scratched out her untidy version of his words. "Am I supposed to know what the hell all that means?" the girl said, letting her shirt fall back. "It could mean many things," the doctor said. Why did he feel like he was defending himself? "Medical terminology aside, the simple fact is that the mole may or may not be problematic. For missing the information about the girl's father on her chart. She had made no excuses. The doctor was taken aback. She had never apologized to him, in his memory. he'd been unnecessarily short with her. Perhaps it was time to make amends. On Monday night, the doctor mixed himself a drink-something he hadn't done in years. He

wondered if scotch continued the aging process as it sat gathering dust in a cabinet, or if it just went off. He sipped gingerly. It tasted all right. A little strong, perhaps, but he supposed that a result of his long absence, its strangeness to his tongue. He took another sip, less cautious now, and swilled it a moment around his mouth before letting it slide, warm and smooth, through his chest and stomach. The theater group meeting schedule was still in his pocket. He removed it. She was not an actress, it turned out. She worked on set design, behind the scenes. he'd told her she should find her way to the stage. She'd responded with a dubious tilt of her head. The doctor sipped scotch and looked again at the drawing, thinking he was not the one to decide which direction her talents might take her. He folded the paper neatly back into squares, slipped it under the front cover of the latest issue of The American Journal of Dermapathology.