Jonathan Hale applied for a job as an insurance salesman.
Where the form requested “prior experience” he wrote “lifeguard.” The lead recruiter, Ms. Evelyn Hartley, adjusted her reading glasses and stared at the single line typed in the “Prior Experience” section:
Experience: Lifeguard.
No dates. No location. No glowing testimonials or metrics of past performance. Just one stark word.
Evelyn looked up. “Mr. Hale,” she began with polite formality, “this role requires resilience, persuasion, and the ability to gain trust quickly. We’re looking for someone who can not only sell insurance, but who can sell themselves. You put down… lifeguard. That’s it.”
Jonathan gave a calm nod. “That’s right.”
“How does that qualify you to sit across this table?” she asked, skepticism lacing her voice.
He leaned forward, folding his hands. “May I tell you a story?”
The panel exchanged glances. Evelyn gestured slightly, permitting him to go on.
“I was seventeen. Needed a summer job. There was an opening at the city pool for a lifeguard. I’d never done it before, but I needed the money and I needed the chance.”
“And were you certified?” asked one of the panelists.
He smiled. “No.”
“You’d been a strong swimmer, then?”
He paused, his smile deepening into something almost… confessional. “I didn’t know how to swim at all.”
He got the job.
A 97-year-old man goes into the insurance and says to the insurer:
“Hello, my son. I want to have a life insurance policy.”
Perplexed by the old man, the insurer asks: “Sorry for the indiscretion, but why do you want to make life insurance?”
“You know my son I will travel with my father to Europe.”
Even more perplexed the insurer, asks: “Again, sorry, but how old is your father?”
“127. ”
“127? And what will you do in Europe?”
He answers: “We will go to my grandfather’s wedding.”
Even more shocked the insurer asks: “And how old is your grandfather?”
“He is … Oh, 150.”
And the insurer ready to hear everything now, asks: “Oh well, how come your grandfather wants to get married at this age?”
“Bullshit, you know his parents are pressing him!”
