Grass for my Feet: "Do you play cricket?"

The job interview was at a hotel room in San Diego, California, during a major academic conference. A few chairs had been lined up outside the room, and, as I sat there, a pale, scrawny woman, who had just been interviewed, walked triumphantly out of the room with a dismissive glance in my direction, as if to say “You are not getting the job, loser, because I have already been selected”. Rather dejectedly, I walked in.

The room had two chairs and a large bed. Three white males, who turned out to be Americans, were waiting expectantly, the oldest seated on the chair and the other two on the bed. They were the interview committee. I was not surprised by the arrangement. Years before, while being interviewed for a job at another academic conference, I had been in stranger interview scenarios.

The person seated on the chair turned out to be the director of the ELT Unit, a renowned professor, who I knew by reputation, but the others were strangers. One was a roly-poly, jowly, balding, Mid-Westerner, and the other a lanky, younger person, who turned out to be an instructor. But, despite my face not matching my name, (the name is Western, but the face and skin color are not), they didn’t appear surprised or disappointed; in fact, they were friendly. The interview proceeded smoothly. The usual questions, about my qualifications, publications, teaching experience, were asked. After about 20 minutes, as I was getting ready leave, the fat guy raised his hand and said, “I have one more question."

I replied "Sure".

"Do you play cricket?”

I nearly fell off my chair. This question was beyond my wildest expectations. At an interview for an academic job, conducted in the United States, by three Americans, I was being asked about a very British sport, specifically cricket. I didn’t even expect them to know about the game. Most Americans know "cricket" as an insect. In shock, I could only retort “Of course I do. I am Sri Lankan. Do you”?

The fat guy threw up his hands in horror and said “I don’t. But my friend Pradip wanted me to ask you.” And that, friends, is how I got an English teaching job in Hong Kong. I actually spread that rumor after arriving in Hong Kong, and some people believed it!

I met Pradip. He taught in the ELT Unit. Knowing that a Sri Lankan was going to interviewed, he had been curious.

As for the pale, scrawny woman? To my great misfortune, she became my "colleague" for the next 15 years.