This story plays out all the time. Three teen girls came in my Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop the other day and one said, “can all three of us have job applications?” So, I gave them job applications knowing full well this was a waste of paper.

Then, they blew my mind by asking for THREE PENS!!! I had to go in the back office to find another pen; I only had two out front.

Oh know, that was only the beginning. It was getting comical now because we weren’t even open yet. The closed sign was very visible, and the door was shut, the lights were off and there was no music. It was pretty obvious we were closed. The door was unlocked because we had been in the process of taking out the patio furniture. So, they marched right in.

Then, you’re not going to believe this, but they asked if they could fill out the applications right there even though, I think, they now realized we were not open yet, AND could they EACH have a cup of water!

I challenge anyone reading this if they don’t believe me to ask any restaurant or retail merchant owner or general manager if this or something similar has happened to them. You’ll be blown away. And it happens all the time, at every business!

The final blow came when, “the leader”, went and used our restroom. Golly gee wiz, I was now working for them!

They did, although return the pens and said thank you, but they took about 15 minutes of our time that should have been using to open our shop. To the three, they thought this was perfectly normal, that they weren’t disrupting a business that was trying to open for the day…and, that they had no chance at an interview let alone a job because of it.

If I had even remotely thought of interviewing one of them, which one would I have chosen? Who was the fastest learner? Which one would have been on time for work? Who would have been the best employee?

What if I interviewed all 3 and one got the job? Do you still think they would be friends?

Moral of this story is go alone, threes a crowd!

Written by Lee, The Job Guy