No Excuses<\/b><\/p>\n
by David Raffin\u00a0<\/em>from the book Rhyme or Treason\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Dear friend,<\/p>\n If ever I use you as a personal reference, please do not tell the interviewer about the time I burned down that orphanage.<\/p>\n If you do, at least have the decency not to tell them I laughed.<\/p>\n I do not think I am asking too much.<\/p>\n You know I had my reasons. While you understand that my heart is not hardened, you also surely understand my sense of fiscal responsibility. While I am not made of stone, neither am I made of gruel. When a child asks for more sometimes it is just too much for me.<\/p>\n I try to avoid all such issues completely during job interviews. I find it is best to focus on the positive. My track record. My accomplishments. My hobbies. I mean, I do tell them about the orphanage\u2014I just don\u2019t tell them I burned it down. And I certainly don\u2019t tell them I laughed. All I\u2019m asking is that you follow my lead. Back me up here.<\/p>\n If it comes up, when it comes up, I try to handle it to the best of my professional abilities. I wonder aloud who was really harmed by such an action. I mean in the big picture. I also pose the question: who was harmed more by my action, the children or me? Who\u2019s sorrier now? On whose shoulders did the repercussions fall? I think we all know the answer to that.<\/p>\n Luckily I am more well suited to bear this burden than the children ever could\u2019ve been, with my greater maturity and grander sense of purpose and civic duty.<\/p>\n Really. Just don\u2019t tell them. It will work out better that way.<\/p>\n They are never happy to hear about it. You wouldn\u2019t want to make someone, some stranger, unhappy for no real reason \u2014would you?<\/p>\n Frankly that\u2019s not the kind of person I thought you were. I know that\u2019s not the kind of person I picture myself as.<\/p>\n [amazon asin=B002OHD220&template=iframe image]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No Excuses by David Raffin\u00a0from the book Rhyme or Treason\u00a0 Dear friend, If ever I use you as a personal reference, please do not tell the interviewer about the time I burned down that orphanage. If you do, at least have the decency not to tell them I laughed. I do not think I am asking too much. You know I had my reasons. While you understand that my heart is not hardened, you also surely understand my sense of fiscal responsibility. While I am not made of stone, neither am I made of gruel. When a child asks for...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,12,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-my-books","category-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3u13S-3C","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4087,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/daydream-believers\/","url_meta":{"origin":224,"position":0},"title":"Daydream Believers","author":"David Raffin","date":"September 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Sophie tucked in for an afternoon nap. She didn\u2019t like the noise of the squabbling. It was disagreeable to her. She didn\u2019t like noisy train stations. Tried to hustle through them with cotton in her ears. But the sleeping cabin was warm, not too warm, and the noise was held\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My books"","block_context":{"text":"My books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1396,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/slice-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":224,"position":1},"title":"Slice of life","author":"David Raffin","date":"August 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"What is the relationship between being the judge of a pie baking contest, and the age old tradition of hiring on a food taster for royals with low approval ratings? \u201cIt is a shame,\" said the Queen to the jester, \u201cfor in addition to alerting me to potential poison, my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/img_7006.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/img_7006.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/img_7006.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/img_7006.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":870,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/trauma-bunny\/","url_meta":{"origin":224,"position":2},"title":"Trauma Bunny","author":"David Raffin","date":"April 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 People think Trauma Bunny is funny. Yes, even that time he was drowning in honey. People laughed and laughed and helped not at all. It was lucky for the bunny he got out of that sticky situation at all. Nightmares in the day has he. Yes, he is always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/info\/links\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/primitiveentertainment.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/04\/trauma-bunny.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1280,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/universal-robotics\/","url_meta":{"origin":224,"position":3},"title":"Universal robotics","author":"David Raffin","date":"April 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u202a\"But I don't think I need to be reprogrammed,\" said the robot.\u202c\u202a\"That is exactly the kind of thing we all say when we need reprogrammed,\" said the robot doctor. \u202c \u202a\"That does not compute,\" said the robot.\u202c \u202a\"Hey, who's the robot doctor here?\" said the robot doctor. Then she laughed.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My books"","block_context":{"text":"My books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2148,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/i-got-you-babe\/","url_meta":{"origin":224,"position":4},"title":"I got You, Babe","author":"David Raffin","date":"February 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Babe Ruth goes to see Carl Jung.","rel":"","context":"In "My books"","block_context":{"text":"My books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/13\/Babe_Ruth2.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1891,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/genie-genie-genie\/","url_meta":{"origin":224,"position":5},"title":"Genie, Genie, Genie","author":"David Raffin","date":"April 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A sparkling new podcast episode which dares tell the truth about wishes and the human heart. \"Winner Winner!\" \u201cDivertissement,\u201d \u201cP.I. Tchaikovsky Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,\u201d \u201cGhost Dance,\u201d \u201cI Knew a Guy,\" \u201cCamille Saint-Sans Danse Macabre\u201d by\u00a0Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under\u00a0Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 \u201cSomeone Else\u2019s Memories\u201d from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/MTT-s.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/MTT-s.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/MTT-s.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/MTT-s.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/MTT-s.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}