Personnel part 5
By boomer 



Another day in the personnel office of the large department store I work
for.  It had been some time since I had had the opportunity to armwrestle a
potential employee, so I pretty much put it out of my mind and actually
concentrated on work.  I was busy doing some routine paperwork when the
receptionist announced that my next interview had arrived.

I read from her application that her name was Lacey and she was a student
looking for part time work.  Normally I frown upon part time help since it
limited the scheduling flexibility of the department managers.  However,
the store had many openings so I figured what was there to lose.

As it turns out, it was one of the luckiest decisions I made in a long
time.

There was a knock on the door and I called out for her to come on in.  Into
my office walked a very attractive young lady of 21 years old.  I estimated
her height to be about 5'4" tall and she had a slender build that looked to
have her weigh about 110 pounds.  She had shoulder length brown hair which
had that natural sheen which is to me very attractive.  She was wearing
slacks and a long sleeved sweater so my muscle antenna was not on any kind
of alert.  She was just a naturally good-looking girl.

We started the interview and I found out she was a student at the local
community college.  She attended class 3 times a week and was available for
work when not in school. She had a pleasant personality, albeit a little
cocky and self assured.  These being character traits I admire in job
candidates, we continued our interview.  I inquired if she was available to
work nights, and this was when the interview took a most pleasant turn.

She informed me she couldn't work nights as she attended karate class each
day at 6 p.m.  Hearing this my ultra perceptive senses came to full alert.
I asked her how long she had been taking karate and if she was any good.
Lacey told me she had been into karate for a couple of years on and off,
and currently was a red belt with a couple of stripes, which of course
meant nothing to me.  Having already decided that she was going to be
hired, I knew it was time to press on with the more important aspects of
the interview.

I asked her what benefits she derived from karate.  Lacey told me that
basically it gave her tremendous self confidence to know that she could
handle herself in a difficult situation.  I asked if she ever had to use
her skills in a real life situation, and she sounded sad when she told me
no.

Moving in for the kill now I asked if she could show me a move or two.  I
wasn't looking for body flips and the like but just to see what she could
do.  We both got up and squared off in a sparring position.  I had no
intentions of hitting her, but I threw a couple of quick jabs at her.  She
was able to fend these off with what seemed like little or no effort.   I
threw a couple more with a little more intensity and once again Lacey was
able to deflect the blows.

I told her that she seemed to possess good defensive skills, but that I
wanted to see what she could do in attack.  We once again faced off in a
sparring position, and once again I threw a couple of jabs her way.  This
time after deflecting my attempts, she threw a quick one, two right back at
me.

I won't say I didn't see them coming, but that didn't help me much as I was
totally unable to deflect them.  She was pulling her punches so it was
merely a flick to my jaw and a follow up to my chest.  Before I could
compliment her my leg was hit by a kick.  I had seen enough for the time
being.

I complimented her on her speed and asked how hard she was able to hit if
we had been sparring for real.  I turned and told her to hit my arm as hard
as she could.  This is always a fun way of finding out how hard a girl can
hit.  Lacey told me she was reluctant to hit me as hard as she could for
fear of hurting me.  I couldn't resist a laugh, and this seemed to irritate
her.  I told her I was no stranger to the gym, and really didn't think she
could hurt me all that bad.  So once again I offered my arm and told her to
give it her best shot.  She took a step back and I tensed my arm.  She
obviously knew how to throw a punch as she used her leg power as well as
her arm to hit me.  The blow came and I actually danced back half a step.
My arm was throbbing, but of course I wasn't going to admit that.

Lacey giggled since I guess the expression on my face gave away a bit more
of my true reaction to the punch that I wanted.  I told her not bad, for a
girl, not being able to resist throwing that in.  She told me not bad for
anyone.  I told you she was a little cocky.  I sat back down at my desk and
asked her what kind of working out she did in preparation for karate.
Seems sit-ups are the most important exercise, but of course that wasn't
the answer I was looking for.  But hearing that she did 500 sit-ups a day
was impressive to me nonetheless.

At this point I figured there was nothing to lose and asked if she did any
upper body strength work, admitting out loud that she really did have quite
the hard punch.  Lacey told me she did 2 sets of 25 pushups every day, and
worked out with 10 pound weights 3 times a week. While the pushup number
was pretty good, I told her that lifting 10-pound weights couldn't really
accomplish much.

She asked me how much I thought she weighed, which is of course a shocking
question for any girl to ask.  I told her I guessed about 110 pounds.
Lacey told me she weighed 125 pounds, she just looked slim because most of
her weight was due to muscle.  Going for the kill now, I told her that
punching hard didn't necessarily mean she was muscular.  Then, the first of
two questions I always want to hear (from a strictly professional point of
view of course.).  She asked me if I wanted to see her muscles.  Trying to
remain the cool guy that I was, I immediately blurted out sure, why not.

Lacey removed her sweater to reveal a very nice form fitting tank top
underneath.  Her arms were shapely, but didn't look particularly cut or
defined.  She lifted her tank top to show me her abs.  Not a 6 pack, but a
clearly defined 4 pack. She told me to punch her stomach, so I gave her a
little tap.

I have to admit it was pretty hard, but she frowned at me and told me to
really test it.  This time I put a little mustard into it and my hand
bounced off her stomach.  She laughed and said she hoped that wasn't all I
had to offer.  Being both a little irritated at her attitude and impressed
at the hardness of her abs I told her one more time.  This time I took a
real shot at her.  I was a bit afraid of hurting her, but also intrigued to
see what would happen.  She tensed her stomach just as I punched, and once
again my hand felt like it had hit brick wall.  She gave a slight grunt but
otherwise seemed unaffected.  I complimented her and said with total
honesty that I was very impressed.

Since I felt very comfortable with her at this point, I informed her that
abs had always been my second favorite muscle on a girl.  Knowing this was
the perfect set up line, she took the bait and asked me my favorite.  I
told her biceps had always been tops on my list.  She told me her arms
weren't as good as her abs, but proceeded to flex for me anyway.  Lacey was
one of those slender girls that don't show a lot of definition until they
actually flex their arm.  Now don't get me wrong, her biceps didn't have
the size or shape of a highly trained athlete, but a sweet little ball of
muscle did rise from her arm.  Taking a squeeze, I was taken aback at the
hardness of the arm. She flexed a few times while I was squeezing and I
commented on how hard her bicep was.  She told me that was a result of the
karate and all the punches she threw in training.  I had no idea if this
was true or even if it made any sense, but I wasn't arguing with anything
she said at this point.

As I was contemplating how to ask the million-dollar question, she
surprised me by asking herself. She said a lot of people were surprised by
how strong she actually was and would I like to try a little armwrestling.
Being the cool, sophisticated professional that I am, I was able not to
drool while squeaking out the words sounds like fun.  She put her elbow up
on the desk and opened her hand in invitation.  I grasped her hand with
mine.  We were going to go at it right handed.  I actually prefer it that
way since I am left handed and armwrestling the girls righty often made the
match more competitive.

Her arm was shorter than mine was so I had to reach out a little and
therefore give up a little advantage to her in leverage.  But since I
outweighed her by over a 100 pounds I really didn't see any reason for
concern.  I told her to take the honors and say go, which she did.  We
started and I could feel her strength right away, but still no reason for
concern.  Since I was enjoying myself, I was in no hurry to end the match.
I played with her a bit and we moved our hands back and forth a little.

At this point I figured I would give it just a little more effort and let
her know who the man in this match was.  I was able to push her arm down a
little before she responded by increasing the pull in her arm as well and
stopping my momentum.  Amazingly she was able to move my arm back to the
neutral position.  She giggled at me again and now I was getting a little
annoyed.  Fun is fun and I was enjoying the contact, but she had to know I
was just toying with her, didn't she?  Since we had been in the office for
some time and I had foolishly neglected to lock the door, I was now getting
nervous about someone popping into the office and catching us in the match.
Sadly I realized it was time to end the match and put her down.  I flicked
on the strength switch and moved her arm a few inches.

The problem was she didn't realize I was the man here and didn't feel
obligated to lose.  She turned up her power output and once again moved me
back to the neutral position.  At this point neither one of us was holding
out.  Now it was down and dirty at all out strength levels.  Her arm that
had looked so slender and feminine just a few minutes earlier was now
pumped up and bulging.  Her forearm looked like it was going to explode.
My arm was much larger, but hers had the muscle.  Neither one of us was
smiling or giggling at this point, too intense was the match.

Now it was time to separate the men from the girls, but sadly my workouts
out had been neglected over the past several months.  Meanwhile, this
little hell kitten was doing pushups and going to karate class 5 times a
week, and lifting weights, albeit light one 3 times a week.  One of us had
to give soon, and in all too familiar style it was me.  You can always tell
when your workouts haven't been up to par, as your arm starts to shake, and
this was happening to me.  While her arm held rock steady, mine started to
quiver and shake.  Now she was giggling again and asked what the shaking
was all about.  I ignored her and concentrated on the match.

Of course she was concentrating on the match as well, and why not, she
appeared to be winning.  I deduced that she was appearing to be winning
by the fact that my arm was shaking even worse than before, and was now on
the wrong side of the start position.  Sensing that she was now in control,
she commented that it appeared that once again her strength had been
underestimated.  I was holding on for dear life now, but luckily my life
wasn't in the balance for surely I would have died. Lacey now had momentum
on her side as well, and was raising her giggling level.  She stopped
giggling long enough to give a slight grunt and power my arm to the
desktop.  I guess she had won before, as she knew the old trick of holding
my arm pinned to the desk for several seconds as she savored her victory.

Being both embarrassed and stimulated at the same time, I complimented her
on the match and told her she indeed was very strong.  Lacey was very
gracious and told me that if I got back into the gym she was sure I would
have no trouble with her.  She told me she could always tell when someone
wasn't working out when they got the shakes during a match.  I admitted
that the only curls I had been doing of late were of the beer can variety.
She flexed her arm for me once again, and it was really pumped up after the
match.  It seemed to have grown, but was still hard as a rock.

It was time for the dream to end as Lacey put her sweater back on.  She
asked if there was a job available in the store for her.  I said she seemed
to be more than qualified at which point she giggled.  Being used to it
now, I laughed with her.  I told her the job paid $7 an hour and I could
probably find her 20 hours of work a week.  She frowned at this, and said
she was looking to make at least $10 an hour and work 30 hours, in order to
finance the buying of heavier weights and be able to attend a more advanced
karate class.  Who was I to argue with logic like that?  I told her the
most I could pay a new employee was $8.50 an hour, but there would be a
review of her progress after 90 days at which a raise could be discussed.
She smiled and said that would be fine and looked forward to the review in
90 days.  She then told me she planned on picking up the intensity of her
workouts and I should probably consider getting back into the gym in
preparation for this review session.

I told her that sounded like a plan and we shook hands as she was getting
up to leave.  She gave my hand a hard little squeeze.  I admired the view
as she left the office.  While lost in thought, it entered my mind that it
was a good thing that the company didn't believe in taping these interview
sessions.  I also realized that I better start working out a bit or I would
be truly embarrassed in 90 days.