Episode 44: A man has an interview, while a voice in his head is hell-bent on getting him into a sales role so she can put her tactics to use.
Tim got the idea for this story from his job search during quarantine, with his lovely wife ever coaching him to answer questions better in interviews than he normally would.
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The voice in his head, Madeline, had been with Jimmy for some time. Jimmy couldn’t be sure when exactly she had showed up. Had she been with him before he lost his previous job? Or was she a result of the excessive amounts of marijuana Jimmy had smoked to deal with the months of unemployment, self-medicating for the depression that settled over him as he was struck, daily, with the crushing feeling of uselessness and a lack of purpose?
This latter possibility seemed more likely, and was the one Jimmy held as reality, for that explanation made the voice in his head somehow less frightening. Since she made herself at home among the other thoughts in his noggin, Jimmy had researched possible causes for psychotic episodes and had found that weed, as he had utilized with diligence, could trigger a mental break in those with a family history. And Jimmy had a family history, at least he hoped he did. It’s no fun being a trail blazer for psychosis.
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If you enjoy westerns like True Grit or The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, check out Tim’s western novel, Dust, available on Amazon in eBook form in addition to being read on the podcast.
For other resources, visit timdrugan.com.