Maria and I had our first interview with Carol at the store yesterday. Walking in with cookies instead of (intended) pie, briefcase in hand, and nerves of jello...we actually pulled it off nicely. Carol was amazing. She responded to our questions with thoughtfulness and interest. Maria and I became experts in digital recording, as Carol was also working. Each time a customer would come in we would pause the recording, and try to return to the point where the conversation left off once she returned. The microphone wasn't nearly as distracting as we had expected, if anything it made the atmosphere more professional, which I think made for a better interview. Carol was fondling a newspaper during the interview under the excuse that it was a fly swatter, but she seemed to need it more as something to keep her nervous hands idle rather than swatting any of the 3,000 flys in the store. The recorder picked up some of the newspaper crinkling, but not as bad as we had anticipated.
As Carol had warned us, she is a very emotional person, and she may cry during our interview. This happened, and it wasn't awful, but as she shared the loss of her husband with us, I couldn't help but feel that we had invaded her privacy. In the end I think she appreciated being able to share that experience with us, and we thanked her greatly.
We plan to have a second interview next Tuesday to discuss some more points of interest, and to dig into delicious and well deserved pie. If anyone has any questions about the interview, or the recording equipment, I'd be happy to lend a hand and share what I know. Good luck with all of your interviews everyone, it's a really good time I promise ; )
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment