Sometimes Brains are Overrated

I have spent the last week in the grip of a particularly nasty cold.  It hit in the middle of the night, a few hours before I was scheduled to have a phone interview.  Normally, I follow all of the usual advice for phone interviews; I get dressed in professional clothes, sit at a table with my resume and notebook in front of me, and generally conduct myself as if I'm on an in-person interview.  I realized that was going to be a difficult feat to pull off when I got out of bed and the room began to spin.  My throat was scratchy, and my chest was congested.  I didn't want to put off an interview, even a phone interview, but I knew that sitting upright for the entire time would be impossible.  I made some Earl Grey and began reading the New York Times out loud to try to break up the stuff clogging my lungs.  By the time the interviewer called, my voice sounded almost normal, and I made it through the interview without coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose or running out of breath.  I was also still in my pajamas, un-showered and sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around me.  I got off the phone, and then stared out the window for an hour.  It was then I realized that my brain wasn't actually functioning, and that I could hardly remember a word that was said during the conversation.  I began to worry.

The next day, I was called to schedule an in-person interview for that job.