After the screening process, as I reassembled my attire and pocketed my personal items, I looked around the lobby and was struck by how completely stuck in the 60's this place is. Lime green cloth wall paper, low faux wood tables with steel legs, frosted glass, and terrazzo flooring were everywhere, and it only got more pronounced the further into the nooks and crannies of that place I eventually went.
I walked across the wide lobby to the hallway that led to a bank of elevators and was stopped by a very cheerful and professional security guard who informed me that I was not on the "the list". He began making calls about me and as he did we chatted and he asked me questions about why I was there. Eventually, to help prove my case, I sang in the empty lobby, and it echoed about quite nicely. This he thought was hilarious, and he eventually got on the loudspeaker system and introduced me, "We now would like to welcome our guest tenor!" at which point he gestured for me to sing again. I doubt the day crew gets away with that kind of thing. Good natured laughter bounced off the walls and the portraits of the last eight Secretary Generals, including one of my favorites - General Boutros Boutros Boutros Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
I bid him a fond farewell and went upstairs to do the work stuff, which went just fine.
On the way back down I was joined by the other three guys and one of them announced to the elevator operator in pizza-sauce Italian, "Tayeeek us to thee Secreetary, we have to seeeng for heeem!" He replied, "I'll take you anywhere, I don't care! Oil for Food!!" I admit I didn't get all the nuances of his meaning, but we all had a pretty good chuckle as we descended from the fourth floor.
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