She had been through a few rounds for a sales role, and done them well, and the manager wanted to take the last one over coffee. So they met. The manager greeted her and asked if she wanted to order anything, though he had not ordered yet himself. She asked for sparkling water. There was still water on the table, he pointed out. She said she would like sparkling water. He asked what sparkling water was. Water with carbon dioxide, she said. He asked if she meant soda. No, she said — sparkling water, not soda.
The waitress brought her the sparkling water and the manager his coffee. He looked at her glass and said it looked like a soda to him. Not wanting to make it awkward, she laughed, took a sip, and let it go. The questions went well, she thought. He said they would get back to her.
The next day, a rejection. Her reading of it: perhaps he had not liked being corrected about the water. Perhaps it was that she had ordered water, and not coffee, in a coffee interview. Whichever it was, she had done the rounds well — and the manager had never heard of sparkling water.