Google war stories [May. 23rd, 2006|03:04 pm] Ilya

... so I am visiting a couple of good friends at Google. Sampling the food, so to say. We are trying to select a least crowded table in their mecca-of-a-cafeteria. Finally we end up at a table with five other people, when I notice that one of them is Udi_Manber, who until recently was a CEO of Amazon's A9 before being hired by Google a couple of months ago. So I tell my friend "do you know who is sitting at this table?". "Of course I do" answers my friend. Right after this, a guy on my right turns around and then conversation proceeds as follows



Guy: Hi guys! What do you do around here?

Friend1: I am doing ...

Friend2: And I am doing ....

Me: And I am just visiting here, and I must say the food is really good!

Guy: And what do you do?

Me: Oh, I am a software engineer in a startup near by.

Friend1: "..and a pretty good one"

Guy: Why don't you come work for Google?

Me: Maybe I should apply, the food is excellent here [trying to be funny]. And what do you do around here?

Guy: [after a brief pause]... Well, I just do different odd jobs.



Conversation ends here, the guy turns around to continue his conversation with Udi and others, while my friend explains to me that I have just asked Larry Page "what he is doing around here". As I now think about it, this was probably the single most absurd question one could ask Google co-founder in Google cafeteria, and I must admit the answer was right on the mark for this situation...