Apparently, Charleston, South Carolina is known as the best-mannered city in the United States. But, if it were up to me, I would nominate Washington, DC for the title. 

I don’t know whether there are just a lot of transplated southerners and aspiring politicians who have made their way to the District, but as a whole, I am repeatedly suprised by the the consideration I’ve received from strangers here – especially of the male gender.

The men here hold doors open, wait for you to walk in front of them… Someone even gave up his bus seat for me the other day! 

At first I thought I had just stumbled into a few situations of gentlemanly behavior, but it seems this epidemic of politeness and refinement has spread throughout the city.

A girl sure can get used to this kind of treatment.

Today, in the middle of typing up a Management final exam study guide, my phone rang. The screen of my phone is broken and I was expecting a call from Andrea, so I answered with a cheery “hellllllooooooo!”, only to be met with “Can I speak with Julie please?” I recovered quickly and listened as the woman on the phone told me that she had received my resume, and asked me to tell her about myself and my past internship experience.

Oh, did I mention that I had woken up five minutes earlier and wasn’t so composed? I told her that I was involved on campus, I felt that college should be more than just classes and I like the fact that I have an invested interest in my school. I told her that at my company, it was just me and my boss in the marketing department, so I got to do everything from press releases to event managment to… (I don’t remember what I said).

She asked me what my favorite part, and I said the event planning because I was able to interact with our customers and partners, and hear their stories and inputs. This was a good answer because apparently the internship I applied for involves a lot of talking and interacting with people. She asked me if I would be able to do that, and really, I wanted to laugh. That’s so me.

The job is in Boston, which is a little disappointing because I’m really trying to find an internship in Washington, DC, but it’s just not happening. We set up an interview for Monday at 12 noon. Hopefully by then my car will be up and running.

Currently, I’m debating whether to cancel the intervew all together. I’m sure there will be plenty of other things I want to do my first day back home. And really, I’ve got two other internships already lined up, much closer to home and hopefully less stressful. On the other hand, I could use some interview practice, and maybe this internship will be really interesting.