The Next Chapter

The oddest job Judy Batalion ever had

Her first day looking for temporary work, Judy Batalion was put to work hiring other temps.
Judy Batalion has moved from the stage to the screen, and now to print in her memoir White Walls.

Judy Batalion is a performer, writer for stage and screen, and the author of White Walls, a memoir about motherhood and the marks mothers and daughter make on each other.

I worked at a temp agency... as a temp. I went in for an interview and I was desperate to earn some money. In the interview, she was asking me questions about what I did and what I was interested in. She asked, "When can you start?" 

I said, "Whenever you need." 

She said, "How about right now?"

I was like, "Sure. Where should I go?"

She's like, "You're sitting at your desk."

And so that was my big entree into the temp world.

I somehow was given the responsibility of interviewing other temps. But because of my temporary status, I wasn't allowed to know what I was interviewing them for. So basically people would come in and I would just have to say, "Hi! What are you good at?" 

It was very meta.

Judy Batalion's comments have been edited and condensed.