5 ms·

I once was gassing up at a station, and for whatever reason the card reader on the pump wasn't charging, but would let me pump gas anyways. So me, and everyone

I once was gassing up at a station, and for whatever reason the card reader on the pump wasn't charging, but would let me pump gas anyways. So me, and everyone else who'd used that pump that day, received a phone call from the police telling me to go pay for the gas. I figured it was just an honest mistake and didn't think anything of it. Fast forward a bit, to where I am undergoing a polygraph examination for the NSA. The exam made me uncomfortable and nervous, but I thought everything was going well. Except for when my interviewer came back and told me I was showing sensitivity towards the hiding crimes question. WTF? And when they do this, they're just giving you enough rope to see if you hang yourself with it. But I had no idea why (or even if) I was showing sensitivity to this question. They called me in for a 2nd polygraph, this time I didn't show sensitivity to hiding crimes, and I figured I was good to go. No. I get called into a 3rd exam (each exam was separated by a couple months, mind you). This time the interviewer told me "You did better at the hiding crimes question than I thought you would" W.T.F.?!?! The interviewer then left the room and came back with a manilla folder, from which he procures a piece paper which he reads that I had a suspected larceny charge back at home. I honestly had no idea what he was talking about until I remembered the gas station incident. But after I try telling him about it, he tells me that he doesn't believe me and that he thinks I stole that gas. This leaves me extremely flustered and the rest of the polygraph was a train wreck. 3 strikes and I'm out, my conditional employment with them was terminated. What irks me the most though, is that when I got back home I retrieved the larceny report from the court house, and in that document the whole story was laid out and my account of the situation was corroborated. So what the hell? Why throw me through such a ringer? Fuck the polygraph.

Spooky23 8y ago
It’s a subjective interrogation with a prop. You tingled his spidey sense. And was he wrong? You pumped gas without paying. Did you acknowledge it as a criminal act or as good fortune or not at all? Look at it from the interrogators perspective.
- kevmo314 8y ago
  I think OP's point is that he didn't even remember the event, and the NSA was using the polygraph as a prop to try and get him to fess up to something he believed was trivial, so it was erased from his memory.
  - Natsu 8y ago
    That's the thing, they want to know if you would bring up things even if you didn't think they knew about them. They want people who would do that, due to believing the polygraph works. So they questioned them about this thing they knew about and he didn't reveal it, so they thought he was lying even though he honestly didn't remember it. It doesn't work out well for people who know how polygraphs work in general or for people who do not reveal things they know about (intentionally or otherwise).
  - wamsachel 8y ago
    Yes; the background investigation produced a police report which I hadn't mentioned in my application. At the time of the gas station incident, I didn't know that I had just created a paper trail that would damn my background check. On one hand I understand how a discrepancy in the background check would raise concern, but on the other hand I feel that the police report easily shows no wrong doing on my part, and that this "blemish" could have been cleared up at the 1st polygraph interview, rather than stringing me along for 3.
    - bilbo0s 8y ago
      All of that would likely be true of a regular employer. Probably even would be good enough for the military. But the people you were dealing with, as a rule, don't believe in happenstance, or coincidence. And they absolutely live by attention to detail. I don't know much about your situation, but based on what you've shared, you tripped a lot of alarms.
      - wamsachel 8y ago
        /shrugs Well then congrats to the NSA; they successfully weeded out a spazzy dork
- learc83 8y ago
  The OP said the card reader didn't charge. The implication is that they swiped their card and pumped gas thinking they paid. How is that a criminal act?
escherplex 8y ago
...received a phone call from the police telling me to go pay for the gas. I figured it was just an honest mistake and didn't think anything of it So, given that you paid-up for the gas when requested, you didn't intend to permanently deprive the owner of it which suggests that technically it wasn't larceny and could have been sloughed-off as a misunderstanding. Given you were dealing with an NSA interview, sounds like they were playing a psychological setup game to determine how calmly you would respond under pressure in the context of an intimidating polygraph test. Seems like they weren't too thrilled with the responses they elicited. Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games?
- mplewis 8y ago
  That hiring practice sounds terrible when you frame it like that. It seems like a great way to build a terribly aggressive, pressure-driven monoculture.
- wamsachel 8y ago
  >Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games? reply No, I don't anymore. But at the time I was excited for the opportunity
  - wolco 8y ago
    You dodged a bullet.
- mmirate 8y ago
  > Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games? With each other, on a regular basis, for little more than shits, giggles and office-politics? Probably not. Which is why it's more likely that this mind game isn't just some office antic, but instead means to mimic some class of situations that some kinds of three-letter-agency personnel could be required to overcome.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  "Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games?" I would like to work for an organization that pays me so I can buy food and pay rent.
wolco 8y ago
How did the police get your number?
- jimktrains2 8y ago
  Vehicle registration?

Spooky23 8y ago

It’s a subjective interrogation with a prop. You tingled his spidey sense. And was he wrong? You pumped gas without paying. Did you acknowledge it as a criminal act or as good fortune or not at all? Look at it from the interrogators perspective.

kevmo314 8y ago
I think OP's point is that he didn't even remember the event, and the NSA was using the polygraph as a prop to try and get him to fess up to something he believed was trivial, so it was erased from his memory.
- Natsu 8y ago
  That's the thing, they want to know if you would bring up things even if you didn't think they knew about them. They want people who would do that, due to believing the polygraph works. So they questioned them about this thing they knew about and he didn't reveal it, so they thought he was lying even though he honestly didn't remember it. It doesn't work out well for people who know how polygraphs work in general or for people who do not reveal things they know about (intentionally or otherwise).
- wamsachel 8y ago
  Yes; the background investigation produced a police report which I hadn't mentioned in my application. At the time of the gas station incident, I didn't know that I had just created a paper trail that would damn my background check. On one hand I understand how a discrepancy in the background check would raise concern, but on the other hand I feel that the police report easily shows no wrong doing on my part, and that this "blemish" could have been cleared up at the 1st polygraph interview, rather than stringing me along for 3.
  - bilbo0s 8y ago
    All of that would likely be true of a regular employer. Probably even would be good enough for the military. But the people you were dealing with, as a rule, don't believe in happenstance, or coincidence. And they absolutely live by attention to detail. I don't know much about your situation, but based on what you've shared, you tripped a lot of alarms.
    - wamsachel 8y ago
      /shrugs Well then congrats to the NSA; they successfully weeded out a spazzy dork
learc83 8y ago
The OP said the card reader didn't charge. The implication is that they swiped their card and pumped gas thinking they paid. How is that a criminal act?

escherplex 8y ago

...received a phone call from the police telling me to go pay for the gas. I figured it was just an honest mistake and didn't think anything of it So, given that you paid-up for the gas when requested, you didn't intend to permanently deprive the owner of it which suggests that technically it wasn't larceny and could have been sloughed-off as a misunderstanding. Given you were dealing with an NSA interview, sounds like they were playing a psychological setup game to determine how calmly you would respond under pressure in the context of an intimidating polygraph test. Seems like they weren't too thrilled with the responses they elicited. Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games?

mplewis 8y ago
That hiring practice sounds terrible when you frame it like that. It seems like a great way to build a terribly aggressive, pressure-driven monoculture.
wamsachel 8y ago
>Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games? reply No, I don't anymore. But at the time I was excited for the opportunity
- wolco 8y ago
  You dodged a bullet.
mmirate 8y ago
> Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games? With each other, on a regular basis, for little more than shits, giggles and office-politics? Probably not. Which is why it's more likely that this mind game isn't just some office antic, but instead means to mimic some class of situations that some kinds of three-letter-agency personnel could be required to overcome.
s73v3r_ 8y ago
"Would you really want to work for an organization that plays those sort of mind games?" I would like to work for an organization that pays me so I can buy food and pay rent.

wolco 8y ago

How did the police get your number?

jimktrains2 8y ago
Vehicle registration?