When I was in high school I applied for a job in a VW performance shop a couple miles from my school. They sent me to the owner's neighbor for a polygraph, whic

When I was in high school I applied for a job in a VW performance shop a couple miles from my school. They sent me to the owner's neighbor for a polygraph, which surprised me but didn't seem like a big deal at the time. The guy was playing 'bad cop' from the second he answered the door, and said he was disappointed that I hadn't smoked pot on my way over because that makes reactions more visible on the polygraph. We went through his questions 3 times. The first time I just answered his questions, no games. The second time I tried to change my anxiety level sort of randomly (I had some experience with pretty high-end biofeedback equipment and knew how to affect the readings somewhat). The third time I used a breathing exercise that I was taught by a zen master to minimize my anxiety as much as possible. The polygraph operator was pissed, I decided that I had no desire to work for people who thought that was a good use of 45 minutes, and I didn't get the job. Everybody won, I guess.