In which I have an awkward salary discussion

Hello internets! Sorry for the delay in posting! I actually had another round of interviews - one not so terrible, and one so terrible that I haven't even been able to see the humor in it yet to turn it into a blog post. Let's just say the interview ended with the guy saying, "well, you may be hearing from me...but probably not."

Awesome.

Anyway. Blogging!

A few months ago I interviewed for a communications job at a non-profit in New York City. It is a very nice non-profit that does lovely things for people and is generally quite helpful to a large segment of the population. I interviewed with an older, grizzled lady from the Bronx, who would be my boss if I got the job. She was pretty much the exact stereotype of an older woman from the Bronx, complete with New Yawk accent, smoker's cough, and an affinity for phrases like "it's bubkis" and "oh, our department head, what a Meshugeneh." It was like being in a Woody Allen movie.

Anyway, everything was fine until the very end, when...she mentioned the salary.

Now, I must say that I really, really, really do not care much about salaries. I have no desire to buy fancy things or live in fancy places and all I really want, at this point, it is be able to pay my rent and my loans at the same time.

But this was, ah...not live-able. ESPECIALLY in NEW YORK CITY. I mean, I could live in the basement closet of this lady's apartment in the Bronx and still not have been able to buy subway fare to get to work. I mean it was LOW.

But I hate, hate, HATE talking about salaries in a job interview, and I had never really been put in this position before. So...awkward.

Me: "Oh...erm...well...I'm not - I mean, I just want to be completely honest, it would be a little bit difficult for me to take that, if I were offered this position."

Lady: "Well this is typical for a nonprofit."

Me: "No, I understand, it's just - you know, I would have to move to New York and find a place, I don't have anyone that I could really stay with, and it's, you know, so expensive up here, everywhere, that I really don't think- "

Lady: EXASPERATED SIGH.

Me: "Erm...I...Well, I just want to be perfectly honest with you - I don't want to lead you on if this is something that I really can't do. I don't want to prevent you from fully pursuing other candidates if I know for certain that this isn't a position I would be able to accept. This is just...you know...it's just my...my economic reality."

Lady: "Well. You know, working for an organization like this is really not about the money. Truly...it's so much more fulfilling. You, really, are paid in good thoughts."

Me: "Erm...well, it's just that, I really need to be paid in...dollars."

And thus ended the interview.