Hasta La Gadget!

Haven’t heard of a daterview? That’s ok — I made it up, you’re not alone. But I do believe that if we work together, we can help this new term I just coined gain traction. A daterview is a word that describes the rare event where a date and an interview take place on the exact same day. (Note: a daterview is not to be confused with a date/interview which I had the misfortunate of experiencing a few years ago after being picked up on LinkedIn for what I thought was a job meeting but turned out to be a date — but that’s another story for another day).

The realization of the overlap of these events dawned on me a few days prior to the event itself so I luckily had some time for the situation to marinate and to contemplate some appropriately paired ensembles. Of course, the thought crossed my mind to reschedule one of these events. But my social calendar was jam packed all week and, as a general rule, I think it’s pretty poor form to reschedule a job interview unless ABSOLUTELY necessary (a coinciding date doesn’t seem to qualify…)

Now some of you may be wondering, what’s the big deal? It’s just an outfit. But take a step back and think about it. For a date, one tends to want to emphasize ones’ best… assets. Which incidentally tend to coincide with precisely those lady bits that one insures are properly cloaked during a meeting that pertains to a business opportunity. Fortunately, I work in advertising, a business that’s far more accepting of esoteric fashions and self-expression than others, so a suit was out of the realm of necessity. That said, I haven’t personally crossed over to the mentality that an appropriate interview getup for a creative, are jeans and a button-down. Some planning was in order.

Stepping out of my shower on the day of, I perused the closet.

First dress that I considered was a gray Bailey 44 column dress with no sleeves. Though tight, the higher neckline and longer hem makes it more “conservative” than other choices. Paired with a black cardi and black flats with simple jewelry, it can pass as interview appropriate.

Unfortunately, on the day of, it was a balmy (right) 80 degrees and this dress (which happened to be lined) was just too hot.

Next, I contemplated a simple sleeveless black J.Crew dress — a go-to date outfit for me. It’s sexy without being over the top and I jazz it up with gold jewelry. Unfortunately, I usually wear super high platforms to complete this look, without which, I don’t feel all that special in it. Platforms for an interview seemed like a bad idea. So J.Crew was out as well.

Last out was a blue, high-waisted very structured skirt with bright flowers, paired with a red blousy, thick-strapped tank. Though not my sexiest outfit, whenever I wear this combination, my coworkers call me “super woman” because of the red and blue combo. Who wouldn’t want to feel like superwoman on both a date and an interview? We had a winner! Bring on the daterview!

After all this agonizing about a simple outfit (totally not my thing — I’m very much a one-outfit-and-go type of girl) the interview went well… and the date got cancelled last minute due to a work emergency on his part. I took advantage of my recently freed up evening to attend a movie showing a friend of mine had organized in a beautiful garden in Harlem. Though the shortness of the skirt was less than conducive to an evening spent sitting on a garden floor, I felt accomplished knowing that I potentially could have successfully attended a Daterview without offending either party.

So ladies and gentlemen, I beseech you, help me “make daterview happen.”

His face is twisted with anguish, his hands grab at his shirt near his heart; there is no sound, but the pained cry escaping his mouth can almost be heard.

This is a photograph of the father of one of the four young boys who was killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza Wednesday. The boys, all cousins and all under the age of 12, had been playing soccer on the beach when the attack occurred. The man’s picture, by photographer Hosam Salem, was taken during the boys’ funeral.

A photograph of the wailing father has gone viral this week as news of Wednesday’s tragedy continues to make headlines.

In the aftermath of the four boys’ deaths, both Israel and Hamas ceased fighting for five hours Thursday for a humanitarian truce requested by the United Nations, Reuters reports. The brief cease-fire, however, has since come to an end, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that his country’s military has launched a ground offensive in Gaza.

More than 160 civilians, including more than 40 children, have been killed in Gaza since July 7, when Israel launched its anti-Hamas military operation. “According to preliminary information, 77 [percent] of Palestinian fatalities so far have been civilians, raising concerns about respect for international humanitarian law,” the UN wrote in a July 16 report.

The Israeli military has reportedly launched an investigation into the strike that killed the four cousins. They say the strike had been intended for Hamas militants and called the children’s deaths a “tragic outcome,” per ABC News.

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch called for the Israeli military to “end unlawful attacks that do not target military objectives and may be intended as collective punishment or broadly to destroy civilian property.”

“Deliberate or reckless attacks violating the laws of war are war crimes,” the organization wrote on its website, adding that “Palestinian armed groups also should end indiscriminate rocket attacks launched toward Israeli population centers.”

Tyler Hicks, a New York Times photojournalist who was in a nearby hotel when the Gaza beach strike occurred and photographed the boys’ bodies as they were carried away, wrote in an essay Thursday that “there is no safe place in Gaza right now.”

“Bombs can land at any time, anywhere,” he wrote. “A small metal shack with no electricity or running water on a jetty in the blazing seaside sun does not seem like the kind of place frequented by Hamas militants, the Israel Defense Forces’ intended targets. Children, maybe four feet tall, dressed in summer clothes, running from an explosion, don’t fit the description of Hamas fighters, either.”

In the hours after the four boys’ deaths, Gaza was overcome with grief and fury. According to CNN, hundreds of people attended the children’s funeral Wednesday and “angry chants filled the air.”

Below are more heart-wrenching images of the boys’ relatives, as well as photos from their funeral:

The father and mother of one of the four boys killed during Israeli shelling react outside the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, on July 16, 2014.

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A #Palestinian mother reacts to the news that her son was one of 4 boys killed in Israeli shelling of #gaza seaport pic.twitter.com/2LdGY5p9GU

— Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM) July 16, 2014

The mother of one of the four boys, all from the Bakr family, killed during Israeli shelling, collapses outside the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, on July 16, 2014.

Palestinian mourners shout slogans during the funeral of four boys, all from the Bakr family, in Gaza City, on July 16, 2014.

Funeral for 4 boys, cousins ages ranging from 9 to 11, killed in Israeli strike on #Gaza beach Wednesday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/sN32Z9wIMZ

— benwedeman (@bencnn) July 16, 2014

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