Bringing coffee on an interview: The huge debate that was actually started… by my dad.

I thought this viral TikTok thing about the dangers of bringing iced coffee to your job interview sounded stupid. I enjoyed it when Josh Gondelman mocked the whole thing on the most recent episode of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me.

But Liz Gumbinner blew this whole story wide open for me. By which I mean — she genuinely changed my mind on it. Or really, I guess, her dad did.

My dad, executive recruiter Paul Gumbinner, started this discussion in 2010 on his blog about the ad industry, A View from Madison Avenue.

The title of his post?

Never Bring Coffee on an Interview.