[chucksmash]

These guys sound like movie villains. They may be programmers by trade but they belong to no profession.

I have a very difficult time imagining that, as the top comment says, "almost everyone on this site seems to have gone through similar interview experiences." During the dozen or so interviews I've personally done, I've seen interviewers arrive late and unprepared or unqualified to conduct the interview occasionally but I've never been treated discourteously.

Maybe the job market in 2003 was such that some people felt like they could get away with more in the name of "evaluation?" No clue, but seriously - planned evaluation or not I'd have certainly pardoned myself from the interview prior to the group lunch. Sticking it out to be avoid burning bridges only makes sense if you are being treated with the modicum of respect a human being deserves. Some bridges deserve to burn.

Edit: not about a story that occurred in 2003, so feel free to disregard my idle speculation about the state of the job market.