Enter the Panting Woman.

I ask you, people: what is life? Let me rephrase that, what is life about? Answers may differ from person to person. Everyone values everything differently. The greatest example of this is, well, time. The value everyone puts on their time is different. 

I think there isn't a better time to observe this than during school years. Most people, when they were students, used their time in various ways. There are lots of ways students could spend their time on without a care in the world, but let's limit them to only three, to keep things simple. 

You have those who play all the time. This group is usually full of students who hang out after school, every single day and they aren't the brightest when it comes to academic studies. To them, 'the present' is what matters and they leave their future to the 'them' in the future. The group usually contains more male than female, and they are all good friends. A gross overgeneralization and a very prejudiced opinion, but let me continue for now. 

On the other side of the ring, you have the nerds. It's a bit mean to call them that, but all they do is study. They wear glasses or contact lenses because of their poor sight from reading books and staring at their note-filled notebooks too close. They take notes, listen at the teachers in school and review those materials in their home. Some are kind enough to teach others, but most of the time they keep the knowledge they obtain for themselves. Although, to be fair, the cause of them not wanting to teach others is usually because they simply do not have the capacity to do so. Studying and teaching are two different things, after all. 

And then you have the ones that can do both. These students play all the time, but they somehow are sitting on top of class with high grades in all subjects. There are very few of these students, but they are not that rare either. When you look at them, you feel jealous, playing all the time and look at those test results, close to perfection. It isn't fair, you think, but you've got to think that, maybe these students study hard when no one is looking, while their family is asleep, or eve as someone who doesn't even know them projecting prejudiced opinion and making bold statements all the while complaining to his heart's content. 

Ahem, where was I? Right. I ask you, what is life about? The answer, to me, it's about making loads of money and sleeping on top of stacks of cash without worrying about a single thing in the world. As I look down from my luxurious penthouse to peasants with salary enough to make ends meet every month, I think to myself, all those studying paid off. That's what life is about for me. Money. Lots of money. 

In order to achieve that dream, I have accomplished the first step: graduating from university. Who knows that is the easiest step to take in adulthood. Right now I'm on the second stage: finding a job. I should correct myself and say that I have been trying to find a job for the past 6 months now. It's not like I didn't get any offer during that time, on the contrary, I did get a number of offers, but I always failed the interview. 

And today, I am on my 15th interview, sitting as I wait for my turn to come. Applicants were sent links one week prior to the interview for written test: one for video conference and one for the written test itself. There were four men and three women who were called before me, right now it's a woman inside, and next is my turn.   

The woman has been inside for quite some time, now. She's taking longer than the previous people. The waiting room is quiet. Not a single sound is heard, not even the clock ticking. The AC is making the room cold, which is why I'm not sweating. It also smells kind of nice, for some reason. This is the kind of room I want to wait for an interview in. I'm nervous, but not as much. After going through multiple interviews, I guess I became more and more accustomed to it. 

However that peace is short-lived. From the hallway outside of this very room, quick footsteps are heard. I instinctively look toward the door and at the same time, the door is opened with a loud bang. I am taken aback, quite literally. I stand up from my chair and take two step back from the door. 

The person who just opened the door is a panting woman, with messy hair and sweaty face. Her black blazer is unbuttoned, and her blouse looks wet from all the sweats. Leaning on the door, she's trying to utter something as she's trying to catch her breath at the same time. I can't make out what it is, so I just stand there, staring at her, completely dumbfounded by the view before me.

"Ish... Ish dis whe..." She stops and catches a long breath. 

"Is this were the waiting room for today's job interview??!!" 

Probably because she tries to say it in one single breath, she comes out as rather aggressive. But that doesn't matter to me. I simply say 'yes' and nod. I sit back down, still staring at her. 

She tries to say 'thank you', but fails. In the meantime, she sits right next to me. She rests her purse on her laps and her arms on the table. I try to not pay her any attention, but the way she dresses is far from appropriate for an applicant. Messy hair, messy make up, forget mentioning it one by one, it's messy everything. She looks as messy as one can be for a job interview. It is as if she's mocking the whole concept of job interview and respect. 

After five minutes, she finally calms down. Her breathing has somewhat returned to normal. She's wiping off the sweats from her face using a pink handkerchief. She sighs a couple times as she buttons her blazer from the bottom. After another five minutes, her sweats are all taken care of and she looks neat and tidy. 

"I'm sorry for showing you something embarrassing." 

"No, not at all. Please don't mind it." 

Just like that, a conversation starts and ends within the span of three seconds. I go back to doing my own thing, which is relaxing myself, and trying to not get involved in another conversation or two with this woman. I respect her and all, but I believe that it's in my best interest to keep my mouth shut. 

However that doesn't seem to be the case for her at all. I can feel her eyes glancing at me and it's starting to get annoying. Does she not know basic decency of leaving someone alone? 

"Are you perhaps here... For a job interview?" She asks. 

I look at her with eyebrows saying 'isn't that obvious?', which I keep to myself. As someone who isn't lacking basic decency, I answer her question short and simple, leaving no room for follow-up questions. 

"Yes." 

"... I see." 

After that, she stops asking more questions and probing me. I sigh quietly. Thank god. I thought she was going to keep her mouth running until my turn comes. She also stops glancing at me, and is now fiddling with her phone. I know I'm not one to say this, but she looks awfully calm, even calmer than me. This is a problem, because she's clearly a threat for my position. 

I can't let my guard down.

Just as I'm able to relax, the door to this room is opened. A man shows up and he calls my name. I stand up quickly and reply with a simple 'yes'. To my surprise, the woman sitting next to me also stands up and moves forward. Standing next to me, she bows her head a few times, apologizing to him multiple times. The man says he doesn't mind, and that there's no need for her to apologize so diligently.

The man then guide me to the interview room and the woman is following right behind me. Wait, following right behind me? When we are near the door to the interview room, I stop, turn my whole body around and look at her in the eyes. 

"Umm, it's my turn now, so please wait for yours after me!"  

The woman looks shocked and freezes where she's standing. She blinks twice quickly while her mouth is left dangling open. I hear the man chuckles from behind which makes me avert my attention to him.

I'm confused. I don't understand what is going on here. 

"So he said." He chuckles again. 

The woman covers her face using her purse and speaks in a quiet tone. She looks so timid all of a sudden and I can't really see her face like that. I can hear her mumbling something, but it's not loud enough for me to catch. I come closer to her, trying to hear what she's talking about under her breath.

"Pardon?" I ask her. 

"I'm here as a user... For today's interview..." 

What?