Dear sir, I apologise if I struck a rather defiant pose in our interview today, but I could not sit silent and allow you to belittle something which we have placed so much hope on these past few weeks. Although I realise that it is your duty to question our capability to carry this out, and that it lies in your discretion to test us on how much we really want this thing to go through, I just cannot agree to the methods and tactics you adopted in your assessment of our intention to make this happen. I realise that today’s meet may be nothing compared to what’s out there in the real world, but please try to understand that we’re new to this, we’ve acknowledged our mistakes and we need all the motivation we can get instead of a hammering session. For you to lean back and dismiss this as mere folly was such a blow to us, and it affected my partner deeply, so much so that she couldn’t even say a word. If there’s one thing I cannot tolerate, it’s when someone wrongly assumes my niyyah and places it in the worst light possible. I lose a little composure because it is infuriating. I judge myself enough as it is, and I don’t need you to do that for me. This was why I had to speak up today, why I had to defend what we had hoped for and why for every accusation you made, I calmly levelled it with a polite answer. Although you might have seen it as mockingly rude (I detected you were dissatisfied with your statements being countered), please understand that I had no choice, and that it is instinctive for me to speak my mind instead of keeping silent and throwing words behind your back later. I felt it was important that our position was clear, and I wanted a clear conscience when we left your room. So yes, I might have spoken, and yes, the smile on my face might have seemed less genuine than it ought to be (it was very hard to keep it in place) and yes, my tone might have been a little cold (so I was told by my partner afterward) but I assure you, my respect for you remains intact and I apologise if it seemed otherwise. Even if you were not an authoritative figure, you are older and my values dictate that older people should be treated with a degree of decorum. However, I hope that what we faced today isn’t the approach you adopt all the time with everyone, because you will then be faced with the prospect of having people coming in to see you with a spring in their steps, only to have them leave in dejected slumps, feet shuffling. Wouldn’t that be sad, to be a killer of bounces in steps?
Having said all this, I’ll admit that at one point during your line of questioning, I was on the verge of breaking down in tears and losing my cool. I hope that’s due more to my stomach cramps and emotional instability than anything else, because if it isn’t, then it will not bode well for my future experience when I’ll be at the mercy of a master, judges, bosses, and clients - if I get that far.
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Third dude, I totally feel you
Enough said here.
