Interviewer: Name? Candidate: Not important. Interviewer: Reason for applying? Candidate: To wear the role until there’s nothing left. Interviewer: Primary skill? Candidate: Functioning. Interviewer: Boundaries? Candidate: Negotiable. Interviewer: Support required? Candidate: No. Interviewer: When it gets worse? Candidate: I still clock in. Interviewer: Great, thank you. Fluorescent calm. Paper cup. A practiced smile. A waiting chair. I sell my hours like parts and call it “career.” I trade my life for rent. I let strangers judge my worth. I keep my weight behind the teeth and answer like a function. Your pen moves. Mine doesn’t. I don’t sign. I still agree. And I fade into the background.
