Half Full or Half empty?

The interview was monotonous as usual. The same questions were being asked and the same answers were being given. The job was a challenging one and choosing a suitable person was even more challenging.

'Nothing different in this Candidate. No clear winners so far.'thought the Interviewer. He was almost done with his questions. The only one remaining was the question that his Partner used to ask. His Partner,who was absent today, insisted on asking the question every time for some crazy reason and so he had decided not to break the routine.

'You see the glass of water on the table. Describe it to me.'he asked and waited for the answer that could be found in a third standard textbook.

'It is half empty.'came the reply to the surprise of the Interviewer. He raised an eyebrow and looked carefully at the Candidate. This person looked promising than the others in some aspects but this reply of his clearly threw him out of the race. For the first time in his life as an Interviewer, this stupid question had worked. No point in continuing with the Candidate . The Interviewer crossed away the name of the Candidate from the list.

'Before ending our interaction, would you like to ask anything?' he asked.

'Yes,sir. I would like to know why the last question was asked?'

Dumbo. He has not even read the stories. Half full, you are an optimist. Half empty, you are a pessimist - you are thrown out.

Patiently, The Interviewer explained the reason to the Candidate.The Candidate listened and then replied.

'Sir, this is what I thought when I gave the answer. When I say half empty, I am looking into the empty space above , the space that could be filled up. There is always room for improvement. There is always an upper level to be reached. I believe that a person who says it is half full is happy with what he has though he can have more. He has no aims and would like to exist with half a glass of water than a full one.'

The Candidate got the job. For the Interviewer, the question was no longer stupid. For the Candidate, presence of mind had worked and ignorance had turned out to be bliss. Else he would have replied that the glass was half full.

-prmdbk