“What’s your biggest flaw?”

A very common interview question
with no obvious answer.

The easy way out is answering
with a flaw that is actually a positive –
I work too hard!
I’m a perfectionist!
I’m too dedicated!

Maybe a cliché is the way to go,
as I doubt a potential employer
wants to hear about
how every morning, when I look in the mirror
I want to rip my skin off my body
or how I don’t have a personality of my own
so I just hijack other people’s interests
to make myself more likeable
or how I give my heart away so easily
knowing full well I’ll end up hurt
and yet I do it anyway
because I think I like the pain.

I could answer with
I’m stubborn –
if I decide I’m doing something,
I’m sticking with it until the bitter end.
I struggle to say no to people –
which means I get overwhelmed
and can’t manage my workload and
I don’t know how to ask for help.

I do not answer with
I’m stubborn –
if I decide I’m doing something,
I’m doing it
even if I know I will get hurt
because it means I am more likely to receive sympathy.
I struggle to say no to people –
which means I am easy to take advantage of
because I can’t deal with anyone being mad at me.
I don’t know how to ask for help,
so I let myself drown without a second thought.

– to JP. I hope I am like you when I grow up.