We are all connected

On the day of the interview, she was presentable, although her clothes were simple. The door opened and a young man called his name.

The boy asked his name: "Maristela". He asked if she would like the vacancy and why. She said she was graduating and needed to work. He also said that he lived with his mother and that they both wanted to see her grow professionally.

The boy questioned whether he got there on his own merits, to which she said yes. Then, the interviewer asked what his mother did. "She washes clothes out," he replied.

"Clothes out?" Asked the boy.

"Yes, wash and pass it on to people who don't have time to do it."

Let me see your hands - said the boy to Maristela.

She compressed them further and, timidly, asked, "But why do you want to see my hands?"

He calmly said, "It's part of your interview."

It was for a vacancy in the company's administrative sector and she didn't quite understand the reason for that request, but she held out her hands to him.

They were soft hands, although they were sweaty and trembling. He held them for a few seconds, analyzing them.

Maristela fixed her gaze in the direction of his, who raised his eyes to meet hers saying: "Go home".

She felt her heart pounding… she felt she had missed her chance.
Was it because his hands were cold? Sweaty? Shaky? In fractions of a second, all these questions crossed his mind. The girl got up and, before going through the door, the boy called her name:

"Maristela, I want you to go home and see your mother's hands and come back tomorrow to talk".
She came home a bit desolate. Her mother, who was washing clothes, came to greet her with a hug, asking how the interview had been. The daughter said she was not sure, but that she would be back the next day. Then he asked to see his mother's hands.

They were badly hurt, due to so many washed clothes. Maria, Maristela's mother, paid for her daughter's studies by washing clothes, and so she kept her home for many years. Whenever Maristela asked if her mother wanted help, she replied: "I want you to study, so you don't have to live what I do, to have better living conditions".

When he saw his mother's hands, a thought came to his head. He kept it to himself at that moment.

The next day, when she returned to the same room and the same chair, she was asked again: "Did you get here on your own merits?"

Her eyes filled with tears and a smile broke out on her face. She said: “No, I got here for all the effort of my mother, who, for days and nights, washed clothes in order to finance my studies. Without her help, I might never have made it this far. ”

The young man looked at her for a few seconds and said: “You are hired. In order to grow and manage people, we can never fail to look at those who are by our side, who help us to grow and help us to do our work. Come and I will introduce you to the team you will be part of! ”.

The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies.