Internet Suffering

Posted on Trivia – The Spice of Life on 18/06/2022

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About a fortnight ago, I was interviewing candidates for filling the post of a clerk in office. I had imagined that the entire process would be rather monotonous and uneventful. That is what past experience had taught me. Usually, candidates who appear for interviews for such posts have pretty much the same to say; they are rather inarticulate while expressing themselves. They usually do not carry their Curriculum Vitae (CV) with them. I was just hoping the drudgery would end fast. But little did I know that some comic relief was coming my way, along with some food for thought.

The fourth candidate walked in with an air of confidence, carrying her CV in her hand. She sat down as soon as she was offered a seat and gave me her CV. My colleague who was with me, while this interview was being conducted, started with a few polite questions. Since this candidate was the only one till now with a CV, I took some time to read it. As I reached the end of the page, I found it hard to suppress a chuckle. She had listed her hobby as ‘internet suffering‘. Obviously, that was an inadvertent typing error because she meant ‘internet surfing‘. But as the interview progressed, it emerged that her command over the English language was far from satisfactory. Thus, it was not just an innocent typing error but one that could be attributed to lack of basic functional knowledge of the language. However, even if unintentional, she had made a very profound philosophical observation. For many of us, internet surfing is a cause of great suffering. In fact, there are some who suffer from CIU or Compulsive Internet Use.

I must mention here that the jury is still out as to whether internet surfing (suffering!!) should be listed as a hobby in a résumé. While some feel it is indicative of creative bankruptcy, others feel that a hobby is what one does in one’s free time to rejuvenate and if surfing the internet does refresh you, then it could surely be a hobby. There are still others who argue semantically to say that ‘browsing‘ is a better word than ‘surfing‘ because browsing is a more targeted search; surfing is aimless. I must admit here that bloggers too have to browse (surf?!) in order to write their posts. I do not know where a blogger would stand, for sometimes one thing leads to the other and there are umpteen windows opened simultaneously!!

Irrespective of which side you are on, the fact that the internet is an inseparable part of our modern day technology-ridden existence is undisputed. If the internet is empowering, it could be a cause of suffering too. And the moral of the story is that you should choose your words carefully, especially while writing your résumé, unless the play on words is intended.

P.S. This candidate was not chosen as we found a better qualified one, in case someone was wondering what the end of the story was.