The Twins at the Interview

Fenna has two interviews on her calendar for Thursday, one at nine and one at half past ten. She needs someone for the operations desk, a job that has already worn out two people in a year. She is not optimistic.

Fenna punya dua wawancara di kalendernya untuk hari Kamis, satu pukul sembilan dan satu pukul setengah sebelas. Ia membutuhkan seseorang untuk meja operasional, pekerjaan yang dalam setahun sudah menghabiskan dua orang. Ia tidak terlalu optimis.

The first candidate arrives early, wearing a green tie and carrying a folder with colored tabs. He talks about spreadsheets with real affection. He has a plan for his first ninety days, and the plan has subheadings.

Kandidat pertama datang lebih awal, memakai dasi hijau dan membawa map dengan tab berwarna. Ia membicarakan lembar kerja dengan kasih sayang yang tulus. Ia punya rencana untuk sembilan puluh hari pertamanya, dan rencana itu punya subjudul.

"Impressive," Fenna says to herself when he leaves. "A bit rigid, though." She writes "methodical" on her notepad and underlines it twice.

"Mengesankan," kata Fenna kepada dirinya sendiri ketika pria itu pergi. "Tapi agak kaku." Ia menulis "metodis" di buku catatannya dan menggarisbawahinya dua kali.

At half past ten, the second candidate walks in, and her first thought is that the first one has come back for another try. He has the same face, the same haircut and the same way of tilting his head. The tie is blue now, the folder has disappeared, and his hair is slightly less tidy.

Pukul setengah sebelas, kandidat kedua masuk, dan pikiran pertamanya adalah bahwa kandidat pertama kembali untuk mencoba lagi. Wajahnya sama, potongan rambutnya sama, dan caranya memiringkan kepala pun sama. Kini dasinya biru, map itu menghilang, dan rambutnya sedikit kurang rapi.

"You've changed your tie," she says. "And you told me an hour ago that you love spreadsheets."

"Anda mengganti dasi," katanya. "Dan sejam lalu Anda bilang Anda suka lembar kerja."

The man blinks. "I haven't been here before," he says. "Honestly, I would rather draw a map than fill in a spreadsheet."

Pria itu berkedip. "Saya belum pernah ke sini," katanya. "Jujur saja, saya lebih suka menggambar peta daripada mengisi lembar kerja."

A long, strange pause follows. Then he asks, very carefully, whether the earlier candidate wore a green tie and carried a folder with tabs. When she nods, he puts his face in his hands.

Hening yang panjang dan aneh menyusul. Lalu pria itu bertanya, dengan sangat hati-hati, apakah kandidat sebelumnya memakai dasi hijau dan membawa map bertab. Ketika Fenna mengangguk, ia menutup wajahnya dengan kedua tangan.

"That's my brother," he says. "My twin. I told him I had a dentist appointment this morning."

"Itu kakak saya," katanya. "Kembaran saya. Saya bilang padanya saya ada janji dengan dokter gigi pagi ini."

Fenna pulls the two application forms out of the pile and lays them side by side. They list the same home address. She should have noticed that on Monday, but she had been sorting a hundred applications, and the forms had arrived in different weeks.

Fenna menarik dua formulir lamaran itu dari tumpukan dan meletakkannya berdampingan. Keduanya mencantumkan alamat rumah yang sama. Seharusnya ia menyadarinya sejak hari Senin, tetapi saat itu ia sedang memilah seratus lamaran, dan formulir-formulir itu datang pada minggu yang berbeda.

The interview carries on, mostly because neither of them knows how to stop. On paper, the second twin is nothing like the first. He is quick, he improvises, and he admits mistakes with a shrug. Fenna asks about a failed delivery, and he describes it so honestly that she laughs. By the end, she has decided that both brothers are good. Annoyingly good.

Wawancara itu berlanjut, sebagian besar karena keduanya tidak tahu cara menghentikannya. Di atas kertas, si kembar kedua sama sekali tidak mirip yang pertama. Ia cepat, ia berimprovisasi, dan ia mengakui kesalahan dengan angkat bahu. Fenna bertanya tentang pengiriman yang gagal, dan ia menceritakannya dengan begitu jujur sampai Fenna tertawa. Pada akhirnya, ia memutuskan bahwa kedua bersaudara itu bagus. Menjengkelkan bagusnya.

She walks to the window. A man in a green tie is still sitting on the bench outside, rereading his notes with great concentration. Fenna waves, and he comes inside.

Ia berjalan ke jendela. Seorang pria berdasi hijau masih duduk di bangku di luar, membaca ulang catatannya dengan sangat khusyuk. Fenna melambai, dan pria itu masuk.

Now the two of them sit across the desk from her in identical postures, with different ties. She tells them that the operations desk has always been too big for one person, which is why the last two people left.

Sekarang keduanya duduk di seberang mejanya dengan sikap tubuh yang sama persis, dengan dasi yang berbeda. Ia memberi tahu mereka bahwa meja operasional selalu terlalu besar untuk satu orang, itulah sebabnya dua orang terakhir pergi.

"If I hired only one of you, I would always wonder what the other would have done," she says. "So I'm offering one job, split into two part-time jobs. One of you is methodical and the other improvises. You'll have to agree between yourselves who is which."

"Kalau saya hanya menerima salah satu dari Anda, saya akan selalu bertanya-tanya apa yang akan dilakukan yang satunya," katanya. "Jadi saya menawarkan satu pekerjaan, yang dibagi menjadi dua pekerjaan paruh waktu. Satu dari Anda metodis dan yang lain berimprovisasi. Anda harus menyepakati sendiri siapa yang mana."

The brothers look at each other with exactly the same raised eyebrow.

Kedua bersaudara itu saling menatap dengan alis terangkat yang persis sama.

"Do we get one desk or two?" asks the one in the blue tie.

"Apakah kami mendapat satu meja atau dua?" tanya yang berdasi biru.

"One," Fenna says. "You'll have to share."

"Satu," kata Fenna. "Kalian harus berbagi."