> I am not a resource This is a very poetic and hopeful thing to say, but at the end of the day, it is simply not true. We don't get to just exist for the sake

> I am not a resource This is a very poetic and hopeful thing to say, but at the end of the day, it is simply not true. We don't get to just exist for the sake of existing. There has to be give and take with our external environments. There are a few relationships that bypass this (to SOME extent; see: mother/child) but by and large for the vast majority of human relationships, if you don't provide value—they aren't going to altruistically just give you money, love, time, etc. So while you are correct that we are not things, we are humans, there is a level of needing to convey what wonderful human qualities you plan on bringing to the relationship. This is true in dating, interviewing, and making friends. There's no relationship you can voluntarily enter where the other party will be fine with you taking and not giving—and interviewing is simply outlining those terms—"selling" what you plan to bring to the table.