May 13, 2005
Week 3 - The Can - Part 1
Episode 5
Rantz sits at his desk, talking with Shari Kern. He is holding a printout of a computer spreadsheet.
“This report looks good,” Rantz says, “but I’d like you to change it to put the gross orders column just to the left of the quantity mailed.”
“Rachel always told me to put the gross orders on the right hand border of the page!”
“I understand that… But Rachel’s not the Circulation Director anymore. And I think my way would be more clear… So please make the change.”
“It would be a ton of work!”
Powell steps into the office. “Uh… I was wondering… Did the garbage men finally take away that old can this morning?”
“No,” Rantz says. “Even though I put a sign on it that asked them to.”
“Wow! What are you going to do now?”
“Well, my wife thinks I should give up, just hide it in the garage or something. But now it’s personal! I’ve got to make a stand! Next week I’ll get up at five in the morning and wait for them to come by so I can talk to them.”
“Wow! You think you can finally make them take it?”
“I’ll damn well try!”
“Can I go now?” Shari asks.
“We’re not done,” Rantz answers.
“Only, this doesn’t really seem like work related conversation and I’ve got a lot to do.”
“Oh… Uh….” Powell glances at Shari, then quickly looks away. “Um… Sorry to interrupt.” He leaves.
Rantz picks up the spreadsheet. “So… You’ll move the column where I asked, right?”
“No,” Shari says.
“No?”
“Now it’s personal…”
“I don’t…”
“I’ve got to make a stand.” She gets up and walks out.
Rantz looks at the report in his hand. “I wish I were back in Pennsylvania,” he says.