June 9, 2005
Week 7 - The Laptop
Episode 4
Rantz sits in his office, talking with Shari Kern.
“These Advils I’m taking are starting to make me woozy,” he says. “I don’t think
I’m going to be able to function too well, the rest of the day… I’m gonna head home.”
“Okay,” Shari answers.
“Listen… I’m expecting a call from a subscription agency. They’re preparing their new catalog and they’re on a tight dead line, so I need you to take it for me.”
“Okay”
“They’re willing to sell some subs for us, but we’ve been arguing about how much of a remit they’ll pay. When they call… tell them I’ll accept their number, even though it’s so low we’ll lose money on everything they sell.”
“Okay”
“That’s it? Just ‘okay’? Aren’t you curious why I decided that?”
“Not really.”
“I ran some models and I realized… We have to keep the circ up to sell ads... We’ll lose a little, but this agency is the cheapest way to do it.”
“Okay”
Rantz stares at her. “How do you expect to learn if you don’t ask questions?”
“I’m only doing this to keep myself eating until I get a job as a song writer. As soon as I get a break in the industry… I am so out of here!”
Rantz slowly stands up. He stoops badly. “Ow!” he says as he begins to gather some papers from his desk. “I can understand that, but… even so… Ow!... I mean… you’re here now… Aren’t you… I don’t know, just curious about what’s going on around you?”
“I was out at a club last night till two… Then I had to get up at six this morning to move my car across the street for alternate side of the street parking… That’s pretty much been my life all week so… I’m not really too curious about anything right now.”
“One day, you’ll be older and… you’re not going to be able to keep living like that… you’ll have to start taking care of yourself.”
“So I can pop pills and lurch around like Quasimodo?”
Rantz struggles into his jacket. “Ow! I need another Advil…”