her game, not somebody who’d tease those women on the floor to cut corners. But Dave wasn’t ready to roll over just yet.
Annette had opened a notebook on her lap and was ready to hear her assignment so she could go back to her desk and do her best.
Carol turned to her and said, “Annette, you’re in the room because Dave likes you. Because Dave likes you, I like you. Whether for a couple weeks or a lot longer, we three are going to be running the company. So please put your notebook down for a minute.”
Annette closed her notebook and put her hands over it but couldn’t let it off of her lap.
Dave decided to get it moving. He said, “The old plant works. We’ve only been out of it a couple of months. What do you need to know?” He put some demand in his voice, and Carol didn’t seem to mind.
She said, “I thought you’d been in here longer than that.”
Which wasn’t what he was asking, but okay, for the moment. “That was the pretense,” he said. “We took the new address and touted the facility to the Germans and worked the old plant all the way out the fourth quarter because we got, or we booked, results that didn’t yet reflect the cost-return equation of running the new plant at quarter capacity.”
Dave didn’t like hearing himself say those thoughts out loud, but she didn’t look too surprised.
She said, “If the Japanese had waited much longer to buy, the Germans would have had to see what was going on.” Which was the truth, and Dave knew it.
He said, “Maybe the Germans didn’t want to know, or the Japanese. So, yeah, Mathews was lucky, but he also worked at it. By the time you guys bought in, I imagine he had about worked every angle.”
In fact, Dave suspected that Mathews might have had a whole separate filing system of records and projections that could be worked in the dark as the company wound down.
It seemed Carol had suspicions of her own. “Annette,” she said, “I sense there’s another angle working. Do you have any idea what else Mathews and the others are selling? How they’re going to get their last nickel?”
Dave interrupted before Annette could answer. “Good question, Carol,” he said. “But let’s get straight who’s asking and why. We thought we were just going to help put this company out of its misery. If something else, like a new company, is happening, let’s be clear about it. The old plant is funky, but we’ve got people who can turn the lights on. They can turn the key for the whole operation. That plant works. So, if you’re really not jerking us around, I think you ought to tell us about this secret background of yours.”
Carol looked glad for the chance to unload, and Dave sat back, lie detector switched on.
She said, “After this burial, I was supposed to get a promotion from Baxter Blume. Last night, I found out the promotion is going to someone else, and once I’m done here, I’m out at Baxter Blume. I was going to continue burying Elizabeth’s Fish as if nothing had happened, do a good job, and get Baxter Blume to say good things about me. Then I went on the floor and saw the women. I’ve seen plenty of women in plants, but I didn’t expect them here, and I realized I wasn’t any different from them. I was another woman on the way out. When I realized that, I didn’t want to just lie down and get shoved out any more than I wanted to shove those other women. I said what I said off the top of my head, but I’ve got good business instincts, and there are ingredients in the circumstances here. I’m not smart enough to play everything Mathews and the other fat boys were playing, but I trust my instincts. I was supposed to be promoted. Instead of burying companies, I was supposed to get a company of my own. I still want that. I want to spend my time keeping a company alive. We might, you and I and Annette, have a shot with that old plant.”
Well. No shit. She was talking past the edges of sound business, but she was also
Annette had opened a notebook on her lap and was ready to hear her assignment so she could go back to her desk and do her best.
Carol turned to her and said, “Annette, you’re in the room because Dave likes you. Because Dave likes you, I like you. Whether for a couple weeks or a lot longer, we three are going to be running the company. So please put your notebook down for a minute.”
Annette closed her notebook and put her hands over it but couldn’t let it off of her lap.
Dave decided to get it moving. He said, “The old plant works. We’ve only been out of it a couple of months. What do you need to know?” He put some demand in his voice, and Carol didn’t seem to mind.
She said, “I thought you’d been in here longer than that.”
Which wasn’t what he was asking, but okay, for the moment. “That was the pretense,” he said. “We took the new address and touted the facility to the Germans and worked the old plant all the way out the fourth quarter because we got, or we booked, results that didn’t yet reflect the cost-return equation of running the new plant at quarter capacity.”
Dave didn’t like hearing himself say those thoughts out loud, but she didn’t look too surprised.
She said, “If the Japanese had waited much longer to buy, the Germans would have had to see what was going on.” Which was the truth, and Dave knew it.
He said, “Maybe the Germans didn’t want to know, or the Japanese. So, yeah, Mathews was lucky, but he also worked at it. By the time you guys bought in, I imagine he had about worked every angle.”
In fact, Dave suspected that Mathews might have had a whole separate filing system of records and projections that could be worked in the dark as the company wound down.
It seemed Carol had suspicions of her own. “Annette,” she said, “I sense there’s another angle working. Do you have any idea what else Mathews and the others are selling? How they’re going to get their last nickel?”
Dave interrupted before Annette could answer. “Good question, Carol,” he said. “But let’s get straight who’s asking and why. We thought we were just going to help put this company out of its misery. If something else, like a new company, is happening, let’s be clear about it. The old plant is funky, but we’ve got people who can turn the lights on. They can turn the key for the whole operation. That plant works. So, if you’re really not jerking us around, I think you ought to tell us about this secret background of yours.”
Carol looked glad for the chance to unload, and Dave sat back, lie detector switched on.
She said, “After this burial, I was supposed to get a promotion from Baxter Blume. Last night, I found out the promotion is going to someone else, and once I’m done here, I’m out at Baxter Blume. I was going to continue burying Elizabeth’s Fish as if nothing had happened, do a good job, and get Baxter Blume to say good things about me. Then I went on the floor and saw the women. I’ve seen plenty of women in plants, but I didn’t expect them here, and I realized I wasn’t any different from them. I was another woman on the way out. When I realized that, I didn’t want to just lie down and get shoved out any more than I wanted to shove those other women. I said what I said off the top of my head, but I’ve got good business instincts, and there are ingredients in the circumstances here. I’m not smart enough to play everything Mathews and the other fat boys were playing, but I trust my instincts. I was supposed to be promoted. Instead of burying companies, I was supposed to get a company of my own. I still want that. I want to spend my time keeping a company alive. We might, you and I and Annette, have a shot with that old plant.”
Well. No shit. She was talking past the edges of sound business, but she was also
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