Njut’s friends who aren’t.

“Come on, Prot, quit being so bossy. Slow down a little. Enjoy life. This weeked, pack your trunks and let’s go to the beach. There’s a fine café, great ambiance, plenty of strange people, and lots of good conversation. I bet even our fair-weather friend here would go with us,” pointing at Eleko, who just walked up to join them for lunch.

“No, I wouldn’t, whatever it is; but thanks for asking,” he said. “You know I’ve to work weekends these days. Money ‘s going out faster than it’s coming in. Can’t wait for June.”

“What’s in June?” asked Prot. “Is that your annual lay-off period?”

“Sort of. It’s when the plant closes and we get four weeks off … two with pay and two without.”

“Better than nothing, I guess,” responded Prot. “But why don’t you start your own little business? It sure ‘d beat having to punch that card every day.”

“Not for me. I’m OK with timecards. I like regular hours. And, unlike you, I get time and a half for overtime. You, from what you told us, work around the clock and don’t bring home any more than I do … or at least that’s what I assumed last month when you told us you had to borrow money for payroll.”

“Come on, guys; don’t argue about that again. You already know you’ll never see eye-to-eye on who’s the better off. Prot will probably run some sort of business until he dies, and you’re probably not ever going to start one. Am I wrong?”

“Probably not.”

“Not even if you won the lottery?” interjected Prot.

“Why on earth would I want to do that? I wouldn’t want a business if you gave it to me. Getting that kind of dough would buy me a permanent fishing trip. Why would I want to buy myself headaches? I really can’t understand why anyone would want to do that. You couldn’t possibly enjoy working that much. Do you?”

“Quit arguing; it’s time to order.”

“I already know what I want. Here,” said Prot, handing the menu to Eleko. “You’re usually the slowpoke.”

Today it didn’t take very long. Prot and Njut ordered the Special, and Eleko decided to build himself a Super Sub at the salad bar.

“While he’s gone, tell me honestly, do you ever ‘not’ think about the bottom line of your escapades?”

“Not lately. You can't afford to do that. Sure, there was a time when I was peddling lipsticks … a business that didn’t even have a bottom line.”

“Very funny,” said Njut.

“But other than a couple of nightmare jobs, I’ve enjoyed my various businesses and, yes, I always have my mind on what matters. The fact is, without paying attention to profits, there wouldn’t be any. What makes it so hard is that the competition is getting greater. Every year, it’s getting harder and harder to survive, but I don’t mind. Actually, I thrive on it.”

Coming back with an impressive-looking sub, Eleko overheard the last of Prot's comments and asked Njut, “Do you like to sell?”

“Not really, unless teaching qualifies as selling. Does it?” looking at Prot.

“In some businesses it does, but not in mine. You teachers are worse than Eleko’s bunch … all that knowledge and not enough smarts to run a business. Both of you guys are hopeless in that department. You’ll never be rich.”

“That maybe so, but the part about running a business; I'd like to think that I've been there and done it. Besides, don’t all large businesses have HR departments? HRD alone is a legitimate business.”

“Developing staff and workers may be a business, but you’d all be unemployed if it weren’t for us salesmen.” said Prot, sporting a smug grin.

“Good try, but in truth, Sales is no different than Human Resources or Production. They all need one another. Now, I think it’s great that each department ‘thinks’ they’re the most important, but for a company’s sake, that opinion is best left unsaid. Eleko, don’t you and your friends think you’re the backbone of your company?”

“Of course, we do. And we are!”

“Enough said. The food’s here.”

(This never-ending bitter-batter between the three factions of a successful company supplements the E:P:N vocabulary at http://mylnn.net/epn/minisummary_v.html.)

Why don't you start writing your own dialogues? If they fit the E:P:N mould, I'll make sure they'll be uploaded.