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posted by tim caynes » Thursday September 23, 2004 » Permalink
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...so I said to him, I said 'I mean, good manners don't cost nothing do they?', and then he just went round the back to get his bike. Anyway, I was legging it pretty sharpish up them stairs, 'cause there was this bloke from the west end with some kind of 'proposition' like, you know. He's going off and going on about some new thing he's got going with a new pair of dimes or something and there's Dave from the bookies giving me earache about the 3:10 at Newmarket and anyway, I said to him, I said, 'listen Dave, do you think I got time to listen to your 'ere tales of woe, when I got him upstairs with his 'proposition' mate? I mean, good manners don't cost nothing, do they?'
So here I am up here with me mobile on one bar and me tea going cold and I'm trying to get these poxies sorted so that me old pc can watch this video and then blow me if the wife don't just walk in and she's saying 'ooh, look that's good. Who's that? Is that a video?' and it is a video and it's this bloke I was telling you about on a kind of telly on my pc, which is a bit weird, but he goes on and I just sit there listening, right? Anyway, he goes on about this 'new model' and he keeps saying stuff about utility belts or something, and I'm not the brightest spark in the box, you know, so I didn't understand a lot of that stuff, but I do know something about market traders, natch, so I got that bit and anyway, as it happens, even though I didn't get it all, I just sat there watching, thinking 'well, he knows what he's talking about, clearly' and it seemed to me that really, when you think it of, he's right, right?
When I spoke to Dave about it down the pub later he said it was plain as day, 'I mean', he said, 'it's like paying to see the footy properly, innit? I mean, I don't want to pay to get Man United, do I? I just want to pay for the Arsenal, right?'. So I guess it's alright then. I also got 14-1 on the winner at the 4:00 at Aintree, 'The Moderator'. Lovely
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Posted by Linda Skrocki on September 23, 2004 at 08:53 PM BST #
I said to him that good manners do not cost anything. Then he went around the back [of the building] to get his bicycle. Anyway, I was ascending the stairs quickly to meet a man from [London's] West End who wanted to discuss a [business] proposition, while Dave from the bookmaker's is complaining about the 3:10 race at Newmarket racetrack. I told Dave that I did not have time for his sad stories when it would be impolite to the main waiting to discuss his proposition with me, upstairs; and illustrated with the aphorism that it costs one nothing to behave with good manners.
I find myself upstairs, noticing that the mobile telephone is showing a low signal, and trying to display a streaming video on my PC. My wife walked in at that moment, and exclaimed on noticing the video. She asked who was being represented, and if it were indeed a video being shown. In fact this is the gentleman I mentioned earlier, explaining his proposition through a video stream on my computer, while I pay attention. He describes a new [business?] model and various jargon such as "utility belts" which I did not immediately comprehend. However my market instincts were piqued and while I did not follow the presentation in detail, I found myself persuaded of its essential validity.
Later, I mentioned the presentation to Dave at a local bar. He agreed that the principle was obviously sound and illustrated with the example of a football fan who is not interested in paying to see the team Manchester United, but would willingly pay to watch Arsenal play. Dave found this analogy persuasive, and then digressed to his success in a 14-fold multiplication of his bet on the 4:00 pm race at Aintree racetrack. A horse named "The Moderator" was the vehicle of his joy.
Posted by Toby on August 14, 2009 at 01:00 AM BST #