Neil, Larry, Bryce and I were in Japan for a business meeting with a Japanese Co. to go over a new proposal. Larry and I had arrived a day before and met with BT (a Harvard MBA type our company hired to impress Wall Street). Larry and I met Bruce in his 5 star hotel in Osaka (penthouse room), and BT proceeded to tell us that the presentation I had prepared was totally inadequate. He then proceeded to outline what he expected us to present, and I (as a good secretary/engineer - BT had trouble telling the difference apparently) took copious notes, so that we could rewrite the presentation when we returned to our 3 star hotel in a nearby smaller city. By the time, we returned to the hotel Neil and Bryce had arrived from the States, and were sitting in the lobby waiting to hear how things went with the Harvard MBA guy. After they had a good laugh regarding the fact that we had less than 24 hours to totally reconstruct the presentation in accord with BT's new direction, we all retired to the hotel lobby to begin the process of rewriting the presentation. (Note: This was before the days of laptop computers, Powerpoint software, and overhead projection equipment.)
As the only 1 that could type (no big surprise here), I got the job of rewriting the presentation, while the "boys" - Neil, Larry, and Bryce dictated what it should say. There was just a small problem - the only typewriter available had Japanese characters on the keys. Fortunately, I could type, and the corresponding Japanese characters were in the same location as the English letters on the Japanese typewriter. So the boys started dictating and I started typing. To make the work more palatable, Neil ordered a few "drinks" to keep the creative juices flowing while I typed. In those days, Larry drank Gin martinis with olives and Neil drank Vodka martinis with a twist (lemon). I was drinking Whiskey Sours (the only drink I could recognize on the menu, which was all in Japanese). The poor waitress became totally confused when Neil said, Vodka martini and Larry said Gin martini. So every time they ordered they repeated these words, "Vodka martini, no gin", "Gin martini, no vodka"... The drinks came in what appeared to us to be cordial glasses, so Neil coined the word "thimblefuls" to describe the size of the libations. As the afternoon wore on, I continued to type, and the boys continued to drink. Many laughs occurred as I gamely attempted to type on the Japanese typewriter, and the boys made numerous changes to the presentation. As we continued to work, Neil coined another term - he began calling for the "nurse". The "nurse" was the sweet young thing who was attending to his finger snap requests to bring another round of "thimblefuls". By early evening, we had finished the presentation and a number of "thimblefuls". So Bryce (ever the practical) suggested that we ask the hotel desk to make "flimsies" (transparencies) for the presentation, and we retire to the dining room for dinner.
The 4 of us stumbled up to the dining room (having had many too many thimblefuls by then), and ordered steaks. The size of the steaks caused Neil to describe them as "quarter" steaks (and I must admit they were only slightly larger than a 25 cent piece.) By the end of dinner, we had consumed a few "quarter steaks" and several more "thimblefuls". Neil retired to his room with a fairly significant buzz and upon opening the door he slipped and fell into his room on his ample derriere. (The ever attentive hotel employees realized that we had forgotten to retrieve our "flimsies" for our early morning presentation due to our alcoholic stupor, and they had slid the "flimsies" (transparencies) under the door of Neil's room - assuming he was the leader of our illustrious group.)
And so additional Neil-ism's entered the workplace vernacular - "thimblefuls", "quartersteaks", calling for the "nurse", and the inherent dangers of unattended "flimsies". Somehow, I think the boys all conspired to keep me laughing about this experience for years to come.
Sandy
P.S. These were good times, and all the laughs made for a great working experience. I was the "new kid on the block", and a woman besides - one of the first in what was then strictly a "man's world". Neil and his friends let me "into the club" - even though I wasn't a true "Creeker" (Neil will have to tell you that part of the story), and I have been grateful ever since!
(Editor's note: Last names/company names have been removed for privacy issues only.)
No comments:
Post a Comment