Negotiation by cigarette
Wrote this in my head a while ago, never got it out 'cause I can't access livejournal in China.
I am sitting next to the plant manager in a boardroom. We are facing a potential fine for something we didn't do. Across from us is the man who, while he doesn't actually control the license in question, nevertheless must be spoken to before we go before the board. He and our manager are arguing, and I'm only catching about one word in five. However, I can tell who's winning because they're both smoking.
The man to my right draws the smoke confidently into his mouth, then opens his mouth and inhales deeply, causing it to stream up his nose. When he exhales the smoke pours out of his nostrils, making him look like a dragon. He smokes quickly, going through several cigarettes in the course of the meeting.
The man to my right puffs hesitantly on his cigarette, blowing the smoke out his mouth in little clouds that reveal his failure to inhale fully. He taps the cigarette so gently on the ashtray that the ashes fail to fall. As the man across from him finishes his cigarette, he frantically scrambles to give him one from the pack next to him, which is rejected in favor of the man's own brand.
As we finish the meeting, my plant manager leans over to me and whispers in Mandarin: "I don't smoke very often". I respond: "It shows".
Needless to say, we got the fine. We're going to appeal though. I'll have to ask our lawyer if he smokes...
I am sitting next to the plant manager in a boardroom. We are facing a potential fine for something we didn't do. Across from us is the man who, while he doesn't actually control the license in question, nevertheless must be spoken to before we go before the board. He and our manager are arguing, and I'm only catching about one word in five. However, I can tell who's winning because they're both smoking.
The man to my right draws the smoke confidently into his mouth, then opens his mouth and inhales deeply, causing it to stream up his nose. When he exhales the smoke pours out of his nostrils, making him look like a dragon. He smokes quickly, going through several cigarettes in the course of the meeting.
The man to my right puffs hesitantly on his cigarette, blowing the smoke out his mouth in little clouds that reveal his failure to inhale fully. He taps the cigarette so gently on the ashtray that the ashes fail to fall. As the man across from him finishes his cigarette, he frantically scrambles to give him one from the pack next to him, which is rejected in favor of the man's own brand.
As we finish the meeting, my plant manager leans over to me and whispers in Mandarin: "I don't smoke very often". I respond: "It shows".
Needless to say, we got the fine. We're going to appeal though. I'll have to ask our lawyer if he smokes...