SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA...
*IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The following dialogue is completely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental...we think. <g>
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TAKE ONE/SCENE FORTY-NINE...Roll Cameras:
(We're listening in on a dinner conversation
between a father and his daughter)...
DAUGHTER: Dad, my friend told me her father was fired from his job.
DAD: Oh, that's too bad!
DAUGHTER: Yeah. And she said the employees of his company were rounded up in a hotel one day, and 250 of them were told they were fired. Her dad even had to get an "appointment" to get back into his own office, just to clean out his desk and get his family photos.
DAD: Maybe they just didn't trust him, for some reason.
DAUGHTER: But Dad, her father had been a Boy Scout, and they ALWAYS have to be truthful and completely honest, don't they? Oh...and by the way Dad, what does the company Infospace do?
DAD: Oh everyone knows that Dear. "Infospace is a leading global provider of cross-platform merchant and consumer infrastructure services."
DAUGHTER: What the heck does that mean Dad?
DAD: Well, let me try to explain it to you. It's really very simple. For example, you know those horoscope astrology sites you sometimes come across when your surfing the Web, on the library's computer. Well, Infospace powers the infrastructure for a few of those horoscopes.
DAUGHTER: Wow, that's cool Dad! Is that all they do?
DAD: Oh heavens no! They do lots of other stuff. Let me think...Oh yes, I believe they also provide the infrastructure for some of the Internet's White and Yellow pages.
DAUGHTER: But Dad, couldn't anybody do that?
DAD: Well yes, theoretically. But their infrastructure agreements will someday allow them to put those horoscopes, and lots of other cool stuff right on peoples TV screens, and even on peoples cell phones. Things like that will someday have a profound affect on the history of the world, making it a better place for all of us.
DAUGHTER: But what does "infrastructure" mean?
DAD: Oh, everyone knows that Dear. And you must remember what that guy in the TV ad says, "You've just got to keep on top of things, if you want to get ahead in this world." Infrastructure means...well, lets see. If I remember my old Latin correctly, "Infra" means "inferior to," or "below" or "beneath." So, it means...Oh, heck, why don't you ask your Mother, when she gets home from her second job.
DAUGHTER: So that's it then. That's all they do?
DAD: Oh no Dear. For example, they have filed applications for over two dozen patents, almost all of which are still pending.
DAUGHTER: What are the patents for?
DAD: I don't think anyone really knows for sure. They must be company secrets or something, but they must be really important.
DAUGHTER: Dad, what does "pending" mean?
DAD: Pending means "maybe"...or "maybe not."
DAUGHTER: Thanks Dad! You're so smart!
DAD: I know Dear...tell that to your Mother!
DAUGHTER: Dad, do YOU believe in astrology?
DAD: Of Course I do! In fact just over a year ago, on my birthday in March, my horoscope said, "Invest today, and you will gain financial riches." And then I read that the leader of one company, who was already one of the richest people in America, and must be telling the truth, had said something like, "We'll be the World's first trillion dollar company." So...I immediately went out and put all of our family lifesaving's, including all your college funds, into that company's stock. In fact, many professional financial analysts, even smarter than me if you can believe that, said the stock's price would go to the moon in less than a year.
DAUGHTER: Oh cool Dad! So are we rich? Are we Dad, huh? Are we?
DAD: Now finish TV dinner...DAMN IT!
DAUGHTER: Dad, can I get a pony?
DAD: Hurry up now. You'll be late for your beautician school class, and I'll be late for my night job. And bedsides, you've known ever since we moved into this trailer park last year, that they don't allow ponies in here. It's fine to have Big Dreams though Dear, but first you need to finish your education...so you can grow up to be really smart...like me.
DAUGHTER: And THEN I can get a pony?
DAD: Yep!...And you'll even know how to do its hair, and read its horoscope by wireless telephone, if you want.
DAUGHTER: Oh Cool!...Dad, you're so smart!
DAD: Yeah, I know...And getting smarter every day. Nobody takes advantage of your good old Dad, and gets away with it Scott free.
DAUGHTER: Dad...who was Scott?
DAD: That's another long story Dear.
*****The End???***** |
