Earlier today, I wrote:
While I was walking back from the cafeteria with my lunch today, a fellow employee turned to me and asked if there was a full menu in the cafeteria today. I replied that I didn’t know; I get the same thing every day. I thought about adding “Their haddock sandwich; it’s delicious … early in the week.” I didn’t think he would get the reference, however.
I wondered if anyone would get the reference. One anonymous poster and talonvaki did; another found the reference via web search. Perhaps it was too much for people to recognize a line from an early 1960s musical, even if it was revived in the 1990s. So, here’s the answer:
The line is from the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. This was a musical about J. Pierpont Finch, who finds a book on how to slack his way to success, and works his way up to the top of the company. The particular song is called “The Company Way”. At the point in the show when the song is sung, Mr. Twimble, head of the mail room, has worked for the company for 25 years; all of them in the mail room. Finch’s book advises him the mailroom is a place from which to escape as soon as possible. When he is offered a mail room promotion, Finch turns it down, recommending Frump, the boss’ unscrupulous nephew. The song goes as follows:
| Twimble: When I joined this firm As a brash young man, Well, I said to myself, “Now, brash young man, Don’t get any ideas.” Well, I stuck to that, And I haven’t had one in years.
Twimble: I play it the company way;
Finch: Your face is a company face.
Finch: When they want brilliant thinking |
Finch: So you play it the company way? Twimble: Company policy is by me OK. Finch: You’ll never rise up to the top. Twimble: But there’s one thing clear: Whoever the company fires, I will still be here.
Finch: Your brain is a company brain.
Finch: Do you have any hobbies?
Twimble: ‘Cause I play it the company way. Finch: You will still be here. |
Let’s see. I have been there 18 years. So perhaps I do do it the company way after all.
