Four brokers sit at a table to discuss their investments.
A: She’s talented. We could use that – it even facilitates monetary value depending how long we invest.
B: She’s unlikeable, though. Ugly, agonizingly boring – I’d have an awful difficult time keeping up appearances for that long.
C: I agree, I think it would take at least 10 years of affections to gain everything out of it and there’s no guarantee.
A: I believe there IS a guarantee, however. She’s an extremely high performer in her area of study and she’s even won awards for her work. She could be dangerously successful one day.
C: Success in school says nothing about success in the real world. I give her 2 months to quit on all she worked on and bum it into an average lifestyle.
A: There’s no way! She’s way too motivated to succeed for that to happen.
B: She’s a lousy brown-noser that skates on her good relationships with professors!
A: And who says she won’t continue to build useful connections like that in the real world?
C: Bah. She’ll be an absolute crill, following orders, never breaking out.
A: That’s awfully harsh.
D: What if we befriend her simply for what she is now? A kind, humble, hard-working person? I mean she’s not totally uninteresting. Look at how she dresses. She has a point of view. She creates artworks in impressionistic styles. Her performances are delightful. You find her boring, ugly, unlikeable, yet we’re discussing her right now in this room. I can’t see those traits as you do.. I see potential for right now – a potential that takes no affection investment. It pays joy right away.
C: It’s not practical! What’s gotten into you, this discussion of the present and joy? This board meets for one reason, and one reason only – to maximize the gains we incur by our own output of affection. We give affection willy nilly, we lose time, value, purpose. To hear you speak this way is not only surprising but despicable. What are you even doing on this board if you truly believe what you just said?
D: I suppose I’ve seen the work done here and just want to make a change. I enjoy our monetization of affection less and less.
B: It doesn’t sound like you’re committed to our mission.
D: Maybe not.
C: If you want to focus more on the present and throw your affections left and right with no account for the value down the line, be our guest. Just not here.
B: You could even go back through our log of rejects if you want!
(B + C laugh.)
B: (filing through papers) Hilde Mayer, 21, Art History Major, Straight B’s, curious about mainly Van Gogh. Almost no future potential...
C: Use your affection on her!
B: Benson McGaffrey, 20, majoring in symbolic systems – ha! Practically enough to bin him right there.
A: Maybe friendship is more than affection in exchange for achievement.
C: Now you’re with D too??
B: You two should open up an affections charity at this rate. The two of us, on the other hand, are interested in actually having a business.
A: I feel that this discussion isn’t misplaced; it’s simply a different way of investigating our options.
B: I see no reason whatsoever to focus on present joy over future returns.
C: Neither do I.
B: And if that’s all you two can focus on, maybe it’s best we exchange you for some new associates that align more directly with our values.
D: Perhaps.
A: I’m not willing to give up that easily.
D: I, on the other hand, believe I have an appointment to make with one of your rejects.
(D appears outside, sits on a park bench beside the candidate in question.)
D: Hi, I’m Dallas.
E: Hey Dallas, do I know you?
D: We have History together.
E: Right! How’s it going?
D: Going well.
E: What are you up to this fine afternoon?
D: I suppose just some bench-sitting.
(E smiles at D.)
E: Very well, thanks for joining my pointless bench sitting!
D: Of course. But this is a nice, non-pointless moment.
(D pauses).
D: A point-ful moment.
E: Ha! Point-ful indeed.