just_displaced | Open Post

I know I'd be more likely to hire the guy with cool facial hair.

Of course you would. It'd fit your whole... brand? Aesthetic? Whatever.

[He gestures to the very impressive beard.]

You'd be surprised how very few of my followers have beards, actually.

I suppose they don't want to compete.

Well, they couldn't. I mean, if I were one of your followers, I wouldn't grow a beard. I'd just stick to the mustache. It's always a bad idea to try to beat your boss at his own game. Although...

[A slightly amused look crosses his face.]

... I've definitely tried to beat my boss at his own game before. A lot.

Oh yes. Successfully or unsuccessfully?

[Settling in for another story, yes definitely.]

Well...

[He really shouldn't brag, but...]

My ideas are better than his. Not all the time, but some of the time. We both have different advantages. He's a lot older, so he's had more time to figure out this whole advertising thing. I'm young and stupid and willing to write really shocking ads. Sometimes we go head to head, and see whose campaign is better. Clients have chosen mine over his before, and it drives him nuts, but he respects that kind of talent. One time, though, he knew my ad was so much better than his he refused to even bring it to the meeting. He "forgot" the pitch in the car. I was kinda mad, but ultimately, that means I win, right? It means he knew my work was so much better than his he was scared.

Devious little bastard, isn't he?

[Yes, laughing at your office politics now, sorry. Oh mortals, so silly.]

Yeah, except for the 'little' part. He's pretty tall. And he doesn't even have a beard.

Do you generally like people better when they have a beard?

I think it generally says something good about their character, yeah.

Oh yes? What does mine say about me, then?

[He's just going to smooth his down in preparation and give Ginsberg his most smoldering look. Smoldering or ridiculous. Either one. He awaits your judgement.]

It says that you have a big personality. That you're not afraid to really put yourself out there. That you're a little cutting edge, a little different. That you're probably really prideful, in general, because you'd have to be, to have a beard like that. That you're... what the hell is that look?

[Ridiculous. That's what it is.]