From "Circa 1997"

The search posed a number of distinct options qualified by a variety of different possibilities coalesced in particular occupational frames. How to ensure that what was required was indeed expressed and then competently followed up remained a mystery within which knowledge, luck, and personality intermingled. Questions would be asked requiring answers. Statements would be made regarding positions. Appearances noted, acumen discerned. It wasn't like bargaining or haggling. It was like slowly moving outside the wake only to slice back across it at an accelerated pace passing markers astutely and vigilantly along the way. One could hope the waters were calm but could never precisely gage the temperature beneath. To wipe out or erase every expectation and simply react to given stimuli with a response that fit his or her interlocutor's predetermined (and potentially malleable) frame was necessary. These reactions could be aligned with specific expectations but if they corresponded to directly to the inquiry's object might potentially result in a lower score. Expediency meets relevancy, yes. Preparation and research reflected the classical approach but there was something to be said for improvisation. Other factors included the time of day, internal vacancies, altitude adjustments, and the pressure of the wind.

It was a gorgeous day outside and Jenkins had taken the time to add an additional 60 cents to the parking metre (in order to take into account 25 to 45 minutes worth of [valuable] small talk). 3 clients resided in the vicinity and were seeking that and this. An elderly woman parked her car on the other side of the street, known and respected for the ways in which the chrysanthemums (generally 3) within her Tepenbaum hat spread out like stately maple leafs (even in winds up to 26 km/hr) when illuminated after 2 pm. Subtly iridescent yet distinctly layered: once could search for this quality ideally but their glances had to be quick inasmuch as allowing one's eyes to linger would result in an accusation of rudeness. Judge Reynolds was interested in the ways in which the parasol had been reconfigured to block an additional layer of the Stinton Probe's aggregates, counterbalancing (blocking) them as they proceeded from North to South. It was a brilliant adjustment to a previously designed offensive strategy which had proven to be just slightly too lateral for the implementation of a dime. Ms. Edmunds required advice regarding gardening and since we had recently published a novella entitled Catalysts and Caterpillars, Jenkins was charged with delivering a copy. The Robinsons had recently purchased a new barbeque and were hoping that a late afternoon serenade would aptly demystify their grill. And fortunately after a bridge linked two extemporaneous choruses it did.

Business as usual, proceeding according to plan, services required, advice administered. Beams of light reflected through the windshield onto Jenkins's watch as he remembered it was 4:30. He had an appointment to discuss the retooling of his investments and decided to stop for bacon and eggs. He wasn't that concerned with being derivative since he understood the value of imitation. But nothing prepared him for an appointment more soundly than listening to eggs crackle in bacon fat while dodging most of the scorching hot jettisoned droplets. So that's what he did.