Unit 31: Haven't we met before?

1. Interview for a job

(Linda comes to the interview for a manager at Harks & Bencers.)

Linda	Good morning.
Mr. Jones	Ah, good. Come in, come in. Please sit down.
Linda	Thanks.
Mrs. Baker	Good morning, Miss ... ?
Linda	Miller. Linda Miller.
Mrs. Baker	Ah, yes. Linda Miller. I'm Janet Baker, and this is ...
Mr. Jones	Mr. Jones. I'm Mr. Jones.
Linda	Hello.
Mrs. Baker	All right, Linda. Tell us something about yourself, please.
Linda	Well, my name is Linda Miller. I'm twenty-three years old and I live at 39, Hilltop Avenue, Surbiton. My telephone number is 3980761.
Mr. Jones	Very good.
Linda	I'm single and I live in a flat with two other girls. I went to Berry Wood School, then I did a course to become a secretary.
Mr. Jones	Very good! Very good indeed!
Mrs. Baker	You went to Berry Wood School, until ...
Linda	Until 1975.1 was there from 1968 to 1975.
Mrs. Baker	Ah, yes. And what exams did you take, Linda?
Linda	Six "O" levels and two "A" levels. English and geography at "A" level.
Mr. Jones	Two advanced levels! That's wonderful!
Mrs. Baker	I see. And then the course for secretaries?
Linda	Yes. And I've been a secretary for four years. I used to work for Johnson Brothers. I'm working for Wilson's at the moment.
Mr. Jones	Very good! Wonderful!
Mrs. Baker	Yes, I thought you'd say that. All right then, Linda, welcome to the company. You'll have to take a course for six months. The next course is beginning in a month's time. You can start then.
Linda	Oh, thank you. That's wonderful!
Mrs. Baker	We'll meet again, Linda. I'm helping with the course.
Linda	Good.
Mr. Jones	Good.
Linda	Thank you. Goodbye.
Mr. Jones	Goodbye.
Mrs. Baker	Goodbye, Linda.

(Linda goes out.)

Mr. Jones	A wonderful girl. Very good indeed.
Mrs. Baker	Yes. So you said.
Mr. Jones	Oh? Did I?

(Linda pops her head in at the door.)

Linda	Oh, excuse me—Uncle David. I forgot to tell you. Mum said that she's expecting you and Aunt Betty for lunch on Sunday, OK?
Mr. Jones	Er—yes. Thanks, Miss ... erm. Thanks, Linda.
Linda	Bye.
Mrs. Baker	Uncle David! Really!
Mr. Jones	Yes, yes. But She is a nice girl, and she'll be a good shop manager.
Mrs. Baker	Of course. Very good. Wonderful!

2. That was fifty years ago.

(Linda visits her grandmother.)

Linda	Hello. It's me, Linda.
Ethel	Come in, dear. Hello.
Linda	How are you?
Ethel	I' m very well, dear. How are you? How's the new job?
Linda	Oh, it's very interesting. In fact, I've had a very good week. I've got a new job and a new boyfriend.
Ethel	Oh?
Linda	Yes, his name's John. He came over to me on the first day and said: "Haven't we met before?"
Ethel	Funny. Someone said that to me the other day.
Linda	Really?
Ethel	Yes. At the club. Last Tuesday it was, at the old people's club.

* * *

(At a Senior Citizen Club.)

Ethel	Bye, Mabel, see you next week.
Roberts	Hello.
Ethel	Hello.
Roberts	Haven't we met before somewhere?
Ethel	I don't know. Have we?
Roberts	I'm Harry Roberts. I used to live in Kingston, in Summer Road, the house on the comer.
Ethel	Kingston. I used to live there!
Roberts	I knew it.
Ethel	But that was fifty years ago!
Roberts	Ah!
Ethel	You knew me then?
Roberts	Yes. But your name wasn't Miller. It was Johnson.
Ethel	Yes! I was Ethel Johnson.
Roberts	You haven't changed much.
Ethel	What, in fifty years?
Roberts	I knew it was you.
Ethel	Wait a minute—Harry Roberts! Of course. You gave me some flowers one day.
Roberts	That's right! But you already had a boyfriend.
Ethel	That was Tom. We got married in 1934. But I'm a widow now. Of course, I've got two sons and a daughter, all married. And six grandchildren.
Roberts	Ethel Johnson—after all these years.
Ethel	Years aren't important, Harry. We are as young as we want to be. I enjoy life. Do you go to any classes?
Roberts	Classes?
Ethel	Yes. I'm learning French. It's always a good idea to start something new, Harry.

* * *

Gran	It's always a good idea to start something new. That's what I told him, Linda.
Linda	Quite right, Gran.
Gran	And he agreed. So he's going to come to the French classes, too.
Linda	So we're all starting something new!
Gran	That's right.
Linda	I must go, I'm afraid. Thanks for the tea.
Gran	All right, dear. Bye.
Linda	Bye. See you next week.
Gran	See you next week.

3. I'm going to another class now.

Roberts	I'm going to another class now, every Thursday.
Ethel	Oh.
Roberts	I'm learning to dance.
Ethel	Good for you, Harry.
Roberts	Come on. I'll show you.