Phil freaks out! December 17, 1985

 


Phil’s shrill voice hinted of impending disaster.

Two weeks before Christmas and Pepsi Cola sent notification terminating his contract. Phil acted like a young child who’d not received the toy he’d requested from Santa.

The contract had sentimental value to Phil since he had used that end of the business as foundation for his small business empire.

Cold blooded, Phil aches for importance, making up for his lack of smarts with extreme shrewdness and luck, always managing to locate himself in the right place at the right time.

A few years ago, Phil’s boss in a soda distribution company screwed up in delaying his bid; Phil, second in command at the time, slipped in his own bid and stole the contract.

Later, when Yacenda, owner of the Willowbrook Dunkin, ran afoul of federal monopoly laws, Phil brought the franchise at bargain basement price.

Still later when Gene, the owner of a Dunkin out in far Rockaway came looking for a second franchise, Phil sold him the Willowbrook store at a hefty price, financing it himself so that if Gene could not make the payments or pay Phill his cut of the sales, Phil would get the business back.

At this point, Phil made his own good fortune by spreading rumors among the staff – through his cousin who Gene mistakenly kept on as assistant manager, ultimately resulting in the store’s failure and the business ownership reverting to Phil.

Perhaps some hope lies in the old saying that the enemies you make on the way up are waiting for you on your way down again.

Few people actually make it to that elite position such as the Rockefellers, JP Morgan or Donald Trump, where they rise so high, they never come down.

Most rise and fall, expending all their energy in the climb as to make their fall in a controllable crash.

These would-be capitalists use up their magic and have nothing left to cushion them later.

Yacenda had a whole series of reversed. While they failed to break him, these limited his ability to grow.

First, he sold the Dunkin a quick sale, then came revelations of bad conduct involving the mall manager.

Yacenda even got beat up in Newark, forced to hire bodyguards. Recently his manipulations with town officials came to light, making him political enemies as well.

People like these seem to climb to a point of incompetence, and then self-destruct. If they constructed their empires soundly enough, they survive with some acceptable level of wealth; if not, they tumble back into misfortune, one bad thing coming after another – each manipulation they attempt to halt their slide making their crash all the worse.

For Phil, the Pepsi contract served as foundation for the empire he envisioned. His Dunkin franchises won’t bear the financial weight of what he hopes to accomplish. He’s made too many mistakes his cleverness can’t cure, such as hiring incompetent people at key position, and he’s made enemies who may be waiting for him when his financial fortunes fade, waiting to help him reach the bottom faster.

 1985 Menu 


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