The Circle

[waves splashing]

["'Tis the Gift To Be Simple"

playing on cell phone]

Yes, we received your payment.

No, it wasn't late, but it was for $78.13,

and the bill was for $78.31.

Okay, great.

No, thank you.

["Metal Guru" playing]

[car sputters]

[car horn honking]

[car horn honking]

[horn honking]

["Farewell Transmission" playing]

I think it's the intake manifold.

- Was I right?

- Not even close.

I think I just like saying

"intake manifold."

Maybe when I get a job,

I'll get Triple A.

I thought you worked

at the water company.

Temping.

- How's your parents?

- They're doing okay.

I should, um, get going,

actually, for dinner.

But, um, we should make a plan.

I'll send you a text.

Or we could do that now

since we're both here.

- What?

- Nothing. [chuckles]

Okay.

[car door slams]

["Something Old Something New" playing]

[man] Nice of Mercer.

I always thought you two

would make a good...

- Mom.

- Couple.

Boy from the neighborhood?

That would've been cute.

[laughs]

Remember when he fixed the roof?

- Stop.

- [laughs]

- He's not...

- I know, I know.

Mm.

Any word on the insurance?

Oh, they won't cover the cost of IGIV.

It's $40,000.

So, you know, surprise, surprise.

It's not on their list.

[Dad] Oh, enough of all that.

Come on, honey.

- Help me up.

- [Mom] Okay.

- Here. You got it?

- [dishes clanking]

Thanks, Mae.

- [Mom] Okay?

- Yeah.

- [Dad grunts]

- [Mom] That's it.

Well, not so fast.

[Dad grunts]

- [Mom] Okay and turn... just...

- [Dad grunts]

- [Mom] Ready?

- [Dad] Yeah. I'm good.

- Yeah.

- [Mom] Okay.

["'Tis the Gift to be Simple"

playing on cell phone]

[people chatting]

- [woman] What are you doing right now?

- I'm at work.

I come here each day and in return,

I receive money to buy goods and services.

Ah, well, I've got to be quick.

I'm in Germany.

- Why are you in Germany?

- Regulatory mess.

Those guys did not screw around,

but listen, I got you an interview.

- What?

- I got you an interview tomorrow.

- [screams]

- [laughing] Yes, I did.

Really? No.

[laughing] Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,

I did, tomorrow.

Holy sh*t, Annie, I love you.

[Annie] Remember,

it's just customer experience.

So answer phones, help people,

what you're already doing

but now a real company.

I know, it's perfect.

Tons of people started there.

[Mae] I know, I know. Thank you.

Stop saying that.

We're hiring a hundred people this month.

- One of them may as well be you.

- Right, good.

This doesn't mean you're in.

You have to kill the interview.

Know the Circle inside out.

I'm back next week.

By then, you'll be hired

if you kill the interview.

[Mae] Okay, I will.

[Annie] You can do it, Mae. Own it!

[indistinct chattering]

[man] How would you describe

what the Circle is to say,

- your grandmother?

- Take True You, for example.

It combined everything that was separate

and sloppy into one account.

No more forgetting your password,

multiple identities, identity theft.

You use your real name,

which is tied to your credit card.

I think Grandma's falling asleep.

[scoffs]

Okay.

Before True You, it was like

you needed a different vehicle

for every single one of your errands,

and no one should have to own

87 different cars.

It doesn't make sense.

It's the chaos of the Web

made elegant and simple.

Speed round. Paul or John?

Early Paul, late John.

- Mario or Sonic?

- Early Sonic, late Mario.

Introspection or communication?

- Uh...

- Mae.

- Sorry, I'm thinking about it.

- So that's introspection.

- Sushi or Soylent?

- Sushi.

Ever owned a Velcro wallet?

- Yes.

- Velcro shoes?

- Yes.

- Velcro... pants?

Yes.

What was the name of the receptionist

who checked you in this morning?

Um...

- Linda.

- Joan Baez or Joan Crawford?

- Joan Didion.

- "Gif" or "jif"?

[chuckles] I'm not answering that.

There's too much at stake.

Would you like to go out with me?

That's very inappropriate.

Good. Quality or convenience?

Not mutually exclusive.

Needs of the society

or needs of the individual?

- Should be the same.

- You're most scared of?

Unfulfilled potential.

[indistinct chattering]

All right, heliport, gym, daycare,

- organic farm, ptanque.

- Ptanque?

- Oh, it's like bocce but French. [giggles]

- Oh.

Tetherball, lap pool, social pool, doga.

- [dog barking]

- [indistinct chattering]

Kennel, nightclub, salon, maker space,

rock climbing, trampoline,

clinic, volleyball.

Was that...? Was that the...?

Content people, news,

arts, film, engineers,

management and me, advertising and you.

All right, let's go.

[Mae] Your legs are so long.

[shouts] What?

[giggles] It's all on sensors.

The elevator reads your ID

and says "hello."

We do that for visitors mostly.

They're usually impressed.

Annie, that's the worst picture

of me ever.

Oh, come on... Oh. Oh, dear.

- [Annie] Danny!

- [Danny] What's up?

You remember Dan? I'm handing you off.

- You're all grown-up.

- [Mae] Oh.

[Danny] I have the privilege and the honor

to give you your brand new tablet, Mae.

And I sent the password to your phone.

- Oh, my God. It has my name on it.

- Uh-huh.

Oh, this is too sad.

You take care of my little girl.

- I will.

- [sniffs]

[man] If we don't give customers

a human and humane experience,

we have no customers,

it's pretty elemental.

Jared will be doing your training.

I oversee the team,

and Jared oversees the unit.

As you know, you'll be doing

straight-up customer maintenance

for the smaller advertisers.

You work on your portable here.

They send a message

to customer experience,

and it gets routed over to one of you.

Random at first, but once

you start working with a customer,

they'll continue to be routed over to you

for the sake of continuity.

Um, you get the query,

figure out the answer,

you write them back,

and that is the core of it.

Simple enough in theory. So far so good?

- [chuckles] Uh, yeah.

- Cool.

So let's say you've answered

a client's question,

and they seem satisfied.

Now, it's not just that you get a smile

or a frown, though that is part of it.

You get your smile...

it's almost always a smile.

Um, that is when you send the survey.

The survey is a set of quick questions

about, you know, your overall service,

how you did,

and they send that immediately back,

and you get to see how you did right here.

That is the rating. Uh, you know what?

Let's just do a live one.

- Excuse me.

- Sorry.

- Okay.

- [types]

- Have a nice day.

- [beeps]

[taps]

- [humming]

- [beeps]

That's pretty good, 99 is good,

but I can't help wondering

why it wasn't 100. Let's look.

[beeps]

Okay.

[types]

Boom. Sometimes you just encounter someone

who isn't really sensitive to the metrics.

So it's important to ask them

and make sure you get that clarity.

And we're back to a perfect score, yeah.

- Oh, wow.

- [both chuckling]

All right, are you ready to do this

on your own?

- [chuckles] Yes.

- Awesome.

[typing]

[beeps]

[Annie] Excuse me. I'm terribly sorry.

Rate this script:3.7 / 3 votes