“Hello.”

“Hey, dude.”

“My man. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Tell me if you’ve ever done this.”

“Shoot.”

“Alright, have you ever tried to use a movie line in real life?”

“Sadly, and pathetically, I know what you’re talking about?”

“Right? So, you know. Like, you have that movie line you really like that you’ve thought would be cool to use in real life?”

“Yes, I can relate.”

“Exactly. I mean every person alive has at one point heard a line in a movie that they thought sounded really cool. And, that person has envisioned some scenario where he or she uses the line and looks as cool as the person from the movie.”

“Can I assume this happened to you recently?”

“Yes. Yes, you can.”

“What was the line?”

“It was actually a variation of the line.”

“Which was?”

“Are you gonna bark all day little doggy, or are you gonna bite?”

“That’s the line?”

“Yes. Do you recognize it?”

“Nope.”

“It’s from Reservoir Dogs.”

“Sorry. Were you thinking I should have known that?”

“Kind of.”

“Sorry. So, how did you use this? Were you at a bar or something?”

“No, I was at work.”

“Oh my.”

“Yeah, we were talking about a client who is kind of pushy. They are always badgering us about minor things under the threat that they can move their business to another bank. However, they’ve used the threat for so long that it’s lost its effect and it’s clear they probably won’t actually do anything.”

“I see.”

“So, in the last meeting where we were discussing their latest complaint, I chimed in and said, ‘this doggy might bark all day, but I don’t think it’ll ever bite’.”

“And how was that received?”

“Like a turd in the punch bowl.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah, turns out they didn’t get the Reservoir Dogs reference either.”

“Shocking.”

“It sounded great in my head. Like, it was the perfect time to use it.”

“Was it? Using a 90s cult classic line in a room full of gray haired bankers?”

“Touche.”

“Has this line ever worked for you?”

“First time I’d tried this particular one. But, I’ve had others that worked.”

“Huh.”

“I know.”

“So, how did you recover?”

“I didn’t. The room just went quiet until someone else piped in.”

“Were you asked to explain your comment?”

“No. They all got it, or at least understood the analogy of what I said. It just didn’t have any of the context and didn’t look very cool.”

“It didn’t look very cool? As if to indicate it looked somewhat cool?”

“No, it didn’t look cool at all. It was the opposite of cool.”

“So, will there be any fallout from this?”

“We’ll see. The meeting continues tomorrow morning. Same people, same portfolio review.”

“Maybe you can double down and try to redeem yourself?”

“I’ll probably withhold my comments.”

“Well, good luck, little doggy.”

“I’ll let you know if anyone bites.”