"You meet some new people." "Love at first sight!" "But take care, your past could come back to haunt you." "Star gazers Aries February 21st" " March 29th." "I have five university degrees." "OK." "OK?" "No, this is a petrol station in Iceland and...he we speak...?" "... Icelandic?" "Exactly!" "Er...tell me now..." "Peter." "Peter!" "Keys to the Kingdom." "Give me three reasons why I should NOT employ him." "Well, he has some piercings and stuff on his face." "Exactly." "I'm not sure." "I don't know him, see." "Would you buy petrol from this lad?" "No, I wouldn't." "I don't have a car." "Lost my licence." "Doesn't make me bad just because I have a piercing." "No, I can't see anything wrong with it." "The thing is, your dad is celebrating his 60th birthday next Saturday and he well, everyone would be so pleased if you came and gave a speech or something." "What do you think?" "No, I think I'm working then." "Couldn't you get the day off?" "No, I don't think so." "It can't be that important..." "I mean it's not a job you're going to stay in for long." "I don't know about that." "Also, I've been hired here to do a certain job at a certain time..." "Yes, but you have to come to your father's party." "Ha?" "No, and I don't want to, either." "You know how hurt he'll be if you don't come to his birthday party." "I have to work...to keep body and soul together." "I can't just take time off." "Are you short of money, Daniel?" "I mean, if you need money, I'm sure we can find a way to help you out...if you come to the party..." "Are you bribing me to come to the Dad's party?" "No, not at all, Daniel..." "I..." "I must get going." "Daniel, listen to me." "I just want to be left alone for a short time." "But Daniel." "I have to learn how to stand on my own two feet." "Daniel, talk to me!" "Hi." "What's going on?" "I don't know." "Why are these two guys here?" "Eh?" "Why are these two guys here?" "I don't know anything about it...some staff interview." "Staff interview?" "What?" "Is he going to employ some new hands?" "Yes, it looks like it." "He's been conducting a few interviews." "I don't know." "What?" "Is he allowed to hire people?" "Give me one reason why I should employ you instead." "Yes..." "I have worked at a garage before." "At the Olis depot out on Grandi." "And most recently on an oil tanker." "And I'm a car fanatic, so I think..." "Right, I'm going to stop you there." "Did you notice that I asked you to give me one reason?" "Yes." "Well, you mentioned far too many." "Yes..." "Look, it's very important for me as a manager..." "Yes, OK, one reason." "I've worked at a petrol station for over two years." "It is very important for me as a manager to be able to communicate clearly with my staff." "When everything's crazy busy in here, three on the pumps a shop full of people the phone's ringing etc." "I call on one of the personnel to ask him something... and I get some long-winded answer." "That's not good enough." "Look, I have a print-out of all the jobs I've done." "It's all here..." "Yes, fine." "Let's turn to you now...er Petur?" "Halli." "Halli." "You have 30 seconds to tell me about yourself." "Well, I'm a student." "Only just started at university." "Brought up in Hafnarfjordur, then moved to Sweden with my parents and..." "Sweden? "Det gamla det fria?"" "Yes, yes. "Det gamla det fria!"" "Yes." "But I've moved back home and I'm just at the university." "Yes, yes, yes." "And what subject are you studying?" "I'm in my first year in the social sciences department," "Studying pedagogy" "Yes..." "Well, we've hired a new hand!" "You may leave." "Well, may I introduce you to Harald." "New personnel?" "Yes." "Brand new and just back from Sweden." "What Georg, can you..." "Daniel!" "This is the new personnel." "Show a little respect." "This is Olafur." "The trouble-maker as we call him." "No, I'm no trouble-maker..." "Go into the workshop and tidy up there." "Haraldur is a student and actually studying." "Unlike some others here." "Yes, I'll get you started" "We'll take one thing at a time until you learn the ropes." "Fine." "(in Swedish) Many small rivulets make a big river." "Yes... yes they do." "You'll be on the first shift to start with." "Actually, we already have another apprentice here but he hasn't entirely managed to fit in." "Doesn't know how to work as part of a team." "So I'll be taking his place?" "Yes, probably." "Hopefully." "Of course, you have the job." "Yes." "Yes, yes, but as a matter of form we have to call you the "trainee personnel"." "Yes, I see (in Swedish) apprentice in training." "(in Swedish) Yes, exactly, apprentice in training." "Want me to check the oil or the windscreen washer fluid?" "No thanks, that's fine." "Alright." "Thanks." "Yes, thanks." "Welcome anytime." "Thanks." "Thanks." "Bravo!" "Absolutely as it should be." "Yes, thank you." "New staff tend to spill stuff but you haven't done that." "Polite and flexible and not a single "OK"." "No." "One is sort of used to this after living in Sweden." "Yes, if any Swedes come, I'll allow you to serve them." "Yes." "That'll surprise them, won't it?" "Meeting "one of their own" here?" "Yes...yes." "You will learn a great deal and I will teach you a great deal." "You're a very good worker." "Do you smoke by any chance?" "No, not at all." "Disgusting habit." "I occasionally take some chewing tobacco when I'm in the mood." "Yes, (in Swedish) "chewing tobacco is cool"." "Yes, would you like some?" "Yes please." "May I offer you a little?" "Nei, "Grof Snus" The real thing!" "Have you ever been to a medium?" "No...yes..." "I once went to see a fortune teller." "I went to a medium yesterday." "You did?" "Why did you do that?" "Just happened really" "Kiddi Casio, who's in the band." "Well, it's his new stepmother." "I just went over to their place for coffee and sort of started talking to her and then it turns out she's a medium and all that." "I see." "She started analysing me looking into my future, and into my past..." "She knew a disturbing amount of stuff about me." "Yes, but isn't that because Kiddi's told her about you?" "No, she knew too much." "She knew stuff that I didn't even know myself." "She read me like an open book." "Even Grandma came into it." "She knew everything about her and the flowers and all that." "The flowers?" "Yes, Grandma really likes flowers." "There is no way that Kiddi could have known all that." "No, it's quite common for old women to like flowers." "No, not in the same way as Grandma, see?" "Then she started asking about whether I had been having any difficulties communicating with other people and that kind of thing...and I just "Duh...yeah, right!"" "Me and Georg, see?" "There have been difficulties communicating with him since he started here." "Yes, yes." "Exactly!" "Then she explained why!" "Really?" "What did she say?" "That's the thing that freaked me out most." "Look at this." "Some soccer match just finished." "I've never been able to watch soccer." "No, me neither." "Grown men, half naked, hopping about each other" "Like six-year old children." "Yes, it's ridiculous." "Yes, the really absurd thing is that the general public let themselves be fooled into flocking to watch soccer like sheep." "Yes." "NO, the only sports that are worth the mention are track and field and swimming." "Funny, I used to practice javelin in Sweden." "Yes, that's wonderful." "Yes, I believe we Icelanders Could have had a great deal" "Of success in those areas with the right drugs." "Naturally, under the guidance of doctors and scientists." "Just as it was done in the Soviet Union with such excellent results." "Where have you been?" "I was at the game." "At the game?" "Really?" "Who did you go with?" "I went on my own..." "Haraldur, this is Flemming Geir." "Hello." "Hi." "Flemming Geir is my son." "Flemming, this is Haraldur." "He's new here." "Yes." "Is Oli inside?" "Yes, Oli is inside." "They're good friends." "Get on very well with each other, which no surprise, considering they're about the same level of maturity." "How do you tell someone that?" "Look, you just say to him what you've said to me." "Word for word." "I mean, my heart is beating." "Yes, but I mean, you have to say something..." "You can't have this on your conscience, can you?" "You just have to tell." "Yes...just thinking about it makes me want to puke." "Hi." "Goodness, you've made a great job of that." "Thank you." "Did you look in the book?" "What book?" "The instruction book on cleaning the floors?" "No...sorry, I should have done that." "No, no, no." "Absolutely unnecessary." "I mean that's impeccable." "Where did you learn to do floors that well?" "I did a cleaning job in Sweden, at Hjemtjänsten." "Went on a course there." "Really!" "That's where I learned to clean floors too." "At Hjemtjänsten?" "Yes, you bet I did!" "Made my way through university cleaning floors." "Really?" "You can see your face in it." "(in Swedish) You can only find one of me and that's me." "(in Swedish) You can only find one of you and that's you." "(in Swedish) There just two of us and that's us." "Hey Georg?" "Yes." "Could I have a word with you?" "Well, what do you want to say?" "Yes, I was a Russian grandmaster at chess." "A Russian grandmaster?" "You?" "Yes...in a former life." "And I was very rich and you were working for me." "You were a maid and you had a great interest in chess so I taught you how to play..." "and..." "I mean..." "I er..." "Well, I ended up raping you, Georg." "I taught you how to play chess and raped you." "I think that explains the friction between us." "Olafur, in the three years we have worked together you have often...very often ...said things" "I thought were stupid." "But they all pale into insignificance in comparison to what you are saying right now." "That is probably the most stupid thing I have heard in my entire life." "But I'm not making this up." "A medium told me all about this, yesterday." "And I'm as upset about it as you are." "But it does explain why you're always so angry with me and at all the things I do." "I've got a recording of it here." "You don't really believe the rubbish that some fortune teller has told you?" "Why shouldn't I?" "I mean, it also explains a lot of other things about your relationship." "It does, does it?" "Perhaps you were the family butler?" "It's not a question of belief as such..." "You were never a grandmaster in chess." "Let me tell you, I know quite a bit about chess." "But you...you...you don't even know how to play." "I know a lot about chess." "I know how to move the pieces." "I see?" "Well, we could easily put that to the test." "Is there a chess board in the workshop?" "You start, Olafur." "No you start." "You are white-that means you start." "Really?" "OK...there." "You're supposed to press that." "Check and mate, Mr Grandmaster!" "Thank you for teaching me how to move the pieces." "It was in a former life, see..." "You will never learn how to Play chess, Olafur," "Not in a former life, not in this life, and not in the next life." "Georg, that's unnecessary." "Right!" "Let's play each other, me and you." "No..." "I don't want to..." "What's the matter?" "Don't you dare?" "OK, just one then." "Yes, yes, yes." "You're black." "You should adjust the clock." "Was it Olafur by any chance who taught you how to move the pieces?" "Ready?" "Yes." "Ahhh...can I take that back?" "No, no,...no, no." "It stays where it is." "Check." "Checkmate." "Yes!" "Daniel is brilliant, man!" "He's the station champion." "Champion?" "He's no bloody champion!" "Hello!" "He wiped the floor with you!" "He did not wipe the floor with me." "Yes, two to three games." "Bam-bam-bam!" "All over." "Daniel is the champ." "Daniel Saevarsson is the station champion..." "Shut up, boy!" "Listen, shouldn't we go and do something?" "No." "Let's take one more and seriously this time." "Wasn't that a proper game?" "No, I wasn't really concentrating." "What with that fool, shouting and making faces all the time." "Not really concentrating?" "Yes, OK then." "And no clock this time." "Just an ordinary game." "Yes." "Stop hanging about, doing nothing." "Find yourself something to do." "Ok." "Shall we call it a draw?" "No, it's my turn." "And this is no draw." "Go outside and take the temperature of the anti-freeze" "And leave me alone!" "Good evening." "Good evening." "Talk to the personnel Out front." "I'm afraid I'm busy." "Georg, I came the other day..." "Yes." "Ah, it's you." "Look, I have some suggestions for a few changes that could be made to the night shift." "Yes, good." "Very good." "I was wondering whether we could perhaps..." "Shhh!" "Trainee personnel, your move." "Yes, exactly, oh, it's you." "I'm sorry." "Yes." "Hey, what should I do with this?" "My goodness, you never rest do you." "Just put it on the floor and fill the shelves when necessary." "Here?" "Yes." "Yes, that's very good, my dear." "Very good." "Just a minute, who's that?" "Er...that's Haraldur." "He wasn't here when I came last time." "No, he's a trainee here." "Hold on." "There are just three people working here, and there were two outside just now." "Should I take the rest downstairs?" "Yes, do that." "Did you say he was a trainee?" "Yes." "Good evening." "Are you working here?" "Yes, I started this evening." "But you have two staff." "You do not have permission to extend to three..." "No, I haven't taken him on formally." "He's here on trial." "He said he was employed here!" "Are you saying that you are taking on staff without the company's consent?" "I didn't hire him." "Aren't you allowed to employ me?" "He has no authority to hire people." "Have I been working here the whole evening for no pay?" "That's what it looks like, yes." "What?" "Why did you hire me?" "You...er...you're on trial..." "You are not on trial." "If you want to apply for a job at this company you have to go through head office." "What a fool you are, man." "Nice to have met you." "What is going on here?" "No, the thing is, he is a very hard worker and I thought..." "Look, he has no insurance..." "What if he'd had an accident here?" "No.." "The company could be sued for millions." "Yes, but he's the most conscientious boy..." "That has nothing to do with it, Georg." "No, he works so well." "Do you know what he's done tonight alone?" "Just in two hours he has done more..." "Georg!" "Now stop it." "All hiring is done by head office." "I simply don't understand how you thought you could hire him without the endorsement of the company." "That is utterly unacceptable." "I have not hired him!" "I want the tobacco back that I gave you." "Er..yes..." "I.." "Yes." "Bye." "I would like to apologise for all this." "Yes, it's quite clear that you have a bunch of halfwits working for you here" "Just come up to the office tomorrow and we"I see whether we can't find a good job for you." "Yes, as long as I don't have to work with this idiot." "Yes, I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely apologise for this misunderstanding that appears to have...." "And I'd like to say that it has been a great honour to have been your manager." "And just (in Swedish) "En stor ära"." "(in Swedish) Dra åt helvete." "(in Swedish) No, men snälla Harald..." "Shut it." "Hey, we'll discuss things better tomorrow." "Yes..." "This is a very serious matter, Georg." "Er...yes." "I hope you realise that." "Yes..." "Hey, Georg." "Check."