Let's recount... First, there was Dozie Webster. She showed more cleavage than organization skills. She drooled after her bosses (Liam and Luke) and tried to seduce Tony. She blackmailed Carla over the Liam affair and heaven only knows why she didn't get permanently sacked a half dozen times! She ended up leaving of her own accord.
There have been short term temporary assistants in the persons of Janice, Hayley and Sally. Very short term. Hayley is the most organized but she was mainly the floor supervisor, lending a hand when it came to ushering in clients and making cups of tea. Sally only did the job to fill in for Rosie and never got the job permanently (correct me if I'm mistaken) because none of the owners could stand working in close quarters with her!
Carla then hired Michelle, her former sister-in-law and apparently new BFF. Michelle struggled, flashed a lot of cleavage, and within days, Carla used her to get a new contract from a client, no doubt due to that cleavage. Not really the sort of things a P.A. is supposed to do.
Michelle bogged off with Ciaran on tour and now we have former hairdresser and fluffy-brained Maria, also a former sister-in-law to Carla and newest BFF, which is weird considering Carla had an affair with Maria's husband and Maria couldn't stand her. These things pass, apparently. The same "Let's Make A Deal" with a client is about to happen again. Maria doesn't have cleavage so I'm at a loss to explain this one.
Neither Michelle nor Maria have any experience doing business deals so it doesn't make sense that Carla would throw them to the wolves just because a client fancies the P.A. more than the owner. Is it any wonder that Carla's business is struggling to make a go of it?
She should have hired Julie as the P.A. Julie would have taken those clients in hand, winkled a deal out of them and not taken any funny business off them, either.
no!!! Carla's amazing! michelle and maria are the only family she has got!!
ReplyDeleteYou forgot Trev the binman's stint at tipping coffee in the office computer. Obviously working behind a bar or as a hairdresser is a much better apprenticeship for this job.
ReplyDeleteThe scriptwriters really should talk to someone in business. The factory is in danger of closing, but Carla takes on an extra employee, Maria. She then persuades Maria that "flirting" is necessary to getting contracts, which is a disgrace. Maria is not the least bit bothered that Carla offered her a job knowing the factory is in trouble.
As is pointed out in the post, none of the factory girls is ever given the opportunity to work in the office. Carla would prefer to trawl the local bins and bars, (or the bottom of the barrel in Rosie Webster's case), to find more suitable candidates. She treats the workers like scum and it does not bother them at all.
I like the character of Carla, but its about time the factory moved into the 21st century and out of its 70s cul de sac
All the above, and that there is a experienced admin who needs a job and drinks at her local. Gail. Would be ironic after her relationship with Nick, but then again, Maria?
ReplyDeleteOf course, Gail dear, you do have to apply for a job.
Spot on, Tvor, as usual!
ReplyDeleteAnna's got a point, even though Michelle and Maria aren't really Carla's family, they're both the closest she has. Maybe Carla feels that by giving Maria a job, she's supporting Liam's child. Who knows, it is all a bit strange but I really like Carla/Maria scenes, and the way they are gradually building a friendship.
ReplyDeleteIt'll never happen, but the person Carla really needs in that office with her is Leanne. After running the bookies, the Underworld office would be a doddle for her, she's experienced, efficient and organised, detail-oriented, plus savvy enough to be able to schmooze clients while knowing where to draw the line. She'd be a lot less likely to flounder out of her depth around a man like Frank Foster the way both Michelle and now Maria have (although if they did go there, the story would have even deeper connotations because of Leanne's history). There'd have to be a lot of water under the bridge for Carla and Leanne to work together, the way things are between them now, but out of everyone on the cast she's probably the best qualified candidate for the job (if Carla's so determined not to promote one of the machinists).
ReplyDeleteYep hapless Trevor who saw Carla through a dark period of her life, then she persuaded him to give up a job he loved, to come and work with her and then ended up treating him like something she stepped in. Good point about taking on extra staff when the faktrey is in trouble and she could and should have promoted one of her existing staff, - Sally or Julie or Haley would make perfect sense. Then offers young, pretty but not overly bright Maria up like a lamb to the slaughter. Carla is an awful woman, with her nasal dalek like voice and totally selfish to the core and I agree how in the 1970s is Underworld, do places like that still exist, and if they do they would be filled with foreign workers rather than the like of Sean who in "real" life wouldnt be seen dead working in a sweatshop.
ReplyDeleteI thought Carla was a hard nosed ruthless businesswoman, to act all flirty and girly with an obvious creep like Frank is totally out of character and drags women back 50 years. I cant imagine Karen Brady having to expose her cleavage to close a deal somehow!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Julie would have been brilliant, lol. The buyers wouldn't have known what had hit them. She would have confused and muddled them with her non stop chatter that the would have signed on the dotted line before the knew it and it would have also brought much needed comedy. Carla and her "bat your eye lids and flirt a little more" technique is what I would have expected from Mike Baldwin not from a business woman in 2011. No wonder her business is going down the tubes!
ReplyDeleteWhat is BFF?
ReplyDeleteYou seem somewhat obsessed with cleavages!!!