Spin City

Ashley?

Ash, you up?

You home?

You here?

Marco...

Woman: It's 7 A.M. where are you?

I miss your face.

I was hoping you'd make it home last night

or at least before I left.

Don't rush back to work without eating anything.

I left you out juice and toast.

I'm not sure how much juice is left.

And I hope the toast is still good.

Does toast keep?

I hate this! I need you in my life, Mike.

I need you next to me. I need you to open that jar on the counter.

Thank you! You are so strong.

I love you, my little Hercules!

O.k. I want the notes from last night's session.

I want an intravenous line dripping coffee into my left arm.

And I want the jaws of life to get this damn jar open!

Thank you.

Hey, hey. What are you doing?

You can't throw that out. There's a garbage strike going on.

It's the core.

That's food. That's good for you.

That's fiber. Eat it.

Go. Eat.

You didn't get much sleep at all last night, did you?

I got about 10 minutes. Party went around the clock again.

You gonna be o.K.?

Oh, yeah. I get 8, 9 minutes, I'm good for the whole day.

Good morning, good morning.

Tell us we're almost there, Mike.

Tell us this strike nightmare is almost over.

I wish I could.

I had to cancel 3 dates this week.

I moved into a new apartment with my girlfriend.

We haven't spent one night there together.

You always have to win, don't you?

Yes, I do.

Fine. You're more pathetic than me. You happy?

Yes, I am.

This strike, it's gotta end.

I'm going to press conferences, I got nothing to say!

I'm shootin' blanks!

I'm doing impressions just to keep the reporters in the room.

Try to stay positive, Paul.

We've already been positive.

We've been hopeful, optimistic, upbeat,

hopefully upbeat, optimistically hopeful.

We... I... I... Paul, Paul, Paul.

We're unbelievably bored.

All right, people. Try and stay with me.

We gotta move quickly. Mine.

I'll be at the bargaining table all day.

I can't afford to let any other balls drop.

So, Carter, first you. Minority affairs.

You've only been on the job a few days.

I assume you're still settling in.

I've spoken with the minority task force.

Just an opportunity to open up dialogue.

I have the his panic society and the Asian American federation tomorrow.

Logistically, the naacp is a hassle,

because they have 27 locations in Manhattan alone,

so I'm proposing a meet and greet breakfast,

maybe have the mayor do a drop-by.

That's excellent.

All right. Who's next? James.

Uh, do I have to go after Carter?

I mean, I'm writing the mayor's speech

to the city college administrators, but I only started 2 minutes ago.

Give us what you got.

I have, uh, "good morning, city college administrators."

Well, I mean, the rest really writes itself.

O.k.

Bitchin'. I am outta here.

Stewart, you're in charge while I'm gone, all right?

No problem. I'll cover for you.

No, you don't understand. I'll be thinking about the strike all day.

I need you to be deputy mayor... me.

Well, if it's o.K., I'd like to set the bar a little higher.

Knock yourself out, stew.

At last, my time has come.

Hey, Stewart.

Get your ass outta my office.

Sorry, Mike.

Still here, huh?

Yep. Just counting the seconds

until we are officially late for the bargaining table.

And there it is. We're official.

Can I buy you a drink?

We'll celebrate.

That's all right. I don't feel that festive.

Missing your girlfriend a little?

I'm trying to remember what she looks like.

I saw her this morning. Very attractive woman.

You know, if you're into that sort of thing.

I am.

You two just moved in together. Big step.

Yeah, but we've been serious for such a long time,

I don't think it's gonna be all that different.

Ha ha. You're lying.

Yeah, I am. Sounded good, though, right?

That's a tough road. I lived with a guy for 2 1/2 years.

If you don't mind me asking... it's exactly the same.

Really?

Except we get to skip

the whole toilet seat argument thing.

Well, there's a perk.

You know it. Up, down. Who cares?

Tell me you don't have to listen to "how's my outfit"

and I'm switching sides.

Naw, we got that, too.

It's no different.

What happened? You and, uh... Spence. He moved out.

I was always too busy with work.

Never had time for him.

Well, that's good.

We're not exactly Christopher Columbus

exploring new lands here.

It's been the same deal for the last 5 mayors.

8.29% over the next 36 months.

And we're adding a dollar a week

to each worker's severance package

retroactive to last December,

plus a dollar increase starting next December.

Why is that pen not in your hand?

8.29 is not gonna do it.

We want 8.3.

8.29, 8.3. What is the difference?

It's... it's tiny. It's minuscule.

It's like this.

Then give it to us.

Not a chance.

We also want 100 new trucks, 2 more sick days, and badges.

Badges.

Uh, may... may I ask why?

We don't want people

passing themselves off as sanitation workers.

Oh, yeah. That happens a lot.

8.3. Think about it.

8.29. Learn to love it.

Gentlemen, we're all working towards the same goal here.

We consider ourselves in partnership with the municipal unions.

But I think this is a fair offer,

and I urge you to consider it.

We're gonna take 5.

Just 5.

Why not 5.1?

How great was that?

When they came back in, we were all over 'em.

We offered, they countered.

They offered, we countered.

I think we even countered our own offer.

That one confused them. Yes.

Sir, this strike is over.

Forget about it. Turn out the lights. The party is over.

They are caving. Watch this.

See this?

I can do that, 'cause that's just garbage,

and that is gonna get picked up tomorrow.

I was eating that.

But you see my point, though, sir.

This thing is in the bag!

Mike, I... I need you to stop bouncing up and down.

You're making me carsick.

Oh. Sorry, sir. I haven't slept in a few days.

Mmm.

I got a lot of sexual tension going,

about 100 gallons of coffee running through my system.

I mean, I'm feeling a little nervous energy right now.

Bring it down a couple of notches, Mike.

This is down a couple of notches.

Listen up.

Does anybody know what this is?

It's the circle of influence.

James!

You've read 7 habits of highly effective people.

No. You drew a circle and you wrote "circle of influence" in it.

So nobody's read this book.

Well, look at ya. Course you haven't.

What we need to do is expand this circle.

Stew, we're real busy.

Busy, yes.

Effective? No.

But it's not your fault.

You see, Mike is just a manager.

I, on the other hand, am a leader.

Are you paying attention?

I'm over here in the circle of "you gotta be kidding me."

All right. Excellent.

I worried you all might be working.

Help, Mike. Stewart's scaring us.

O.k. Fake boss out. Real boss in.

Everybody huddle up.

All right, Nicky, I want you to go short. Get on the phone.

I want your best estimate of what the union's next offer will be.

James, square out to your desk.

I want a speech, o.K.?