The Glass House (Vitrerie Joyal)

THIS SERIES IS LOOSELY BASED ON THE LIFE OF MARTIN MATTE.

THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORIES HAVE BEEN MUCH ROMANTICIZED AND INVENTED.

André Joyal, president of Joyal Glass Shop.

I really made it in the business.

My company is a great success.

I can afford luxury items. I have a nice family.

But I am basically unhappy.

QUEBEC SEPARATION? NO!

I worked myself into the ground to build a business I could pass on to my sons.

To achieve this, I had to become the best salesman in town.

It's okay, but I'd like to talk about it with my wife, first.

Do you think your wife will agree to buy this product?

Yeah, surely.

Then, since I'm already here, I'll use this opportunity to place the order.

Sure, yeah.

How much do you value your peace of mind?

You say you were robbed.

Going to bed at night,

knowing that no one can get in the house, how much do you value that?

-Sure, yeah. Monique. -To whom do I make it out to?

If prices were the same, who would you choose?

Well, you.

You know, they'll be in place for at least 30 years.

So, $1,000 over 30 years, what is that? Let's do the math.

You see? It comes down to $33 per year,

which comes down to $2.75 per month,

or 9 cents per day.

Getting the best product on the market, is it worth $0.09 per day?

Looking at it this way, it's not expensive.

So, I order them in white?

Sure.

JOYAL GLASS SHOP

-Good morning, Mr. Joyal. -Good morning, Chantal.

INSECT SCREENS REPAIR

Good morning, Mr. Joyal!

-Good morning, Mr. Joyal. -Morning.

$32.20.

Okay, works for me.

Josée Côté. Secretary.

Thirty years from now, I'll be called an HR director.

I'm Mr. Joyal's assistant.

I hire new employees, I manage the schedule, I solve problems.

When I'm tensed in the afternoon, I go masturbate in the restroom.

Of course, I wash my hands afterwards.

THE GLASS HOUSE

-Good morning. -Morning, Josée.

So, you have the meeting with the salesmen, at 9:00.

In five minutes, really.

Sales went down again last month.

At noon, you're having lunch with Julie Dutil.

Who's that, again?

She's the Yellow Pages saleswoman.

She wants to sell you a full page, instead of 3/4.

-No, she's going over the top. Cancel. -Okay.

And, I know you never go, but,

Thursday is the mayor's golf tournament.

It would be good for business if you showed up, for once.

I'll consider it.

Okay. Please tell me, so I can confirm your presence.

Good. Oh, Josée?

Yes.

I considered it.

I won't go.

JOYAL GLASS SHOP SINCE 1971

My name is Alain,

separated,

single now.

I've been working for Joyal Glass Shop for four years.

I'm not the best salesman, if you know what I mean.

Sometimes, I have a hard time closing my sales.

But other times, it's even worse.

Yeah.

Hey.

Gaston Veilleux, salesman.

In fact, I should say first salesman.

Married, three children, fisherman, working at Joyal for 16 years.

Gaston, you almost reached your goal.

Fortunately, you made a sale to Mr. Dupuis, yesterday.

Yes, fucking procrastinator. I'd been chasing him for six weeks.

I told him, "It's the last day of promotion. Tomorrow, prices go up."

There's a promotion?

-No, but he doesn't know that. -Gaston…

But, well done.

Alain, Alain, Alain…

How do I say this?

-It didn't go well. -Yeah, right, it didn't.

That's right, it was tough last month

for many… many different reasons.

What will you do to make things less tough next month?

Well, I'll try to…

to sell more.

And what will you do to sell more?

Well, I'll try to…

Yeah, I'll try to…

to sell more.

That being said, we can't sell every time.

No, we know that, Alain, but it would be nice to sell more.

The call for the windows, in Duvernay? Did it work?

No, no, that's what I mean, no.

I really explained everything well,

but they never called back.

Okay, and did you ask for the order?

Well, no, no. It's… What I did is I left them my card with the bid on it

and I told them, "You'll call me back when you're ready."

-Alain? -Yeah.

I ask you, no,

I demand from you that you ask for the order, at least once.

"To whom do I make the order out to? "Do I order the white ones?"

-If you don't ask, you have no chance. -That's so true.

Ask for it once, 50% positive response. Five times, 97%.

I'm not asking you to ask five times, but ask at least once.

I understand, yeah.

-What's the best part of sales? -To close.

The… the road?

Being on the road.

THIRD SALESMAN NONSPEAKING ROLE

Okay, sales have been going down for the past three months, it has to stop.

Gaston sold six calls over ten, this month.

Alain, one. No, not true! That was last month.

This month, zero.

I know, I know.

It's… It's just that even if I had asked for the order,

it doesn't mean I would have gotten it.

We can't sell them all.

Alain… fuck!

-I never want to hear this again! Okay? -Okay.

It angers me and makes me want to use violence against you.

Look, it's okay.

When's your next customer?

At 10:30, a steel door.

-Will you ask for the order? -Sure, I will.

Great. We'll go together, Alain.

Between the two of us, we'll close.

Have a nice day, gentlemen. Don't forget to aim for perfection.

If you miss it, you'll at least reach excellency.

Don't touch my stamps, Alain.

Fuck, Mr. Joyal wants to come with me to see a customer.

That's just not done.

-Can you tell him that? -Well, no.

As if I wasn't able to sell.

Well, you're not able to sell.

It's just a rough patch I'm going through.

I might make some mistakes and he'll figure it out then.

I think he already knows you're making mistakes, Alain.

Mr. Joyal is the best salesman in Greater Laval.

-Don't you think I know? -Greater Laval, it's pretty big.

Why don't you take this opportunity to listen to his advice?

What could you do to make sure things go smoothly and you're happy with yourself?

I could tell him I don't feel too well.

I'll tell him I'm postponing the visit, so he won't come.

Go back to your desk.

Joyal Glass Shop, how can I help you?

-Hey, Dad! -Hi, son.

No, it's the right size, it's good.

Philippe Joyal, boss's son,

administration graduate, ambitious, love to have fun.

My only issue is…

I feel like I'm a woman trapped inside a man's body.

It's a joke.

I let people believe things like that, just so they'll laugh.

I don't feel I'm at the right place, here,

but I try not to ask myself too many questions,

and to continue to believe I'm happy.

What are those boxes, over there?

They're tiles.

Their price is going up next month, so I ordered more.

Wouldn't it be better to put them on the top shelf, so they'd fit?

Yes, yes.

When you do something, ask yourself, "Did I do my best?"

You'll save on tiles for months to come, good for business.

And good for you, congratulations, but it's no reason to botch the job.

Don't forget to aim for perfection.

If you miss it,

you'll reach excellency.

If you always use the same saying, you get on people's nerves.

-Hey, Philippe. -Yeah.

The next load of glass is scheduled for tomorrow?

No. No, haven't you heard?

PRG went bankrupt, the next load isn't coming.

What? What are we going to do?

We won't have any glass next month, so my father wants to close the shop.

-Are you… -The load is scheduled for 8:00 am.

Fuck, you're stupid!

Did you watch La Petite Vie , yesterday? It was so funny.

No, I never watch that. It's too stupid.

It's too crazy. Mom is a man, what is that?

That's because you don't understand.

Comedy has reached a new level. Claude Meunier is a genius.

If he had done that 30 years ago, it wouldn't have worked, but now… He…

He's the evolution of comedy.

In 30 years, it won't be the same.

If La Petite Vie was 30 years from now, it would be ridiculous, but now, it's funny.

Hearing you talking about evolution feels weird.

Yesterday, Jean-Lou said to Pinson, "You stretch my briefs."

And Thérèse, with that weird hairdo. A completely crazy woman.

I have a good joke for you.

Do you know the difference between a golf ball and a woman?

No.

When you hit a golf ball, it doesn't come back.

Gaston!