The Water Cooler (Slow) - The "I Love Elvis" Mug (Series 003, Episode 002)

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The Water Cooler (Slow)

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They may look like busy professionals, but the staff at Colourful Solutions Ltd (Colsol), aren’t always as serious or hardworking as they appear, and we find out what mischief they’ve been up to as they talk around the water cooler.

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Episode 2 - The "I Love Elvis" Mug (Slow)
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Susan: Keith, you’ve stolen my mug again! Do you do this just to wind me up?

Keith: Oh, I am sorry, the pictures are similar, I get them confused.

S: Rubbish! Your mug has got a picture of a woman whose clothes come off when you put hot water in it, and mine’s got a lovely picture of a whale.

K: Well…the lettering looks the same, it’s easy to mix them up.

S: Hmm. Well it doesn’t matter anymore, I have a new mug, so now if you nick one, I can just use the other.

K: Ooh, what type of mug is it?

S: It’s an “I love Elvis” mug, there’s a picture of him, and it says “I love Elvis”, and look! The lettering is completely different to yours so even you can’t get confused.

K: Well, that is fancy. Shall I stick it in the cupboard with the others for you?

S: Oh, thank you, you are kind.

K: So it says “I love Elvis” does it? Not for long. Eh! Eh! Eh!

Later that day …

S: I see you’re using the “I love Elvis” mug, you fiend.

K: Oh, so I am, that was clumsy of me.

S: No matter, I have my original cup. Oh hi Janet, if you’re looking for those files you wanted, I put them on your desk.

Janet: No, I got the files thanks, I’m looking for my mug, you don’t happen to have seen it do you? My daughter gave it to me for my birthday. It’s quite distinctive, it’s got a picture of Elvis on it and it says “I love Elvis”, I can’t think where I put it and I’d hate to have lost it.

K: Umm…

J: Oh, you have it, Keith. Why on earth would you use my mug? Don’t you know how annoying that is?

K: Sorry, I took it by accident, I’ll wash it up and I’ll bring it to you.

J: No I’ll take it now, and wash it up myself, seeing as you’ve finished with it. Hang on, have you written on it? You cheeky so-and-so, you’ve changed the “I love Elvis” to “I love Elves”. Was that an accident too?

K Sorry, I didn’t realise it was your mug, I thought it was Susan’s.

J: So you purposefully stole and then defaced what you thought was Susan’s mug?

K: I…er…

J: I want my mug back the way it was by this afternoon, and if you can’t wash it off then you are to replace it.

K: Yes Janet.

J: And I don’t want to hear of you stealing or defacing anyone else’s mug. Is that clear?

K: Yes Janet.

J: Honestly, I don’t know how we stay ahead of our competitors when we can’t even have a cup of tea without a drama.

…

K: Susan, I thought it was your “I love Elvis” mug.

S: No, Janet must have accidentally left it on my desk this morning. I just have my cup with the picture of a whale.

K: Did you do that just to get me into trouble with the boss?

S: Oh, I am sorry, the pictures are similar, I get them confused.

Water Cooler Notes

"Mug" - a big cup.

"Wind me up" - annoy me.

“Different to” – in formal British English it is best to use ‘different from’ instead of ‘different to’. ‘Different to’ is not wrong anymore because so many people make this mistake that it has stopped being a mistake, but it is still controversial. In informal British English ‘different to’ is fine.

"Clumsy" – careless.

"Distinctive" – obviously different from others.

"Hang on" – an interjection meaning “wait a second”.

"So-and-so" – an informal word for a person who is annoying, or who is disliked, because they behave badly in a particular way.

"Defaced" – ruined/spoiled the surface of something.