Marcelo in the Real World Chapter 8 Summary

  • As Marcelo does his daily tasks, such as refilling the copy machines with paper, he contemplates the difference between small talk and large talk. Large talk, he decides, involves emotions.
  • Back in the mailroom, he's visited by Beth, the secretary for attorney Harvey Marcus.
  • Beth's super obnoxious, freaking out about some files she needs copied and collated—you guessed it—yesterday. 
  • Because Marcelo doesn't completely comprehend every component of her emergency, she asks him if he's retarded. Lovely girl, that Beth.
  • Marcelo doesn't quite understand where to put the tabs and how to bind the folders, but he can make copies. He organizes the papers, replaces the stickies that explain the tabs, and waits for Jasmine to come back.
  • When she does, she's impressed with what he's done, even though Belinda could have done it faster. She tells Marcelo not to worry about Beth—she'll have the folders in plenty of time, even if it's half an hour after she wanted them.
  • They get the folders done, and Jasmine compliments Marcelo on how perfect they are. They're better than she could have done, even if she could have done it faster.
  • Marcelo, though, is worried that he won't pass Arturo's success test if he doesn't learn to go faster. Jasmine tells him not to sweat it that he's slightly different from other people. 
  • We love Jasmine, and not just because she gets the documents to Harvey before he "has a cow." She assures Marcelo that even if he doesn't understand what "having a cow" means, he doesn't want to see Harvey have one.