Career Moves

Nathaniel Graham signs up at the school career fair to learn about running a small business - and lands not with Whit, but with Bart Rathbone at the Electric Palace. Bart's rules for selling are simple: never send a customer away, make everything sound like a bargain, and close the sale no matter what. Soon Nathaniel is talking a reluctant shopper into cheap batteries he claims are the best around... and feeling proud of it. Then the customer comes back: the batteries leaked acid into his little girl's toy, and he wants to know if Nathaniel lied. Remembering Whit's warning that no sales trick is worth breaking God's standards of honesty, Nathaniel admits the truth and hands over a refund - and a furious Bart fires him with a bad grade to boot. But when the grateful customer promises to shop there again, an astonished Bart starts asking the boy for business secrets. Honesty, it turns out, may be the best policy the Electric Palace has ever stocked.

Found on No Album Album NA · 11 episodes

The run See every episode

0440 I Slap Floor When two kids ask why Whit is home recovering from Odyssey's strangest week ever, Bernard spins a tale of a mysterious returning visitor and a town where everyone suddenly starts acting like their opposite.

0441a What Do You Think? Desperate to know what people really think of her, a girl uses one of Whit's inventions to hear the private thoughts behind everyone's polite words.

0441b Idol Minds While Whit is away for two weeks, the kids of Odyssey turn to Eugene's technology to fill the void - with results no one anticipates.

0442a Two Roads Two boys from the same neighborhood face the same spilled-candy temptation in a school cafeteria - and Whit follows the very different roads their choices set them on.

0442b Sticks and Stones When a former classmate he once tormented returns to Odyssey as a potential business rival, Bart Rathbone launches a scheme to drive him out of town before old scores can be settled.

0443 Changing Rodney A gifted young student sets out to reform the school bully with relentless kindness - and learns that changing a heart is harder than acing any test.

0444a Career Moves A middle schooler's career-fair internship at the Electric Palace teaches him Bart Rathbone's sales tricks - until a customer's return puts his conscience to the test.

0444b The Bad Guy When a notorious troublemaker from his past arrives in Odyssey claiming to be a changed man, a skeptical Nick Mulligan sets out to prove the transformation is too good to be true.

0444c Bethany's Flood When a flooded bathroom coincides with the story of Noah's ark, young Bethany's imagination sets sail on a wildly mixed-up voyage that teaches her about trust and obedience.

0445 No Boundaries Tired of his parents' rules, a boy gets the chance to experience a life with no limits at all - and learns what freedom without boundaries really costs.

0446a A Matter of Manners When two boys banished from Whit's End for rudeness reinvent themselves as the school's manners experts, their newfound politeness becomes a weapon nobody can defend against.

0446b The Seven Deadly Dwarves A little girl's mixed-up Sunday school lesson becomes a fairy-tale dream in which Princess Snow DeWhite, misled by a talking mirror, flees her father's hardware-store kingdom and falls in with seven dwarves named for the deadly sins.

0447 Potlucks & Poetry A teenage poet's secret reading collides with a church potluck as three generations of her family scheme to avoid embarrassing - and being embarrassed by - each other.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 1 more roles

1 supporting role

Nathaniel Graham Blake Ewing

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Marshal Younger Writer Phil Lollar Director · Producer Jonathan Crowe Sound Designer · Producer Al Janssen Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

At the Odyssey Middle School Career Fair, Nathaniel Graham signs up to learn about running a small business. He hopes to work with Whit but is assigned instead to Bart Rathbone at the Electric Palace. Bart promises to make him an expert, then puts him to work moving televisions, mopping floors, and counting boxes.

Nathaniel soon witnesses Bart’s real business methods. Bart sells a customer an unfamiliar computer monitor by falsely claiming it is as good as the brand requested. He refuses to refund a defective CD player and pretends to consult an imaginary manager before offering a small discount on a camcorder that another store sells for much less. His rules are simple: never send a customer elsewhere, make buyers think they are receiving a bargain, and complete the sale at any cost.

Bart orders Nathaniel to sell cheap batteries that are overstocked. Nathaniel tells a shopper that he uses them himself and that they last longer than every other brand. When the man says he is not shopping for batteries, Nathaniel pressures him with a sad account of how badly he needs to make his first sale. The customer gives in, and Nathaniel proudly believes he has mastered Bart’s techniques.

Whit reminds Nathaniel that practical advice must never conflict with God’s standards of honesty and fairness. The warning becomes real when the customer returns. The batteries have leaked acid into his daughter’s toy and could have burned her hands. He asks whether the batteries were defective or Nathaniel lied.

Nathaniel admits the truth, apologizes, and gives the man a refund. Bart is furious because store policy allows no returns. He dismisses Nathaniel from the internship and gives him a poor report, leaving the boy with a bad grade despite having finally done the right thing.

The customer later tells Bart that Nathaniel’s honesty has earned his trust and that he plans to shop at the Electric Palace again. Bart is astonished by the idea of a repeat customer and asks Nathaniel for more business secrets. Nathaniel suggests money-back guarantees, but Bart is not ready for such a radical change. He considers beginning by removing all the merchandise that does not work, then realizes that doing so might empty the store.