--Natalie, what is it u think we do here?
--We prepare the newly-unemployed for the emotional and physicalhurdles of job hunting, while minimising legal bloeback.
--That's what we're selling. It's not what we're doing.
--OK. What we r doing?
--We r here to make limbo tolerable, to ferry wounded souls acrossthe river of dread until the point where hope is dimly visible. Andthen stop the boat, shove'em in the water and make'emswim.
Bob:Hey, asshole, aren’t you supposedto be consoling me? Bingham:I’m not a shrink, Bob.I’m awake-up call. You know why kids love athletes? Bob:Cause they screw lingeriemodels? Bingham:No, that’s why we loveathletes. Kids love athletes, because they their dreams. Bob:Well, I can’t dunk. Bingham:No, but you can cook. Bob:What are you talking about? Bingham: Your saysthat you minored in French culinary arts. Most students, they workon the fryer at KFC, but you bussed tables at 2 Picador to supportyourself. Then you get out of college and then you come and workhere.
--Howmuch did they first pay u to give up on your dreams?
--27 grand a year.
--And when were u going to stop and come back and do what makes uhappy?
--Goodquestion.
--I see guys who work at thesame company for their entire lives, guys exactly like you. Theyclock in, they clock out, and they never have a moment ofhappiness. U have an opportunity here, Bob. This is a rebirth. Ifnot for u, do it for your children.
--It's not like that. The miles are the goal.
--That's it? U r saving just to save?
--Just say I have a number in mind and I haven't hit it yet.
--That's a little abstract. What's the target?
--It's 10 million miles.
......
--And they put your name on a side of plane.
--Man get such hard-ons from putting their name on stuff. You guysdon't grow up. It's like you need to pee on everything.
--Oh, now who is stereotyping?
--Fear of mortality. It's like, yeah, you're gonna die oneday.
This is how I start everyday of my life. Now, this isgonna be a little difficult, so stay with me. You have a newbackpack. Only this time, I want u to fill it with people. Startwith casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around theoffice. And then u move into the people u trust with your mostintimate secrets-Your cousins, your aunts, your uncles, youtbrothers, your sisters, your parents, and finally your husband,your wife, your boyfriend or your girlfriend. You get them intothat backpack. Don't worry. I'm not gonna ask you to light it onfire. Feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake, yourrelationship are the heaviest components in your life. Do u feelthe straps cutting into your shoulders? All these negotiations andarguments, and secrets and compromises. You don't need to carry allthat weight. Why don't u set that bag down? Some animals were meantto carry each other to live symbiotically for alifetime.Star-crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not thoseanimals. The slower we move, the faster we die. We are not swans,we're sharks.
--Never?
--No.
--Ever?
--No.
--You never want to get married?
--Nope.
--Never want kids?
--Not a chance.
--Ever?
--Never. Is that so bizarre?
--Yes.Yes,it is.
--I just don't see the value in it. Right,sell it to me.
--What?
--Sell me marriage.
--OK. How about love? Stability,just somebody you can counton...
--OK, how many stable marriage do u know?
--Somebody to talk to, someone to spend your life with.
--I'm surrounded by people to talk to. I doubt that's gonnachange.
--How about just not dying alone?
--Starting when I was 12, we moved each of my grandparents into anursing facility. My parents went the same way. Make no mistake, weall die alone. Now, those cult members in San Diego, with thekool-aid and the sneakers...they didn't die alone. I'm just sayingthere are options.
--Is the bag empty because u hate people orbecause u hate the baggage they come alongwith?
--I don't hate people. I'm not exactly a hermit.
--U just don't want to be tied down with the whole responsibilitything.
--I don't know what originally sparked the backpack. Probablyneeded to be alone. Recently, I've been thinking that I needed tobe empty the backpack before I know what to put back in it.
--How can u not think about that? How does it noteven cross ur mind that you might want a future with someone?
--It's simple. U know that moment when u look into somebody's eyesand u can feel them staring into your soul and the whole world goesquiet just for a second?
--Yes.
--Right. Well, I don't.
......
--Don't u think it's worth giving her a chance?
--A chance for what?
--A chance at something real.
--Natalie, your definition of real will evolve as u getolder.
--Can u stop condescending for one second or is it a principle ofyour bullshit philosophy? The isolation, the travelling, is thatsupposed to be charming?
--No, it's simply a life choice.
--It's a cocoon of self-banishment.
--Wow,big words.
--You have set up a way of life that basically makes it impossiblefor you to have any kind of human connection. And now, this womancomes along and somehow runs the gauntlet of your ridiculous lifechoice, and comes out on the other end smiling just u can call her"casual"? I need to grow up? U are a 12-year-old.
--Well, last night I was just kinda laying in bed,and I couldn’t get to sleep. so I started thinking bout the weddingand the ceremony, and about our buying ahouse, and moving in together, and having a kid, and having anotherkid and then Christmas and Thanksgiving and Springbreak. Going tofootball games, and then all of a sudden, they'regraduating.They’re getting jobs, and getting married. and uknow,I’m a grandparent, and then I am retired, I’m loosing my hair,getting fat, and then the next thing, you know, I’m dead. I’m just,like...I can’t stop from thinking—what’s the point? I mean, What isthe point?
--The point?
--Yeah, what am I starting here?--Jim, it's...marriage, it’s one ofthe most beautiful things on earth, it’s what er...what peopleaspire to. U never got married.
--That’s true.
--I mean, You never even tried. That’s hard to defying try.
--I don’t know. It’s just……you seem happier than all my marriedfriends.
--Well, Jim, I’m not going to lie to u. Marriage can be a pain inthe ass. And you’re kind of right, this all is just stuff thatleads to your eventual demise.
--Yes.
--And we’re all running clocks, and they can’t be slowed down orpaused, and we all end up in the same place. There’s nopoint.
-- There Is no point. That’s what I’m saying.
--You know, I’m not normally the guy u would talk to about stufflike this. If you think about it, your favourite memories, the mostimportant moments in your life, were you alone?
--No, I guess not.
--Think a bit of it, last night, the night before your wedding whenall the shit was swirling around in your head, weren’t you guyssleeping in seperate bedrooms?
--Yeah, Julie went back to the apartment, and I was just by myselfin the honeymoon suite.
--Kinda lonely, huh?
--Yes, pretty lonely.
--Life is better with company.
--Yeah……
--Everybody needs a co-pilot.
--That was a nice touch.
--Thanks.
--I thought I was a part of your real life.
--I thought we signed up for the same thing.
--Try and help me understand exactly what it is that u signed upfor.
--I thought our relationship was perfectly clear. I mean u are anescape, you are a break from our normallives, you're a parenthesis.
--I am a parenthesis?
--I mean...what do u want? Tell me what u want...... U don't evenknow what u want. Ryan, I'm a grown-up, ok? So if u would like tosee me again, then...then give me a call. OK?
--So where are u from?
--I am from here.
I would say, you know, uh...without my friends and myfamily, I wouldn't have made it.
It would have been a lot tougher if I would had to make it on myown.
When I wake up in the morning and I look over and I see my wife,that gives me the sense of purpose.
It's not all about the money, money can keep your warm. It paysyour heating bills, it can buy you a blanket. But it doesn't keep uas warm as when my husband holds me.
Let me get up. Let me get out. Let me find something. So my kidsare my purpose. My family.
Tonight most people will be welcomed home by jumpingdogs and squealing kids. Their spouses will ask about their day andtonight they'll sleep. The stars will wheel forth from theirdaytime hiding places. The stars will wheel forth from theirdaytime hiding places. And one of those lights, slightly brighterthan the rest, will be my wing tip passing over.
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