Pay It Forward

10-86, possible 4-17. Baker, Henry.

3000 block of Bagley, 4-17, 10-30.

Get back!

- I'll shoot her! - Oh, my God!

3-L-90. I repeat:

3-L-90, request you notify hostage negotiation team.

Have them respond to my location.

- See anything? - Get those cars out of here!

Suspect is a male Caucasian, approximately...

I'm a reporter. How long have you been here?

Domestic or drugs? ls that his girlfriend?

- Get out of here. - Who is it?

- Talk to me. - Massius, get him out of here.

- Go on! - I got my passes, Massius.

- Shit. - I have every right to be here.

Where'd he go?

Suspect has withdrawn into the interior of the room.

We no longer have visual contact.

That was my car.

Holy...

Having a little car trouble?

That's a keen observation.

I can help you.

It's the Jag.

You want me to drive home in your car?

I want you to take my car.

I've had a lot of luck lately. I don't need it.

You're giving me a new Jaguar and you don't want anything?

I can prove it. Give me your card.

I'll be in touch.

What, you want me to kill your wife or something?

No.

Tempting, but, no.

Call it generosity between two strangers.

Generosity? It's a Jaguar.

You expect me to drive home in a new Jaguar?

- That's right. - You're a freak!

You are a freak.

You want me to get in this car? No way! It'll probably blow up.

That's real funny, bits and pieces of me raining down in the street!

You think I'm going near that thing, you're nuts!

Besides, I got a car.

Sort of.

What? You like it?

Cool blade, huh?

- You want to see it? - Keep it in your pants.

Fag.

- He's gonna kill you. - I've got pepper spray.

Apparently, none of you have ever seen a new teacher before.

I'm Mr. Simonet.

Welcome to the seventh grade.

Middle school, that hellish, shaky bridge you all must cross...

before you become members of that undyingly enviable high school elite.

You may think you can't cross this bridge fast enough.

You'd rather close your eyes and not think about it until it's all over.

Well, I'm here to tell you...

that is not an option in this class.

Lateness.

Tardiness.

To be late for your first class on your first day of school.

What does that indicate?

I'm having a bad hair day?

Perhaps what it indicates is a lack of respect.

You see, I'm going to be here every day for you.

And so I expect you to be here for me.

On time, no excuses.

Put that down.

Wait.

Now...

this class is social studies.

That is you and the world. Yes.

There is a world out there and even if you don't want to meet it...

it's still going to hit you right in the face.

Believe me.

Best start thinking about the world now and what it means to you.

What does the world mean to you?

Come on! A little class participation.

Is it just this class you want to get out of?

Your house, your street?

Any further any of you want to go than that? Yes?

The mall. That's only two miles away from me.

Let me ask you another question.

How often do you think about things that happen outside of this town?

Do you watch the news? Yes? No?

All right, so we're not global thinkers yet, but why aren't we?

Because we're 11.

Good point. What's your name?

Trevor.

Maybe Trevor's right. Why should we think about the world?

After all, what does the world expect of us?

Expect?

Of you.

What does the world expect of you?

Nothing.

Nothing.

My God, boys and girls, he's right.

Nothing.

Here you are. You can't drive. You can't vote.

You can't go to the bathroom without a pass. You're stuck...

right here in the seventh grade.

But not forever...

because one day you'll be free.

But what if on that day you're free...

you haven't prepared, you're not ready...

and yet you look around you and you don't like what the world is.

What if the world...

is just a big disappointment?

We're screwed.

Unless...

Unless you take the things that you don't like about this world...

and you flip them upside down right on their ass.

Don't tell your parents I used that word.

And you can start that...

today.

This is your assignment.

Extra credit.

It goes on all year long.

Wait a minute. What's wrong with this?

What's the matter? Yes?

It's, like, so...

There must be a word to finish that sentence.

- Someone help her. - Weird.

Weird. Crazy.

Hard.

- Bummer. - Bummer.

Hard.

How about possible?

It's possible.

The realm of possibility...

exists where? In each of you.

Here.

So you can do it.

You can surprise us. It's up to you.

Or you can just sit back and let it atrophy.

Atrophy.

If there is a word you hear that you don't understand, there's a dictionary.

Look it up.

And there are these dictionaries which you will carry at all times...

because in this class, we're going to learn to love words...

and their meanings. Any questions?

Yeah.

So, you'll like, flunk us if we don't change the world?

No, I wouldn't do that.

But you might just squeak by with a "C".

What'd you ever do to change the world?

Well, Trevor, I get a good night's sleep.

I eat a hearty breakfast.

I show up on time...

and then I pass the buck to you.

Now, I want you all to write your names in these books and...

What's your name?

Molly, all right. I want Molly to look up the word atrophy...

and tell the class what it means.

No, we're not in Milwaukee.

Straight to hell. Straight to hell.

Four tequilas. Who's having the fourth one?

- You are. - Not for me, thank you.

- We bought it for you. - Thank you so much. No thanks.

- Why not? - I promised my kid.

I know, it's horrible. You guys have fun.

Wait, wait, wait. Here.

Thank you.

What are you doing, Junior?

What are you doing, Jun? What are you doing?

You got her now. You got her now.

You got him now. You got him now.

What time do you get off?

If only I weren't married.

He's married!

I'm single! I'm single!

- Hello? - Hey.

How'd it go?

- Are you there? - Yeah.

How'd it go?

What?

How'd it go? How was your first day?

Okay.

Trev, you got to speak up. I can't hear you.

Sorry I wasn't home. I had a chance to pick up another shift.

You mad at me?

Trev, what are you doing?

Nothing.

You find the spaghetti?

I'm eating it.

Good.

Come on, tell me what happened.

I got to go.

Spoon?

Spoon.

Mom?

Mom!

My friend's coming in to take a shower, okay?

Okay.

That's not really breakfast.

You don't eat breakfast.

Well, let's have some.

I'll make some eggs. I'll have some too.

You sure you won't throw up?

- What's that mean? - What do you think?

Tell me what it means.