Christmas jar

I'll be right back with your drinks.

One more day to go.

Thanks for switching shifts with Ivan. - Christmas requires an optimist.

Give me a high-fiver.

I need three more reindeer waffles and a Christmas wrap.

I'm running out of antlers. I mean bacon. Bacon and antlers, you know what I mean.

It's okay. It's okay, baby.

My goodness.

It's killing me to leave my baby behind. But I can't bear the thought to see her suffer ...

as I have suffered the past few years. Please tell het that I love her...

and that I pray to hold her again some day.

That will forever be my hope.

Hope Jensen. EDITOR IN CHIEF.

No. Yeah, right.

Debate, but no.

Hope?

What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here.

I'm okay. I wanna be here.

No, you don't. Trust me, nobody wants to be here.

No, really. One day alone on the couch was enough.

I'm so sorry, girl.

So, how is the dating?

O, pretty good. I just matched with a guy who works at Ikea.

Is he cute?

O, no! But I do need help putting together my new bookshelf, so...

Where is the colophon? What does he want?

Hope! Is Hope there?

Tell him we had to adjust it to accomodate the new banner ads.

Hope!

Welcome back!

What kind of graphics designer would do this?

Hope!

What's going on?

Uhm, they had to adjust the mass head to accomodate the new banner ads.

What? Allright.

How is it going fact checking that cryptocurrency fraud story?

I'll get right on it this morning. - O, 'cause you weren't here yesterday.

Sorry to hear about your mom.

Do you need more time off? - No.

Good. 'Cause we've got a lot of work. I just scheduled a pitch meeting to discuss...

story ideas for the Christmas season. I'd like you to be there.

I'd love to.

To serve peppermint hot chocolate. Because I think that will up the Christmas quotient in here.

People will think I'm a swell guy. - Okay.

Shall I get some whipped cream?

O, and book me a table at Farinelli's. I wanna take our precious writers out to lunch.

Okay. - Goodbye.

I want my mother to be proud. Instead, I only serve hot chocolate and make reservations.

Where? - At Farinelli's.

O, no I got food poisoning there once. - And I'm tired of being nothing more than his assistant.

I took this job because I wanna be a journalist. I wanna be at Farinelli's.

You want food poisoning? - Yes!

No. You know what I mean.

You march into his office right now, and you tell him what you told me.

You're right. Here I go. I'm going. - Yeah. You tell him, girl.

What? - He's at Farinelli's.

I'll tell him tomorrow.

Hope. Your mom was already proud of you.

Whoa! A match.

Hello?

They make me write this list of how and why, but you're never gonna see your stuff again.

I figured.

And I mean, the door, you've got a single bolt lock on that. No security system.

You couldn't have made it any easier for these guys if you tried.

Excuse me?

There is always an increase in breakings this time of the year. You cannot stay here tonight.

Where am I supposed to go? - I don't know. Parents, family?

I'm all alone.

O, okay .... uh...

I'm sorry, I just need a minute. - That's okay, yeah.

Someone left this at my door. Did you see it when you came in?

Christmas Jar.

I'm looking for stuff that was stolen, right?

Yeah, maybe one of the neighbours dropped it.

Well, I'll ask around.

What? you don't go knocking on people's doors saying "Hey, did you drop a jar full of cash?"

Why not? - Why not?

Because the first person you ask is gonna take it from you, before you can finish the sentence.

I think people are better than that. - I don't know what world you live in, but they're not.

Thank you so much.

I don't pay you much, but please tell me about secretly living here?

Uhm, I was just getting caught up in some stuff. - O, that's the thing about working the news.

You can never get caught up, it's always breaking.

That's what I love about it. - I can get any coffee?

Can I talk to you first? - Weren't we just talking?

I've worked hard as your assistant. And I've learned a lot.

Oh, you're not quitting on me. I don't have time to train... - No. I wanna be considered for a writing assignment.

I've payed my dues. And I'm ready for the next step.

You have payed your dues, of course. Because you are 22 and you have been here a ... year?

Almost.

You were 21 when you got your first byline at the Boston Globe.

Sure I did that. Let's revisit this conversation in 6 months.

If you're still here then, I will give you a shot.

What if I'm not? What if I've moved on to a competitor's website?

O, I guess we've just have to manage without you?

Yeah, that's what we do.

It is November 30th, people. Alright.

And I'm gonna be running two full weeks of Christmas theme content starting on the tenth.

I need to hear some solid pitches starting now.

I'm gonna go to .... Rory!

We've got the year's latest gifts and gadgets? - Next!

A Christmas tipping guide. Who in your life you should be tipping and how much?

Well, here's a tip: no! But I do like the elf ears. - Really?

Because I've got a whole bunch of them at home. I''ll bring them to the Christmas party.

Okay, that'll be great. How about an idea though in the mean time?

What have we got? Chester, quit the drinking, get to thinking.

Rory, my golden girl. - There's a new diet: the eggnog Christmas cleanse.

That is disgusting. - It's basically keto, and it's delicious!

That's basically boring and we ran fat diets last year.

Stevie? - Top ten Christmas movies to watch with the family?

Not bad. - It's not a great idea.

Morgana, I gave you those extra few seconds. Lay it on me. Nothing?

Then it's up to my girl. Rory, give me something!

Gift cards. Good idea, or lazy and impersonal?

Lazy and impersonal. Guys, these are all derivative, boring, uninspiring click-bait.

All of these! What I want and what I need are stories with heart, tradition, Christmas spirit!

You know what? Maybe it is time to give Hope a crack at this.

Me? - Yeah. Do you have any stories, Hope?

Of course I do. - Tomorrow we're all gonna come back here ....

with some fresh pitches, and I'm very much looking forward to what you have, Hope.

Guys, got to go. Work on it! Think, think, think.

I saw this really cute guy this morning, speaking of cute guys...

Brandi!

I've told you about that Christmas jar, right?

Well, I done some research and I've discovered a message board for Jar-recepients.

These people wanted to thank whoever gave them a Christmas jar.

From all over the country? - No, everyone is local.

They give away the jars anonymously in december to someone going through a rough time.

Like you. - No. Kind of amazing, right? Wait.

Brandi, that's it. That's my story.

Very good! Yeah, it is.

So, one more time, from the top.

Just the words Christmas jar written on the glass. No other notes, nothing on the bag?

No. - And you didn't see anyone or hear anything?

Nothing. - Maybe it's a friend of your mom's.

Maybe. - Or someone who saw the police at your door.

And knew something bad was happening.

Yeah, maybe. - How many other jars do you think are out there?

Well, I've only been able to track twelve sofar.

Nine years ago was the earliest one I found, but I believe I'm only scratching the surface.

Do you think it's the same person, giving away all these jars?

How is she supposed to know that?

I think it must have been the same person in the beginning, but this whole thing is totally snowballed.

There were some people who found a jar, have now been inspired to start giving their own.

That's what I would do. - Me too.

Only I would decorate mine with rhinestones over purple glitter.

O, Come on, Rory. It's supposed to be a Christmas jar!

So what?! - What you're describing is not traditional.

Uh, says the guy with the hairy Hoggit feet slippers.

Hope. - Yes.

Where do you think this idea came from? - I don't know.

And that's what I want to figure out and write about.

It's like there's a Christmas angel out there.

Still got a lot of holes. - Yeah.

But, it is an intriguing story. You've got two weeks, kid.

Do not mess it up.

And still get me my coffee. - Thank you, Lyle.

Yeah!

Bravo!

Hi, this is Hope Jensen from City Buzz.

I saw your post of a Christmas jar you found in your mailbox. I was wondering if I could interview you.

Yeah, I was wondering if I could interview you about a Christmas jar you found in the mailbox.

Hi, this is Hope Jensen from City Buzz. Yes.

I count it will take ten minutes. O, sorry, can you hang on a second?

Hello. Wouldn't it be nice to hear an uplifting story for a change? I'll buy you lunch.

Someone say lunch?

Or a pony. Yeah. Hello?

A pony? - I could be bribed with a pony.

Yeah.

The same people that posted their story online, won't talk to me. It seems they're keeping it all a mystery.

Keep your chin up. You don't want one of those double...

It's called a wattle.

Actually the correct term is a caruncle. Also known as a doolap or a snooder.

Hey, how was your date last night? - That was a no-show.

O, I'm sorry. - O, no. I backed out.

He texted me like five times yesterday. I cannot deal with that level of crazy.

Hi. - What?

Nothing, just hey. - Yeah, you said that.

I brought you a muffin. - I'm gluten-free.

Of course you are. Gluten is bad.

Hey, thanks. Bye, Steve. - Bye, then.

What about Steve? - I swipe left.

O! Dear Hope, I got your email and would be happy to do an interview about the Christmas jar.

There you go! - Did it.

High five! Yeah!

Alright. Your homework is due tomorrow. You better be able to name all 96 countries.

Hi! Come on in. Have a seat.

Here? - Yeah.

O! No phones in my classroom.

Also, no chewing gum.

Should I...? - Yes.

Sorry. - That's okay, this time.

I love to think that whoever gave me my jar...

will read your article and know how much it meant to me.

I'd like that too.

I was just a teachers assistant back then and I had just said my goodbyes for the last time.

It's hard for children to understand budget cuts...

but I did my best, as I always do.

I promised to put the tears on the inside as I packed up things into my bag...

but then my bag was really heavy, and that's when I found it.