Rubber Face

Mom, are you up?

Yes, dear.

Janet, you better get moving. You gonna be late.

What about you?

I'm up.

So am I.

Your knee bends, Mom.

Do those knee bends.

And don't forget your sit-ups.

We got to tone those stomach muscles.

Wanna come for a jog?

No, I'm too old.

Excuses, excuses.

Who needs the exercise anyway?

Introducing... Janet

Janet, I'm in a hurry.

What's your rush?

I have to take my comment first thing this morning.

- What's the topic today? - Food.

Janet, don't you think one Danish would do?

I could not decide between blueberry and cinnamon.

You really could stand to lose a little weight.

You know, I heard about this fabulous new exercise program

called "Dancerciser".

- It really sounds like fun. - Not interested.

Oh, I wish you would not say that all the time.

- What? - "Not interested".

And it bothers me because I really wish you were.

What?

Here, give me a bite.

- See you later, dear. - Ok. Bye, Mom.

Bye-bye. Have a nice day.

- Ha! - Ok!

- I can't wait for this party... - I think weekend already here.

Hey, hey, hey, it's the Big J.

Hey Big J, Rick is having a party with a live band.

Oh yeah? The Dead Brain Cells, huh?

So you'll come?

No, I gotta watch TV.

You're nuts! How can you stay home when you could be all partying?

Because I boogie

with my Sony.

- I'll see. - Goodbye.

Do you think she'd really rather watch tube?

Maybe she didn't get an invite.

I want you to finish the phrase...

"Why people...?"

And then write about it.

As your final assignment, it's worth 50% of your grade.

You could write about...

why people love,

why people hate,

why people ride roller coasters.

Now I'm giving you the time to do a good job.

If anyone is short of ideas, they can come and talk to me.

Now! Here are the last assignments you've wrote.

Now, I'm sure none of you are surprised by your marks.

A few of you put time, energy and thought in your work.

When you don't make an effort, it shows.

Which is why most of your marks are not satisfactory.

One notable exception

was Janet Taylor's composition... "My Bubble".

Janet, would you come up here and read it for us?

I think we would all enjoy it.

Do I have to?

Sure, it's a nice piece of work. Come up.

Yeah, come on, Janet.

Come on, Janet. Go.

- Get up. - Alright.

Right.

Go for it, Big J.

"My Bubble".

I live alone,

floating from place to place,

person to person.

When I reach out to touch...

I can not,

for there is the world,

and then there're I am, alone.

The bubble dis... distorts.

I talk...

and people talk to me,

but I never hear me as I... I am.

The bubble is on the way.

People don't see me as I am,

and I... I do not want them to.

My bubble protects me."

- You girls wanna go have some coke? - Yeah.

- Where? - Joe's in Coney Island.

- No, are you sure? - Hey, Big J.

- You all right, J? - Yeah, no sweat.

- How about coming for a coke? - No thanks, I wanna get home.

- You sure? - Yeah.

- I'll see you tomorrow, okay? - Ok.

- Bye. - Bye.

- You done? - Where are we going?

- Joe's, clown. - Joe's.

...out of their daily budget.

How bad is it: in Atlanta from from 50 to 60 cents.

for bus and subway. Hi, honey.

And now, with some food for thought,

here's Judith Taylor with her evening comment. Judith?

Thank you, Tom.

We live in one of most out of shape societies in the world.

And I think it's time we settle a better example

for our children.

We're not setting a very good example, when with a aim of saving money,

we stock our schools cafeterias...

You think my hair better like there? ...with poor food.

I don't know. Recently visited

some cafes in the city schools.

Was it any different? And they said that students...

Come on, be serious. ...do not eat nutritious food.

Is your hair that important?

Of course it's important. It's part of my image.

Image is important. Let's face it.

It's quality we after when talking

about our children lunchtime food.

And glossy packaging

does not necessary translate necessarily

into good nutrition.

Oh, mom, your hair is so delicious.

Join me again tomorrow evening.

I'm Judith Taylor.

There are two problems to which I may have a solution.

Coming up next, we'll be meeting with Arpeggio, the singing dog.

Sounds wild, but it's true. We'll be right back.

Station's looking for a teenage host for a new program.

I thought you'd be good at something like,

so I've arranged a time for you to audition.

Mom, I don't want to.

But honey, it'll give you a chance to get involved with something.

But I'm not interested.

Sweetheart, it's only an audition.

Think of it as a challenge.

It may be a real boost for you.

Janet?

Come on, do the audition. You'll see, it won't be so bad.

Hey, Big J, how are you doing?

Okay.

- What's shaking? - Not much.

Hey, Merilee?

Why do you always wear so much... war paint?

Because it makes me beautiful.

Uh, just what I need.

You know what?

My parents are splitting up.

- Really? - Yeah.

Seems kinda weird.

Well, I survived.

It's gonna be strange living with only one at a time.

Think of it this way... No more "Ask your father."

No "Do what your mother says."

Yeah, I guess.

- Look who's here. - Hey, Merilee.

I saw the tall blond guy, and guess what his name is?

- What? - Arnold.

- Oh, no. - Hey, Big J, what's happening?

I am beautiful.

"All this ye shall see;

and ye shall marvel, after your ignorant manner,

that men twenty centuries ago

were just such as you,

and spoke and lived as ye speak and live,

no worse and no better,

no wiser and no sillier."

Think about this. I'll be getting back to it.

Do not forget your essays.

Janet, can I talk to you for a second?

Yeah.

About the other day...

I want you to know, that I think

you should be proud of your feelings and your talent,

not ashamed of them.

Okay?

Okay.

I'm look forward to reading your next assignment.

Have you chosen a topic?

I think so.

- What is? - Why people laugh.

For example, have you ever seen that one

where this guy and his wife,

and they, like, walking down the street and the mailman stops, right?

The mailman says this: "Hi, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Johnson,

nice to see you. Oh, Mr. Johnson!

Ring around the collar.

Ring around the collar...

And they always take it so seriously. Orange soda...

Especially the housewife, she's totally shattered.

and cake. "Nothing matters now."

- I'll get you for that later. - Thanks.

"Not my PhD in philosophy, nothing. I've let my family down."

And then she looks up at her husband, for some kind of reassurement,

you know, well... while their laundry being criticized, right?

She looks for a kind word... but her husband never any help.

He just pics her up and:

"You sewer wreck.

Can't you keep my laundry clean?"

I always feel so bad for the housewife.

She's down in the gutter, right? Feeling like she's not worth two cents.