02x16 - Time and Yuletide

[bunniefuu]

[waves crashing]

[music]

The combined serviceclubs are running late with

their party and it'sthrowing us off our schedule.

Well, those things will happen.

Of course. I could go in thereand ask them to cut it short,

but well, the children seemto be enjoying it, so I hate to.

Oh, no, I will. Iwouldn't listen to such

a thing. We have allthe time in the world.

Oh, thank you. Iknew you'd understand.

Well, I'll just stepoutside and explain

to the rest of thecommittee and don't you

let it bother you atall. No, we have all

the time in the world.We don't mind waiting.

Thank you. Thank you.

Helen, people really are wonderful.

All these organizationswant to do something

special for the childrenat Christmas time.

Yes, and every year it seems likemore people want to get in the add.

Of course, I wish therewas some way of spreading it

out over the rest of theyear a little more, don't you?

I'll say.

I guess it's the Christmas spirit.That's what gets into people.

Christmas is mostly forchildren, don't you think?

Yes, apparently it is.

This is Sarah Wynn.

One moment, please.I'll transfer your call.

I'll be in the west wing.Helen, if you want me.

Alright.

[music]

[door closing]

Sarah wynn.

Look what I Have.

Oh.

You got a Christmascard from somebody?

No, it's for you. Yousee, it's address to you.

For me?

It's address for me.

Sarah Wynn.

County poor Firm

Custard County.

It's not even opened.

No.

It came straight through the mail.

Somebody sent it to me.

Why don't you open it washis way in a sealage from her.

Oh.

Isn't that beautiful?

Yes, it's very beautiful.

Ooh.

Would you read it for me?Ms. Dawson? My glasses.

I can't quite make it down.

Surely.

Wishing you all thejoys of Yuletide,

and a happy andprosperous New Year.

Your loving granddaughter,Louise Fulton.

Oh.

Oh, but that's little Louise.

Fred's girl.

She's never even seen me.

But she remembered her grandma.

She certainly did.

Well, bless her little heart.

Miss Dawson?Yes, Ms. Bell?

Was that all the mail there was?

I was sort of expecting something.

Well, I'll tell you,the mail hasn't

been assorted yet.Mrs. Wynn's card just

happened to be ontop of the stack and I

was coming this way,so I brought her along.

Maybe I get a cardfrom my boy this Christmas.

He's the middle one

and the one who generally remembers.

Just got out in October.

You know. We must remember that.

Well, sometimes peopleout in the world, they they

intend to do things butthen they get busy and

well, you know how, dear.

Something calling, Miss Dawson.

Mrs. Leonard in the lobby.

I'll see you later, Miss Dalton.

[music]

You know, that'svery nice, Mr. Pete.

Well, thank you, ma'am.I still need a little practice.

Could be.

yeah.

[music]

Hello Miss Leonard.

Oh, miss Dawson there you are.

I decided to come a little early soI could pick up the children myself.

Oh, you mean youwant to take them now?

that's right.

But it's still threedays before Christmas.

Yes, I know, my dear.

Oh, and this year Iwant all girls. Not

too young, youunderstand, not too old.

But, Mrs. Leonard, this isn'tquite the way I understood it.

I thought that you wantedto take three children into

your home Christmas Eve andbring them back Christmas Day.

Well, I changed my plan slightly.

Oh I see.

You understand, of course,that the children are here in the

hospital for a reason. I mean,they're under medical care.

really they need medical care Ihave my personal physician there.

Oh, Of course I didn't want anychildren that have anything.

Organically wrong with them.

I wouldn't mind a child beingon crutches, for instance.

Providing that she could walkdown the stairs Christmas morning.

Because I want all threeof the little girls to walk

down the stairs Christmasmorning when I give the signal.

Yes. Mrs. Leonard.

May I make a suggestion?

This year, insteadof taking three

little girls whowell, after all, they'd

really rather be here with their ownlittle friends anyway, on Christmas.

Why don't you takethree of our older ladies.

Take them into your home as guests,

pamper them a little bit, you know

make them feel wanted, as ifsomebody really cared about them.

Oh you've no idea what awonderful thing you'd be doing.

Miss Dawson, do youthink it's an advantage

to your position tobe so emotional?

And besides, you'remisinterpreting my request.

Why, Christmas justwouldn't seem like Christmas

at my home without thelaughter of little children.

Please, Mrs. Leonard.

take these older ladies. Itwould mean so much to them.

Rarely?

I resent you'retrying to dictate to

me the directionmy charity shall take.

Charity?

To walk in here andorder three children

to be installed in yourhome for a few days.

So that you can hear thesound of childish laughter.

-Miss Dawson, do you feel well?-I feel very well.

And I'm going tofeel much better when

I get the rest ofthis off my mind.

I'm going to be quitespecific, Mr. Leonard.

We have no childrenavailable to you

to take to yourhome, either tonight,

nor Christmas Eve, nor ever again,so long as I am in charge here.

Well.

Your behavior ismost unprofessional,

and I shall reportyou to Mr. Blackburn.

Marcella.

-Do you realize who she is?-I know?

-How much influence she has?- I know, I know, Helen.

She's got the countycommissioners right under her

thumb. They'll have yourjob before the weeks out.

Sorry, but I don't care.

If she really wantedto do something for the

children, it would bedifferent. But she doesn't.

She wants them todo something for her.

Wasn't the real reasonyou blew your top

because she wouldn'ttake the three old ladies

instead of the children?I mean, if you're

going to be absolutelyhonest about it.

Alright, so it was.

She's the onlyphony patronist we

have, and you haveto tangle with her.

There goes my board.

One moment, please.

May I help you?

I was supposed to ask forMrs. Dawson. I'm Joe Wilson.

Mr. Wilson, I'm Miss Dawson.Will you come over here, please?

-Won't you sit down?-Thank you.

I talked to you onthe phone, didn't I?

That's right.

And your club wanted to put ona Christmas party for the children.

Well, it isn't a clubexactly. You see, somebody

started a collectiondown at the plant. We

all decided to kick inpart of our bonus to put

on a party for thechildren in the hospital.

How nice.

I'm supposed to work outthe details and report back.

Well, I don't know whatelse I can tell you, Mr. Wilson

is like I said on thephone, we're booked solid.

Oh.

I guess we're just lucky hereat Custer County. It seems

everyone wants to put on aChristmas party for the children.

I'm sorry. I hope we'd beable to work something out.

Mr. Wilson?

Yes.

I was just thinking.

Would you like todo something really

wonderful with thatmoney you've connected.

Well, I don't knowhow wonderful it can be.

We only collected about $.

That's a lot of money.

How many childrenare there in the hospital?

-Oh, you mean the younger children?-Yes.

Oh, well, there are quite afew. But what I had in mind was

would you beopposed to putting on a

party for, say, oneof our older groups?

I don't see what difference thatwould make. You mean like teenagers?

Well, they're not exactlyteenagers I had in mind.

It'd be all right even if they were.

Well, I mean, kids are kids.Just because they get to be -

years old that doesn't meanthey're not interested in Christmas.

No, it certainly doesn't.

It's just one thing.

We gotta be thinkingabout the kids parents.

Maybe some of them might be a littlebit touchy about having strangers.

Well, I don't think we'd haveto worry about that because

in this group,

Well what I mean is

none of their parents are living.

Oh.

You mean they're all orphans?

Well, yes, sort of.

That's too bad.

Yes it is.

Just think, Mr Wilson.

Thanks to you and your group,this year they won't be forgotten.

No, sir.

This year they too willhear the angels sing.

[music]

I don't know.

He's taking all that money from him.He might say under false pretense.

Oh, don't be silly, Helen.

Well, he gave thatmoney to put on the party

with, and that'sexactly what I'm doing.

But he still thinks he's givingthe party for the children.

Well, they are children.

Well, we're all childrenin the eyes of God, no

matter how young or howold we are. Is that right?

Look, you don't have to convinceme. I'm on your side, remember?

Just that. I'm afraidyou may get into trouble.

Well, all they can do is fire me.

If my little bells are ringingcorrectly, I'm going to get fired

anyway, as soon as Mrs Leonardsticks the commissioners on me.

Oh, no, no, no, Mr Pete,you can't come in

here. Not yet. You'llspoil a surprise.

Yes, it's just thatwell, have you got a

piece of fancy Christmaswrapping paper I

could borrow? And apiece of fancy wrap and

twine? Something youmight have left over?

How much do you need?

Well, how much do you need?

I don't need verymuch. Just enough to

wrap five packetsat the back that's all.

Well, all right. I got it for you.But don't you look now, huh?

Alright.

Yes, that's fine. How's that?

Alright?

I've been saving mytobacco ration ever

since they took LongJohn into the hospital.

I know that I want to have somethingto send into them come Christmas.

I ain't took but one smoke a day.

Well, twice, two.

Mr pete you should have told me.

You've forgotten LongJohn doesn't smoke.

I didn't forget. It's just

ain't much else I cangive him this Christmas.

It don't matter somuch he don't smoke.

He knows I smoke.

He'll know I'm goingwithout for him.

That way he'll know whatI'm thinking about him.

He'll understand.

See.

Yeah, I see.

Well, thanks for the wraper.

You're welcome

Oh I just love theseicicles don't you?

Very nice.

I think there's somuch prettier than

that old fashionedkind of temple.

-This package marks for Henry.-Huh?

- Came unwraped.- Oh.

Oh, that's kind of anodd present for a little boy.

Shaving brush?

Well, it's what he wanted.

You know different peoplewant different things.

-Apparently they do.-Yeah.

Just how old is this.

Henry that wanted the shaving brush?

Oh, I don't know exactly.

About how old?

Well, like I toldyou, I don't know but

if it's important, I'll lookit up in the record for you.

Is it under five?

No, he's older than five.

Is he under ten?

Oh, I'd say he's at least ten.

Alright. Is he under ?

Why do you ask that?

You put one over on me,didn't you? Ms Dawson.

Kind of made a fool of me.

Look, I just wantto tell you that's no

particular achievement.It's been done before

So don't feel too proud of yourself.

As a matter of fact, I do feelproud of myself, Mr. Wilson.

And there's nothing that youcan say is going to change it.

You feel proud?

Yes, I do. Very proud.And you want to know why?

-That'd be nice.-Alright, I'll tell you.

It's because I have managedto connive to make it possible for

a few old people to enjoy onemore Christmas before they die.

To enjoy one precioushour where they

can be rememberedand loved and wanted.

So you can go ahead andfeel very sorry for yourself.

Because you thinkI've made a fool of

you. But I'm notgoing to cry over it

Because I've neverbeen happier in my life.

These old folks aregoing to have a very good

party, even if I haveto lose my job over it.

I'm sorry, Ms. Dawson.

Well, gee, why didn't you tell me?

Because you wouldn'thave let me spend the money

for a party for the olderpeople if I had told you.

Well, you wouldn'thave now, would you?

-I don't suppose so.-Of course you wouldn't.

How could I? It wasn't my money.

Gosh, what are theguys going to say

down to the plantwhen they find out?

I don't know what thecounty commissioner is going

to say when he findsout either, but I can guess.

One of the mostinfluential women in this

county. Tell her that shecan't take any children

into her home atChristmas. Why, she's been

doing it as far backas I can remember.

Then on top of that, thismisappropriation of funds,

this deceptionist.

Just a minute commissioner.

I don't see where this partyis any concern of yours.

It wasn't public money.

Never cost the taxpayers a cent.

I brought the money in.Turn it over to Ms. Dawson.

I think it's justbetween her and me.

For your information, Mr. Wilson,ms. Dawson is the agent for the

county commissioners. We areresponsible for everything she does.

Mr. Blackburn.

I can make it verysimple for everyone.

I'll simply resign my job tonight.There'll be no fuss about it.

No adverse publicity, nothing.

But you must promise me one thing.

Don't let these old peopleknow the truth about it.

Let them think thateverybody wanted

them to have abeautiful Christmas party.

Because, believe me, itwould break their hearts.

[music]

[everyone talking]

Yes, I like it becauseit's green and

somebodyremembered. I like green.

Oh, I think Christmas is sowonderful, don't you, Stale?

Yes, indeed I'd do.

Oh, yes. I just wish youcould have seen Long

John's face when I openedup your package for him.

Oh, I would have delighted you.

And he told me to tell you. Andhe said, don't forget one word.

Well, Pete, the first years ofmy life didn't mount to very much.

But this last yearis the important one.

Because I found me a real friend.

And his name is Pete.

Yeah.

I knew he'd understand.

About the tobacco.

Long John and me we understoodeach other right off the band.

Miss. Dawson.

-Oh,-It's a wonderful.

oh, thanks, Mr. Wilson.You know Mr. Pete, of course.

Yes, this is Mr. Blackburn

Of course now, don't stand up,Pete, because I don't want him.

-Why don't you sit here, Mr. Wilson.-Thank you.

Mr. Wilson's group gavethe money for this party.

Oh.

Did you get some sort ofare presently I'm the party.

Oh, I sure did. Igot this wallet here.

Got a place in here from a name.

Any kind of papers andall kinds of little places.

Genuine leatherit is too. It says

they're writing,that little writing.

And this money was inside of it.

Three brand spankingnew, one dollars bills.

I ain't never seen paper withoutany wrinkles in it or four of you.

[laugh] It's real. Fine, Pete.

It's a good looking wallet too.

Yeah. $ in my pocket.

Yeah, when I sit out frontand watch the stage go by.

I can feel in mypocket and know that

I can buy a ticket on thatstage if I was in a mine too.

Ride clean over to goshen.

That's nice, Pete.

What do you do whenyou get there? Really?

Paint the town. Haveyourself a high old time?

Well, I probably won't evergo into town as far as that goes.

If I did, my money would begone and I wouldn't have it no more.

It ain't going intoGoshen that's important.

It's knowing you could doit if you was of a mind too.

That's what makesthe difference.

I see people see what you mean.

You'll have to forgiveme if I don't understand

you the way your friendin the hospital does.

You see, I haven'tlived so long.

I still have a lot to learn.

Dawson.

Oh, yes. Excuse me this minute.Sorry Mr. blackburn. Yes, Helen.

Ah, see, Mr. Blackburn, I don'twant to seem nosy or nothing but

I was walking past thelobby and I heard Ms. Dawson

say something aboutturning in her resignation.

Now, you wouldn't lether do that, would you?

Well, now, Pete, that'snot for you to worry about.

Well, I ain't reallyworried, commissioner.

First I had the feelinghe was kind of letting

her go. You know, firingher, as a fellow says.

And I thanks to myself.Oh, Pete, you fougle they

wouldn't let her go. I shouldhave knowed that right off.

Well, of course these organizationalmatters are difficult to

understand. I know. You'll pardonme if I don't discuss it with you.

Pete.

? In the long run,a place like this,

we just have to dowhat we think is wise.

Even if it mightseem odd to you.

Than you do aim to let her go.

Yeah, I suppose you do haveto do what you think is wise.

No matter how foolish it is.

I'm sorry. You havethat, don't you think, Bell?

Yes, of course.

I think you do.

Let me now, on other page we,

Over here he is Ms. Bell look.

That's the prettiest.

Mr. Blackburn.

may I speak with youalone a minute, please?

Yes, of course.

I've been trying to get a holdof you all day. I understand

that as yet nothing hasbeen done about Ms. Dawson.

Mrs. Leonard.

Ms. Dawson tookcare of that herself.

She resigned.

Oh, fine.

Alright. I'll go along.

Would you like tostay and have a cup of

Bunch? You enjoyit. It's awfully good.

Well, I.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Ladies and gentlemen.

may I have your attentionfor a moment, please?

Thank you.

We have a surprisefor you this evening.

That is Mr. Peter albertPode has a surprise for you.

Mr. pete.

[music]

[singing]

[clapping]

it was just beautiful.Just beautiful.

What is it?

I know what's happening.

I know what's happeningand I just want you

to know I'm hoping youthe best of good luck.

In a new place real soon.

Thank you, Mr. Pete butdo me a favor with me?

Don't mention it. Anybody will you?

No. Here.

-What's this?-It's something I want you to have.

What is it?

Please, ma'am, don't say nothing.

What's the matter?

[crying]

Mr. pete threedollors he gave to me.

Just one thing. May Ihave your attention, please?

Just one short announcement.

Now, some of you mayhave heard of rumor.

That Miss Dawsonis going to resign as

superintendent of thecounty home and hospital.

Now, it is true that Ms. Dawsonis submitting her resignation.

But I just want totell you that I for one

refused to accept it.

[clapping]

Because I feel that Ms.Dawson has a real vocation

Caring for the ill,

The injured and theagent and the infirm.

But mostly becauseI think we need her

to leave the blind.

Now we havewitnessed the birth of an

annual traditionhere in costa county.

We went out again to forget.

The soul, the spirit and the words.

Of him whose birth wecelebrate tonight.

Inasmuch as ye have done it.

Unto one of the leastof these my brethren.

You have done it unto me.

Come on everybody.

Silent night.

[singing]