02x16 - A Journey for the Betterment of People

[bunniefuu]

Uh, dad?

Ben?

Top o' the morning.

Oh, man.

Man, I'm all stiff this morning.

- Are you?
- Yeah.

I got a... I got back pain,
my shoulders are tight.

You fall... did you sleep
in a weird position?

On the floor.

Fell off the bed.

Again?

I got problems.

You know, I had a weird thing
happen to me last night.

On the floor?

No, no, no. Before that.

On the bed?

No, before the bed,
when I was out.

Remember I came back
from the Food Village?

Right.

You were... you had
already fell asleep.

- Right.
- I tucked you in.

Oh, and I appreciate that.

Yeah.

Next time, don't cover my feet.

Because I love
to have my feet out,

I don't know why.

- Why is that?
- I don't know why.

Don't they get cold?

They don't get cold.

What happens is,

if my feet get tucked in,
I feel confined.

The Katzes have always had
good circulation, you know.

I think since...

I think you can trace
that all the way back to...

Circulation has always
been in our blood.

Oh, my god, and I'm fast asleep.

I am so you now, dad.

It's amazing.

I'm uncomfortable enough
with me being me.

No, anyway, last night...

Yeah?

I was walking home
from the Food Village.

Mm-hmm.

I had two packs
of groceries in my hand.

Nothing wrong with that.

And... this
is going to sound.

A little out of the ordinary,

but I took the long way home.

And, uh...

Which is not a great idea,
by the way.

Not for me, not at my age.

Anyway, I took the long...

And I was...
I had a strange encounter.

Mm-hmm.

I was approached by a woman.

Yeah?

By a woman who...

Oh, no, wait, say it ain't so.

I'm afraid so, yeah.

You know, it was
a woman who was not...

Was she plying her trade,
a woman of the night?

Plying trade, a prost*tute.

Right.

And, uh, you know, to be honest,

I didn't know how to handle it.

Well, you know you walk
into that neighborhood,

that's exactly the kind of thing

that's going to happen.

- Yeah.
- So what did you say?

Well, I did not
accept her offer.

Mm-hmm.

But, you know,
I'll tell you something,

I did actually get into
a conversation with her,

and she happened
to be very nice.

Well, just
a word of caution, Ben,

because we are living

in a very dangerous time,
you know...

But I'll tell you something,

you know what it
introduced me, dad,

to a whole other world
out there, you know, that...

Yeah.

The seedy underside
of our society,

which I don't see
too much, you know,

except when I go
to the Food Village.

There are a lot of very unhappy
people out there.

Yeah, dad, you know,
and those people out there,

they just need help, you know.

Yeah.

And I'll tell you something,
last night, it dawned on me,

I could do that.

I could help them, you know?

How could you help them, Ben?

You have to provide time
and effort and...

You know, I am proud of you.

I'm proud
of these instincts in you,

and I... that you are...

But, dad, you know,
after what I saw last night,

I really, I had to take a stand.

I want to put you in touch
with an old friend of mine.

Who actually works
for social services...

No, no, no, dad.

Downtown.

Dad, I'm going
to do this on my...

They have
a whole training program.

Dad, that's where you went
wrong, okay?

I'm not going to
take that road, all right?

I'm going to do it myself,

and I'm going to do it right.

And how are you
going to provide...

How are you going to maintain...

My agenda is
a little different, okay?

I'm going to go out there.

I'm going to deal
with the people.

One-on-one, face-to-face,
you know...

How many people in a week

do you think
you can help like that?

Realistically?

You can't put a number
on help, you know.

But let's pretend that you
become very good at this,

and you can help

a different person every day.

I'm going to do more.

That's 365 people in a year

if you work
every day of the year.

No, I'll slip in more.

Okay, let's say 500 people
in a year. Is that fair?

That's...
Yeah, that's closer.

I would say 500
to 1,000 people a year.

Okay, let's say


Let's say 15,000 people
in a year...

Fifteen?

I could help


for the next 20 years.

Okay.

Then I retire.
That's how many people, dad?

That's over 300,000 people.

Dr. Katz?

Yes, Todd.

I got invited
to a party recently.

Oh, that's great.

I think it's going to
be a crazy, crazy party.

Uh-huh.

Because the hours are
listed on the invitation

as "9:00
till question mark."

Right.

Ooh, when is it going to end?

Mommy, I don't know when
to tell you to pick me up.

Anytime you see
"9:00 till question mark,".

Generally the answer
to the question is 9:15.

Mmm.

This is usually a bad party.

Right.

Went out on a first date
the other night.

You want to talk...
You want to talk about it?

I learned a valuable lesson.

Which is?

If you're out on a first date.

And you're at the movies...

Uh-huh.

And a love scene comes on...

Right.

Don't turn to your date and go,

"Baby, that's us
in two hours."

So you're... originally,
you are from Florida,

is that... that's correct?

Yeah, I did grow up there.

A friend of mine
just went down there.

He took his first trip
to Disney World.

Mm-hmm.

He came back complaining
that it was too touristy.

I was like, "Oh, man,
don't tell me that."

The tourists found out
about Disney World?

Damn, that used to be
my secret little hideaway."

There are agencies,

there are
social service agencies.

Why aren't
those agencies working?

Why aren't they helping
the people who really need it?

They're up against a bureaucracy.

That's large and unfeeling.

You know the major problem?

You know the major problem?

Me?
I think so, yeah.

That's what I was afraid
you were going to say.

Oh, you have a part in it.

I mean, you know what it is?

You don't help the people
who are outside your realm,

your world,
your little sheltered world.

I'm just saying, dad,
that maybe I can...

You know, there was a...

Maybe I can fill
in where you failed...

I didn't fail, I mo...

Which is helping the people
who need it...

I didn't fail, Ben.

As opposed to just helping
people and making a profit.

For your own...

I don't consider myself
a failure at all.

Well.

I'm a phony...

Okay.

But I'm not a failure.

Everything's difficult.

Life is difficult.

Every time you get out of bed.

And you have to head out
into the world,

it's potentially difficult,

but I don't want
to get into that,

you know, that trip...

To me, it's negativity.

You feed on your own negativity,

and I don't want that.
Do you understand?

I really want to change.

Well, I think that it's not a...

I want some substance.

I don't want this kind of,
you know, rhetoric.

It's just, you know,

because it doesn't
really change the world.

It doesn't change
the consciousness.

It doesn't elevate us.
It's just this...

We're in the mire and
the muck and the nonsense.

Yes, but...

But that's not even
the point here.

That's not even the point.

I want something deeper.

I want something that,
that elevates me,

that takes me out of this.

Day-to-day self-indulgence,
you know.

Thinking about my past,
thinking about my family,

what they did to me,
how they twisted me.

You know, I want
to let go of it already.

It's enough.
I'm an adult. I'm a woman.

I mean, I've got to
be able to move forward

in my life to have
relationships,

to have happiness.

Why shouldn't I
be able to have that?

There's just no reason for it.

I'm blocking it.

I think sometimes, when
I talk about the obvious,

when I talk
about the superficial...

I'm going to be back
in about three minutes.

Aspects of my life...

You keep going.

And what causes
all these problems,

I just sink deeper
into it, you know.

When I leave here,
I don't feel better.

I went to
the University of Florida.

Yeah.

Did very well there.

Right.

Graduated
with a 2.11 GPA.

Well, that's...

That is excellent.

Is it?

That is less than two points
away from a perfect 4.0.

That is a phenomenal GPA.

That's true.

That's a bad GPA.
I was lying.

Well, that's what I thought.

I was on academic warning,

then I was
on academic probation,

then they had to create
something new for me.

I was put under
academic house arrest.

I got bad grades in college.

'Cause I didn't study,
as simple as that.

Yeah.

That's my recipe for bad grades.

Don't study...
Voilà, bad grades.

Right.

Dr. Katz's office.

Hey, Laura, it's Ben.

Hi.

How are you doing?

Fine.

Listen, Laura, I'm
calling from the street.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, man I love
the street, Laura.

I love the smells.
I love the...

Is there something
I can do for you?

I'm at a pay phone
right now, Laura.

You know, I'm kind of moving

from neighborhood
to neighborhood,

mapping out a strategy for...
For what I'm doing right now.

Do you want to know
what I'm doing right now?

No.

I'm helping people, Laura.

Most people don't even take
the time to look around,

to open their eyes to what's
really happening in the world,

to what's going on
in the streets.

I'm talking about the other
side of the tracks, Laura.

I'm talking about the...

I'm talking about
the bad neighborhoods.

I'm talking about
the seedy side of town.

Ben, it's 11:00
in the morning.

It's a quest that I'm...

That I'm going
to go on that you could...

It's a journey.

It's a journey for
the betterment of people.

That's what I call it.

So you want
to hop on the good...

Do you want to hop
on the good side?

You want to get
on the righteous train?

So after college then,
you move to New York City,

and you start working.

I used to be a foot messenger.

Mm-hmm.

Had a really condescending boss.

Mmm.

First day on the job,
he was like,

"Todd, I have
a delivery for you.

This package goes
to 350 fifth Avenue.

That's in the Empire
State Building."

Right.

"Are you going to
be able to find that?"

"Oh, gosh, not without
a landmark or something.

Is there maybe
a Burger King around there?"

You're cut out for it, Laura.

I mean, right now,

you're on the wrong side
of the fence,

and what I'm going to do is

I'm going to pick you up,

and I'm going to lift you over,

and I'm going
to put you back down.

On the right side of the fence.

But you know what?

What?

It starts with you.

You got to take that first step,

then I can help you,

or we could
just have lunch today.

I don't think so.

I'll bring a sandwich.
We'll eat in.

What do you like, turkey?

Smoked turkey?

But I got roaches
in my apartment,

so I got these combat
roach traps, you know?

Laid them out
all over the place.

Right.

So I had a woman
over my apartment,

not too long ago,
a couple of years ago.

Mm-hmm.

Anyway, she's checking
the place out, she's like,

"Todd, you don't have
a roach problem, do you?

Those aren't roach traps,
are they?"

I'm like, "Roach traps?"

"Those are speakers, baby.

Haven't you ever heard
of floor tweeters?"

So I had sex
with this woman, I did.

Mm-hmm.

I took out the box
of condoms, right?

Yeah.

She takes the box from my hand,

looks at it, and goes,
"Hey, Todd, good choice.

Good choice."

Now I didn't expect her
to be a virgin,

but this is no time
to show brand loyalty,

you know what I mean?

Mmm.

I know what you do
is what you do,

but you're part
of the problem, you know?

You're not part of
the solution, like I am, okay?

You live the same sheltered life
as my dad does.

You work for my dad.

You're in there in
your air-conditioned office,

thinking everything
is great and fine.

It's the same selfish crap

I've had to deal
with my whole life,

and I'm sick of it.

Hello?

Hello?

I don't want
to have any kids, man.

I don't want to have kids.

'Cause I like kids
too much to have them.

I see these couples,

they go away without their kids.

They go away for vacation
without their kids.

How do you tell your kid
you're going away?

It's like, "Hey, we need
a break from you."

Mmm.

"No, I understand, mom and dad,

you want
some time alone.

Oh, we're not going
to be alone.

We're actually going
with another couple.

It's really just about
getting away from you."

Yeah, I mean, well,
my sister's fine, you know.

Is she supportive, I mean...

She's extremely supportive.

I mean, she doesn't have this,

you know, the constant
dissemination

of fear and loneliness.

How do you think she escaped it?

How do you think
she escaped then?

Oh, she's much younger
than I am,

and I had left home already,

and I think that my family
was in a different place,

and I think there's
a lot more freedom, and...

Yeah.

I just think she absorbed
a lot less of the chaos.

I should see her.

She sounds a little more upbeat.

Well.

No, hey.

I know you're kidding.

I'm kidding
around with you because...

Yeah, I know, I know,

that's the best part
of coming here.

At least you, you know,

least you stick it
to me a little bit.

At least you kind of shock me

out of the, you know.

I...

At the end of the day,
I want to tell you,

I just... I think
that you really...

You've tapped into something
special, you know.

You're not, uh...
You're not detached,

you're not caught up
in the whole...

Really, like, stardom of
being a therapist, you know.

The truth is, I don't really
have that much training.

So, now, you don't smoke,
do you?

No, I don't smoke at all.

I'm very anti-smoke.

I'm actually
a militant anti-smoker.

Yeah.

I don't even let people
smoke in my apartment.

Mm-hmm.

I should rephrase that.

I don't let men smoke
in my apartment.

Aha.

If I have a woman over,
she can smoke cr*ck,

light a hibachi,
have a book burning,

I don't really care.

God bless her for showing up.

I had 19 cups of coffee today.

Whew.

Take-out coffee in one
of these take-out places?

Yeah.

I went there and said,
"Cup of coffee, please."

Guy goes, "Would you
like some sugar in that?"

I said, "Yeah, go ahead."

Mm-hmm.

He's like, "All right."

Fump, fump, fump, fump,
fump, fump, fump, fump,

fump, fump, fump, fump,
fump, fump, fump, fump.

"Is that enough?"

Uh, to make an angel food cake?

Yeah, I'll be fine.

I was going to whip up
a big batch

of cotton candy later on.

Now I've got
all the sugar I need.

It was one sweet,
little cup of coffee.

Mmm.

But I hate when you eat out,
and you go to a restaurant,

you order something simple,
something basic.

Yeah.

You find out they serve it
their own crazy way,

and they don't
even warn you about it?

Yeah.

I was in this restaurant.
I ordered a hamburger.

The waitress brings it out.

It's got this huge pile
of green lava on top of it.

Mmm.

I said, "Excuse me,
what's that?"

She goes,
"Oh, that is delicious.

"That is our very own

special lime
crab apple mayonnaise."

"Really?

Could you rinse it off?

'Cause that sounds
disgusting."

Just got a wok.

Yeah.

That is a great thing to have.

Mm-hmm.

With a wok, in the privacy
of your own home,

you can create your
own mediocre Chinese food.

For 50 cents less
than ordering take-out.

I'm standing
over this thing, going,

"Yeah, I'm glad,
I'm making this stuff myself.

"'Cause those restaurants
in Chinatown

just don't make
hot dog fried rice

the way I like it."

Do they have a name for you
on the street yet?

I know they assign names
to people... street people.

Do they really?

They used to call me
"The Professor."

You used to be like me, dad.

So how's it going, your, uh...

I haven't been able to help
anybody yet, really.

- Mm-hmm.
- One-on-one?

Not so simple, is it?

Yeah, but I haven't
really got the courage.

To approach someone yet,
but I'm working on it.

Mm-hmm.

Always open with a joke.

Do you think that'll work?

Sure, you break the barriers.

You know, I'm not good
like that, though.

- Yeah.
- Give me one.

A sight gag.

Pratfall?

You know the thing you used
to do with your thumb?

You know this...

Oh, right,
the separate the thumb.

Yeah, tell 'em
you have their nose...

Yeah.

As an opener.

So, you know, these
two guys are going golfing,

and one guy says, "I'm going
to stop for some golf balls.

You need any?"

And the guy says,
"No, I got one."

"You got one?
What if you lose it?"

He says, "You can't lose it.
It's a special ball."

"What if you
hit in the water?"

He says, "No, it floats.

You can't lose it.
It's a special ball."

"What if you hot it into a bush,
and you can't find?"

He said, "No, it's got a beeper,

a homing device,
you can't lose it."

"What if it gets dark
and you hit it into a trap?"

"It glows in the dark,
it pulsates.

It's a special ball,
you can't lose it."

He said, "Amazing! Where
did you get that ball?"

He said, "I found it."

Stanley, did you
ever pay for sex?

Never.

You know, with a prost*tute?

Um... uh...

Hmph!

Uh, well... um...

I'm going to take that as a no.

No.

Uh... no.

Hey, Ben, I got kind of
a disturbing call tonight

from Liz, who is
a good friend of mine,

and she told me that she, uh...

She told me she bumped
into you last night,

and she was concerned about.

Your reaction to her, you know.

Well, how so?

Well, she said that you
were acting very weird,

that you said she should quit

this way of life that she leads.

She doesn't have
to live like this.

I didn't know...

She should think
more of herself.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, she was
on her way home

with two bags of groceries

to feed her three kids
and her husband.

I remember that one, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

But why did you respond
to her that way?

Well, because, dad,
you know what I'm doing.

Now I'm talking
to some of the people

who walk the streets and, um...

Yeah, but Liz...

You know the odds are with me.

Liz was at your birthday party

from the time you were one

to the time you were seven.

Well, dad, it was night,

and, you know,
the light was dim and...

I don't know, Ben.

It's just that it disturbs me

to think that that's
your first reaction

to a woman carrying groceries

She was carrying groceries,

but she was doing it
so provocatively.

I'm thinking curfew.

You know, I got to be
honest with you, dad.

There is only so much
I can give of myself.

I mean, I know I've got a lot.

Yeah.

But I can't give...
I can't give no more.

Well, you can't go on like this

for three days in a row.

This is ridiculous.

I mean,
I'm running myself ragged.

The schedule is crazy.

Burn yourself out.

You know, there are
no specific hours for help.

It's all the time.

Right.

You know,
I know burn-out is...

Part of the job, but...

That's the biggest problem
in your field.

But, you know,
I've gone beyond that point.

I need to get upstate
and just take a break.

Breathe the clean air, you know,

get off the streets,
get into the country.

Mm-hmm.

Will you do me a big favor?

What?

Would you give Liz
a call and apologize,

and just explain to her that
you didn't recognize her...

If I did that to Liz,
I certainly would apologize,

but there's a good chance

she should change her
lifestyle anyway,

no matter what she's doing.

So music is
a big part of your life.

Yeah, but these bands

are getting greedy
these days, man.

Really?

I went to buy tickets
for a concert recently.

At Madison Square Garden.

Guy said, "We only have
a few tickets left."

They're $35, and the seats
are behind the stage."

Mmm.

I said, "Behind the stage?

That's all right.
I'll stay home."

Guy said, "Stay home?
Ten bucks."

That's crazy.

But I like music a lot,
you know.

I did... there's a sure way
you can tell.

If a band is good without
even listening to them.

How's that?

If the drummer has a gong,
they're not a good band.

You know what that means.

I'm done then, huh?

I'm sorry, Todd.

God, I had a lot more
to tell you about.

Our time is up, I'm sorry.

Stop the music.

If I could, I would.