Green Is For Go

  INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT

          Sam, Bert, and Bert's wife, SALLY are walking to a booth
          from a buffet at a Chinese restaurant.

                              BERT
                    At least I left the kids with
                    Sally's mom, do you have any idea
                    how much three boys can eat?

                              SAM
                    Why do you think we are at an
                    all-you-can-eat buffet?

                              BERT
                    Well, at least I saved you the
                    price of three more adults.

                              SAM
                    Your kids are all under twelve,
                    Bert.

                              BERT
                    Yeah, but we come here a lot, and
                    they kind of like banned us unless
                    we pay adult.

                              SALLY
                    And limit them to two trips each.

                              BERT
                    I think they have a talent for
                    engineering. See, they load up on
                    those stick things and build a
                    perimeter wall, cross-bracing
                    with...

                              SAM
                    I get the idea.

                              SALLY
                    I am so sorry, Sam. You and Martha
                    were so perfect for each other!

                              SAM
                    Yeah, she said the same thing, it's
                    just that she could stand being a
                    little less perfect if it meant she
                    might actually get to spend time with
                    her mate.

          Bert and Sally give him "looks."

                              SAM
                    She...I felt so inspired...I just.
                    I'd get carried away. I'd lose
                    track of time.

                              SALLY
                    Sam, you lived with her for two
                    years.

                              SAM
                    And the few weeks that we were
                    actually together she thought were great.

                              BERT
                    We got to get you someone.

          This draws a "look" from Sally.

                              BERT
                    I don't mean it like that! I mean
                    you need to find someone, and we
                    know lots of someones. Don't we
                    Sal?

                              SALLY
                    Well, yeah, I guess. But it's not
                    that easy, Bert.

                              SAM
                    Thanks, guys. I really appreciate
                    your concern, but I think I'm going
                    to take some time to think things
                    through.

                              BERT
                    How bout that girl in the print
                    shop?

                              SALLY
                    She's cute, but she's a neat nut.
                    Have you seen Sam's house Bert?

                              BERT
                    So she can organize his socks,
                    she's cute and she's single.

                              SALLY
                    And she's hot?

          Another "look."

                              BERT
                    Well, yeah she's hot. You want I
                    should set Sam up with your ugly
                    sister for cryin' out -OW!- Loud?

          Sally prepares for another kick.

          Bert raises up his hands.

                              BERT
                    Truce! Truce! No relatives, ok?

                              SAM
                    How do you know Marcie?

                              SALLY
                    I work in the employee records
                    office and I see her all the time.
                    Bert comes home talking about this
                    hot chick the tour three expeditor
                    at the MPO has it bad for. Says
                    she kissed him and everything when
                    she was bringing out some labels.
                    Mr. Stud here wants to see her,
                    even if it means she's with you. I ought
                    to set you two up just to...

                              SAM
                    That's all right Sally, I don't
                    think I could double date with Bert
                    droolin' in his won-ton soup over
                    there. But I appreciate the offer. I think
                    I'll just try to make some changes
                    in...stuff. You know, eat better, start workin'
                    out some. Stuff like that.
                        (Pause. Then to Bert.)
                    How do you know that the tour three
                    expeditor at the MPO has the hots
                    for a girl that works in the print
                    shop?

                              BERT
                    I got connections.
                       

                              SALLY
                        (thoughtfully)
                    Hmm. She IS a vegetarian.

          The heads of both men turn to face her.

          INT. SAMS HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

          Sam is at the computer reading email. Screenshot of an email from
          Sally:

          Re: Vegetarian Food

          Sam,

          I just happened to have a conversation with Marcie today.
          She is seeing someone, but is thrilled to help with a
          lifestyle change. She said she will pull up some good
          recipes, and will include some with chicken or other meat in
          small portions to help you wean yourself off of it. I gave
          her your email address. Hope you don't mind. I know how you
          guys just hate to have some hot young thing bothering you
          all the time. ;p Sally

                              SAM
                        (to himself)
                    Great! That's just great.

          SAM'S HOUSE - LATER - BEDROOM

          Alarm is buzzing. Sam hits at it sleepily. Rising he looks
          at the time.

                              SAM
                    Four o'clock! why the...oh yeah.
                    Food.

          Sam rolls over, we see a quick montage of him showering, getting
          dressed, and moving through the house preparing to leave. He
          goes over to the computer desk and pulls up his email. A
          screen shot of misc. spam techno-geek mail from various
          lists he is a member of and the email from Sally which is
          not in bold text as the rest, indicating it has been read. A
          few emails down is one from Marcie, also read. He stops
          scrolling at another from Marcie near the bottom of the new
          posts:

          Sam: I am sending the links and a few of my favorite menu plans
          that will get you started. I'll send you more later after
          you tell me what you like and don't like. We can tailor a
          plan that fits your blood and body type that will make you
          feel like a million. Just you wait and see! Marcie (smiley
          face)

                              SAM
                        (to himself)
                    What have I gotten myself into?

          INT. WORLD ORGANICS SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON

          Sam is walking the isles with a list in the child seat of
          his shopping cart checking off items as he locates them. His
          cell phone rings and he answers.

                              SAM
                        (on phone)
                    Bert! Not much. Well, no I'm
                    shopping, actually. No, I can't stop
                    and finish tomorrow. Bert, I've got
                    this list from Marcie. If I don't
                    get everything on the list, I won't
                    be able to make any of it. It's
                    called ingredients, Bert.

          INT. BERT'S HOME - TV ROOM - DAY

                              BERT
                        (On phone.)

                             
                    Sam, guys don't do that. No. No guy
                    in history...OK, no straight guy in
                    history ever sat down and planned
                    food. Well, ok then, let Marcie buy
                    the food. No. No guy ever made food
                    from scratch.

          INT. WORLD ORGANICS SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON

                              SAM
                    What about that guy who was always
                    getting soused while he cooked, on
                    TV?

          INT. BERT'S HOME - TV ROOM - DAY

                              BERT
                    Oh come on! You don't think he ever
                    really cooked any of that do you?
                    Well he never ate any of it, not
                    the stuff that he cooked. No...No he
                    did not! It was always in the oven
                    ready to eat at the end of the
                    show. Yeah, I do. I think he did,
                    yeah.

          INT. WORLD ORGANICS SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON

          Sam is continuing around the store checking things off his list
          as he talks.

                              SAM
                    And these women did everything.
                    They did all the clarifying the
                    butter, separating egg yolks, and
                    cooked the food that he actually
                    ate? Well, maybe Bert. But I've got
                    this list and if I don't at least
                    try to do some of this I'll starve.
                    Yeah, well I don't think they have
                    organic TV dinners, but I'll look.

          Sam hangs up the phone and starts down the frozen food isle. He
          looks around and selects a couple of entrees.

                              SAM
                        (to himself)
                    Well, I'll be. Woo! I can't afford
                    to live on these, but a couple
                    might come in handy. Let's see
                    what's next. Spelt flour, and raw
                    organic sugar. To the ingredient
                    isle!

          Sam turns onto the isle and sees a multitude of bins with every
          conceivable type of flour, grain, sugar, etc. He is amazed
          by all the choices. Things not in a regular supermarket. He
          stops at a display for a natural low calorie sweetener with
          sample packets in a little box and a sign that says "take
          one". Tearing the top off of the packet he dumps the whole
          thing into his mouth. After he gets over the experience. He
          says to himself:

                              SAM
                    I think I'll just stick to good old
                    raw sugar!

          He walks down the isle reading off the bin labels. Finding the
          spelt flour, he tears off a plastic bag and finally manages
          to get s scoop of flour into it with some effort. He gets in
          a second one and holds it up.

                              SAM
                        (to himself)
                    That ought to be a half a pound or
                    so.

          Placing the twist tied bag into his cart he walks on until
          he sees the beginning of the sugar varieties. an electric
          cart with a small wicker basket on the front is stopped
          right in front of the raw organic sugar. It is occupied by a
          woman who has apparently gone to sleep with her head resting
          on her crossed arms on the handle bar. There is just enough
          room for Sam to crouch down to get the sugar, but it is not
          something that Sam feels comfortable doing. He looks around
          to see if there is someone he can turn to for help, but the
          isle is empty. Looking into the basket he sees similar
          things to his own, what Marcie had called a "low
          inflammatory" diet. There is not much here though, she
          wasn't having much success, Sam can see no list in her
          basket or hands.

          As he stoops into the narrow space, and starts scooping
          sugar into his bag, Sam HEARS a soft MOANING sound. She is
          quietly weeping. Her hair is auburn, at about shoulder
          length, and and though slightly disarrayed from her present
          position-has not a touch of gray. Her hands are smooth and
          show no wrinkles. Sam turns his head level with hers.

                              SAM
                    Ma-am, can I help you with
                    something?

          He raises himself slightly to ease the strain on his "bad" leg,
          taking hold of the scooter as he does so. The woman shakes
          her head no in a quick jerking way that says she really
          doesn't want any attention right now. Sam feels in his grip
          on the scooter, and can see in the quiver of the thin one quart
          carton of almond milk, that she has begun to sob, the
          quivers shaking the scooter as well as her shoulders. Sam's
          face shows that he has more than just a passing concern now. His
          sense of compassion is fully awakened.

                              SAM
                    Do you want me to help you finish
                    shopping?

          He is now kneeling with his "bad" leg on to floorboard of the
          scooter. The bag of sugar has been dropped, forgotten on the
          floorboard of her scooter-slowly draining into a tiny cone
          on the floor. A few crystals have spilled onto the scooter
          and crunch under his knee.

          The head shakes are a bit slower and longer.

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    No, no, no, no, no!

          Sam leans in closer and speaks softly.

                              SAM
                    OK. Do you want to do any more
                    shopping at all?

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    Nooo.
                        (It starts out ok, but she
                        begins to lose control and it
                        turns up into a cry at the
                        end.)

                              SAM
                    What you really want to do is just
                    get out of here and go get a pizza,
                    isn't it?

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    Yes!
                        (turning almost into a laugh
                        in the middle)
                    But I can't.
                        (She is back in "little girl
                        who can't go out and play"
                        mode.)

          Sam leans even closer and whispers conspiratorially:

                              SAM
                    How about an organic beer and
                    gluten free pita bread pizza with
                    goat cheese and no tomatoes in the
                    sauce?

          Her laughter is sudden and spontaneous. It is not the laugh of
          an old woman. The movement of her head shakes her hair so
          that it drapes over Sam's face creating a tiny intimate
          space inhabited only by the two of them. We see his lips at
          her ear. He closes his eyes and inhales the scent of this private
          space.

          SAMS IMAGINATION - MORNING - BEDROOM - BED

          Sam is in a bed and turns over to snuggle with a female occupant
          of the same bed. He HEARS a reassuring moan and nuzzles his
          face into the hair at the back of her head. He inhales and
          closes his eyes.

                              FADE TO SAM'S FACE IN SUPERMARKET


          INT. WORLD ORGANICS SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON

          She turns her head slightly toward him and they touch cheeks through
          a thin veil of hair. Her cheek is moist from crying.

          Sam, basking in the comfort of her touch, kisses the spot in front
          of her ear, then whispers.

                              SAM
                    Afterwards we'll shop together,
                    what do you say?

          As he slowly pulls away and tries to regain his balance enough
          to stand, she raises her head, clumsily dabbing at her eyes.

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    I can't check out like this. What
                    will people think? I look like I'm
                    at a funeral!

                              SAM
                    Here.

          Sam reaches into a jacket pocket and pulls out a pair of sunglasses
          in a style they called unisex.

                              SAM
                    You can wear these.

          Whatever he is expecting when she looks up at him and the hair
          that isn't clinging to her wet cheek falls away from her
          face, it isn't what he gets. She wears no makeup, not even
          lipstick that he can see. There are faint beginnings of
          "worry" lines on her forehead and tiny ones at the corners
          of her eyes. These are shining from tear ducts that have
          been getting a thorough workout. Her nose is dainty and red
          and irritated from too many bouts like this. She looks like
          she IS at a funeral, her face puffy and wet. She is earnest,
          and open, and vulnerable. The fact that he finds her
          treacherously appealing is apparent by the way he stares
          with his mouth open, the sunglasses dangling forgotten in
          his hand just out of her reach.

          She sees him staring at her and reaches for the glasses.

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    I look horrendous!

          Her eyes flicker over to meet his with surprise when he suddenly
          moves the glasses out of reach. They show a trace of
          recognition.

                              SAM
                    Now, how can someone who looks so
                    sincere as you be so quick to lie to
                    a perfect stranger?

          She starts to say something and changes her mind. Her pupils are
          wide and give her a warm inviting look that draws Sam in.

          SAM'S IMAGINATION DARKENED PORCH - NIGHT 9:59 PM

          Sam at 16 is standing with the first girl he ever kissed, scared
          to death. After several long moments she leans into him and
          whispers into his ear.

                              FIRST GIRL
                    Let me tell you a secret Sam
                    Robinson, girls don't stand in the
                    dark with boys they don't intend to
                    kiss.

          And then she went and kissed him. And keeps right on kissing him
          as the porch light flashes on and off.

                              FIRST GIRL
                    You've got about four minutes till
                    he starts to get mad, and if you
                    ever tell a soul I said any such...

          Sam doesn't even waste the time it would take her to finish. They
          don't stop till the door opens.

         

                              FIRST GIRL'S DAD
                    Sweetheart, you better come in now.
                    It'll take this poor young man at
                    least till midnight to settle down
                    as it is, you don't want to keep
                    him up all night.

          He gives Sam a knowing look.
                   

          INT. WORLD ORGANICS SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    Well, I'm certainly not at my best.
                        (She finally says, never
                        breaking eye contact.)
                   
                       

                              SAM
                    That's a blessing, I don't think I
                    could handle you're best just now.
                        (He feels hot, as if he is
                        radiating his desire to be close
                        to her again, to smell her
                        hair, to whisper in her ear.)
          We see a more amorous version of the kiss on the ear, and
          it's intoxicating effect on Sam.

          He is shocked out of his dream by:

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    I don't kiss in the first five
                    minutes of a date.

          A coy smile on her face. She reaches out and takes

                              SCOOTER LADY
                    Let's go Sam!

          SAM'S IMMAGINATION - DAY - ARMY TRAINING - RAPPELING TOWER

          Sam is on the skid a couple of feet out and down from the
          top of the sixty-foot tower. Rather, he has just jumped
          backwards off of the skid. In a perfect "L" shape he has let
          go of the rope and jumped. His eyes are closed,
          automatically, against his will even. He is not able to open
          them until he has somehow caught the rope with his right
          hand and pulled it against his leg, tightening it in its
          loops around the "D" ring and slowing him to a stop.
          Bouncing in front of laughing men standing in the opening
          below where he now hangs bouncing slightly when he is first
          able to open his eyes. The scene fades into the isle at the
          store again.

          INT. WORLD ORGANICS SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON - INGREDIENT
          ISLE

          The laughter is her riding away, bouncing off some cardboard boxes
          and sending a stocker scrambling for cover.