Pay It Forward

Chris Chandler: You want me to drive home in your car? Thorsen: No, I want you to take my car. Had a lot of luck lately. I don't need it. Chris Chandler: You're giving me a brand new Jaguar, and you don't want anything? Thorsen: I can prove it. Give me your card. Thorsen: I'll be in touch. Chris Chandler: Whoa, what is this? What, you want me to kill your wife or something? Thorsen: No. Tempting, but no. Call it generosity between two strangers. Eugene Simonet: Apparently, none of you have ever seen a new teacher before. [A beat.] I'm Mr. Simonet. Welcome to the seventh grade. Middle school. That hellish, shaky bridge you all must cross before you become members of that undyingly enviable high school elite. Now, some of you might think you can't get across this bridge fast enough. That you'd rather hold your breath, close your eyes, and not think about anything until it's all over. Well, I'm here to tell you that that is not an option in this class. Eugene Simonet: Lateness. Tardiness.

Pay It Forward, CC BY-SA 4.0

Arlene McKinney: Sit down, I want to talk to you. Trevor McKinney: You want to lie to me.

Pay It Forward, CC BY-SA 4.0

Arlene McKinney: Mr. Simonet? Eugene Simonet: Yes, I'm Eugene . . . Eugene Simonet: . . . uh, Simonet. [A beat.] Arlene McKinney: Hello. Eugene Simonet: Hello. [A beat.] Arlene McKinney: What is this assignment? Eugene Simonet: 'Scuse me? Arlene McKinney: What did you tell my son to make him bring a homeless man into my house? [A beat.] Eugene Simonet: Uh, I have two problems. One, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about and two, I don't know who you are. Arlene McKinney: Arlene McKinney. My boy is in your social studies class. Trevor. Eugene Simonet: Trevor. He's very attentive. He's very, uh, exigent, which I like. [A beat. He notices some confusion on Arlene's face.] Exigent. It's challenging, testing - Arlene McKinney: I know what it means. Would you like to tell me why my kid brought a bum into my house? Eugene Simonet: I have no idea. Arlene McKinney: Bullshit. Eugene Simonet: Mrs. McKinney, I don't know how your son interpreted the assignment. Arlene McKinney: How do

Pay It Forward, CC BY-SA 4.0

Jerry: You ever been on the street? [A beat.] Arlene McKinney: My mom took us pretty close. Jerry: Well, you can't know. Not until you're looking at a dumpster. But when you climb into that thing for the first time, and you pull those newspapers over you, that's when you know that you've messed your life up. Somebody comes along like your son and gives me a leg up, I'll take it. Even from a kid, I'll take it.

Pay It Forward, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sean: I'm gonna put up this website in Chinese. It's gonna tell all the kids in China to jump up and down at the same time. [A beat. He heads back to his seat.] Eugene Simonet: [to Sean] The goal being to knock the earth off its axis? Sean: Yeah. Eugene Simonet: Thank you. Sit down, Sean. [Sean sits down, and the class laughs. Eugene addresses the class.] Well, you're ideas are as surprising as they are variegated. Add this to your list of words to look up this evening. But, I wanna focus one moment on one project we heard today. [A beat.] Because I've been teaching for many years, and it really is the first new idea that also requires an extreme active faith in the goodness of people. Trevor has made an attempt to interact with the world, and that was the assignment. And if I were an effusive person, given to easy praise, I would call that admirable.

Pay It Forward, CC BY-SA 4.0

Trevor McKinney: Were you just being nice? Eugene Simonet: About what? Trevor McKinney: About my idea. Do you think it's good, or were you just being teachery? Eugene Simonet: "Teachery"? Trevor McKinney: Bullshitting. Eugene Simonet: Do I strike you as someone falsely nice? Trevor McKinney: No. You're not even really all that nice. Eugene Simonet: Well, it was a slip-up, and it will not happen again.

Pay It Forward, CC BY-SA 4.0