American drama -- 20th century; College graduates -- Drama; Depressions -- 1929 -- United States -- Drama
TIPPY. I'll be damned if I know what you do need!
TED. Guts. Guts is what I need.--My health's good enough for
physical labor, but nobody wants me to dig ditches.
TIPPY. Did you ever see a steam shovel at work? I don't say you're
any use to the world or have any right to live in it. But making a
hundred men like you substitute for a steam shovel is plain damn
silly. It's an insult to the steam shovel.
TED. [_With deep, quiet desperation which grows more and more
intense through the following scenes._] What should I do? What was
it intended for me to do?
TIPPY. Live like an aristocrat.
TED. As Martin would say--on the backs of the workers.
TIPPY. The workers don't seem to mind. They didn't throw you off.
TED. No, but who did?
TIPPY. The other guys on the backs of the workers.
TED. No one in particular threw me off.
TIPPY. Then maybe you just fell off. The worker's back is broad,
but it's not broad enough to accommodate all of us.
TED. But you're not a revolutionist?
TIPPY. Hell, no. I'm a dog washer.
[KATE _enters_, _excited, out of breath._]
KATE. Ted--guess what! I've got a job for you!
TED. [_Not believing._] A job? For me?
TIPPY. You mean that?
KATE. I do. It's nothing to brag about, but it's a job.
TIPPY. Private industry or relief?
KATE. [_Indignantly._] Relief? Certainly not. It's real work.
TIPPY. With real money--that's great.
KATE. Oh, it's nothing fancy; but it'll pay enough for Ted to live
better than he has been living.
[TED _doesn't grow enthusiastic, and_ KATE _becomes resentful.
Sensing this_, TIPPY _keeps up the badinage._]
TIPPY. How many questions will you give me to name the job?
KATE. Oh, you'd never guess it.
TIPPY. Come on, Ted, we'll alternate and spot it in ten questions.
I'm first. Is it indoors or out?
KATE. In.
[_They wait for TED's question._]
TED. [_Dully._] Is it working on commission?
KATE. [_Triumphantly._] No. Regular wages.
TIPPY. Is the wage above or below $25.00 a week?
KATE. It's a little below.
TED. Is it in an office?
KATE. No.
TIPPY. Would he wear a white collar at work?
KATE. Yes.
TIPPY. Hey, Ted, use your head. That's five questions gone.
TED. Do I have to sell anything?
KATE. No.
TIPPY. Indoors. No office. Low wages. White collar. No selling.
[_Thinking._] Does he work with his hands or his head--or his
mouth?
KATE. His hands and his mouth.
TIPPY. But not his head. That's illuminating.
TED. How did you get this job?
KATE. I got it the only way you can get jobs for anybody these
days--by asking it as a favor from someone who had it to give.
TED. I see.
KATE. [_Resentful._] You don't seem very appreciative.
TIPPY. Wait a minute, Kate. He doesn't know yet what the job is.
KATE. He doesn't act as if he wanted to know.
TIPPY. Don't get sensitive.--And I haven't played my game out.
KATE. All right. Go on.
TIPPY. [_Thinks a moment, then brilliantly._] Will he wear a
uniform?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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