FADE IN
EXT. TOWN HALL PARKING LOT – NEXT AFTERNOON
Diane and Mr. Court exit Diane’s new car. Court wears slacks and a casual shirt. Diane helps him carry some paperwork.
COURT
I should have worn a suit.
DIANE
No one’s going to be looking at what
you’re wearing.
COURT
So you agree — I should have worn
a suit.
DIANE
You look fine.
They enter the Town Hall.
INT. TOWN HALL
Only a handful of people in town hall today. Diane is seated near front, watching her father. He sits at a wooden table, a single microphone is trained on his mouth. He faces the City Council.
CITY COUNCILMAN
Mr. Court, can you tell us a little
bit about the state of nursing homes
in the Puget Sound . . . and why you’ve
petitioned to expand your facilities?
Court laughs — the amused, involuntary reaction of a man who is very comfortable being the center of attention.
COURT
Forgive me. Where should I start?
I run a nursing home. Not homes.
Home. There’s a big difference.
These days you have corporations
who own hundreds of nursing homes,
and thousands of beds. They buy
wheelchairs in bulk, and they care
for their residents in bulk
too…and that means the poorer
patients suffer.
COUNCILMAN
For example.
COURT
As long as you’re a private pay
resident, you get a good room. But
if you run out of money, and switch
to a government program — Medicaid
— you may find yourself taken to
the hospital for a ‘check-up’, and
when you get back…your bed is
filled. So you get switched to a
smaller room, or maybe a different
home, and maybe your buzzer
doesn’t get answered quite as quickly. It’s
a nightmare, it’s a scam, and you’d
be surprised at the government
agencies who’ve checked me out once
I started talking about this stuff.
Diane admires her father, who is getting through to this bored group.
COURT
My home is a family business.
I feel we can add a new wing and still
provide the personal service which
I feel makes us the best. This is
not a nursing home where the owner
wears a suit and lives a thousand
miles away…
COUNCILMAN
Speaking for the patients…
COURT
We call them ‘residents’.
COUNCILMAN
How personal is the service you
provide your residents?
COURT
Sir, I pureed beets this morning.
He holds up pinkish hands. Laughter from the room. While they laugh, Court holds up a photo of Paul Newman.
COURT
Doesn’t this man look good? We all
know him. He’s sixty-three. He’s
a senior citizen.
Court shows a second picture of a less glamorous man.
COURT
This man isn’t well-known. He’s
the same age. He came to my home
last week. He lived alone. No one
to help him…like so many others,
he fell. Broke his hip. It took
Christopher a day to drag himself
to that phone. A day.
(pause)
Who’s taking care of our elderly?
A hundred years ago, people just
died. Today they can live to be
a hundred. It’s a miracle. It’s
also a problem. Who’s taking care
of these people? Who’s not just
after a buck? These people are our
parents. These people are us,
the day after tomorrow.
Diane is deeply impressed. As the room applauds:
COUNCILMAN
(too close to mike)
That’s a very moving speech, and
we’ll consider your application.
Thank you.