Here is another scene from my screenplay of lost on the way to cookout. It has some of the best dialog in the film. Read it and enjoy.
The scene starts off again with Shane and Devin sitting at a waffle house dinner. A older looking waitress walk up to their table
Waitress
Do yall need any more drinks
Shane
Yeah, another coke will do.
Waitress
With Vanilla
Shane
Yep
Devin
I’ll have some water instead of a coke.
Waitress
Ok, be right back.
Devin
So, what do you think the American Dream is about?
Shane
I guess the cheesy answer would be have a Job, a wife, two kids, and a white picket fence with a Dog running in the back of it.
Devin
Really
Shane
No, I guess it’s more than that. Maybe it’s the fact that anyone can come to this country and succeed and make a better life. You know the stereotypical Ellis Island Immigrants coming to New York City. You know, leave your poor home country, move into a tenements slum, and work your way so that you kids and grandkids can live in freedom.
Devin
Maybe. But those immigrants faced so much racism. The Irish had it bad, as bad as the black at the time in some places. You don’t think the Italians and Polish faced discrimination at the turn of the century.
Shane
They did, but still they came here because the conditions here were better southern or Eastern Europe. Or any country at the least.
Devin
If you say so. Look at the story of Tony Montano.
Shane
Huh?
Devin
Tony Montano from Scarface. Probably the best crime movie ever made other than the godfather. That explains the American Dream when you think about it.
Shane
I say Goodfellas, but please continue.
Devin
Well, Tony Montano came off a boat to America with literally nothing in his pockets wanting a better life. That poor Cuban immigrant worked his way, selling drugs and killing people, but work his way to the top from being some type of errand boy to a drug king pin. Working your way to the top. Sounds like the American dream right there.
Shane
Yeah, but did he do it honestly, no. Maybe it is to work your way to the top, but do it the honest way.
Devin
I can agree with you there.
Shane
Like, a young kid, going to college, getting a good job, and then owning his own business. That’s the American dream.
Waitress then comes back into the room.
Waitress
Here is your vanilla coke, and here is your water
Devin and Shane (at the same time)Waitress
No problem
Devin
But those business can prevent others from reaching there.
Shane
Huh?
Devin
Yeah, but if you have too well of a business, you prevent others from having a good living.
Shane
Well, that’s why I don’t like capitalism.
Devin
Yeah, that’s why I don’t like it either. Why, because a lot of those business sometimes take advantage of the American people just for profit.
Shane
Well, some do, some don’t. Who knows?
Devin
You have whole industries dedicated to take advantage of the American people. Look at the pharmaceutical industry. Do you really thing that all those millions of people need those psychiatric meds??? Honestly I only think 5% of all those people on them really need it.
Shane
I agree. What about the military industrial complex. The United States spends more money on the Department of defense than any other governmental agency.
Devin
War makes money, WWII got us out of the depression.
Shane
True, so true.
Devin
But is that right, having a business out of killing people. Well, I would say killing people. But if we stopped investing in our military, the economy would fall to greater shit then it is now.
Shane
Yeah, I guess that’s true. But still, when is the line cross. I’m sorry, but we should of never went to Iraq in the first place, did we really have to stay in Afghanistan so long. Why are we still in Germany, why are we still in Japan, hell, why do we even have bases over seas.
Devin
They create jobs….Duh……well, other reasons and security purposes. But sad to say, an ugly truth is that we would invest so much money into a military if it wasn’t for jobs. What it comes down to how politics or anything works is money. People want enough money to make a good living. If you can’t do that, you probably don’t like the government.
Shane
You don’t like our government.
Devin
I don’t. I like the consultation. But then people argue how you read it and everything, and that’s a whole different story.
Shane
What it comes down to, if you have money, you usually vote republican, you don’t you usually vote democratic. Yes, religion plays an issue it a lot of times, race to a point I guess, and special interest as well. But for most people, people vote by their bank accounts. One help out upper middle and wealth class, the other is lower middle and poor. Guess which one I fall into to.
Devin
The same one as me.
Shane
Which is.
Devin
The very few ones, who look at all sides of an issue, argue why they do the things they do. But how we different is that we see all sides of the issue, and the end of the day we consume all sides have more flaws than good. So we just don’t pick one.
Shane
So I guess were just kids with opinions about shit.
Devin
Yep. That sounds about right.
Shane
I like that, were just kids with opinions about shit.
Watress then walks up to them handing them their checks.
Devin
Thanks
Shane
Sorry for just sitting here for the last. few hours, it been an eventful night, and we just wanted to relax.
Watress
It’s all good huh, yall are perfectly fine. Most people here this time of night are drunk as hell or on something. (While chuckling) I’m kind of surprised young guys like you are sober coming into here this time of night.
Shane
Waffle house is known for their drunken cliental.
Waitress
Tell me about it. A guy last week puked on that table over there. He was 30 some years old talking about the strip club he was just at, projective vomits all over that wall, and his buddy just leave the cash on the table and leave out here laughing…….Ugh.
Devin
That really sucks. I wouldn’t of wanted to clean that mess up.
Watress
(WHILE LAUGHING)
Oh hell no, I made the new girl clean it up. Come in smart talking me….ugh. But have seen worst working here. The 15 year old gang fight was tops them all. A bunch of middle schoolers come up in the parking lot and start fighting, I watched for a while before calling the cops. It was actually quite entertaining watching it. One of those guys pants kept falling down to the ground, and they had the worst insults for each other. It was one of the worst fights I ever seen.I almost laugh when I was talking to the cop during the police report.
Shane
That does sound kind of funny.
Waitress
It was honestly
Waitress then walks off back behind the waffle house counter.
Shane
I’m just fucking tired of being broke. I’m tired of dead end jobs. I want an opportunity to make something for myself. I want to do graphic design, but that takes money to start doing. Everything takes money. I guess I wouldn’t be so anti-capitalism if I feel like I could succeed with it. And capitalism does that best if your do it right. Capitalism does give people money purse their dreams more than any other ideology. It’s Pandora box, everything is Pandora box.
Devin
Fuck money. Money is the root of all evil.
Shane
No, the pursuit of money is the root of all evil.
Devin
True, but if the pursuit of money is the root of all evil, and capitalism is about making the most money. Is capitalism evil?
Shane
No, I don’t understand how an ideology can be evil, it’s impossible. People are evil. Look at Socialism with Hitler. Communism speaks for itself. I don’t even know what a society would look like if everyone was an anarchist, but I’m sure one of them would be evil.
Devin
(While laughing)
I can’t even define that word and I tell people I’m one.
Shane
I can’t really either. I guess though capitalism is good when it helps people work for a happy life. But it isn’t working for me right now. So many people get trapped in the Irish ghettos of Boston, the Mexican ones of L.A. The poor in West Virginia. The south side of Chicago. Shit, look how fucked up Hidden Valley is here in Charlotte. What about those people. What about them.
Devin
Yeah, things do suck for people living here. People sometimes have to work 3 times as hard to succeed in this country. And it not fair for the people who have to. It’s just not fair.
Shane
Its sad to say, but life isn’t fair …. It could be so much worst for us. We could be living in Haiti, or Sudan.
Devin
Yeah, living in Dafur would completely stuck.….and you know what’s funny, people work there ass off over there to come to America for school. We kind of take that shit granted. I know do.
Shane
Don’t feel bad, it’s a generational thing.
Devin
I guess so.
Shane
You ready to leave now.
Devin
Yeah, can you drop me back off, I have work later in the day.
Shane and Devin Walk outside and sees the Waitress about to smoke a cigarette
Waitress
Fuck, do yall have a lighter I can borrow.
Shane
HERE
Waitress
I overheard what yall been talking about for the last hour, and to answer your question, the American Dream is simply about being free. Freedom is the greatest liberty. And self sufficiency is the greatest freedom. But what is difficult to understand is that freedom isn’t free. I swear to god I hear young kids like you have convocations like this every single night. Talking about any and everything. Believe me, I’m glad yall are socially aware. That better then 90 percent of kids your age. But what are yall doing to change things….jack shit. Wanna know why, I was just like you 2 when I was your age. I was half way to Woodstock before I realized it would of cost me and my 2 best friends every last dime I had to make it there with the cost of gas, food, and drugs. You think I didn’t have convocations like these before, fuck, this is all me and my counter culture friends did. Yall are only 21 years old, yall are supposed to be lost. Confused. Not knowing what you are supposed to do for your life. And if you did, that would kind take the fun out of it.I used work at the best bank in Greensboro and could have moved up if I wanted to, but I decided I had a passion for nursing. I got to be in the peace core for 2 years in Argentina before coming back home. I got a job at a different bank and met someone one night with some co workers. Then I wanted to settle down. Get married, have kids, a white picket fence, and have a family. I lift that job to work at Denny’s because it was less stressful and I could and my friend would visit me at work. Kids got older, got divorced, and then remarried. I then retired, got bored, and started working here because I am a night owl and this keeps me busy. Yall are intelligent young kids, but yall don’t know jack shit about how the world spins. Yall have so much more to experience and with experience comes wisdom, and all that will come with time. Just give it time, I still learn things every day and I’m 67. The best advice I ever heard was from this security guard back when I went to school, and it was just realize you don’t know shit about anything. I love ya’ll naive punks because I was just like you 40 years ago. I gotta go back inside now, fuckin have to clean the store a bit before the morning shift gets on. Here’s your lighter back huh. Yall take care now.
THE WAITRESS THEN WALKS BACK INSIDE THE WAFFLE HOUSE
Shane
Damn.
Devin
I just don't know what to think after hearing that
Shane
Yeah.
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