A suited man walks into Quickstop Groceries. He carries a briefcase. This is ACTIVIST. The activist is buying coffee.
ACTIVIST:
You mind if I drink this in here?
DANTE:
Sure. Go ahead.
Another customer walks in and asks for a pack of cigarettes.
ACTIVIST:
Are you sure?
CUSTOMER:
Am I sure?
ACTIVIST:
Are you sure that you want to buy those cigarettes?
CUSTOMER:
Are you serious?
ACTIVIST:
How long have you been smoking?
CUSTOMER:
Hey, what is this, a poll?
DANTE (shrugs):
Beats me.
ACTIVIST:
How long have you been a smoker?
CUSTOMER:
I don't know. Since I was about thirteen.
ACTIVIST:
And I'm guessing that you're nineteen, twenty? Am I right?
The activist puts on a pair of rubber gloves and takes out a floppy, squishy object.
CUSTOMER:
What the hell is that?
ACTIVIST:
That, my friend, is your lung. Right now, your lung looks like this.
CUSTOMER:
You have got to be shitting me?
ACTIVIST:
You think I'm shitting you?
The activist hands the customer something small, and button-like.
CUSTOMER:
What the hell is this?
ACTIVIST:
It's a trach ring. They put this in your throat when canver takes your voicebox. This one came out of a sixty-year-old man.
CUSTOMER (drops the trach ring in utter disgust):
Oh, Jesus.
ACTIVIST (picking up the trach ring):
He smoked until the day he died. He used to put the cigarette in this thing and smoke it that way.
The activist puts the trach ring back in his briefcase.
DANTE:
Hey, excuse me, but--
ACTIVIST (interrupting):
So, this is where you're headed: a crudded lung and smoking through a hole in your throat. Do you really want that?
CUSTOMER:
Well, I mean, if it's not too late--
ACTIVIST: No, it's never too late, my friend. Here...
The activist takes a pack of gum out of one of the racks on the counter.
ACTIVIST:
...Try this instead: Chewlie's Gum.
CUSTOMER:
It's not the same.
ACTIVIST:
It's cheaper than cigarettes. And it sure as hell beats this...
The activist hands the customer a picture.
CUSTOMER:
Oh, Jesus
ACTIVIST (to Dante):
It's a picture of a cancer-ridden lung.
(to Customer)
Keep it.
CUSTOMER:
I'll just take the gum.
ACTIVIST:
You've made a wise choice. Keep up the good work.
The customer pays for his gum and leaves.
DANTE:
I think you oughta take that coffee outside and drink it, huh?
ACTIVIST:
No, I think I'll drink it in here, thanks.
DANTE:
Well, if you're gonna drink it in here, I'd appreciate it if you didn't bother the customers.
ACTIVIST:
You're right. I'm sorry about that.
Dante goes back to reading his paper when another customer walks in and asks for a pack of cigarettes.
ACTIVIST:
Are you sure?
CUSTOMER:
Am I sure of what?
ACTIVIST:
How long have you been smoking?
Topic: One morning back in '94... (Read 4057 times)
