INT. A SANDWICH SHOP DAY 

The shop is not terribly busy. A young WORKER dressed in a colorful purple and brown uniform waits for TED to place his order. TED is dressed in a sweatsuit and on his head is his patriotic "These Colors Don’t Run" baseball cap. He wanted to wear his favorite shirt, but he’d worn it the last few times he had been in the sandwich shop and he didn’t want the sandwich shop people to think he always wore the same shirt. He regrets not wearing it now because he loves Bonnie Tyler and wants to do her proud. TED scans the menu. He seems confused. He may have a cold too. No one’s sure. Not even TED. He thinks at the very least he has the sniffles, but he’s had the sniffles before when they’ve never turned into anything substantially worse (see scene #’s 975, 5,310, and 8,082). Then again he’s also experienced the sniffles turn into something more serious, such as influenza (scene #’s 665, and 4332), whooping cough (scene #6000) and pneumonia (scene #’s 999, 1999, 2999, 3999, 4999, 5999, and 7117).

There’s a long pause. The WORKER awaits a response from TED. TED continues to scan the menu. The WORKER starts to get impatient, but doesn’t want to be rude; it’s his first day on the job and he wants to make a good impression on his manager, who also happens to be his father’s bookie. The WORKER hates his father. His father has ruined everything! All the day long he silently curses his father. The WORKER is also worried TED might touch him and infect him with whatever disease is giving TED the sniffles. TED taps on a straw dispenser which lies on the counter. He releases five or six straws. No—seven straws. Behind him, a line of hungry sandwich-wanting customers begins to form. TED sniffles. The WORKER breaks the silence.

Ted points to a picture on the menu of a corned beef sandwich.

The line grows longer. SANDWICH WANTING CUSTOMERS #1 and #2 continue to chat quietly about the "old days." Their conversation appears intimate, yet awkward. TED begins to make animal shapes with his seven straws. Very similar to when he did in scene #9781, except without an emphasis on the erotic. While he does so his cap falls to the ground. TED doesn’t notice, he’s lost in the glory that is speaking in Bonnie Tylerish. TED suddenly feels like things are going to change for him, and right then and there he decides that when he gets home he will build a Bonnie Tyler statue in his living room out of found materials in his apartment, not unlike how Richard Dreyfuss built a replica of Devil’s Tower in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in his living room out of found materials in his house, except TED doesn’t have any chicken wire. Hmm. Can he still do it without chicken wire? Yes, yes, he can. He will do it. Oh, it will be great. Bonnie Tyler will love it and maybe now she’ll write back to him, or better yet write a song about him. TED hopes he can be an extra in the music video.

TED doesn’t appear to understand what the WORKER means. He gives up on his straw animals and tosses the straws on the counter. 

MANAGER/BOOKIE walks out from behind the counter. He picks up the cap, takes TED’S hand, and tries to escort him to the back of the line. TED’S eyes meet the eyes of both SANDWICH-WANTING CUSTOMER #1 and SANDWICH-WANTING CUSTOMER #2 as he passes them. TED stops. The MANAGER/BOOKIE stops. He turns back to the WORKER and gives him a look of confused exasperation. A tear runs down the WORKER’S face; it was the same look his father gave him when he told him that he sold his rare pet fish to cover a bet. The WORKER loved that fish. He looked forward to coming home and feeding Sparky everyday after school. Now Sparky is gone to who knows where. Does he think about me? The Worker slowly starts to crumble under the weight of knowing that he’ll forever be tied to the life of sandwich-making for his father’s bookie.

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