Steve Lopez:
'Points West' by Steve Lopez. A year ago, I met a man who was down on his luck and thought I might be able to help him. I don't know that I have. Yes, my friend Mr. Ayers now sleeps inside. He has a key. He has a bed. But his mental state, and his well-being, are as precarious now as they were the day we met. There are people who tell me I've helped him. Mental health experts who say that the simple act of being someone's friend can change his brain chemistry, improve his functioning in the world. I can't speak for Mr. Ayers in that regard. Maybe our friendship has helped him. But maybe not. I can, however, speak for myself. I can tell you that by witnessing Mr. Ayers's courage, his humility, his faith in the power of his art, I've learned the dignity of being loyal to something you believe in. Of holding onto it, above all else. Of believing, without question, that it will carry you home.
[Linda Peeno speaking before Congress]
Linda Peeno:
My name is Linda Peeno. I am here primarily today to make a public confession: In the Spring of 1987, as a physician, I denied a man a necessary operation that would of saved his life, and thus caused his death. No person, and no group has held me accountable for this, because in fact, what I did was I saved a company a half a million dollars for this. And for the more, this particular act secured my reputation as a good medical director, and it insured my continued advancement in the health care field. I went from making a few hundred dollars a week as a medical reviewer, to an escalating six-figure income as a physician executive. In all my work, I had one primary duty, and that was to use my medical expertise for the financial benefit for the organization which I worked. And I was told repeatedly that I was not denying care, I was simply denying payment. I know how managed care maims and kills patients. So I am here to tell you about the dirty work of managed care. And I'm haunted by the thousands of pieces of paper in which I have written that deadly word - "denied".
Faher Halligan:
[after Damon is acquitted for George's murder, Gwen is asked to resign from teaching at her Catholic grammar-school] ... Gwen, you know all of us have been moved by your courage during this trying time in your life. Last night, the Board of Directors decided to reward you with a sabatical, so that you could have time to heal properly.
Gwen Saticoy:
I thought the summer vacation would do that.
Faher Halligan:
In my experience, a trial such as the one you've been through can take a long while to heal.
Gwen Saticoy:
So this "healing period" would overlap next year's school calendar?
Faher Halligan:
Well, much as that would be a disappointment to us all, we're willing to sacrifice your tremendous services for the sake of your well-being.
Gwen Saticoy:
[realizes that, in effect, she's being fired] Not to mention the sake of St. Augustine's coffers. What happened, Father Halligan? Did the contributors threaten to cancel those big checks if I'm still teaching their kids?
Faher Halligan:
What the contributors did or didn't do is entirely beside the point.
Gwen Saticoy:
On the contrary, I believe it entirely IS the point.
Faher Halligan:
I TOLD them what a fine teacher you are, and how lucky the school is to have you. In the end, there was nothing else I could do.
Gwen Saticoy:
Wasn't there?
Ron:
You know, Terry, a lot of people come to see me with all kinds of problems. Drugs, alcohol, marital problems, sexual problems, health problems
Terry:
Great job you got.
Ron:
Well... I like it. Because even in this little town, I feel like what I do is very connected with the real center of people's lives. I'm not saying I'm always Mr. Effective, but I don't feel like my life is off to the side of what's important. You know? I don't feel my happiness and comfort are based on closing my eyes to trouble within myself or trouble in other people. I don't feel like a negligible little scrap, floating around in some kind of empty void, with no sense of connectedness to anything around me except by virtue of whatever little philosophies I can scrape together on my own...
Terry:
Well
Ron:
Can I ask you, Terry: Do you think your life is important?
Terry:
You mean - Like, me personally, my individual life?
Ron:
Yeah.
Terry:
Well... I'm not sure - What do you mean? It's important to me. I guess. And like, to my, you know, the people who care about me...
Ron:
But do you think it's important?
Terry:
I -
Ron:
Do you think it's important in the scheme of things? Not just because it's yours, or because you're somebody's brother. Because I don't really get the impression that you do.
Terry:
Well, I don't think... I don't particularly think anybody's life has any particular importance besides whatever - you know - whatever we arbitrarily give it. Which is fine. I mean we might as well... I think I'm as important as anybody else...
Terry:
I don't know: A lot of what you're saying has a real appeal to me, Ron. A lot of the stuff they told us when we were kids... But I don't want to believe something or not believe it because I might feel bad. I want to believe it because I think it's true or not... I'd like to think that my life is important... Or that it's connected to something important...
Ron:
Well, isn't there any way for you to believe that without calling it God, or religion, or whatever term it is you object to?
Terry:
Yes. I believe that.
[Montage of teachers talking to David's classes]
College Counselor:
For those of you going on to college next year, the chance of finding a good job will actually decrease by the time you graduate. The available number of entry-level jobs will drop 31 percent over the next four years. Median income for those jobs will go down as well. Obviously, my friends, it's a competitive world, and good grades are your only ticket through. In fact, by the year 2000...
Health Teacher:
The chance of contracting HIV from a non-monogamous lifestyle will climb to 1 in 150. The odds of dying in an auto accident are only 1 in twenty-five hundred. Now, this marks a drastic increase...
Science Teacher:
...from fourteen years ago, when ozone depletion was just at 10 percent of its current level. By the time you are thirty years old, average global temperature will have risen two and a half degrees, causing such catastrophic consequences as typhoons, floods, widespread drought, and famine. [Cut to David absorbing all this grim information and looking really depressed]
Science Teacher:
[With a bright smile:] Okay! Who can tell me what "famine" is?