(atmospheric music)
♪♪ ♪♪
(grunts)
(chainsaw whirring in distance)
(grunts)
♪♪ ♪♪
Okay.
(Tommy grunts)
(speaking Mandarin)
‐I already bought a new one. ‐Ah.
‐It's out of date. ‐Ah. Out‐‐out of‐‐
Um, it's too old.
Oh, oh.
♪♪ ♪♪
Okay, so this is my old login.
Oh. The old login.
Yeah, but I made you a new one here.
‐Oh, the password. ‐Mm‐hmm.
Mm.
Now, this is the browser to the Internet.
Mm. Browser. (speaks indistinctly)
You click here,
and you click there to get to your email.
Oh, okay. (speaking Mandarin)
Email.
‐That's it. ‐Oh.
Now you try. Start from the beginning.
Okay, login.
Password...
Tommyhome.
Good. Now try to get to your email.
Email. (speaking Mandarin)
Okay.
Yeah, just wait a minute.
(sighs)
You know, I could get you the faster Internet.
(computer beeping)
No, Mom, look, it's easy.
Oh, okay.
(cell phone vibrating)
(muttering softly)
(chuckles)
(sighs)
(muttering softly)
‐Why'd you open that? ‐Huh?
What are you looking for?
Mom, look.
Just look.
There.
Click here and there.
‐Oh. ‐Got it?
‐Mm. ‐Okay. Try it again.
Okay.
No. I got to go.
Work's crazy, but I'll let you know.
Hey, you can always email me, you know?
‐Just like I showed you. ‐Okay.
Yeah, it's fine.
Why do you have to ask me all the time?
‐(laughs) Sorry. ‐(sighs)
‐Bye, Mom. ‐Bye.
(door opens, closes)
TOMMY: No, no, Mom!
Okay, okay. Bye!
♪♪ ♪♪
PERSON: Mr. Henderson?
Mr. Henderson?
You want to know what I did?
I took my Apple iPhone,
and I went into the texting, and I took the autocorrect off.
You heard me right.
I took the autocorrect off of my texting.
I'm not afraid anymore, okay?
I'm willing to live on the edge.
I'm willing to go over the edge.
I will misspell words and type them
as often as I want to.
I don't care about spelling it right.
You want to know something?
Apple has the audacity
to correct my misspellings
by letting me know they're wrong.
It doesn't tell me what the right option is.
It just tells me I'm wrong.
I mean, these robots, who are they?
PERSON: Mr. Henderson?
Whoa!
(grunting)
(groans)
NARRATOR: He always took the first group
right at 10:00 a. m.
Howdy, folks.
NARRATOR: And he started even before he got on the boat,
just telling them about the lakes in Winter Park
and how this was technically
Florida's longest‐running attraction.
Fixed location, at least.
NARRATOR: But it wasn't until he got on the water
that he really started to shine.
(engine turning over)
It wasn't until then that he really felt at home...
(choral music)
Telling everyone all about the houses and the mansions
and all the fancy famous people
who lived there at some point,
like the founder of Panera Bread
or various Orlando Magic players.
Horace Grant.
NARRATOR: He had been there for years,
and everyone knew him,
all the families, and, of course,
the other captains, who all looked up to him
because he told the best stories
‐and got the biggest tips. ‐(coins rattling)
(cash register bell dings)
Tours left every 45 minutes to an hour‐‐
always a dozen people, always from the same dock,
always the same three lakes
connected by the same two canals‐‐
Osceola, Virginia, Maitland.
Always the same route‐‐
Osceola, Virginia, Maitland,
over and over and over again.
♪♪ ♪♪
And always the same facts...
about the founder of Panera Bread
or the Rollins College campus, where the dean's residence
is right next door to the senior dorms.
So, basically, what you have here
is Animal House, and they're living
right next door to Dean Wormer.
(all laughing)
NARRATOR: It never changed because he never had to
because he had found the things that worked.
He knew the best jokes and the most interesting facts
and he told them over and over again.
Horace Grant.
NARRATOR: And when the day ended, he would go to the bar
with all the other captains
and keep telling all those same stories.
His entire life consisted of trivia and talk
without ever a moment of thought or quiet.
Except for once every tour
when they had to go through the second canal,
the Venetian, which was technically
in people's private backyards,
so he always had to go slow and be quiet.
And it was the only time all day
where he really just had to sit there
with his own thoughts
and think about what he was actually doing,
think about this life he lived,
which consisted of nothing but driving a boat around
in a circle and telling people half‐true celebrity gossip.
But then the minute would be over,
and the canal would let out,
and he would go right back to telling them
about Tom Hanks' house while he was down here
shooting From the Earth to the Moon
or where Mr. Rogers lived
when he came up with the phrase...
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
(all laughing)
NARRATOR: Trying so hard to suppress
any real feelings and emotions he might have,
because maybe if he stopped talking for too long,
he would crack and shatter
and realize just how pointless and futile it all was.
Howdy, folks.
NARRATOR: Or even worse‐‐
maybe all those other people would see it, too.
All the families and the tourists
and the other guides.
How you doin'?
Never better.
NARRATOR: And I used to watch as he slowed down
and passed the canal every tour.
I used to watch as he sat uncomfortably in that silence.
And I used to always wonder,
When would he actually break out of this monotony?
When would he say something real for once?
Something genuine, something meaningful?
Rather than just another trivia fact
structured like a throwaway joke,
rather than going on and on
like this wasn't all just some scripted formula?
But years would pass, and he'd never change.
He just kept on going along with the same routine...
(engine turning over)
Horace Grant.
NARRATOR: To the point where I even began to wonder
if maybe there was actually something wrong with me...
that I couldn't allow this man to exist
as a simple tour guide...
that I had to make up some horrible backstory
when really I knew nothing about him,
other than his job and his favorite bar.
(laughter and chatter)
And maybe that was all fine.
Maybe he was happy.
Why was it so hard for me to believe
that someone could actually enjoy this life?
Why did I look at that person having fun
and think that they didn't understand
what living was all about,
as though there was something noble
about depression or existential dread?
When the truth is that my melancholy thoughts
were just as empty as his random trivia facts.
Just another thing to pass the time...
To fill in the silence...
As I stood there in my private backyard
facing that second canal,
watching him pass by
without ever saying anything,
without ever making a single sound.
(light music)
♪♪ ♪♪
And if we ever did talk to each other,
I wonder what we'd say.
if we'd talk about life and our common struggles,
if we would tell each other
about what it was like growing up
or how hard it is to maintain a relationship...
(door slams)
Or if we'd go to the bar and relax,
drink beers, and talk about random famous people
who've passed through Winter Park.
Horace Grant.
NARRATOR: Maybe we'd get along.
Maybe we'd even like each other.
Maybe we'd recognize something brand‐new in ourselves.
If only we stepped outside those lines,
outside that predetermined route that took him
through Osceola, Virginia, and Maitland,
and left me here working from home.
If only we broke out of that worn out script
that only gave us the most superficial lines,
like the one about Tom Hanks or Horace Grant
or the founder of Panera Bread
or the one about time and the meaning of life.
If only we had the courage
to actually do something different
instead of sitting in that silence
and repeating the same thoughts and phrases
until the end of existence,
until they've lost any meaning they once had,
until the day someone comes along
and turns our lives into just another trivia fact.
And did you know about the people who lived here?
There was a tour guide who always told the same jokes
and a woman who lived all alone
and worked from home,
and there was a canal, the Venetian,
except you always had to go slow
and be quiet
because you were technically in people's private backyards.
♪♪ ♪♪
Hey.
(upbeat music)
♪♪ ♪♪
(dialing phone)
(line trilling)
TOMMY: Hi, you've reached Tommy.
‐You know what to do. ‐(beep)
(sighs)
(exhales deeply)
(traditional music playing on stereo)
♪♪ ♪♪
‐(screams) ‐(roars)
‐(grunting) ‐(bear growls)
(grunts)
(button clicks)
(computer beeps, chimes)
Okay.
(softly) Inbox.
(muttering softly)
Tommy.
JIAZHEN: "Hi, Tommy. How it going?
"It is your mother.
"I call you many times, but you no call back,
so I will email."
"Call me, because typing is slow for me.
"But if you are busy, it's okay.
"I will type.
"How are you? I am okay.
"Few weeks ago, my department changed
"to computer at work.
"They say use paper too slow.
"Maybe I ask you help teach me
because work computer is hard."
(gasps, muttering softly)
"There's also new manager. She's very young.
"They say she's good, save money.
She give everyone review."
Can you describe your job for me?
I review invoice and prepare the orders.
Okay, that's a basic way to put it.
Uh, how do you manage multiple tasks?
Can you tell me about process efficiencies
you've implemented?
Yes.
I have worked for nine years.
I know how to do it.
But describe how. Just give me an example.
So, when I get a new invoice now,
I use the software to‐‐
Uh, that's not what I'm asking. (chuckles)
Do you not understand what I'm asking?
‐I understand. ‐I'm just looking
for redundancies within the company.
Can you tell me how you prioritize
the tasks you're given?
(clears throat)
(sighs)
All yours.
MANAGER: Hmm.
(sighs)
Okay.
MANAGER: She can't even adequately describe
her own job to me.
But she knows how to do it.
She's a hard worker.
MANAGER: Every single person in my graduating class
could not only do her job, but they could do it faster.
PERSON: Okay, she needs some time
to learn the new computer system.
Look, you can see her English isn't perfect,
but she understands everything.
That's the thing. I'm not sure she does.
I'm not‐‐I'm not trying to make this a race thing.
Uh, my dad is Hispanic.
(dialing phone)
(line trilling)
TOMMY: Hi, you've reached Tommy.
‐You know what to do. ‐(beep)
JIAZHEN: "Dan try to help,
"but they lay me off.
I call you, but you no pick up."
(sighs)
"There's new manager at work.
"She give me review.
"The review was good.
"New manager said,
"'Congratulations on being
best employee for this month.'"
You can show this to your son.
He will be proud.
(applause, party horn blows)
JIAZHEN: "You call me back, okay?
Mom."
(breathes deeply)
(esoteric music)
♪♪ ♪♪
(upbeat music)
♪♪ ♪♪
(screaming)
ANEMONE: Wow, this is so nice.
ANEMONE 2: It's nice.
(ethereal music)
You know, I never get tired of this,
just looking up at that jellyfish.
‐Makes you feel... ‐Small.
Yeah.
Have you ever, like, thought about, you know,
what's on the other side?
The other side of the jellyfish?
Yeah, like, what's out there beyond it all?
Okay. (laughs) I mean, I don't know.
‐What do you think? ‐Hey. I asked you first.
‐Just say whatever. ‐Okay. Uh, to be honest,
yeah, I don't really think there is anything out there,
you know, not that we can prove, anyway.
‐Hmm. ‐I mean, I think
for all intents and purposes,
the jellyfish is all there is.
Like‐‐like, nothing at all?
Can't you just feel that there's something, like‐‐
I don't know, like, bigger out there,
like, don't you get that feeling?
How do you‐‐ I'm sorry, sorry.
‐Ugh. ‐Sorry, I cut you off.
‐Yeah, no, you‐‐ ‐Um, but how‐‐
how can you know that, though?
I mean, it seems to me that if we can't prove it,
I mean, there's very‐‐ that's very important to me.
‐No, I know it is. ‐Proof. And also, like,
I guess, my, like, bigger question is, like,
when will you be satisfied?
You know, does there have to be something, like,
beyond the beyond and beyond that beyond or‐‐
‐Oh, my God. Hey, hey, hey.
‐Hey, hey. ‐Hey, hey. "Sowwy."
No, look‐‐okay, totally, like, I just don't think like that,
‐You know? Like, I'm like‐‐ ‐Oh, yeah.
But, like, I guess we just won't know,
and it's just kind of, like, a fun thing to think about.
Yeah, definitely.
So what do you think is out there, then?
Well, like, aliens or something.
(steady music)
♪♪ ♪♪
JIAZHEN: I think I, um, need to be better at a computer.
so I start to take a class.
This is why I send email.
Our teacher say we can practice to type faster,
Okay? So we want to send emails
to everyone we know.
Just make it part of your regular life.
It doesn't need to be difficult.
Do not be afraid of it. Right? Okay.
all: Quick, ask, Zoey, what, stops, X‐rays,
even, dogs, can't, red, fish, vanish.
This is another example of a great spreadsheet.
In Excel, we use functions to manipulate
large amounts of data so that we can figure out‐‐yes?
Sorry. What mean function?
Oh, a function is something
‐that helps you‐‐ ‐How talk English?
(both laugh)
How to grow hair?
(laughter)
JIAZHEN: The class also help me practice my English,
which is nice.
‐I want to talk better. ‐As you can see in column A...
JIAZHEN: My teacher Huma is very nice.
She take time after the class
and show me how to use search on Internet.
You click on that, and then you type in
anything you're looking for.
‐Chinese music. ‐Yeah, okay.
So I press enter, and then...
JIAZHEN: On Internet, there's music from China.
It is nice because there are so many
from when I was a child.
This is from when I was a child.
‐Oh. ‐I didn't hear this many years.
(soft music playing on computer)
♪♪ ♪♪
(volume increases)
♪♪ ♪♪
‐It's very pretty. ‐BOTH: Yeah.
There's more?
Yeah, you can‐‐ you can find almost anything.
‐Let me see. ‐Okay. Here, here you go.
♪♪ ♪♪
JIAZHEN: "I send you song‐‐ very popular when I was young.
You will like."
"♪♪ ♪♪
"Thank you for computer, Tommy.
I think Internet is very good."
♪♪ ♪♪
"Do you have enough to eat?
"I can make dumplings.
Mom."
(music continues)
♪♪ ♪♪
(upbeat music)
♪♪ ♪♪
BOTH: Yes!