morning. how about breakfast? what's the point of breakfast or any meal or anything for that matter? after all, life is basically a series of random, absurd unrelated events not linked in any logical pattern, existing in a void that mocks our attempts to impose order and meaning. in that case, can ihave your bagel? when did this occur to you? ever since my advanced literature class started its unit on existentialism. what's existentialism? he's so young. andy, an existentialistis someone who likes to take their clothesoff in public.

that there's no real grand design to life and consequently no real meaning. still, it's no reasonfor a person to taketheir clothes off. [knock knock] hey, lauren,how you doing? good. hi, lauren. cut it out! we're trying to eat here. sorry, but alex and i won't see each other for a few weeks. i'm going to a psychology conference. why don't you take him along as an exhibit? because lauren will be away doesn't mean you'll be spending more time at home, does it? i got plenty to do. i start teaching today-- a freshman seminar on campus-- basic economic principles of capitalism in the postindustrial era. let's hope they havefestival seatingfor that one. teaching this class will fulfill all my requirements for my degree. then it's on to graduation.

next year at this time, mallory will be graduating. yeah, hopefully. what was that? happily. happily. i'll be graduating happily. graduationat grant college should be a prettyimpressive ceremony. who's the guest speakergoing to be, soupy sales? very funny. they have no plans to invite him back. i'll see you later. take care of alex for me. sure you won'ttake him? it's tempting. see this, jen? how can life be absurd when she can't tear herself from my side? you just provedmy point. you may ask, and, uh, rightfully so, what is economics? let's go to the dictionary. the word economics derives from the greek oikonamus, meaning a manager of a state's or household's monies.

or the latin moola. well, let's go now to our history books-- excuse me, miss? me? uh...yeah, you. do you have any idea what time it is? well, i've got 6:38. i've got 11:05. i think you're right. find a seat right there please. if you go to the history books, you'll see that money was not always used in transactions. [german music plays] excuse me. sorry. that was me. actually, it wasn't me.

miss, do me a favor. just keep it down. i'm really sorry. now, in ancient times, the barter system was in place. livestock were often used instead of money as a means of exchange. eventually the practice was dropped. for one thing, barter is an imprecise method of transaction. for another thing, it's hard to fit a goat in your wallet. yeah, ok, settle down, people. but seriously, folks, barter was a terrible system. in the fourth century, the coinage... [crying] ok. all right now. ok. it's ok. are you all right? i'm fine, really.thank you.

i'm going to let you go early so you can read four chapters of your textbook-- if you're rich and you know it, clap your hands. ok. thank you. i'm really sorryfor interrupting class. i really enjoyedyour lecture. yeah, i can tell. i thought your jokewas funny. no kidding? i got a million of them. ever hear about the quarter that asked the dollar out? the dollar says, "wait, this isn't going to work. "it won't be an equal relationship. i'm four times bigger than you." and then the quarter said... i'm sorry. and the quarter says, "that's ok. i'll bring three friends." [crying] maybe i didn't tell it right. no. it's not you.

my girlfriend doesn't like it either. neither does my mom or my sisters. maybe it's just not a girls' joke. although my dad hates it, too. it's justa really bad joke. look, i've got to go. here. you all right? look... i'm really sorry. i've been having a really bad week here. saturday i broke up with my boyfriend and yesterday someone stole my bicycle and today all my cat's hair fell out. excuse me? her name is fluffy. i'll have to change it now. listen, miss... miss marty. brodie. marty. marty brodie is my-- look. i've taken up enough of your time just trying to say my name.

thank you for-- you're so considerate. next time, i promise-- no interruptions. just one more interruption. are you available for tutoring? uh...tutoring. well, i don't know. i've gotmy own classes, lectures to prepare. i'll pay you 15 bucks an hour. wednesday work for you? wednesday's fine. oh, wait, wait, wait. wednesday's my orchestra rehearsal. what about thursday? thursday is my seminaron foreclosingon the elderly. orchestra--you'rea music major? see, that's what i wanted to talk to you about. with all my rehearsals, lessons, and theory classes, i won't have much time for economics. even if i did, i don't like it, but then, who does? right. you do. anyway, um... how's tomorrow?

oh, great! oh, great. oh, i've got to run. it's 6:38. i... oh. what just happened? [playing jazz] [knock on door] [knock knock] [knock knock] coming. hi. hi. so, are you readyfor your tutoring? come in.

we should get to work. follow me. all right. uh... ok. here i go. oh, geez! miss brodie! i'm scared! just take a left at the sustain pedal. i want to thank you for being so sensitive yesterday. it's a teacher's jobto be sensitive. oh, god. is there something wrong? fluffy didn't loseanymore hair? oh, no, no. she's right there. aah! you should put a hat on that thing. i'm a little nervousabout this tutoring stuff. why? i'm just not goodwith formal academic study. sometimes i don'tfeel comfortable

you are sitting at a piano. you're right. i wish i could play. have you ever tried? me? forget about it. i'm the most unmusical person in the world. i can teach you. really. just name a song you want to learn. this isn'tgoing to work. it'll be great. come on. do you knowthe bush campaign jingle? no, but let's try this. [plays s'wonderful] gershwin? i love gershwin. great. now you try it. [playing] [hits wrong note] it was perfect. try again. [playing]

i'm good at this! never had a lesson. yes. yes! yes, you did it.you did it. we've got our act together. we should take it on the road. uh... miss brodie... marty... you play beautifully. well, we should get to work, alex. uh... yeah! we should--we shouldget to work.

don't worry.you'll love this. if we turnto page oneof our text book, we'll see that economicsrelies on the principles of production...and distribution...

see you guys later. i'm going to the bookstore for some more existentialism material. jen, while you're there,

it's by cher. jen, jen, don't you think you're going overboard with this existentialism stuff? i want to learn life's meaning. did you ever think of asking your parents? ok. what's the meaning of life? elyse? why do youdo this to me? because you're there. what are you so threatened by, dad? is it deep down you're worried there's no meaning to life, that it's all a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, that when we die, we're condemned to spend eternity in an infinite expanse of nonexistence confronting what camus called the benign indifference of the universe?

put on a happy face dust off those clouds and cheer up that's a ridiculous and inane rebuttal that proves my point about the meaninglessness of the universe. cheer upor you're groundedfor the rest of your life. the sun'll come out tomorrow bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun but it'll be shining on an empty, meaningless world kids what's the matter with kids today

something wrong, alex? oh, no. i'm fine. ahh. all right, alex. what is it? what do you mean? anytime you want to speak to me about something that's hard for you to talk about, you sit and sigh. oh, i do not. ahh. all right, alex. come on. all right. ok. this is very difficultfor me to talk about. don't worry. i'll help you along. i'm confused-- about marty. because... while it was the last thing in the world you wanted, you're attracted to her. and... you're developing certain feelings you can't control. but... you have a deep, meaningful relationship with lauren. which...

so you're confused, tense, and worried. thank you, mal. you'rea good listener. you can tell you've like marty for the past week. you've spent every minute with her. mal, that was business. i've been tutoring her. come on. if anyonetutored me that much, i'd makethe dean's list. mal, nobody can tutor anybody that much. ah, this is stupid. this is ridiculous. lauren and ihave been datingfor over a year. we love each othervery much. marty'sa terrific girl. and if i wasn'tseeing somebody else, we might possiblybe good for each other. but i am. so, uh... so that is that. you sure? absolutely. i'm telling you,

a little rational,logical thought, and everythingis resolved. well, i'm glad you sorted that out. ahh. ok. don't forget thursday we start our unit on squeezing relatives out of the family business. hey, uh...hey, you. hey. you know, um... cleo laineis giving a concert at the newingauditorium. hey, no kidding. no. who's cleo laine? well, she's oneof the greatestjazz singers in the world. i saw her do porgy and bess. it gave me the chills. i saw porgy and bess. it was performed by leland high's pta. thelma feinstein as bess. it gave me the hives. mr. feinsteinprobably enjoyed it. oh, absolutely. well, he was porgy.

embrace me my sweet embraceable you she's givinga performance tonight, and i've gottwo tickets. do you want to go? actually, uh, lauren's coming back tonight, so... oh. well, that's fine. marty, we got to talk about this. no, no. that's ok. i'm going to gohave my legs waxed. look, we can't keep avoiding it. let's just forget this whole thing. i can't believe any of this. how do youthink i feel? i don't know how you feel. that's the problem, isn't it? look. it's not my fault that we've developedan attractionto each other. oh. we've developed an attraction to each other? my god.

what makes you think that i'mattracted to you? because we spenda few days together? big deal. and rememberi've been payingfor you all along. you're a kept man. is that all i've been to you? just a guy, good for some laughs and a few nights of cheap tutoring? well, they weren'tall that cheap. weren't all that cheap, huh? why don't i give you your money back? let me see. seven lessons at $15 a shot. that's $105. thank you. minus expenses. what expenses? how about that pizza i bought wednesday night? and my gas money going to your dorm? and who bought that damn toupee for fluffy?

what is this? open it. [s'wonderful plays] alex. alex, that's... it's beautiful. yeah. it was on sale. oh, boy. i don't knowwhat to say. i have this incredible urge to kiss you. should i? well, i don't know. i've gota class soon, and it'salready 6:38.

embraceable

captioning performed by the national captioning institute, inc. public performance of captions prohibited without permission ofnational captioning captioning made possible by paramount domestic television what would we do, baby without us what would we do, baby without us and there ain't no nothin' we can't love each other through what would we do, baby without us