Brad's Status Page #6

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Mm.

Now, your book, as we heard,

starts with a warning

that readers might be better off

with a more cheerful book.

Why did you decide

to start your book that way?

Well, it seemed only fair,

um, to warn anyone who was,

uh, who was seeking cheerfulness.

- Troy?

- And, um, also,

when I sat down to start writing...

Troy, you awake?

Hey. Hi. Uh, I think

I'll just, uh, close out my tab.

Uh, just the whiskey?

Yeah.

Eight dollars.

Hey!

Hey! Yeah.

You made it.

Yeah. I just, uh, had a little insomnia,

so I, uh, got a whiskey.

Well, we're over in the corner.

Come join us.

Oh. Uh, nah. You guys

are having a good time.

I... I just couldn't sleep.

Oh, come on.

We're not having fun,

we're organizing a protest.

Yeah? That's cool.

Mm-hmm.

I'm very impressed by you.

Yeah?

Yeah. I think it's, uh, really cool,

a person your age who's

so aware of what's going on,

but you're hopeful and, uh,

you seem to have your values

in the right place.

Thank you.

Yeah. Reminds me of when I was your age

and going to school.

So, what's your advice to me?

My advice?

Yeah.

If you were to go back in time

and give yourself advice,

what would you say?

Oh.

Seriously?

Yeah. Honestly, I'd love to know.

Honestly, I would probably say,

"Forget nonprofits, Brad.

Just go make a lot of money."

Shut up. You aren't serious.

No, I'm totally serious.

If you want to make an impact in the world

and have respect, go be Bill Gates.

Go make a lot of money,

and then you can do

whatever you want with it.

That's what you would say?

Yeah.

Look, I go to a dinner party

and I tell people

what I do for a living,

and for about three minutes,

they act like they admire me

and they're interested,

and then, uh,

after three minutes, I'm invisible.

They do not admire me.

And what's worse, they think

I'm gonna ask them for a donation...

which I usually do.

Mm-hmm.

What?

Do I sound jaded, or...

Just know, I started out

as idealistic as you

or any of your friends over there.

And I'm not saying what,

you know, what you do...

I could tell I'd lost her.

Lost her respect.

And I wanted it back.

I thought if I could summarize

the trajectory of my life,

she would understand me,

see me as someone

who'd lost the good fight,

but had fought it nonetheless.

I mean, when I was in journalism school,

that's...

that was the ideal, you know?

Everybody wanted to be

Woodward and Bernstein.

You know what I mean? You know...

Mm. Mm-hmm.

You know who they are, right?

Yeah, yeah, of course.

I told her

about my career mistakes,

my years in journalism just as

the newspaper business was folding.

My attempt to start a digital

magazine in San Francisco,

but how no one wanted to read

long-form pieces anymore.

And how I'd won a few prestigious prizes,

but my magazine had still gone bust.

Yeah, we won a Peabody.

I mean, you know,

not that that matters, but...

I talked about my friends from college,

and how they'd sold out and gotten rich,

and didn't invite me

to their milestone events,

even though I'd been

the heart and soul of our group.

I may have failed in their eyes,

but at least I still had my integrity

and could sleep at night.

And then there are guys

like Craig Fisher, who...

but he has no moral compass,

and he'll just basically pivot to whatever

sound bite or talking point,

what makes him seem the most interesting,

the most, you know, it's whatever.

He's very, you know, telegenic.

I get it, you know, but...

I told her about my nonprofit.

Even though it had been struggling lately,

I still felt I'd done

some real good with it.

Maybe if I was more in touch

with the people I was helping,

or out in the field more,

I would feel

a little less disconnected or, um...

Wh... what is that look?

What?

That...

No, what are you thinking?

What am I thinking?

Yeah, please, tell me.

Honestly...

I'm thinking you're really lucky.

You're 50 years old,

and you still think

that the world was made for you.

Uh, I'm 47.

Do you even know poor people?

Of course.

Okay, well, when I visit

my mother's family in Delhi,

a lot of people out there

only live on two dollars a day.

They're not complaining

about being ignored at a dinner party.

They're happy they get dinner.

Right. But I'm not competing

with those people. I'm...

You compete with the people

who are markers in your life.

Why are you competing at all?

It's the way the world is. And...

You competing

with your friends from college,

that competition

is the history of colonialism, okay?

And... and the oppression of women,

and the f***ing up of the environment.

Oh, come on, don't go there.

And...

I'm not part

of the problem, okay?

I work for a...

a nonprofit, for f***'s sake.

It's just, from where I sit,

it kind of seems like

white privilege, male privilege,

first-class problems.

Okay. I...

You know, I know I might seem

like some clich to you,

but this is actually my life, okay?

Just... don't ask me to feel bad for you.

You're doing just fine.

Trust me.

I promise you; you have enough.

Yeah, you, too.

I'll see you around.

All right, so long. Bye.

Dad.

Dad.

- Dad, we got to go. I got my meeting.

- Mm.

Mm... hungover.

What?

You had one glass of wine.

I couldn't stop thinking

about Ananya

and the things she said.

And the contempt she had for me.

Listen, if we have any luck

at all, girls...

I doubted she'd ever

live up to all her ideals.

...plantains and... and daiquiris...

One taste of luxury,

how quickly she'd forget

the suffering of the masses.

I mean,

can't believe that I met you girls.

I knew I was just trying

to make myself feel better.

Ananya had a good heart.

She reminded me a lot of Melanie.

Oh, sh*t.

Melanie.

Hey, it's Melanie.

Leave me a message.

Hey, hon. Uh, trip's going great.

Troy's meeting with one

of the music professors here right now,

and then he's got an interview

with the dean of admissions.

So, uh, yeah,

it all seems to be working out.

Uh...

Oh. Actually, Troy's coming right now,

so, uh, I'll call you back later.

Yeah, I got dinner

with Craig Fisher tonight,

so, I'm really looking forward

to that, as you can imagine.

Uh, okay. I love you, honey. Bye.

Hey.

Hey. How was it?

It was, uh, it was good.

He listened to some of my stuff.

I think he liked it.

That's awesome, Troy.

See? There you go.

Connections and talent.

I give you the layup, you swish it in.

That's great, man.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

Okay. You seem a little, uh...

Should be happy.

Should be pumped.

Yeah. No, I am.

I don't... He just, like,

wasn't what I expected,

but, you know, he was fine.

How is he not what you expected?

Um...

Uh, I don't know, it's just weird,

'cause it's, like...

He's one of my heroes, but it seemed like

he was trying kind of hard to,

like, impress me.

Mm-hmm.

And he was, like, sort of

bragging a lot, and he was, like,

uh... a lot more into

the business side of things, too,

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