Silkwood Page #3

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that were born in the tribe.

One day, this brave

comes up to him and says...

"Chief, can I ask you something?"

"How do you name these children?"

"How do you

think of their names?"

And the chief says,

"It's very simple."

"When a child is born..."

"and I see

snow gently falling..."

"I say, you shall be called

Snow Gently Falling."

"And when a child is born

and I see a hawk flying over..."

"I say, you shall be named

Hawk Flying Over."

"But tell me, Two Dogs F***ing,

why are you so interested?"

That's terrible.

Thelma, did they give you

a nasal smear?

You make them

give you a nasal smear.

They're supposed to.

Make Hurley give you one.

And make him tell you the count!

And make sure

he's telling you the truth. ..

because there's

a lot of liars around here.

Nice going.

Happy birthday to you.

That's beautiful!

It's got my name on it.

Look at that.

- Wait a minute.

- Finally, you're twenty-one.

There's your happy birthday hat.

A happy birthday to you.

A present, too?

This is too much.

Look at the way

they decorated this.

Open it up.

Be careful, Gilda. It's hot.

- Hot?

- I didn't see this.

- Oh, look!

- Look at that!

Check this out, Georgie.

- Take it off.

- Oh, my Lord.

- Panties, too, ma'am.

- Put it on, Gilda.

Oh, my Lord, Cultis'd kill me.

I want to know what's under

them little bows.

Here's your piece.

Goddamn, this cake is just...

It's Gilda's birthday,

Mr. Hurley.

Would you like a piece of cake?

Who brought the cake in?

We are three months late

on this contract.

The day we deliver

the last fuel rod to Hanford...

we'll only be

one million dollars in the hole.

The contract

isn't going to be renewed...

and none of us will have a job.

Even this is taking time.

Clean those crumbs up

after your shift.

I get to clean up after you

for a change.

Have a good time!

It's like staying after school.

I don't know.

- Karen was a bad girl.

- Oh, God.

You bring one of these

in every week...

and leave it on the shelf

just outside the locker room.

We'll monitor them

for radiation.

I'm supposed

to pee in it at home.

That's right.

My hair feels awful.

I wish I had some of

that conditioner around.

I'm going to call my mama,

tell her to send some up.

She called me the other day.

She said...

"Karen Gay, I been thinking

about your nails."

"How are your nails?"

"You taking care of them?

You been biting them?"

I said, "Oh, boy, I'm taking

good care of them, Mama."

"Don't cut the cuticles, now,

you hear?"

I wish I could

take care of you better.

I remember...

in high school

her saying to me...

"Now, what'd you want

to go and sign up..."

"for that science class for?"

"There's no girls

in that science class."

"Why don't you take Home Ec?"

"That's the way to meet

the nice boys."

I said, "Mama,

there ain't no boys in Home Ec."

"Boys are in the science class."

She hated it

when I said "ain't."

Yakety, yakety, yak.

At least he doesn't talk. ..

when he doesn't have

something to say.

Who?

My daddy.

Does that hurt?

I can't stay away from you.

You know that.

You can be the biggest b*tch

God ever made...

and then you

turn around on me...

and you're like this,

and I want to die.

And the next thing I know...

you decide about me

not having socks on...

the day before,

and you throw a fit.

It's not that, Drew.

- You know.

- I know.

I know what it is.

I know all about you.

You do, don't you?

Poor old Drew.

Haul ass, you guys.

I gotta take my own car.

I'm working a double shift.

This says...

This says all that stuff

about acceptable levels.. .

it's all bullshit.

What is?

Well, it says here.. .

"Plutonium gives you cancer."

Says it flat out.

Where'd you get that?

It came in all that union stuff

from Washington.

You got one. Everybody got one.

Hurley works there.

Think he'd work there

if he was going to get cancer?

Listen to this...

"genetic damage."

Meaning what?

Meaning it goes on down

into your kids.

It says here. ..

"Gross physical

and mental defects."

I already got them.

Boy, I missed you.

How many more nights

you gotta work?

A couple.

You got transferred.

I what?

Posted it this morning

as I was leaving.

You're in metallography.

What?

- Metallography?

- That's what it said.

That'll take me three months

to requalify for overtime!

Sh*t! I love that!

Hurley throws a fit how

we're late on the contracts.. .

then he transfers me out?

The union going

to help me out now?

I'm one of

the best people he's got.

I got transferred

to metallography.

Metallography, with Winston?

Now...

them little gray pellets

you've been making...

are put into

those long fuel rods...

and the long fuel rods

are packed into bundles...

over at

your friend Drew's section.

And after the weld is made,

they take a slice out of it...

and they make a cross section.

So, what your job is...

is to mount

that cross section over here.

And then you grind it,

and you polish it.

And here's where

you take a picture of it.

And then you develop it

in the darkroom.

Then I inspect the negative for

any imperfections in the weld...

and if it's OK,

we pass on that lot...

and they get shipped out.

You're familiar

with developing procedure?

Yeah. I am.

I got some pictures in here.

They're all backed up, so...

why don't you

get to work on them...

and then tomorrow

I'll be glad...

to go over the polishing

procedure with you.

Great.

What are you doing?

I'm looking at you.

What are you doing

to the negative?

Sometimes when

you take a picture...

you get these

white spots in there...

so we make them go away.

Doesn't somebody have to look

at them to make sure they're OK?

Me.

Yeah, but I mean...

- You mean what?

- How do you. ..

How do you know if

they're just spots?

They could be defects

in the weld.

No, no, no.

I've already checked the weld.

I'm just putting

beauty marks on them.

Winston,

get away with that thing.

Thank you.

I just want to bring y'all

up to date.

Some of you

weren't here last time...

and some of you

who were here last time...

aren't here this time,

that's for damn sure.

Now, three weeks ago. ..

the company got enough names

on this petition...

to hold

a decertification election.

I know you all

are confused about this.

What this means is...

that the National

Labor Relations Board...

will come in here

and hold an election...

where everybody votes whether

to certify or decertify...

the union's staying on

in this plant.

Morgan, did I do that right?

What this means...

is that we are in deep sh*t.

What this means is,

if we lose this election...

there ain't going to be

any union at this plant.

Nobody standing up for us

against Kerr McGee...

which I read

in the newspapers...

is gonna take in

$1.5 billion this year.

And which, as you all know...

takes about as much time

thinking about our problems...

as grease takes

to go through a goose.

We gotta do a lot of work. ..

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