Colewell (2019) - full transcript

[Nora] We met this truck driver named Leroy outside of Baltimore.

He told me that looking back,
doesn't matter how old you are,

life always feels
the same length,

like both forever

and not very long.

[Imitating cackling]

[imitating cackling]

Okay.

Here you go.

Here you go.

[Heavy thud]



[door closing]

Morning.

- What you got?
- Circulars.

- Circulars.
- Want to help bringing them in?

- You think I'm frail.
- They're heavy.

[Chuckles] I got a couple of Rhode Island Reds but no Rosie.

She hasn't been
laying much, huh?

No, I put in a couple new birds
and she's outta sorts.

- You pissed her off, Nora.
- Yeah, she likes her routine.

Good morning.
Right on time, Pete.

[Woman]
I brought you some soup.

So we didn't make it past
second day but we had fun time.

- But you made it.
- Yeah.

That's what counts I think
when you do anything.



Middle of the forest it dumped,
it's like an acre of boulders.

It's really amazing to see for the first light for few minutes.

- And then they'll take it back out after.
- It just goes-- it'll stay in.

I'm not changing the architectural shape of the building.

I'm only putting
something on to it.

I can't change a wall,
I can't change this, I can't change that.

- But it'll stay there?
- It'll stay there.

I helped her put blocks together
and then I helped finish my own

because she died when she was
on her second heart operation.

And she died in '61.

- Just these two, thanks Nora.
- Okay.

I got called for jury duty today,
told them I know a fancy lawyer.

[Man] I bet he's lousy company.

How are you doing Stew?

Okay Nora. Just stamps
for these, please.

[Nora] Okay.

[Nora] You making any toys
for this weekend?

Oh yeah, got a new one going on
now, I'm making pirate ships.

Oh, okay.

- Do you know a pirate's favorite letter-- the alphabet is?
- I don't.

- R.
- Arrr. Yeah, that's 1.41.

Okay.

- Here you go.
- Thank you.

Okay.

It was loud. It was like
the fire alarm was going off

and then kind of as quickly
as it had come on,

it stopped and I
thought well that was strange.

I got back into bed and it happened again about five minutes later.

- That would freak me out.
- I opened some doors,

looked around,

- I don't know there was--
- [girl] I got to get down to the bus.

- Okay.
- See you later.

And 15 books are forever stamps,

six first-class rolls,
and a box of priority tape.

Yeah. No, six. Yeah. 18311.

Okay. Great. Bye.

Hey hon, it's Nora. I've got a box for you here,
I didn't want to leave it out

so I thought I'd put it in the safe.
Door will be open till 8:00.

[Hens clucking]

Hi, honey.

Hey.

Hey.

Are you going to winterize
the mower?

Yeah, I think I'm going to cut
the grass one more time.

I wouldn't leave it out there though.
Come spring you'll be sorry.

- Okay.
- All right.

You're always worrying
about something.

Hey.

I received this letter.

I'm Bob Susskind and this is
my associate Al Catarro.

[Nora] You should have called.

Yes.
We've been dealing with several complex issues throughout the region.

You're from Pendell?

Colewell. 18311.

[Bob] Eleanor Pancowski?

Nora.

Ms. Pancowski, decisions are
being made outside this office

with the good
of our customers in mind.

Can someone tell me what those
decisions are, exactly?

[Bob] Well, I do think it was
clear in this letter.

Well, it's not clear
in the letter

because the letter, it sounds
like you're closing my office

and terminating my position.

- That's not exactly--
- We're not closing any offices.

The letter made it sound like--

The letter says that we won't renew
your contract once it expires this month,

but that service will be
uninterrupted for customers.

They will be serviced
by the Park Grove office.

[Bob] And while your contract is not going to be renewed,

there are other similar jobs
that you can apply for.

There's one in Delaney in fact

that would get you back to work
the following Monday.

You want me to move to Delaney?

Or you can pick up a few hours at Park Grove if you'd like I'm sure.

Part time for less pay.

This is an emotional time
but I want to be clear.

Any personal grievances regarding this transition must be kept private.

[Bob] It's for your own benefit.

As an employee
of this institution,

it's imperative that you keep your own personal opinions to yourself.

It's just better that way.
That way we can roll out information as we see fit.

And you know,
don't rule out Delaney.

It's a kind of town--

there's family and kids,

a nice movie theater,
a couple restaurants.

A lot of amenities
for an older person.

[Knocking on door]

[Pete] Nora.

[Pete] Nora?

Where do I find a mailbox
like that for at home?

I'd like to know how we're
supposed to get to Park Grove.

And I'm concerned about the older people.
They really rely on this place.

[Woman] I'll contact
a state representative,

state senator
and the district manager

and find out what's going on.

[Man] I'm trying to remember
what Noxen tried.

[Woman] What about Nora?

[Man] I'll spend tonight looking at similar
cases to figure out what motions they filed.

It's going to take me a little while but there are avenues to fight this.

[Woman] That's right.

Return it all to sender.

I was getting worried about you.

You're always worrying.

I got coffee
but I'll take the eggs.

Did you leave the stock
shipment for me?

What are you waiting on?

Oh, there's just
a few things I'm short on.

There's this new guy Terry Terrence
or something taking the orders but--

I don't get into calling them.

Take a look at those.

Woah.

Good on you, Rosie!

Yep, she's settling in.

I heard about your office.

Yeah.

How are you holding up?

I'm not supposed
to talk about it.

Says who?

Regional team. If I want to be transferred,
I have to play nice.

They got you a spot lined up?

Delaney.

How are you going
to get to Delaney?

I guess you'll be driving me.

Look,

if they're offering you
a steady thing in Delaney,

maybe keep quiet during
all this and take the job.

Or maybe you retire.
I don't know.

Yeah. They think I'm old and I
don't have any fight left in me.

But I'm not going anywhere and I'm sure as
hell not taking a bus to Delaney every morning.

You weren't the only notice.

I delivered one to Junedale.

I heard Mahoning Lake
got a letter.

My sister said there's a town hall about their office in Slate Mill.

They're all closing?

Yeah. Some closing.
Some getting evaluated.

I know an attorney
in Colewell, Gray.

He says
we have legal recourse.

Maybe so, but I wouldn't go
sticking your neck out.

It's a lot of people fighting
for a job, Nora,

in Delaney or anywhere else.

[People chattering]

Do you know I have
four chickens?

Well, I have four parakeets
and four dogs--

- Oh really?
- Twelve dogs.

- Do they all have names?
- Yes.

Do you know what
their names are?

Yes I know.

--With the biscuits.
I make the chicken in,

you know, like,
cream, peas and carrots in it

and then they eat it all
with the biscuit.

That's for Sunday dinner.

[Man] Hey Nora.

Hey. How's Diana?
Where is she these days?

Well, she last week
she was in Amsterdam.

Right now she's in Berlin.

[Nora] Berlin?

Oh no. Belgium. Her gap year.

[Nora] I had a couple of those.

[Man] Yeah?

[Nora] Hitchhiked around a bit,
always wanted to go to Europe.

Was there quite a few years and he said "Stick with me, kid,
and I'll give you the business."

Well, he did but the business
had a lot of debt

and I closed it down,
couldn't keep it open.

[Woman]
I guess I'll shove off now.

Okay. Are you sure you don't
want to borrow a coat?

It's cold outside.

No, I think I'll do the fashion
thing and just go without, okay?

All right. Take care.
Go home safe.

[Door opening]

[Nora] Hey.

Where you off to next?

I don't know.

Rosemary and I had
been hitching down the coast.

We went to Florida,
Carolinas, Atlanta.

Where is she?

The guy she was seeing
got out of the army

and wanted
to come along with us so.

Drivers don't like picking
up three people.

And I just got to be--

she wasn't the same thing.

I used to love to hitchhike.

I liked going
where no one knew me,

where I was just undefined.

How long have you lived here?

My husband grew up here.

He drove a truck for the quarry.

I came to Colewell in 1968

and then we bought this house

in 1970 in the spring.

I can't imagine living
in the same place

and doing the same
thing for all that time.

Well, time goes faster
when you get older.

We met this truck driver named
Leroy outside of Baltimore.

He had a glass eye.

He got sent home
sick in high school,

walked out into the archery class and caught an arrow in the eye.

Lost the eye.

Anyway,

he told me the thing about getting older is looking back,

it doesn't matter how old you are,
life always feels the same length.

Like both forever
and not very long.

He said a fraction of that
also feels the same.

Like, for me,
thirteen years is half my life

and it feels just like
a certain amount of time.

And for you, thirty-whatever
years feels the same.

Well, however it works,
it's true.

Are you afraid of retiring?

I'm afraid of--

well,

I just--
I don't want to be lonely.

I don't think I get lonely.

Well, wait
until things slow down

and then you'll find out.

I wrote a terrible poem once.

"As I walk along the highway,
cemeteries wait,

lined with tombstones
that say things like,

'Jane Delone, my lovely wife,
and mother of two, died at 65.

But under moonlight,

her soft emerald fingers

push up through soft,
black soil.'

[Imitating clucking]

Yeah.

[Knocking on door]

[Nora] Just one second.

[People chattering]

[man] --meeting with the postal
service on Tuesday now.

We're going to need town's people to speak at the microphone.

[Woman]
My landlord might be able to--

Hey Nora.

Good morning, Gray.

- Here.
- Town hall.

Well, this is a chance
to engage, okay?

- Monday okay?
- Yeah, that's fine.

Okay.

Before sealing the appeal I made photocopies
of the signatures of all the petition.

They also submitted
an application for suspension

which would allow you to stay
open until the appeal is heard.

Thank you, Gray.

I'll let you know
how they respond.

Yeah.

[Nora] Yeah,
I placed an order and I just want to check the status.

I need 15 sheets of seasonal stamps,
six rolls of first-class,

a box of priority tape,
a box of first-class books.

Yeah. Okay.

Well-- well, that doesn't make
much sense because--

will you let me finish?

Did you-- Shit.

[Driver] Next stop: Delaney.

[Man] --talking to people
so much, you know.

Yeah. Yeah. You got to do that.

I don't know what they're coming in for.
They try to make them feel good when they go in.

- Private email, right?
- Yes.

- Two or three days.
- Okay. Thanks.

All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye, bye.

- Good morning.
- [Nora] Morning.

- How's your day so far?
- Okay.

Good. What can I do for you?

I need 15 sheets
of seasonal stamps.

They're 9.20 a piece.

Okay.
And then I need six rolls of first class and I need a box of priority tape.

I'll check the inventory.
Starting your own office?

Good evening. We're about to get started.
If everyone could take your seats.

Thank you all
for coming out tonight

and thank you to the members
of the Postal Service

who are here
to hear our concerns.

I care a lot
about the Colwell community

and I want to hear firsthand what the Postal Service has to say here.

So first and foremost
let's keep this respectful

and Bob would
you like to start us off?

Sure. Well, thank you all for
coming, it's quite a turnout.

Obviously, Colewell
is a very special place.

I would like to first say that this is-- issue is not specific to Colewell,

it's something that's happening all over
the country and it's hard on all of us.

Few details
to get out of the way.

If you are a customer who is
opting for rural delivery,

mail be coming
right to your door.

If you are resident who
prefers to pick up their mail

and are unable
to travel to Park Grove,

we will be installing cluster
boxes in the parking lot

adjacent
to the current location.

Uhm, well, with that, let's open
this up for discussion.

[Woman] I just had a question.
How did you decide which ones--

which post offices to close?

Did it had to do with population,
did it had to do with--

[Bob] It's a lot of factors. It's money that's my in,
it's personnel, infrastructure.

Can you just think about this on a human level?
Also Angie and I were just talking about this.

This thing goes into play the way that you're talking about with for money

and all these reasons, we're
never going to see each other.

When are
we going to see each other?

This is the heart of our community,
where people go and congregate.

[Bob] Well,
I'm not sure it's the post office's job to build community.

- [Woman] Oh, stop.
- [Bob] It's the post office's job--

Excuse me. Gray Albright, lawyer for the town,
representing these people.

Now when Ben Franklin
founded the post office,

the original poster, his--
it was his decision,

he made this clear that it was
the community's decision

whether they wanted
a post office or not.

And now under Richard Nixon it's become a semi private institution.

Right. Right.

Yeah I want to know why you've had this idea for months,
we get a 30-day notice?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Just so you know, we are
managing 15,000 leases.

I've seen these situations
change their mind overnight.

We felt no reason
to get everyone concerned

until we were certain that this
was going to happen.

You stop just before you start telling us how much money you're losing.

I'll tell you how much
money you're losing.

You're losing four billion dollars a year since the year of 2000.

Why do you think you're going to be able to turn us around now?

You guys think you're the smartest people on the planet

but if you were in a real industry,
you'd be out on the street,

you'd be fired long gone,
simple as that because you just can't-- you can't--

you have a cap-- you have
a captive audience.

People need to use you
and you can't even make a dime.

You know,
we've been here since 1895,

we've been good
and loyal customers,

we have a right to get our mail in our town,
not delivered, not--

[Bob] We're not shrugging
our shoulders.

[Man] I would like to know is are we
going to get another meeting out of this?

[Man] You've heard a lot
of questions tonight,

seen a lot of concern expressed.
Do we get another meeting or not?

[Bob] This will be the only meeting of this
nature but if you'd like to write a letter--

- [people laughing]
- [man] Mail it where?

[Man] I got one more question for you guys,
you know, on a personal level,

what's going to happen
to Nora after she loses her job?

[Bob] I think that's a personal decision for your postmaster and--

Hey Nora, need a ride back?

I let everybody down.

This was a formality Nora.
It wouldn't have changed nothing.

Never...

...really wanted to move here
and now I can't seem to leave.

It's funny how you can feel
close to people

and explaining

I don't even think I know how to have a conversation with somebody

once I close that window.

Life's--

Life's hard in that
you lose people as you go

in all kinds of ways.

I'm in--

where am I, Hazleton.

Yeah I thought I'd try heading
up North for a little while.

I didn't know if anyone was
there, if you had a key or hit--

You sure?

O h, that's great.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, I think I just saw a ride
so I'm going to-- okay.

Thanks.

[Woman]
Hey, sorry, you heading North?

Any chance I could get a ride?

[Man] You okay with dogs?

Yeah, I like dogs.

All right then.

How old were you when you
first drove a truck?

[Man] Are you a cop?

[Man] I was 14.

[Woman] Fourteen?

[Man] Don't tell anybody.

[Woman] I won't.

You do construction?

Quarry. The troops were
allowed at 5 a.m.

Every morning?

Mh-hm.

Been on the road long?

About a year.

You miss home?

It's been a long time being
afraid of things changing

then I realized if I didn't
leave, I never would.

You live near family?

[Man] The bed I sleep in now

is about three-quarters of a mile from the house I grew up in.

[Man] I guess you could say I am uneasy with change as well.

I always connected change
to my parents getting older.

Don't you get over that?

I guess so.

Wake up in a different
place every day.

I don't really feel
defined by anything.

Anymore.

I'm Andy.

Ella.

Nice to meet you, Ella.

Miss to meet you too.

[Andy] Here's Cooper.

[Ella] I saw this boy.

He's a sweetheart.

Listen, before you go, I'll give
you the number for the quarry.

You ever stuck for a ride
out here, just give a call.

Thanks.

And don't worry about change,

time passes, you got a lot
of life ahead of you.

Hi. Come on in.

All right. We
have form 3107 here

which is our application
for immediate retirement

and this one is form 991,

which is the form we use
for reassignment.

I filled out all the pertinent information for Delaney,
it's in here.

All right. Here we go.

Ms. Pancowski,

I can't make the decision for you but they're both good options.

Five more years?

Ms. Pancowski, I--

Please, just give me
five more years,

we're doing okay financially.

I won't lose you money.

In five years I'll be 70,
I can retire and you can relocate then.

This isn't my call.

I can work. I'm strong.

I can work for five more years but I can't start over again,

I can't.

Delaney is a very nice town.

Damn it. To hell with Delaney.
I don't live in Delaney.

You want
to start your life over again?

What are you going to do ten years from now when this happens to you?

This is the best I can offer.

I'm sorry.

Hey, Charles.

Yeah.

I figured I owed you.
It's hot chocolate.

You didn't have to do that.

I--

It's okay.

You know,
if I'm ever passing by this way maybe I'll stop by for some eggs, huh?

All right.

All right.

I'll probably see
you again, huh?

Sure.

Yeah.

[Sobbing]

[bird singing]

[car passing by]

¶ It's on your shirt ¶

¶ You've outgrown this town ¶

¶ Your friends are all scattered
And you're lonesome ¶

¶ You're still searching
For music in the sound ¶

¶ It's a tame world would
Leave you unbroken ¶

¶ Lady, your mother
Bring your garden to me ¶

¶ Pulling from my body
So the world cannot see ¶

¶ Blue of my veins
And the tracks on my cheeks ¶

¶ But leave the tulips
For when I go under ¶

¶ But it's not over by half ¶

¶ There's gold in your eyes
Blooming out through the black ¶

¶ And you're still standing
And your hand on the map ¶

¶ No, it's not over
Not over by half ¶

¶ And when that day comes
And the lights go dim ¶

¶ The weight off your shoulders
The sun off your skin ¶

¶ And the ones who have known you Your lovers and friends ¶

¶ Will be marked by the spark
That was taken ¶

¶ But it's not over by half ¶

¶ There's gold in your eyes
Blooming out through the black ¶

¶ And you're still standing
And your hand on the map ¶

¶ No, it's not over
Not over by half ¶

¶ Here on the mountain
I'm thinking of you ¶

¶ Birds are all singing
Screaming of youth ¶

¶ And here I am holding
Keeping a room ¶

¶ Just a place you can lay
When you're older ¶

¶ But it's not over by half ¶

¶ There's gold in your eyes
Blooming out through the black ¶

¶ And you're still standing
And your hand on the map ¶

¶ No, it's not over
Not over by half ¶