"Why didn't you wake me?" "It's electives day." "The earlier we sign up, the better the chance we have of getting all the good ones." "I tried to wake you up three times." "You know I don't think you're serious until six times." "You know the first three times I'm still checking for chicken pox to see if I can miss school." "Hey, I tickled your toes." "Well, that explains the Lucas dream." "So, what electives are we hoping for?" "We are hoping to get out of them." "Actually, it's not gonna happen, sister." "These are service electives." "Not only do they expect us to be students, but now they want to give us jobs." "How are we supposed to work and go to school at the same time?" "Yeah, who does that?" "How you doin'?" "Oh, hey, honey." "Where you going?" "I'm going to school." "Oh, whatcha gonna do there?" "I'm gonna work." "Wait, you're gonna go to work and school?" "At the same time." "Wait but, just for a couple of days, right?" "No, no, no." "This is forever." "But Topanga, surely your responsibilities are temporary, right?" "Oh, no." "I have to do everything all the time." "Bravo!" "No more." "No more." " Thank you." " Thank you." " Thank you." " Thank you." "We will be here for the rest of your lives." "Have a good day, honey." "I hate parent theater." "Yeah, we did set them up pretty good." "You know, when I went to law school, I held down two part-time jobs." "Yeah, but now your life is a piece of cake." "Would you make us cake?" "Get to school." "You'll be here, making cake?" "Hey, Riley, you can put your dishes in the dishwasher." "Later, mom." "I promise." "Job and school." "Job and school." "Uh, you could at least put them on the..." "Counter." "Okay, fine." "I can finally go to work." "Am I forgetting anything?" "Okay." "I have another kid." "Why did I do that?" "Auggie, baby!" "Come on!" "Who here knows about the great depression?" "I thought it was called the grand canyon?" "Excellent." "Who here knows about the great depression?" "Maya?" "Nothing's gonna beat that, sir." "Farkle, save me." "The year was 1929, the stock market crashed, everyone lost their money and their jobs." "And the people who were comfortable were now lost and became known as..." ""The forgotten."" "Working class people, the heart and soul of our country, basically taken for granted in the first place, and now, discarded and forgotten." "How could that happen, sir?" "It shouldn't have, Mr. Friar." "But that could never happen to anyone in the grand canyon today, could it?" "I don't know, Riley." "I'm sure you would never take anyone for granted, right?" "I would never." "And do you think there's anyone who cares about you who goes underappreciated or overlooked?" "Maya, my life is so much better for having you in it." "I know, pumpkin." "Thank you, dad." "For the first time, I've actually understood something that you've tried to teach me." "Please, bell, ring." "Ring!" "Ah-ha." "You could do that?" "I wonder what electives we're gonna get." "I hope we get good ones." "Why do they call them "electives" if they make us do them?" "I don't know." "And why do they call it shop class?" "That was the biggest disappointment of my little life." "Yum, blob." "All right, no blob for me, please." "Not because it's not good, only because there's no taste and no flavor." "Okay." "You know I made that myself." "What is it?" "I call it, "Tuesday."" "But it's Thursday." "Mm-hmm." "No throwing rolls!" "Well, she's in a good mood today." "That's the happiest I've seen her." "Look, I don't care what electives we get, just as long as we don't end up in... dun-dun-dun!" "Cafeteria duty." "Good afternoon, Geralyn." "Oh, mashed potatoes." "I put a little extra love in there for you today." "I know you did." "No eating in line, Matthews." "Oh, you're tough." "I sure wouldn't want to be one of the kids who gets you for an elective." "Do you guys ever actually eat the food?" "No." "Hey, how do you guys actually make this thing erupt?" "Maya, don't!" "She's gonna blow!" "Why do they build their villages so close?" "Why?" "Hey, hey, hey." "Where are you guys going?" "What's the rush?" "Geralyn, janitor Harley, can you come over here for a minute?" "So, you guys don't think you should have to clean any of this up?" "Geralyn, do you think they realize when they waste their food like this it makes you feel bad?" "I feel bad." "And janitor Harley, do you think they realize when they make a mess in the cafeteria, it makes you feel bad?" "I actually feel I deserve what I get." "But I have all kinds of different issues." "You know, in just a few minutes you guys played with your food and you left a mess without any regard or respect for anyone else." "It's not just us." "I know." "And you're the good ones." "I'm gonna go ahead and assign you your electives now." "Girls, your electives will be, and I don't think anybody saw this one coming." "Oh, no." "Cafeteria duty." "How you doin'?" "I've been better." "Wow." "That's the worst elective in the school besides janitorial services." "Oh." "How you doin', boys I own?" "Meet Mr. Mop." "And his pal, Mr. Bucket." "First, you'll clean Mr. Mess in the cafeteria." "Then I'll introduce you to the always delightful Mr. Vomit." "Thank you, but I have enough friends." "Hey, pretty lunch lady." "You are killing this thang." " Stop it." " Stop it." "What about me?" "Am I not the cutest thing ever?" "Actually, these are being worn on the back of the head this season." "I have my own distinct sense of fashion!" "Welcome..." "To the cafeteria." "We have a lot of fun here." "And by fun, I mean potatoes." "And by potatoes, I mean, we peel them." "And by we, I mean you." "Well, this actually doesn't seem so bad." "There's more, aren't there?" "Look behind you, scarecrow." "Oh, I have a nickname." "That's a lot of potatoes." "When you have completed the peeling of the potato, you place the potato in the pot." "That is all you do." "Now, I will finish preparing tomorrow's lunch." "You ladies will do what?" " Peel the potatoes." " Put them in the pot." "What do you do?" " Peel the potatoes." " Put them in the pot." "What do you not do?" "Anything else." "I believe we have communicated." "Except for one thing." "This is a one-week class for you, a grade." "But this is my world and I care very much about what happens back here." "Understand?" "Yes, Ms..." "Thompson." "Thompson." "Sorry." "We should have known that." "Mm-hmm." "My name is..." "Riley Matthews." "Loves fish stick Fridays." "Who am I?" "Maya hart." "I always give you extra to take home." "I know all my kids." "Well, I will leave you ladies to it." "So, this is easy." "What could possibly go wrong?" "Look at all these spices." "You know what these are?" "What?" "Taste and flavor." "The kids will love us." "Peel the potatoes, put them in the pot." "I can't hear you." "I don't understand any of this." "Yeah, I never think of these hallways as being anything but clean." "Thank you." "There are two types of custodians:" "The ninja, and the showboat." "I, janitor Harley Keiner, am a ninja." "Me, you never see coming." "You just know I've been there." "How much throw-up can there possibly be in a school?" "Well, each student has a stomach about yea big." "Yet they think they can eat about yea much." "Alvin Bergis." "You can actually tell who that is?" "I know all of you." "Alvin's a seventh grader." "He has a speech in English today." "He seems unprepared." "I got this." "Does that happen a lot?" "Happens all the time." "It's my job." "Oh, hey girls." "Would you like to help me with the groceries, please?" "We worked all day for 45 minutes." "Could you rub my back?" "Oh, sure Maya." "I would love to rub your back." "Just right after I bring in all the rest of the groceries by myself and then cook dinner for the entire family." "Okay, hurry up." "Riley, I asked you to clear off the table this morning." "Mom, you are not being very sympathetic to us." "We worked." "In a kitchen." "45 minutes." "In a row." "Rub my back." " I'll do it." " No." "When you do it, it's like spiders poking at me." "But that's my spider move." "Ew." "Girls, could you please help me bring in the rest of the groceries?" "Other people had a hard day, too." "Yes, Farkle and Lucas had to clean." "45 minutes." "In a row." "Wow, I had no idea." "Poor, poor kids." "I'll just go get the rest of the groceries by myself." "Wow." "Maya, you know that lesson about "the forgotten" this morning?" "Yeah." "It's us." "All right." "The potatoes you prepared yesterday will be served today." "When do we get paid?" "The grateful looks in everyone's faces will be pay enough for me." "You want a pat on the back, you better get a longer arm." "This is not the job for "attaboys" or "you go girls."" "Yesterday was the hardest I've worked in my life." "I have no doubt of that." "Now, for the actual hard part." "That's a joke." "You're funny, right?" "When that lunch bell rings, brace yourselves, rookies." "It's about to get real in here." "You're in charge of the potatoes." "You scoop them up, you plop them down." "Scoop, then plop." "Say it." "Scoop and plop." "Say it." "Now, after those plates go out, guess what happens next." "We can go home." "You can go home." "No!" "Those dishes come back with twice the fury." "They come in here." "You scrape." "You rinse." "They go on here, where they go on their little dish journey, where they are reborn as clean dishes for tomorrow." "Hallelujah!" "Say it." "Hallelujah." "Say it." "This is it." "You ready?" "How bad can middle school lunch get?" "Goodbye, tiny little girls." "Let's do this thing." "Whoo." "They have been served." " By us." " The servers." "Except no one smiled." "And nobody said "thank you."" "And nobody even knew my name." "And I go to school with these people." "Welcome to my world." "Well, at least the hard part is over." "No, now comes the actual, actual hard part." "Why do you keep making that same joke?" "Look over here." "Wait for it." "Here it comes." "Wait for it." "What?" "This is it?" "Oh, I got this." "This is nothing." "I'll do it all." "Scrape." "Rinse." "Hallelujah." "Maya, you might as well go home." "How bad do you think this is gonna be?" "That was the first rain drop." "Before what?" "Noah." "Maya!" "We did it." "Please tell me there isn't another actual, actual hard part." "No, you're done." " Hallelujah." " Hallelujah." "Why don't you two go to the locker room, hit the showers, and freshen up." "I'm filthy." "We don't want anybody to see us like this." "Well, I don't see where you have any other choice." "There is." "There is another way." "Yeah." "As curious as I am, to see what would happen to you," "I've grown to like you both." "I'm very proud of you." "You did me and my kitchen proud today." "So..." "No." "Thank you, Ms. Thompson." "I think you two can call me Geralyn." "You guys are a mess." "We got the school so clean yesterday." "Today was the easiest day ever." "And janitor Harley said it was the least pukey day he's ever seen." "Wait a minute, boys." "What's the matter?" "There's a storm a-brewin'." "What kind of storm?" "We're too late!" "Oh, my." "Farkle, run!" "I am running!" "I'm just not a good athlete." "Save yourselves." "They're all about to blow." "All you had to do was peel the potatoes and put them in the pot." "That's what I did." "Peel the potatoes!" "Put them in the pot." "Funny story." "Whoa." "Yeah." "Geralyn is really good at her job." "We are not good at Geralyn's job." "Yeah." "Whoa." "In 1929, our country fell apart." "Not only because the economy suffered, but because we neglected the working class people who served us with pride and dignity." "And because we never cared enough to get to know them, they were easily taken for granted and became "the forgotten."" "Can anybody tell us who this is?" "The lunchroom lady." "I think she has a name." "I do." "Three taco Sara." "This is Geralyn Thompson." "And she knows all of your names." "She's worked at this school for 20 years, and I can tell you that her job is not easy." "Because she has over 1,000 children and when you feed 1,000 children, you have to make sure it's something that everybody can eat." "And even if she would like to spice things up a bit, she knows not to." "Because it's what's right for everyone." "She takes pride in her work, her kitchen, her cooking, and us." "And I'm proud that I was able to stand in her shoes for a day." "This lady right here does it everyday..." "For us." "Geralyn." "Remember that name." "Whatever we end up doing in life, we have to do it with the same pride and enthusiasm as her." "Boys." "We've seen things." "You don't know, man." "You weren't there." "They went in as boys, they came out as I don't know." "I don't know what they are now." "We'd be lying to you if we told you janitorial services was our first pick." "But I wouldn't trade this experience for a trip to the moon." "That was an elective?" "Janitor Harley is a good man." "You have no idea what he goes through for you." "You may not even notice that he's there." "But I promise you this, you would notice if he wasn't there." "The clean tables, the immaculate classrooms, the shiny floors;" "they don't magically happen." "They take a ninja." "Ninja." "People who go through things for you, people who pour their heart and souls into their jobs because they care should be valued and embraced." "You should look them in the eye and say "thank you."" " Thank you." " Thank you." " Thank you." " Thank you." "I appreciate that." "Thank you." "I peeled potatoes for one day and I almost died." "I love you." "I love you, too." "Ooh!" "Spiders." "What is this for?" "I get up in the morning, you're already up." "I go to sleep, you're still up." "There's food on the table, clean clothes." "You take us where we need to go." "You have a job and you still make time to take care of me and Auggie." "And I know now, that may not be so easy." "So, if I've forgotten to say thank you, I'm saying it now." "Thank you." "Oh." "Oh, and you too, dad." "Oh." "Thank you." "How are you today, Geralyn?" "I'm fine, Riley." "Thanks for asking." "Stop it." "I got this." "No." "We got this." "Hey, you missed." "You know, it's a funny thing about teachers, people don't often realize that without the lesson, without the education, no one would learn anything at all." "There would be no growth, no progress." "There would be no doctors, or lawyers, or anything at all, really." "In fact, when you think about it, teachers are the foundation of our whole country... our whole world." "Teachers should be appreciated and never forgotten." "I appreciate you, baboon." "Now, get out of here so I can go home." "Yeah, okay."