"Good evening." "The name of the program is Person to Person, and I'm sitting in for Ed Murrow tonight." "Tonight, we'll be visiting the home of James Rahilly and his family." "He drives a bus for the Third Avenue Transit Corporation." "Five days a week, 50 weeks a year, James Rahilly washes, dresses, eats, and is out of his East Bronx apartment by 5:00 in the morning." "While most of New York is still sleeping," "Mr. Rahilly heads for work at the Third Avenue Transit Corporation." "There he picks up his bus and for the next ten hours he's on the road." "In eight years of just driving about the city, he's covered 144,000 miles, and just once he scratched some paint off the side of his bus." "James Rahilly is 32, is an active member of the Transport Workers Union, and during the last war, served with the Army Signal Corps." "Jim and his wife, Mary, and their three children live in one these apartment houses in the East Bronx." "They've lived in this neighborhood all of their lives." "Hi, Mary." "Hi, Jim." " Hello, Jackie." " Hi, Jack." "Well, how's everything been today?" "Well, it's quite a hectic day for us, Jack, with the camera crews and the technicians." "It's something that we'll never forget." "Heh-heh." "Well, I suppose you've been getting all sorts of advice from the other bus drivers." "Advice and quite a-- Quite a beating, Jack." "[CHUCKLES] Yeah?" "I can imagine if you've got a bus driver on like Ralph Kramden." "Mary, tell me something." "What's Jim like at home?" "Does he ever lose his temper?" "Well, very seldom, but when he does, he makes Ralph Kramden look quiet." "[GLEASON LAUGHS]" "GLEASON:" "Jim, I want-- I'd like to ask you something." "As an old hand driving in city traffic, just what do you really think about women drivers?" "Well, Jack, I'm prejudiced." "L" " I don't care too much for women drivers." "I've had many experience with them cutting in front of us." "I've even had a woman wave two fingers out the window and make a U-turn right in front of me." "So I'm" "That's how she indicated the U-turn, by holding up the two fingers?" "Right." "Two fingers out the side window." "And after that, I took Mary out and tried to break her in in a car." "After she told me to watch the traffic because she was too busy driving, that was the end of the episode." "Oh, I see." "Well, what do most of your passengers complain about?" "Well, Jack, no one likes to wait and that is the biggest complaint." "And the public complains to us when they should be claiming some-- Complaining to management, because after all we get through with ten hours on the road, Jack, we don't feel like going in and sitting down" "and laying the story on to the boss." "We're interested in getting home to our families." "Well, you can't be blamed for that." "In order words, it's not the bus driver's fault, it's the management's fault." "No, Jack, it's sometimes bridge openings and other blocks on a road that's not anybody's fault." "I wouldn't say it's management's fault, either" " You have a few children, don't you?" " Yes, Jack." " Are they sleeping now?" " Well, I don't think so, Jack." "In fact, I'll have to get a bottle for the baby and I'll see if I can bring them in." "Have you been living here quite a while?" " Eight years, Jack." " Uh-huh." "Have you ever thought of moving?" "Oh, yes, Jack, we've thought of moving." "We'd like to buy a house, but the time" "Not at the present time, Jack." "L see." "ls feeding the baby one of your regular assignments at home?" "Well, not all the time." "Only at night, Jack." " I see." "GIRL:" "Daddy." "I can hear the kids now." "Oh, there they are." "Here you are, piggy" "How old are the children, Jim?" "JIM:" "Well, Howard there is 9," "Jimmy is 7, and little Margaret here is 2, Jack." "Oh." "Hi, fellas." " Hi, Mr. Jack Geasus." " Hi, Mr. Jack Geasus." "Jack Geasus?" "Ha-ha." "Say, listen, I was just talking to your father before and he says when you're old enough to drive, that he doesn't think there'll be any buses for you." "Have you got any thoughts about that?" "What would you like to do?" "I would like to be a bus driver." "Hmm." "And how about you?" "When I grow up, I'd like to be a brother." "Mm-hm." "Well, what about the little one?" "Has anyone found out what she'd like to do yet?" "JIM:" "Not yet, Jack." "Right now she'd just like to drink milk, I suppose." "Well, say, tell me, Jimmy, is--?" "Which one is Jim?" " Jimmy is in the middle, Jack." " Oh, Jim's in the middle." "I understand that you like baseball." "Yes, Jackie." "And the other boy?" "Where's the other fella?" " What's your name?" " Howard Rahilly." "Howard, huh?" "I understand that you like to collect stamps." "Yes, Mr. Gleason." " Do you like to collect stamps?" " Yes, Mr. Gleason." "Ha-ha-ha." "Well, tell me something." " Jim" " Big Jim, I mean." " Yes, Jack?" "What would you like to see your sons when they grow up?" "What you like to see them do?" "Jack, nothing would make me happier than to see them choose a profession." "And if they choose to pick" "Had" " If they had a vocation, it would make me very proud to see them in a religious life." "Well, that's very fine." "And I hope your wishes come true." "How about you, Jim?" "Do you think you'll ever change your work?" "Well, Jack, I am interested in the labor management movement, and if there was any opportunity for me to move up with the union," "I sure would like it." "Well, that's fine." "Mary, how about you?" "What do you do when you're not taking care of the house?" "Well, we go on outings and I have club meetings." "We have a club of all cousins." "A hen party, you might call it." "We sit and knock our husbands, and have a ball, in general." "L see." "Jim, where were you stationed when you were in the Army?" "Jack, I always thought I was gonna see a lot of the United States, but I went from right here to Fort Dix to Brooklyn to England," "France, Scotland, Belgium, Holland and Germany." "L see." " Did you see much action in Europe?" " Well, not too much, Jack." " Tell him about your heroic story." " Well, heh..." " Let's hear that." "What is that story?" " I'm on the spot." "I'm on the spot, Jack." "Well, we were in the port of Antwerp." "When we first moved in there, there were still German snipers in the area." "And I was sent up to see what was going on behind a certain wall." "And when I got there, I was hit with a flower pot by a German who didn't even have a rifle." "[GLEASON CHUCKLES]" "And naturally, I was knocked unconscious and bandaged up and I was taken back to a first-aid area." "So one of my buddies from the outfit was in the area, and I've come to screaming that I was blind because my eyes were bandaged." "[GLEASON AND JIM CHUCKLE]" "So when the buddy went back to the outfit he explained that poor Rahilly was blind and they all felt sorry." "But when they finally got down to treat me, they've put a little Band-Aid on my forehead and sent me back to my company." "Needless to say that the fellas, they didn't want to look too soft-hearted, they politely practically murdered me, Jack." "It was very embarrassing." "I honest" " I noticed that you pronounced your name "Riley."" "Well, we are known as "Riley," Jack." "The proper pronunciation is "Rahilly,"" " Rahilly." " but that's the Irish way" " of saying it, Jack." "But Rahilly" " All right, Mr. Rahilly." "Mary and Jim, do you watch The Honeymooners on television?" " Oh, all the time." " You do?" "I'm not a fan, I'm a fanatic." "Well, thank you very much." "Tell me, Jim, as a man who really drives a bus for a living, have you any professional comments to make about our show?" "Well, I have two, Jack." "And I've been watching very closely." "Number one is that you get up awful late in the morning for a man with 12 years seniority." "You should be rolling out of bed about 4:00 in the morning, Jack." "Six o'clock goes to the old-timer, about 25, 30 years." " Oh, I see." " And, Jack, as you know, we have one of the strongest unions in the country." "Each bus driver is very proud to display his union button, and you don't wear a union button." "But the Transport Workers Union has made you a lifetime member and you will get the same button to wear as I have on my coat here, Jack." "Well, I certainly appreciate that, Jim." "And believe me, Kramden will wear that button from here on in." "Thank you very much, Jack." "You know something?" "Jim and Mary, you look like very, very happy people." " Are you?" " Jack, when you look around you see three children like this, they're all healthy and husky." "I've got a steady job, I have no complaints." "I'm very, very happy, Jack." "I've got a wonderful family here." "Well, that's just wonderful." "Of course, in The Honeymooners, when we argue like that, we're just doing it for laugh purposes." "We do it too, Jack, and sometimes it's not for laughs." "We call them "loud discussions." We never fight." " Loud discussions?" " Loud discussions." "Well, I'm" " I know that the audience was very, very happy to see how a real bus driver and his wife and his family live." "It certainly is a pleasure looking at a fine group of youngsters like you have, and a very lovely wife like you have, Jim." "JIM:" "Thanks, Jack." "And it's written all over your kisser, Jim, that you're a swell guy." "Thank you very much, Jack, and you're a swell guy yourself." "Thank you." "It's been a pleasure to visit you." "And before we go, I'd like to ask you one thing." "What is your favourite television program?" "Well, the boys go for Beat the Clock, Jack." "That's their favourite program." "And we go (or The Honeymooners." "Well, thank you very much." "And I'll speak to those kids later." "[ALL CHUCKLING]" "Thank you very much, Jim, and Mary, and children." "It was just a pleasure to visit you tonight." " Good night." " Good night, Jackie." "It was a lot of fun being here tonight, and most of the credit belongs to these people." "Good night, everybody."