1.
EXT. STREET - NOON
GREEN CAR door open from residential parking spot. MOLLY exits, carefully lighting a roach of ganja to avoid the stink from entering her car, and cautiously surveying her surroundings for the neighborhood watch people anxious to report anybody who doesn't belong. An alleyway behind the store fronts lining the street intersecting where she parked invites her to cut corners.
Talking into her earbuds, Molly criticizes how smoking culture has radically changed from tobacco smokers of the 70's to discreet drags of e-cigarettes and joints consumed on the DOWNLOW.
BIERDE (FILTERED)
What did you say about markdown?
MOLLY
No. Nevermind. That's not what I said.
SFX: STREET CONSTRUCTION NOISE
Molly sees street maintenance workers at the end of the alley. She holds the mic closer to her lips.
INT. R S DEVELOPMENT - CONTINUOUS
BIERDE juggles
two phones, an iPad and a desktop terminal trying to transfer his
files and apps to a new device.
BIERDE
That's better; what a headache transferring files and apps from one phone to another. Customer support claimed it's as easy as ejecting the SIM card from the old phone and inserting it into the new one.
INTERCUT PHONE CONVERSATION
MOLLY
I'm walking to the chicken take-out joint. It's so bright, and hot, I'm feeling a massive headache coming on too.
Bierde removes his glasses clutching his eyes out of frustration, preventing them from popping out of his eye sockets.
2.
BIERDE
Did you know LiveJournal's mobile app no longer appears in the App Store?
MOLLY
No.
BIERDE
When did that happen? Was it when Russia was facing a coupe by their own military?
MOLLY
Get an Android.
BIERDE
Really? It's still available on Android?
MOLLY
Yup. It's like the same bias between states when vacationing out of town but you run out of weed so you try to use your cannabis card in a different state. Have you seen that TikTok about Puerto Rican travel problems? At symbol LORENA ZOE J. T.
BIERDE
No, but I finally found a way to tear myself away from TikTok long enough to focus on productivity and I'm finding that a lot of the mobile apps that make life easier can cause bigger headaches than solving writers' block.
MOLLY
Oh, I'm totally not dependent on social media.
BIERDE
My biggest pet peeve is how much damage watching videos up close on a phone can do to your eyes. Even camera apps for photography nerds like me, which has zero hypnotic effect, has me scrutinizing pix on the display screen instead of printing hard copies…
3.
The topic stimulates a memory byte of a digital photo printer in the back of BIERDE's desk drawer. He scavenges for it thru the clutter, presses the on button, realizes the charge is drained and continues ruffling thru desk for a charger.