- 7 hours ago
Life is a struggle for single father Chris Gardner. Evicted from their apartment, he and his young son find themselves alone with no place to go. Even though Chris eventually lands a job as an intern at a prestigious brokerage firm, the position pays no money. The pair must live in shelters and endure many hardships, but Chris refuses to give in to despair as he struggles to create a better life for himself and his son.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00He moved into a subway station restroom with his son. When someone knocked to use the toilet,
00:04he would immediately cover his son's ears and desperately brace the door with his foot.
00:07Life was truly difficult, but he didn't want his son to know the harshness of reality.
00:11He wanted to fiercely protect his son's innocence. Chris had been unemployed for a long time,
00:15with less than $200 left in savings. His son could only attend the cheapest school.
00:20His wife worked two jobs to support the family, the stress leaving her exhausted and irritable.
00:24The reason they were in such a dire situation was that before the economic crisis hit,
00:28Chris had spent all their savings on a batch of medical devices. He thought he'd make a fortune,
00:32but they turned out to be nearly impossible to sell. Yet, to survive, Chris had to take the
00:36devices every day and desperately pitch them to doctors. Even though he forced a smile,
00:40it couldn't hide the exhaustion in his eyes. Chris hadn't genuinely smiled in a long time,
00:45until one day, he passed by an office building. Everyone here seemed to radiate happiness.
00:49He asked a man getting out of a luxury car how he achieved success. The man said he was a
00:53stockbroker. No advanced degree needed, just strong math skills and good interpersonal abilities.
00:58That sounded simple enough. Chris had always been good at math in school,
01:01and his long sales experience had honed his ability to read people. Chris decided to work
01:05there, but due to his lack of degree and experience, the submitted resumes did not
01:09receive any response. Chris waited outside the company for a month, until the HR manager appeared.
01:14He rushed up and eagerly introduced himself. The manager brushed him off and headed for a taxi.
01:18Thinking quickly, Chris said he wanted to share the ride. In the taxi, Chris kept trying to
01:22promote himself, but the manager ignored him, focused entirely on solving a Rubik's Cube.
01:26The trendy toy at the time, the manager said no one could solve all six sides,
01:30but Chris claimed he could do it. Before they reached their destination, they made a bet.
01:34Chris took the cube, fought for a moment, then started twisting it while explaining the method.
01:38Soon, he completed one side. The manager glanced at Chris in surprise. Then a second side,
01:43a third. Amid the manager's amazement, Chris worked more carefully. He knew this was his only chance.
01:47They soon arrived, and all six sides were solved. The manager was stunned. Even the taxi driver
01:52looked over in disbelief. According to news reports, even math professors took half an hour to solve it,
01:57but Chris had done it in under 10 minutes. Chris breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized the
02:01manager hadn't paid the fare. Seeing the meter read $17.14, Chris calmly told the driver to head
02:07back. When they stopped, he grabbed his device, apologized loudly while running, as the driver
02:11cursed him for skipping the fare, and chased him into the subway. The doors were closing. Chris hurriedly
02:16squeezed into the car, but his device got stuck outside. He refused to let go, and an elderly
02:20passenger tried to help, but it was no use. A month's living expenses were gone just like that.
02:25Frustration and pain overwhelmed Chris. He felt like a joke, but life had to go on. He couldn't
02:29pick up his son, so he called his wife to get him from school, but she said she was taking their son
02:34and leaving him. Chris hurried home on the bus, wondering why. Despite giving his all to everything,
02:38happiness never seemed to knock on his door. When he got home, his wife and son were gone. He sat in the
02:43darkness, feeling utterly abandoned. The next morning, Chris intercepted his wife at the daycare,
02:47but she refused to speak to him, so Chris took his son home directly. But the landlord was evicting
02:52them for overdue rent. Chris begged for one more week, offering to paint the apartment in exchange.
02:56The landlord agreed. That same day, the HR manager called, inviting Chris for an interview the next
03:01morning. But because of unpaid parking tickets, Chris was detained overnight until 9.30 a.m. His interview
03:07was at 10.30, and he had his son with him. He begged the officers to let him go, but they couldn't
03:11help. He had no choice but to ask his wife to watch their son again. The next morning, Chris rushed out
03:16of detention. He had no time to shower or change, so he ran straight to the company. At the interview,
03:21Chris eagerly shook each interviewer's hand. Seeing his disheveled appearance, everyone looked puzzled,
03:25but Chris openly explained he'd been detained for unpaid parking tickets. The room laughed, though the
03:30bus still looked displeased, especially when he learned Chris only had a high school diploma. He started
03:34doodling on paper in frustration, but Chris took the initiative. I'm the type of person, if you ask me a
03:40question and I don't know the answer, I'm going to tell you that I don't know. But I bet you what,
03:47I know how to find the answer, and I will find the answer. This intrigued the boss. Who gave Chris
03:53a challenging final question? If a guy shows up for an interview without a shirt on and I hire him,
03:57what would you say? It was a tricky question, but Chris gave a perfect answer. He must have had on some
04:02really nice pants. His humor made the boss laugh. He offered Chris an internship, but Chris hesitated.
04:08He just learned the six-month internship was unpaid, and he'd be competing with 19 others for
04:12one full-time position. It was a huge gamble. If he failed, he and his son would starve. But if he
04:17declined, he could still scrape by selling his remaining six medical devices. Chris was ready
04:21to give up. But when he looked at his small son, he found the determination to fight. He would earn
04:26that full-time position and build a better future for his son. Unable to afford rent, he moved with his
04:31son into a cheaper motel. One day, his son excitedly said he wanted to join the NBA. Chris said since his
04:36son wasn't naturally athletic, he probably wouldn't be good at basketball. His son was
04:40crestfallen and silently put the basketball away. In that moment, Chris realized he'd said the wrong
04:45thing. He quickly told his son. Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. Not even
04:51me. All right? All right. You got a dream. You got to protect it. On Monday, Chris dressed neatly for
04:58work, carefully noting everything his supervisor said. He was the first in the office every day. But
05:02because he was black, his boss often assigned him menial tasks. He could only bear the humiliation
05:07and did them. At work, Chris maximized every minute. Because by 4 p.m., he had to pick up his
05:12son from daycare, then take a bus across the city back to the motel. While others had nine hours to
05:16work, he only had six. So during work hours, he never drank water. To avoid bathroom breaks, and he
05:21never put down the phone. Just hung up and dialed the next number immediately. But even this frantic pace
05:26didn't seem to help. Two months passed, and Chris hadn't landed a single client. He realized his
05:30approach was wrong. So he targeted the wealthiest, most challenging prospect, Mr. Ribbon. Chris
05:35nervously called him, and surprisingly, Mr. Ribbon had some free time, and told Chris to come see him
05:40in 20 minutes. Chris rushed out of the office. But on the way, his boss handed him car keys, and asked
05:45him to move his car. Chris had to agree. By the time he finished, and found Mr. Ribbon's secretary.
05:50Oh, just listen. Chris was devastated. To make matters worse, his boss's car had been ticketed while he
05:55moved it. He had to pay the fine himself. But Chris didn't give up. That weekend, he took his son to see
06:00Mr. Ribbon, apologizing sincerely for his lateness. Few people would personally apologize for being
06:05late. And Mr. Ribbon was impressed by Chris's character. He invited Chris to a football game,
06:09to convince Mr. Ribbon to trust him with investments. Chris tried hard to act wealthy,
06:13but he failed. Mr. Ribbon still declined to work with him. However, through the game with the wealthy
06:17man, Chris met many other rich people. Invaluable contacts the company couldn't provide. Even better,
06:22over the next few months, Chris gradually sold all his remaining medical devices. Life seemed to be
06:27looking up. Then a letter shattered everything. Because Chris hadn't paid taxes, the IRS seized
06:31all the money from his account. Chris was bankrupt, flat broke. When the landlord asked for rent, he
06:36could only vaguely put him off. One day, while trying to figure things out in a park, Chris suddenly saw
06:40the device he'd lost at the subway station. In the hands of a homeless man, he reclaimed it, found a buyer,
06:45but then discovered it was broken. He took it back to the motel, only to find his belongings thrown out
06:50by the landlord. The locks were changed, the windows sealed. Chris was crushed, but his son didn't
06:54understand what was happening. He lay on the ground, crying to go inside and sleep. Chris comforted him,
06:59and took him to the subway station. Seeing his son sitting on a bench, Chris's heart ached to cheer
07:03him up. He pretended the medical device was a time machine. Pressing the button would take them back
07:07to the age of dinosaurs. Through this game, Chris led his son into a public restroom, locked the door,
07:12and spread toilet paper on the floor. His son, still thinking it was a game, fell asleep peacefully in
07:17his father's arms. Outside, someone tried to open the door. Chris braced it with his foot,
07:21and covered his son's ears tightly. As a father, he didn't want his child to know life's harshness.
07:25He wanted him to grow up carefree. With no other options, Chris carried all his belongings to work.
07:30Among the well-dressed professionals, he felt deeply ashamed. After work, Chris searched for free
07:34shelters. Hearing a church offered beds, he took his son there. The place was filled with homeless
07:38people. When it was their turn, they got the last available bed. That night, father and son finally had
07:43a roof. After putting his son to sleep, Chris repaired the device in the hallway. At dawn,
07:47he studied finance books by the dim light. The hardships of life didn't break him.
07:51They fueled his determination. During the day, Chris worked tirelessly with clients. After work,
07:55to secure a shelter bed, he and his son often had to run for the bus. Sometimes they were lucky to
08:00get a bed. Other times, they still had to sleep in the restroom. But his son never complained.
08:04Touching his father's chin, he said,
08:07Perhaps it was these words that helped Chris endure the unbearable struggles. On the day of
08:11the company's written exam, Chris was the second to finish. Just happened to be in the same elevator
08:16as the person who handed in the exam paper first. Chris couldn't resist checking the answers with him.
08:20I struggled with the essay question on the back. What did you write?
08:25The essay question on the back.
08:27Leaving the office, Chris saw his boss hailing a taxi. The boss had forgotten his wallet,
08:33and asked to borrow $5. Chris opened his wallet, fingering the crumpled bills, hesitated,
08:37then gritted his teeth and gave him the largest bill, of $5. The boss thanked him and left.
08:42That night, Chris had to sell his blood for $24. He spent $8 on parts to fix the device. Late at night,
08:47he finally repaired it. He pressed the switch, and the device lit up. A beacon of hope. Soon, Chris sold the
08:53device for $250, enough to survive another month. In the final month, Chris visited every contact he'd
08:58made at the football game. He did the best he could, but still didn't know if he'd get the job.
09:02On the last day of the internship, his boss called him into the conference room. Chris panicked,
09:06hurriedly putting on his suit jacket and striding in. This time, the big boss shook his hand warmly
09:11and complimented his shirt, hoping he'd wear it again tomorrow, because tomorrow would be his first day
09:15as a full-time employee. Before leaving, the boss returned the $5 he'd borrowed. Chris turned and
09:29walked out of the conference room, through the office, and onto the street. Amid the crowd,
09:33he raised his hands overhead, tears streaming, and applauded himself fiercely. Happiness had
09:37finally knocked on his door. Or, more accurately, Chris had been pounding on its door all along.
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