Your Coca-Cola Bottler presents Claudia, based on the famous play and novels by Rose Franken. Brought to you transcribed Monday through Friday by your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola. Relax, and while you're listening, refresh yourself. Have a Coke. And now, Claudia. David, where are you? David? I'm in here. I finished washing the baby. He looked all beautiful and shiny. Clean clothes, clean everything. What's the occasion? Dr. Barry's coming to see him. I want Bobby to make a good impression. You mean you want to make a good impression. Hey, what are you doing at the desk? I knew my peace and quiet was at an end the minute I heard your chirping voice. What are you doing? Working. What are all those blanks and sheets of paper, David? I'm filling out my insurance reports on the accident. Now, are you satisfied? No, how many do you have to fill out? This looks like scads of them. Scads of them? Don't you think I ought to do it for you, darling? Why? Well, I know lots more about the accident than you do. You were unconscious most of the time, remember? It might interest you to know that I wasn't unconscious until after the accident. That's good. Okay, it might have been worse. Very funny. Go away. What sort of things do they want to know? Everything. Well, for instance? For instance, everything. Use your head. What time, where, how it happened, why it happened, whose fault it was, what happened to the car, how much it cost to repair the car. A fortune, that's how much it cost. Exactly, the kind of specific answer they're looking for. A fortune. Still, I have as much right to fill out this blank as you have. What makes you think so? Well, you're my husband. It's our car. All right, all right. If you want to fill out these forms, all right, you go ahead. It's all yours. No, thank you. I just wanted to know what they want to know, that's all. Well, go ahead. They better pay you all they owe you, or else. Well, you write them a letter. I'll wait and see. David, you be persistent. You have to be firm with these insurance companies. What have you been reading? Nothing. I heard something on the radio. Oh. What are you looking for now? Running out of matches for my pipe. Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. Here, catch. Thanks. Welcome. You know that the first thing you said to me when you became conscious after the accident, you said, you know what? I broke my pipe. You're such a fool, darling. Well, it was my best pipe. And you were my best husband. Were. Are. Poor Jesse. What? Poor Jesse. I give up. What, darling? One minute you're talking love to me, and the next you're saying, poor Jesse. Who is this Jesse and what'd you have to do with us? Everything. Darling, don't you remember? Jesse Mason, it was her husband who crashed into your car. George Mason. Poor devil. He didn't have much of a reputation around town, did he? I guess not. What happens to people to get them like that anyway? Lots of things, I suppose. When George Mason was a little boy, that he was just like any other little boy, sweet, hopeful, like our Bobby, maybe. Then he grew up and he became the town good for nothing. I wonder if ever when he was, oh, shuffling along Main Street late at night, eating a shave, I wonder if he ever thought back to when he was a little boy, all clean and new, and then looked at himself and wondered what happened to him. Darling, I'm afraid that's life. And it's frightening. David, you haven't heard anything about what's happened to Jesse, have you? No, maybe Dr. Barry will know. He knows most all the news around town. Gosh, I feel so sorry for her. When you were lying unconscious in Dr. Barry's office, she and I were waiting together in the waiting room. We were both waiting to hear about our husbands. Did I ever tell you how she arrived at Dr. Barry's office with a man? He just couldn't get her to be quiet. She howled and she cried and she said if anything happened to her husband, she'd sell her place and move out of town and start all over again. She didn't have any children. Gosh, I pity her so. Well, pity is a very strong word. I know. She was so busy pretending she knew what she'd lost and she didn't have the least idea. Her husband dying was just another man. And yet she knew she ought to feel something, so she screamed and she cried and howled. Poor Jesse. Darling, it's not very nice to feel sorry for people. I know, but I can't help it. I just wish there was something I could do for her. I'm sure she must need some help. In a way, I feel as if I owe life something now that you're well and everything's perfect again. I even feel smug. Well, you ought to be ashamed. Well, I'm not. Now stop talking. Get back to your insurance blank. Me? Stop talking? Yes, you. Get back to work. Hardly been able to get a word in edgewise. Stop complaining. Fill your pipe and start to work on your forms and don't talk to me. I'm going to read. Some women have more nerves. Shhh. I'm concentrating. That's a novelty. Oh, good, I'm reprieved. Here's Dr. Barry. He won't run away. You don't have to break your neck running to him. I never break my neck. Hello, hello, Dr. Barry. Well, Claudia, how's everything? Well, David, it's well. The baby's well. I'm well with the world. My gosh, don't I sound smug, though. I don't know why you need a doctor to call on you. It's a luxury. We just love having a visit with you. Well, it's a pleasure to come. Well, hello there, doctor. Come on in the living room. Well, David, you're looking like yourself. I was just telling Claudia I don't think you need a doctor at all. Well, we always need a friend. Come on in. Oh, yeah. That's a fine house you have here. I always liked that paneling over the fireplace, especially now that you've scraped it down to pine. Yeah, through 11 coats of paint. And one of wallpaper. Now I wouldn't part with it for a million dollars. Don't you wave a check under his nose, Dr. Barry. He won't do any good. I wouldn't even offer. No man should be parted from his paneling. Well, now, I must remember that I'm a doctor, not an architect. How's the baby? Bobby's fine. He doesn't cry. He sleeps all the time. He eats wonderfully. He's getting enormous. I can still pick him up with only one hand. I don't think you'd like him very much if you couldn't, David. We'll go out and see him in a little while, Dr. Barry. I haven't weighed him. I thought I'd wait till you came. And then she won't be able to cheat. I wouldn't. Now tell me, David, seriously, how are you? Have any headaches? No, not a one. Good. No difficulties at all? No. Are you feeling any fatigue, eye strain, nervousness? A bit, no. Open your left eye wide. No, I've been feeling all right. Nothing at all. I'm better than new. Fine. Now, what about your collarbone? Can you raise your arm yet without any pain or discomfort? Well, I'm still a bit shy of moving it too suddenly, but it doesn't seem to trouble me much when I do. Pain in your chest? No, not a thing. Well, then I daresay we've come out of something that could have been very serious with remarkably few scars. We're very grateful, Dr. Barry. You should be. David says I'm even smug. You said it yourself. Dr. Barry. Yes? I don't want to be nosy, but is there anything we can do for Jessie Mason? Do for her? Well, I mean, I can't help feeling terribly guilty that everything turned out so perfectly for us and heaven only knows what's happened to her. Now, that's very nice of you, Claudia. No, it isn't nice. It's almost an obligation. Well, I don't think you're obligated to Jessie anyway. Her husband is dead. Mine isn't. I know that lots of people criticize Jessie for the way she carried on and the fake her life was, but I only feel sorry for her. It's not as bad as being critical, but Jessie's all right. Doctor, we were just wondering if you might happen to know what happened to the woman. She said she was going to leave town. Do you know if she did? Well, as a matter of fact, no, she didn't. Well, is she going to? I doubt it. Oh? Funny, I thought surely she would. Well, things have changed a little for Jessie. In the last few weeks since George died, as a result of his own negligence, she's not quite the woman she used to be. How awful. You mean she's not taking it well. Oh, no, no. Quite the contrary. It's as if Jessie were finally awake, shocked into waking up. Yeah, she's become quite another person. Well, that sounds like good news, Doctor. Yes, it is. She's taken a job at Mrs. Allenworth as a companion. You know, Mrs. Allenworth is blind. She's dependent on Jessie for every step she takes. That's quite a responsibility. I should imagine quite a responsibility. Seems to me it's just what Jessie needed. It's interesting, isn't it, how lives twist and turn, and if you give them plenty of time and all the rope they need, eventually they find their own way home. It's so painful for some people. Yes. Still, that's their own destiny. Things work in a larger pattern. You have to believe that the small make up the large, days fit into months, and years into centuries. Every soul in this town of Eastbrook is part of the life of this community. Well, I've seen lives come and go, fortunes rise and fall, folks squander themselves, and then at the last moment save themselves. So I never rush to make a judgment. Just wait and see. That's quite a philosophy you have achieved. When you've seen as much life as I have, David, such a philosophy comes easy. You can't be critical of one person when you know that that one person is not alone, but a part of the general order of things. Sooner or later, that's proved to you. This is with Jessie. There was an accident, her husband was killed, and now she's a person again. And a month ago, nobody would have believed it. Except Dr. Barry. Yes. Now, David, don't give me credit for it. It's just a matter of survival. If you live long enough, you learn to take your time with people. Most of them come out all right. I know. I've seen it. Yes, it's the larger pattern of life that you must look for. And I am a little bit embarrassed. Embarrassed? Why? Well, I didn't wait. Here I was feeling sorry for Jessie, almost condescending. Oh, pity, yes, I wanted to help her, but in a way I was a little proud that I was me and not Jessie Mason. So now I am a little bit embarrassed. No reason to be. Just when I think I've learned all about life, how tragic, how exciting and beautiful it can be, I find I'm just a beginner. We all are beginners. Do you sometimes get the impression that everything you buy costs a lot more than it used to? Then think a minute. How much did you pay for that last case of Coca-Cola? A dollar, just like always. You see, some of the good things of life haven't gone up at all. How's your supply of Coke? Better put it on tomorrow's marketing list. Well, I've just seen the young squire, Mr. King. You mean the heir to the Maunton Acres? Young Bobby, he's a fine baby boy. Yes, Master Bobby is a great favorite of all of us. We're staking all our bets that he'll grow up to be a fine man too. He should. He has a family for it. I find a young couple I've never met than Mr. and Mrs. Naughton. I feel just the same way, Dr. Baring. Maybe what I like best about them is they're self-sufficient. Most of their pleasures come from themselves. Yes, they don't often go around looking for entertainment, like tomorrow night. Even a simple game of solitaire is enough for an evening's fun with them. That's the way life should be. Uh-huh. Goodbye, Mr. King. Bye, Dr. Barry. Every day, Monday through Friday, Claudia comes to you transcribed with the best wishes of your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola. So listen again tomorrow at the same time. And now this is Joe King saying au revoir. And remember, whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, think of Coca-Cola. For Coca-Cola makes any pause the pause that refreshes. And ice-cold Coca-Cola is everywhere. This broadcast of Claudia was supervised and directed by William Brown Maloney. And now here's a word from your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola.