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DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE:
The Other Dorothy in Silicon Valley
Oh, look, Toto, look there!
See that fork ahead in the yellow brick road?
Let’s take it, shouldn’t we?
What do you think, Tin Man?
Yes? I knew you’d have the heart for it.
And you, Scarecrow, are you ready
To branch out on a new adventure?
Of course you are!
And Lion, you don’t have to be afraid anymore.
After all, it’s just a turn in the road.
And see, it’s not made out of yellow brick,
But that lovely gray cement, and it stretches
Ever so far across this wide valley,
Intersecting with so many others
Like a big nest of wiggly garter snakes.
What fun! Don’t worry, Lion,
Garter snakes don’t bite.
Take my arm, Scarecrow, off we go!
Oh, my! Look at all these shiny automobiles
Whizzing by, and all the pretty colors,
Like a sparkling rainbow. None of those
Old black Model T’s like back in Kansas.
Don’t chase those cars, now, Toto.
I don’t think they’ll slow down for you.
But look inside—only one person in each car--
Isn’t that grand?
Maybe we can each get one to ride around.
I’d like a ruby red one to match my shoes.
How about you, Tin Man?
Emerald green to remind you of Oz?
Gee, what’s happened now?
They all seem to have come to a stop,
And this whole big road is full of them,
All lined up.
I hope there isn’t a witch around,
Or a tornado warning.
No. Look—not a cloud in the sky,
Although there is a sort of brownish haze
Hanging over everything, like the dust
That gets kicked up in the fields
After the harvest.
But I don’t see any crops around.
Oh, well, you can’t figure out everything right away
When you come to a new place,
Can you, Scarecrow?
Hey, some of them have their windows down,
And they each have their own little radio, right in the car.
They can listen to President Roosevelt tell us
All about how he’s getting all those meanies
Overseas to behave themselves.
And what are those little things they’re holding up
To their ears? Why, I’ll be!
I think those are little new-fangled telephones.
They’re probably calling the milkman
To tell him how many bottles of milk
To leave on their porch.
Or maybe they’re calling the weatherman
To see if there’s a cyclone on the way.
But with all those big square buildings
Made out of concrete and steel, I don’t think
They have too much to worry about.
They aren’t all flimsy and pointy and made out of wood
Like our puny old farmhouses back home.
Why, you wouldn’t even need a storm cellar in one of those!
I swear, that building over there is bigger than a silo--
That one, with a picture of an apple on the front.
I wonder what they do in there--
Maybe they’re baking pies.
Hop on up, Toto, and we’ll all get a closer look.
Oh, see all those pretty people scurrying around,
Each with their own neat desk,
And their own teeny little movie show
That they can sit right down and watch?
What do you see through this other window, Tin Man?
This next room looks like a factory
With all those workers, like a bunch of little munchkins
Busy as itsy-bitsy bees in their workshop.
What do you think they’re making in there,
Some kind of fancy little gizmo
To make everything easy and swell?
They must have a million wizards in this town!
Let’s march right in and see what’s what.
After all boys, we’re not in Oz anymore.
See that fork ahead in the yellow brick road?
Let’s take it, shouldn’t we?
What do you think, Tin Man?
Yes? I knew you’d have the heart for it.
And you, Scarecrow, are you ready
To branch out on a new adventure?
Of course you are!
And Lion, you don’t have to be afraid anymore.
After all, it’s just a turn in the road.
And see, it’s not made out of yellow brick,
But that lovely gray cement, and it stretches
Ever so far across this wide valley,
Intersecting with so many others
Like a big nest of wiggly garter snakes.
What fun! Don’t worry, Lion,
Garter snakes don’t bite.
Take my arm, Scarecrow, off we go!
Oh, my! Look at all these shiny automobiles
Whizzing by, and all the pretty colors,
Like a sparkling rainbow. None of those
Old black Model T’s like back in Kansas.
Don’t chase those cars, now, Toto.
I don’t think they’ll slow down for you.
But look inside—only one person in each car--
Isn’t that grand?
Maybe we can each get one to ride around.
I’d like a ruby red one to match my shoes.
How about you, Tin Man?
Emerald green to remind you of Oz?
Gee, what’s happened now?
They all seem to have come to a stop,
And this whole big road is full of them,
All lined up.
I hope there isn’t a witch around,
Or a tornado warning.
No. Look—not a cloud in the sky,
Although there is a sort of brownish haze
Hanging over everything, like the dust
That gets kicked up in the fields
After the harvest.
But I don’t see any crops around.
Oh, well, you can’t figure out everything right away
When you come to a new place,
Can you, Scarecrow?
Hey, some of them have their windows down,
And they each have their own little radio, right in the car.
They can listen to President Roosevelt tell us
All about how he’s getting all those meanies
Overseas to behave themselves.
And what are those little things they’re holding up
To their ears? Why, I’ll be!
I think those are little new-fangled telephones.
They’re probably calling the milkman
To tell him how many bottles of milk
To leave on their porch.
Or maybe they’re calling the weatherman
To see if there’s a cyclone on the way.
But with all those big square buildings
Made out of concrete and steel, I don’t think
They have too much to worry about.
They aren’t all flimsy and pointy and made out of wood
Like our puny old farmhouses back home.
Why, you wouldn’t even need a storm cellar in one of those!
I swear, that building over there is bigger than a silo--
That one, with a picture of an apple on the front.
I wonder what they do in there--
Maybe they’re baking pies.
Hop on up, Toto, and we’ll all get a closer look.
Oh, see all those pretty people scurrying around,
Each with their own neat desk,
And their own teeny little movie show
That they can sit right down and watch?
What do you see through this other window, Tin Man?
This next room looks like a factory
With all those workers, like a bunch of little munchkins
Busy as itsy-bitsy bees in their workshop.
What do you think they’re making in there,
Some kind of fancy little gizmo
To make everything easy and swell?
They must have a million wizards in this town!
Let’s march right in and see what’s what.
After all boys, we’re not in Oz anymore.
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