ZOOM, Series I; 506

Major funding for ZOOM isprovided by a grant from General Foods Corporation and by public television stations. Additional support is provided by unrestricted general program grants from the Corporationfor Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation. Come on and ZOOM,there's room for all We're gonna sing and danceand have a ball Everybody's having fun,everybody's number one Everybody's writing the show So why don't you ZOOM,ZOOM, ZOOM-a ZOOM? Come on and ZOOM-a,ZOOM-a, ZOOM-a ZOOM I'm Chris I'm Jennifer (items clatter) I'm Ron I'm Arcadio I'm Karen

I'm Levell I'm Nell Who are you? What do you do? How are you? Let's hear from you We need you, so won't you ZOOM,ZOOM, ZOOM-a ZOOM? Come on and ZOOM-a,ZOOM-a, ZOOM-a ZOOM Come on, give it a try We're gonna reach for the sky You can help us to fly high Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM (fading): Come on and ZOOM... Mr. Z owned a saw, and Mr. Zor owned a seesaw. Now, Mr. Z saw Mr. Zor's seesaw, which made Mr. Zor... sore.

ARCADIO:This was sent in by Regina Welkner of Brooklyn, New York. "Dear ZOOM,this is a fun game you can play. "You need two packs of sugarless gum, "and you need two pairs of mittens. "This is what you do. "Make two pairs of teams. Somebody has to be in charge." That's me. "The person in charge has to give "the first person on each teamthe pair of mittens. "Now, when the person in charge says go, "you put on the mittens, "take one piece of gum out of the packs "and unwrap the gum and eat it. "Then take the mittens offand give it to the... "give... give them and the pack of gum "to the person in back of you, "and they do the same thing. "The first team to finish wins. Good luck. I hope you have fun." (overlapping excited chatter) Yeah. Uh, okay. -You're first, guys.-Ah.

(chuckles) You're lucky. -ARCADIO: Ready?-KAREN: How're we doing it? This is tempting. (overlapping chatter) -You can't put 'em on yet.-No, you can't put them on yet. -Huh?-Lovell, come on, you can't. -You have to say go.-ARCADIO: I know. Ready? On your mark. Get set. Go! -Come on, Karen.-Go, go! (overlapping shouting) JENNIFER:Mittens. Took the wrong mittens. Come on, please, go! Please! (overlapping shouting) -Come on.-ARCADIO: Pass it. JENNIFER:Please, put it on quick! LEVELL:Come on, can't even... Gloves are too small for me. Come on, strip it off. Put the whole thing in your mouth. -Come on, Levell.-ARCADIO: Just forget it. You don't have to put 'em on. (overlapping shouting) JENNIFER:It's okay, it's okay. Keep, keep. Okay. Oh, come on, Levell. -Oh, brother.-Just take it, take it! JENNIFER:Come on, quick! Quick! Come on, quick! Quick! -Come on, quick, quick.-CHRIS: Come on. Come on, come on. CHRIS:Come on, come on. Take it, take it. Don't shake it. KAREN:Don't shake it! (overlapping shouting) Come on.

RON:Don't put the gloves on me. All right, go. Come on,come on, come on, come on. (overlapping shouting) CHRIS:Come on, come on. I get-- Oh, here. (cheering) ARCADIO:And the winners! JENNIFER:I never got the piece of gum. RON:Too bad. (playing "The Entertainer" on piano) GINNY:My name is Ginny Brown. I'm 11 years old. I'm a dwarf. A dwarf is a person whose bonesdon't grow very fast, so that means his arms and legsare shorter than others', and so he's not as tallas everybody else. Ginny, needs to be at 375.

-GINNY: 375?-GINNY'S MOM: Yeah. Right, we got the dough. Little bit. Wait, you're gonna roll it out? Yeah. GINNY:My mother and father are normal, and so is my little brother. We don't know anybody in our family that I'm related to that is small. It's very temperamental. GINNY:And people don't really know what causes me being a dwarf. I'm three-feet-two,and I'll grow about half an inch every year till I'm 15. Are we gonna go shoppingthis afternoon? Well, we could. What do youthink you'll need for school? -Levi's.-Levi's. Don't drop it. Okay. Uh... Are you gonna wear any skirtsthis winter? No. ("The Entertainer" playing) GINNY:What'll you catch? JOHNNY:A frog. How many tadpoles?

Huh? The big ones or small ones? Johnny is my younger brother,and he's nine. Johnny, why don't we go over here? -Okay.-We can... There's a...there's a little spot over there. Where it's shallow, right by the logs. Oh, look at them all. Wow, look at them all. Johnny! -JOHNNY: Yeah?-I caught one! Go get the bucket. JOHNNY:Oh, yeah. GINNY:Hurry up, Johnny. One of the things about being small is that people thinkI'm younger than I really am. So, sometimes, people try to baby me or carry me, or something like that. I don't really want special attention, or people taking care of me, because I'm 11 years old

and I can take care of myself. Try to get some more. You stay here with me. Try to get some. What are they? Wax beans? I guess. I don't know. GIRL:These are so skinny. Pick the other ones. -Oh, yeah, these.-Okay. (Ginny chuckles) Oh, wait, there'ssome green beans in here. I go to a regular public school, and I've never goneto any special school. Most of my friends are normal size, and we're just friends like anybody else. I like thinking that, um,I'm picking green beans. (chuckles) When I was young, I used to think that I was the only person in the world that was a dwarf. One thing that's really helped me adjust to being a dwarf is a group that I belong to called LPA, for Little People of America. No, it's-it's a school. GINNY:I've been able to meet other dwarfs, both my age and older. And younger. That's made me feel really good

to know that I'm not the only one. Oh, look at this one, you guys. -Oh, it looks like a smile.-Yeah. Mm... Mom, let's go to Filene's. That's where we got these. -Oh, do those fit pretty well?-Yeah. GINNY:The hardest thing, I think, about being a dwarf iswhen people tease me and stare at me. That happens quite a lot when I go to a new place. Everybody's not used to me. -I'm gonna get some sneakers.-What kind of sneakers? I don't know.Something-- racing sneakers. I think it's natural to have people look at each other, but not like, "Mommy, mommy,look at that midget over there." But what I do-- I have to admit, I do a lot, too-- what I do is thatI just take a quick glance and then go off. GINNY'S MOM:What color do you want them to be? GINNY:I think that people just don't think how they're makingthe other people feel. Oh, um, red, I guess. You think we ought to havesome zippers and elastic?

Yes. Let's see, how do you like these? -GINNY: Good.-GINNY'S MOM: Good? GINNY:No, well, not really. It's really important for me to have clothesthat I feel good in and I look nice in, because... if I'm dressed like a baby, people will think I'm a baby. And if I'm dressed in-in Levi's, they'll just think the opposite. Now, this is the first timeyou've had any without any elastic in the back, so... GINNY:Yeah. But do they fit? Does it matter? Well, I think maybe they do fit. Do they feel tight on you through here? -No.-Are you sure? Okay. There you go. -I don't think---Are we gonna buy these? Yeah, we'll buy those. -Okay?-Good. -Good.-Okay. And you get a pair of Levi'sfor school, and that's it. -Okay.-Okay. -Bye.-Bye. On your mark. Get set. -Go.-Wait, wait. Wait, wait. Wait, wait, you can't just do that, okay?

Okay. On your mark. Get set. Go. You won! That's good. We made a sheet of cheesecake. Well, I've enjoyed at leastthree pieces by now. -Oh, good.-How long did it take you to make all those? -About an hour.-Is that all? GINNY:I live in a small town, and most everywhere I go,everybody knows me and they treat me regularly. There are a lot of things that make people different from each other, like fatness and skinniness and freckles. All those things that are-aredifferent about each other don't really matter if they're friends, or if we're just having a good time. (lively chatter) People are just people, no matter what they look like.

The outside isn't what counts. It's inside that counts. Mom, these are good. (indistinct chatter) If one doctor doctors another, does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the waythe doctor he is doctoring doctors? Hey, Dad, what you doing? Washing and waxing the car. Oh, can I help? (clicks tongue)Nah, you're too small. You don't have enough arm power. -But, Dad, look.-No. (clicks tongue) Hey, John, where're you going? I'm going to play softball with the guys. Oh, can I come play some?

No. You're too small. -Oh, but, J---No buts. You're too small. What you doing, Mom? Washing the dishes. Can I help? Or am I too small? You're too small,plus you might cut yourself or break some of the dishes. Can I have my allowance now, Mom? -Sure.-Thanks, Mom. Oh, what are you gonna dowith the money? -I'm walking to the store.-Oh, can I come, too? No, you're too small. You might get run over. Besides, it's a long way to the store. Aw. Wow! Hey, uh, Jack. Um, you want to go under the carand get the ball for me? Gee, John, I'd really like to help you, but I'm just too small. If you have a play or a storythat you wrote yourself, send it to ZOOM.

How many envelopes? Send us two A big one for ZOOM And a small one for you Put your name on the small one Your house and your street And your city and state Hey, that's neat But where's the stamp? You almost forgot That's very important Yeah, thanks a lot The bigger one's easy You know what to do Stuff everything in And then rush it to To whom? To ZOOM, Z-double-O-M Box 350 Boston, Mass. 0-2-1-3-4 Send it to ZOOM. (whirring) Welcome to ZOOM Views and Whether, presenting important issuesfrom around the country straight from you. Today's reports areof great concern to all of us who have ever been shy. Nell?

Thank you, Chris. S. Keeler from Chicago, Illinois, says, "I think that most shy peopleare young children. "They are especially afraidto speak to their elders because they think the olderones will laugh at them." Jennifer? Thanks, Nell. From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Linda Ramsey writes, "I'm half Black and half white. "Because my father is Blackand my mother is white, "sometimes I get strange lookson the street "if I'm with my mom and dad. I'm too scared to askmy brothers and sisters about it." Ron? Thanks, Jennifer. And Lawrence Shoemakerfrom Munster, Indiana, sent us this letter. "If I could be whoever I wanted to be, "I think I would just be myself. "It would be hardtrying to be someone else "when I've been myself so long. "But sometimes I'm shy being me. Have you ZOOMers ever been shy?" Back to you, Chris. Thanks, Ron. We have a special ZOOMguest reporter with us today. Her name is Ginny Brown,

and you met her earlier in the show. She's here todayto lead our panel discussion because Ginny isvery concerned about kids who feel they are differentfrom everybody else. Ginny? Thank you, Chris. I'm very happy to be herewith you ZOOMers. I'm not usually shy, but I can understandwhy other people are shy. I'm not shy in wayspeople would think I'm shy-- be shy, but I am in ways that peoplewouldn't think I'd be shy. Like asking for a raisein babysitting. (chuckles) Jennifer, what do youthink about shyness? JENNIFER: I know I get really shywhen I go to new places, 'cause I'm... like if-if I'dever gone to a new school, which I haven't,or else if I go to a new camp the first year, and, like, I don't know how to act or what way kids will like me. And so you're really not sureof yourself at all. I don't know, I feel likeyou make out to be what you are. Like if I act shy,kids will think I'm shy, -which, I don't know, I hope not.-GINNY: Yeah. Like if you act dumb,kids will think you're dumb, -and so forth.-NELL: Yeah.

When I go to school, I sort of have-- not really a reputation,but they know what I'm like, so I have to act the way they think. And, like, when I first came to ZOOM, they-they didn't really knowhow I would act, so I could act whatever way I wanted to. And I was really natural. -That's weird.-(exhales sharply) Yeah. When I goto LPA conventions-- I mean, meetings, um-- JENNIFER:What's LPA? Um, Little People of America.I discussed it earlier. But when I go to, um, LPA meetings, I just, like, go to the meetingand just come in the door, and I just stand therenot knowing what to say. When-- I just hate it,it's really embarrassing -when you...-(chuckles): Yeah. It's all--Y-You can't say anything. You just stand there, in front of about 25 to 50 people, not knowing what to say. JENNIFER:Yeah. An example is like when I go to this--If I go somewhere, and I meet a friend from camp,who I haven't seen for a really long time, we say like, "Hi," -and then she says, "Hi."-GINNY: Yeah. And then we just lookat the floor and look at the ceiling. You don't know what to say.

-"Nice seeing ya."-Yeah. I-- (laughing) So you--It really gets you embarrassed, and you just want to leave. So, what, do you say? "Hi, how are you?" "What you been doing this year?" You just think ofthese really dumb questions that-- -I know.-Yeah. I know. I did that... (clears throat) ...with a friend, uh, that I haven't seenfor about four years, and, um... I went up to her, and I said, "Hi. What you been doing this year?" And I said-- not meaning to, I said, "What you been doing this year"over again. She said, "You just asked me that." And I said,"Well, I got to go now, bye." (chuckles) ZOOM also asked kids in the street whether they are ever shy. I don't be shy, most of the time. I-I-I'm like a bold person,most people say. When a lot of people laugh at me. When I'm around girls. When boys come up to me. It's when I'm around a lot of people. -Social occasions.-At parties. That's today's ZOOM Views and Whether. Let's hear from you. Write ZOOM. Box 350, Boston, Mass. 02134.

And don't forget yourself-addressed stamped envelope. BOY:Robbie! Come here! Come here, yeah! Come on, come on. (roars) My name is Andy Schmitz, and I live in Middleton, Wisconsin, with my sister and my mother. And, um, my father lives in Buffalo. My mother and my father were separated ever since I was six years old. -Yeah.-(panting) Separation is when a father and a mother are not living together. Maybe both of you could do it,it'd be more fun. ANDY:After a year, I started to get used to livingwithout my father. Every kid has an instinctto get used to things. And, um, slowly, I startedaccepting responsibility because my mother had to work,

and, um, I've had to learnto help myself. I think I'm going to have to stay quite late tonight,'cause I have a dinner meeting. -Another one?-So, um... do you supposed that, um, you guys can maybemake yourselves dinner? There's some frozen hamburgers. But don't forget to have some vegetables. You know, like a salad or something good for you like that. ANDY'S SISTER:All right. Uh, well, um... can you kids clear up the dishes? -ANDY: Yeah.-I'm gonna have to get going. I'll do the plates,you do everything else. -What?-(mother chuckles) Don't fight. MAN:Hut one, hut two. (boys speaking indistinctly) Andy! John! (chuckles) ANDY:John is a friend of mine. He's kind of special because, first of all,he's older than myself. And it's... it's nice having somebodythat you could talk to, that, um, maybe understandsyour problems a little better with age.

And, um... Well, he's... He's important to me, really, because, since the separation, I needed a friend. Down. Set. ANDY:I got to know John through a friend of my mother's. I said to myself,you know, I don't need him. But then I realized that without him, there'd be so many empty spaces. (cheering) And I started to dependon him being there. He, um, gives me a feelingthat I have a friend always, always, you know? How you been getting alongwith your mom? Well, I always get along okay with her. Each year,we get along better and better. Yeah, but, you know,there's just so many things that you can talk to a-a mother about. -So many things that you can't.-(chuckles): Yeah. -(chuckles)-That's-that's true. -You and Natalie are battling?-Yeah. Natalie's two years olderthan I am, and of course, -you know, she says you're the---She's still the-the queen.

Yeah, she always treats me as a child. You know, and I-- And if I had a brother, or a sister two years younger, I'd treat her like a child. I remember when I was growing up, I have two older sisters, and... they used to pick on me and tease me and tell me ghost stories. Oh, really? And now we get along really well. There's something really specialabout sisters or a brother. You battle with them,when you're growing up, more so than anybody else, it seems. -Yeah.-In the long run, they turn out to be your best friend. -Yeah.-Or good friends, anyway. I guess it'll take me a little while -to appreciate that.-(chuckles) ANDY: Now, what we're going totoday is called a tournament. And, um, it's just gonna be a lot of... recorder music and people dancing, and a lot of sword fighting. JOHN:Sword fighting? Yeah, well, the swords aren't real. They're make-believe. What is the society that you're in, Andy? -I don't unders---Well, it's called

the Society for Creative Anachronism. And what it is,is a whole bunch of people who are interested in the Middle Ages. -Oh, yeah?-And they go out sometimes, and they dress up in the Middle Ages... in the Middle Ages styles and... -go out and play Middle Ages.-(chuckles) MAN:The helm first. ANDY:I like the Middle Ages because it is one ofmy own private worlds that I can move into as I like. It's, you know, like a fantasy land. (indistinct chatter) For glory and honor, have at! JOHN:They really hit each other, don't they? ANDY:Oh, yeah, they have to. That's what the helm is for. -(clamoring)-That guy was just theoretically killed. My lords and ladies, the pavan. (recorders playing music) ANDY: When I show Johnabout stuff from my hobbies,

like the Society, especially, it shows a little pieceof what I'm interested in. And, um, I think it showsa little bit of me. He's, um, a special friend. I mean, you wouldn't callyour best friend a brother, or-or a sister, or a mother. There's no other word for itbut a friend. (music ends) ("I'm in Lovewith a Big Blue Frog" playing) I'm in love with a big blue frog A big blue frog loves me It's not as bad as it appears He wears glassesand is six-foot-three Well, I'm not worried about our kids I know they'll turn out neat They'll be good-looking'cause they'll have my face Great swimmers'cause they'll have his feet

She's in love with a big blue frog A big blue frog loves me It's not as bad as it appears She's got rhythm and a PhD Well, I know we can make things work He's got good family sense His mother was a frogfrom Philadelphia His daddy, an enchanted prince Well, she's in lovewith a big blue frog A big blue frog loves me It's not as bad as it appears He's got family who are royalty (imitating frog croaks rhythmically)

Ah! My parents are against it,and I think they feel My affection is just a whim They're afraid thatthe marriage won't work out Unless I finally learn to swim Well, she's in lovewith a big blue frog A big blue frog loves me We've got our very own family crest It says P-H-R-O-G Frog to me P-H-R-O-G... (imitating frog croaks rhythmically) (song ends) Pop bottles pop bottles in a pop shop. Poor Pop drops the pop bottlepop bottles.

Pop mops pop bottle slop. (train whistles) Say, the wheels in your mindbegin to turn Ideas in your brain begin to burn You rhyme up a poemor think of a skit You whip up a goodieor some other bit A theme for a rap, riddles or jokes A do or a barrel,a song for the folks Then take your creationfirmly in hand And send it to ZOOMas soon as you can. We need you So won't you ZOOM,ZOOM, ZOOM-a ZOOM? Come on and ZOOM-a,ZOOM-a, ZOOM-a ZOOM Come on, give it a try We're gonna reach for the sky You can help us to fly high Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM

Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM Come on and ZOOM Come on and ZOOM ZOOM (fading): Come on and ZOOM... Major funding for ZOOM isprovided by a grantfrom General Foods Corporation, and by public television stations. Additional support is provided by unrestricted general program grants from the Corporationfor Public Broadcasting and the Ford Foundation.