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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WgvnYkiLIA&feature=kp GREENBERG People don’t call on my birthday anymore. I guess I don’t call people on their birthdays, why should they call me? I didn’t call you. When is yours? IVAN In February. GREENBERG That’s right. I’ll call you this year. People at another table erupt into loud laughter. One guy guffaws and claps. Greenberg glances over at them, irritated. GREENBERG Laughing already demonstrates appreciation, the applause seems superfluous. Ivan laughs. The guy at the table stretches out his legs. GREENBERG Also, it’s like, just treat the * restaurant like it’s your living room, * guy... * (pause) I’m weirdly on tonight. IVAN Should we order? GREENBERG I was reading an article in the paper this morning about someone running for office and they gave his age as 41 and my first thought was, that guy’s an adult. Adults run for office. IVAN Right. GREENBERG But what I’m not thinking is, “I’m 41 too.” If I was in the paper, that would be my age. IVAN I know, it’s like when I look at my highschool yearbook now, the seniors still look so old. GREENBERG Maybe I should’ve invited Florence. Or I should’ve had a party...I don’t know. IVAN Birthday’s are hard. GREENBERG It’s weird aging, right? It’s like, “What the fuck is going on?” IVAN I know. It’s like that Eddie Money song. GREENBERG I mean, you know it’s happening. We’re all playing by the same rules and still...somewhere in the back of my head I thought I’d never actually be forty. Let alone...over forty. IVAN * It’s heavy, forty. * GREENBERG * It’s a chunky word. * IVAN Youth is wasted on the young. GREENBERG I’d go further, I’d go, life is wasted on...people. (sighs) Should I invite her? It doesn’t have to mean anything. I don’t want to set up a series of expectations with her. What do you think? The birthday scene is a snapshot of everything Greenberg is struggling with up until this point. Uncomfortable with his own life and his age. Uncomfortable with aging. A loathing for humanity, which unfortunately includes himself. Nothing seems right, which leads to the explosive end to this scene. You gotta watch it to believe it. It's ridiculous.