I just want one (1) normal holiday tradition. But at Abbott, normal means Mr. Johnson putting a cardboard dreidel in the turtle tank. SCENE 3 – CLASSROOM 103 – AFTERNOON

Breathe in, Barbara. Breathe out. Feel the Chanukah‑Kwanzaa‑Yule convergence.

They’re serving “figgy pudding” in the cafeteria. It’s just a canned pear with a marshmallow on fire. You in?

[SOUND of a microwave beeping, low chatter. The lounge is decorated with a lopsided paper menorah and a half-torn string of Christmas lights. JANINE enters carrying a Tupperware of stale latkes.]

[Camera pans to a three‑foot plastic tree in the corner, leaning. On top: a pickle ornament.]