1) John is a homeless man who is seen sleeping in bushes on a college campus. He searches through trash for food and attempts to steal a student's lunch before being confronted. 2) Under a bridge, John witnesses a student drop his wallet but has an internal struggle over whether to take the money or return it. 3) John ultimately decides to return the wallet to the student, who rewards him with $20, recognizing his honesty. John leaves with a smile, having been shown unexpected kindness.

1. POOR JUDGEMENT
Written by
Andrew Loughlin

2. FADE IN:
EXT. AUBUCHON HALL - DAY
We see JOHN sleeping in the bushes, aged 25-30, wearing worn-
out, dirty cloths. Such as heavy Jacket over a sweatshirt, a
snow cap, torn jeans, dirty sneakers, and fingerless gloves.
He picks himself up and stumbles out of the bushes. He trips,
and lands on MALE STUDENT A. Student A reacts by pushing him
off. John lands on the ground.
STUDENT A
Get the hell off me!
John gets back up, brushes himself off, and walks away.
EXT. RUSSELL TOWERS - DAY
JOHN walks up to a trash can and starts to look in the trash
can for food.
Two GIRLS spot this and start snickering while walking past
him.
John picks up a brown paper bag, looks inside it, and then
throws it back in the trash in frustration. John then looks
over his shoulder and spots the girls snickering. He rolls
his eyes and continues looking through the garbage.
John picks up a can, looks inside, and drops it back in. He
then stops looking in the trash can and walks away.
EXT. DINING HALL - DAY
FEMALE STUDENT is sitting on a bench with her lunch bag. The
student’s phone starts to ring and she answers it.
FEMALE STUDENT
Hello? Oh hi mom!
We then see John crawling behind the bench.
FEMALE STUDENT (CONT’D)
Everything doing good here!
John then starts to pick up the lunch bag slowly.
FEMALE STUDENT (CONT’D)
I have to go mom! I’m going to be
late to class! Bye!

3. The female student looks at her lunch bag and then at John.
John then sheepishly grins.
FEMALE STUDENT (CONT’D)
GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY STUFF!
She then slaps John in the face, John let’s go of the bag,
and the female student runs off. John sighs and walks to the
stairs.
John begins to move very slowly up the stairs, clenching his
stomach. He then walks through the door
INT. DINING HALL - DAY
John walks past the cash register. The EMPLOYEE behind the
cash register puts their arm out to stop John
EMPLOYEE
I need to see your student card to
let pass through here.
John shrugs.
EMPLOYEE (CONT’D)
Get out of here!
Employee then pushes John away. John then gives the employee
the stink eye and walks away.
John then stops in front of the glass the seperates him from
the people eating. He sees PEOPLE in the dining hall enjoying
their meals and the conversations among their friends
His stomach makes a loud grumbling noise of hunger and his
faces frowns in pain. He looks through his pockets to find
that he has no money. He leaves throughout the door skulking
into:
EXT. DINING HALL - DAY
John skulks from the front door to the stairs.
EXT. UNDER BRIDGE - DAY
John walks under the bridge and then crawls up the hill until
his heads touches the top. His face shows discomfort. The
sound of a stomach rumbling can be heard and John grasps his
belly. He then gets in the fetal position.
2.

4. Suddenly we see ALEX and OTHER GUY walk up to each other,
with John seen in the background, trying to stay awake.
MALE STUDENT C
Hey? Do you have the money you owe
me?
Alex nods his head, reaches into his back pocket to get his
wallet. Alex then pulls ten dollars out of the wallet
ALEX
Alright, alright. Here’s the ten
bucks I owe you.
Other Guy takes the money out of Alex’s hands
MALE STUDENT C
Nice! Are you sure you don’t need
this ten?
ALEX
Pfft, no! I just got my paycheck
yesterday. Losing a ten means
nothing to me! See ya around man.
MALE STUDENT
Bye!
The two bump their fists together and part ways in the
opposite directions. Yet Alex’s wallet falls to the ground.
John’s eyes open widely. He then darts out from under the
bridge and grabs the wallet.
He looks inside the wallet, showing a good sum of cash.
He stares at the wallet and looks at an unaware Alex who is
messing with his phone.
John stands up. He then looks down at the wallet then looks
back up at Alex. He then starts to intently stare down Alex
EXT. HAMMOND BUILDING - DREAM
John, full of pride walks up to Alex and presents the wallet
to him
JOHN
I do believe this wallet is yours
good sir.
(MORE)
3.

5. Now, shall we discuss the award for
finding and returning the wallet to
you?
Alex biting his lower lip, preventing himself from laughing,
swipes the wallet.
ALEX
You have got to be kidding me! Why
the hell would I give a bum like
you money? Why don’t you go rot
somewhere far and away so we don’t
have care about you. Not that we do
anyway!
Alex starts laughing hysterically and runs off leaving John
stomping his foot in the ground repeatedly.
EXT. UNDER BRIDGE - DAY
With an angry look on his face, John spits at the ground. He
then looks inside of the wallet seeing the cash again. He
then starts to intently stare at the wallet
EXT. UNDER BRIDGE - DREAM
John crawls out from under the bridge, stands up, pulls the
money out of the wallet and walks off with a smile on his
face.
INT. DINING HALL - DREAM LATER
John is now wearing nicer clothes, surrounded by plates of
food, and eating said food by the forkful. He’s surrounded by
many PEOPLE cheering.
More and more people surround John, cheering him on. John
then steps up onto the table and starts throwing money into
the air, all while John is laughing. The crowds volume starts
to increase tenfold.
John then sees Alex wearing his poor cloths, his hands
pressed against the glass, and a depressed look on his face.
JOHN (CONT'D)
4.

6. John face goes from being happy to extreme horror.
EXT. UNDER BRIDGE - DAY
John lets out a depressed sigh and slowly puts his right hand
down.
John crawls out from under the bridge, stands up and walks
towards Alex.
EXT. HAMMOND BUILDING - LATER
John walks up to Alex, who is still on his cell phone. John
taps Alex on the shoulder. Alex turns around and gasps.
ALEX
Geez dude, you scared me!
JOHN
Sorry...
John sheepishly raises the wallet for Alex to see
JOHN (CONT’D)
...I, think you dropped this. I
didn’t take any of the money
inside.
Alex takes the wallet out of John’s hand. John turns around.
JOHN (CONT’D)
I’ll just be on my way. May life be
kinder to you than it is to me.
John starts to walk away from Alex. Alex looks down at the
wallet with grimace on his face. He then looks back up at
John with fire in his eyes. Alex starts walking towards John
with determination.
ALEX
Wait!
John turns around to see Alex with his wallet. Alex reaches
into his wallet.
JOHN
What are you doing?
Alex pulls out a twenty.
5.

7. JOHN (CONT’D)
Hey, I don’t deserve that. You’re
wasting your money on me.
ALEX
I don’t think any one else would of
given me back my wallet. I think
you deserve this. Do something with
it.
JOHN
...but what about you?
ALEX
I have plenty of money. Don’t worry
about me. Have a nice day, sir.
Alex forces the twenty into John’s hands and walks off
screen. John stares down at the twenty and then looks back up
with a smirk on his face. John then turns around and walks
away.
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END
6.