The Pony Remark

20-11-2007

"HELEN: (changing subject) So, did you hear Claire's getting married?
MANYA: Yeah, yeah..
HELEN: I hear the fella owns a couple of racehorses. You know, trotters, like at Yonkers.
JERRY: Horses. They're like big riding dogs.
ELAINE: What about ponies? What kind of abnormal animal is that? And those kids who had their own ponies..
JERRY: I know, I hated those kids. In fact, I hate anyone that ever had a pony when they were growing up.
MANYA: ..I had a pony.
(The room is dead quiet)
JERRY: ..Well, I didn't really mean a pony, per se.
MANYA: (Angry) When I was a little girl in Poland, we all had ponies. My sister had pony, my cousin had pony, ..So, what's wrong with that?
JERRY: Nothing. Nothing at all. I was just merely expressting..
HELEN: Should we have coffee? Who's having coffee?
MANYA: He was a beautiful pony! And I loved him.
JERRY: Well, I'm sure you did. Who wouldn't love a pony? Who wouldn't love a person that had a pony?
MANYA: You! You said so!
JERRY: No, see, we didn't have ponies. I'm sure at the time in Poland, they were very common. They were probably like compact cars..
MANYA: That's it! I've had enough! (She leaves the room)
ISAAC: Have your coffee, everyone. She's a little upset. It's been an emotional day.
(Isaac leaves, everyone looks at Jerry)
JERRY: I didn't know she had a pony. How was I to know she had a pony? Who figures an immigrant's going to have a pony? Do you know what the odds are on that? I mean, in all the pictures I saw of immigrants on boats coming into New York harbor, I never saw one of them sitting on a pony. Why would anybody come here if they had a pony? Who leaves a country packed with ponies to come to a non-pony country? It doesn't make sense.. am I wrong?"

Seinfeld