“Hi. I can't seem to leave a wink for someone.”
Why it's great
It turns a small, embarrassing request into polite, self-deprecating help-seeking.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
I can't seem to log into my account today.
00:00 / 02:18
00:00 / 02:18
Walter Calls eHarmony for Help, Explained
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty · 2013
Chapter 1 of 16 · 2'18"
Walter phones a dating site's support line because he cannot leave a wink for the woman he likes at work. He suspects the problem is his own page, and the agent's advice is to stop skipping sections of his profile. Then Walter goes quiet mid-call: he has drifted into another daydream.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–0:59
Walter Calls eHarmony for Help
57s - 1:20–2:05
Walter's Daydream Rescue
44s
Walter Calls eHarmony for Help, explained
What happens
Walter calls the support line for a dating website, trying to work out why he cannot leave a wink for Cheryl, the new woman in his office. The agent tells him to stop leaving parts of his profile blank. Mid-sentence, Walter zones out, and the film cuts to a daydream of him rescuing a dog from a burning building.
What's really going on
The scene sets up the whole film in a phone call. Walter cannot manage the smallest act of connection — leaving a wink on a dating site — and the reason, he half-jokes, is that he has nothing to put in his profile: "I haven't really been anywhere noteworthy or mentionable." His answer is not to fix the profile but to disappear inward, and the film shows us what that looks like when he zones out and becomes the hero of a burning building, saving the dog and building it a new leg. "No, I just like, zoned out for a second," he says on returning, as if that were normal. The gap between the man on the phone and the man in the daydream is the entire subject of the story.
Key lines & what they mean
- “Hi. I can't seem to leave a wink for someone.”
- Walter's opening problem, stated with the same helplessness that defines his life.
- “I don't know, is my page broken?”
- His first instinct is to blame the tool rather than admit he does not know how to connect.
- “Okay, you got to help me out here, man.”
- The point where the call stops being customer service and becomes a plea for direction.
- “I engineered a prosthesis for Chips while I was sprinting down the stairwell.”
- The daydream's absurd competence: in his head he is capable of anything, instantly.
- “I just live by the ABC's: Adventurous, Brave, Creative.”
- The imagined motto that sounds heroic and is the opposite of how he actually lives.
- “No, I just like, zoned out for a second.”
- The deflating return to reality, delivered as though it were nothing.
Theme
- Dreams — Walter escapes a dull real-life phone call into a heroic daydream where he saves a dog from a fire.
- Loneliness — He cannot even leave a wink online, and his profile is empty because he feels he has done nothing worth telling.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level3/7
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“I don't know, is my page broken?”
Why it's great
Blame the page, not yourself: a small joke that hides his real shyness.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
I don't know, is the site down for you too?
“Okay, you got to help me out here, man.”
Why it's great
A friendly plea that leans on the other person and softens the ask.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
You got to help me out here, I'm stuck.
“I engineered a prosthesis for Chips while I was sprinting down the stairwell.”
Why it's great
The calm technical phrasing makes the absurd daydream land as deadpan comedy.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
I patched the app while I was running to the meeting.
“I just live by the ABC's: Adventurous, Brave, Creative.”
Why it's great
A tidy three-word creed that sounds heroic and a little goofy at once.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
I just live by one rule: keep it simple.
“No, I just like, zoned out for a second.”
Why it's great
It owns a blank-out moment without drama, the like softening the confession.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
Sorry, I zoned out for a second, say that again?
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: your progress
Chapter 1 of 16 · about 58 min to go
Up next · 02play outThe scene: The Office Learns It's AcquiredTakeaways
What you walk away with- Blaming the page is easier than admitting shyness.
- Customer-service calm makes the daydream funnier.
- Zoning out is confessed, not hidden, in this call.
- A small wink takes more courage than a rescue.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy is Walter calling customer support?
He is trying to leave a wink for Cheryl on a dating site and cannot make it work. He calls support because he thinks his own page might be broken.
What does the support agent tell him?
The agent says the matching algorithm is precise, then points out that Walter left large parts of his profile blank, including the 'Been There, Done That' section, and tells him not to skip things.
Who is Cheryl?
A woman who started in Walter's division about a month ago. He overheard her near the bagels saying she was on the dating site, which is why he signed up.
What happens during the phone call?
Walter zones out and daydreams that he rescues a dog named Chips from a burning building and builds it a prosthetic leg. Then he snaps back and says he just drifted off for a second.