WEBVTT - An Open Letter To Lauren... She Needs To Hear This

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, and welcome back to the Mathsphony Podcast with Me

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<v Speaker 1>Joshua Fox. In tonight's episode and Married at First Sight,

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<v Speaker 1>we all watched Lauren cement herself as a superficial, judgmental,

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<v Speaker 1>and just around unpleasant person, to the point that I've

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<v Speaker 1>just angrily wrote an open letter to Lauren that I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to read. But before I get to that, Between

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<v Speaker 1>all of her remarks about the other coas members being

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<v Speaker 1>boganic and whatever she said and too loud and rowdy

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<v Speaker 1>for her, this remark I'm about to play is the

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<v Speaker 1>one that's pissed me off the most.

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<v Speaker 2>These people are just not my cup of tea.

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<v Speaker 1>Athena is going.

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<v Speaker 2>To be screaming, her nylon hair extensions are going to

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<v Speaker 2>be blowing in the wind. Hopefully Athena brings a dice

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<v Speaker 2>in to the trip so she can like do it

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<v Speaker 2>once over on her head, so we don't end up

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<v Speaker 2>with nylon hair extensions all through the hallway like we

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<v Speaker 2>have here.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know why that comment has infuriated me more

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<v Speaker 1>than anything else, Lauren said during tonight's episode, it's because

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<v Speaker 1>of this suggestion that what Athene is worth as a

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<v Speaker 1>person is determined solely by the type of hair extend

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<v Speaker 1>that she has. Now I remember this is Athena, who

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<v Speaker 1>is a single mum and presumably her biggest priority once

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<v Speaker 1>pay day comes around, is feeding her son and keeping

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<v Speaker 1>a roof over their head during a literal cost of

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<v Speaker 1>living crisis, Lauren, and you know, by a time when

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<v Speaker 1>most families are struggling to pay for most things. This

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<v Speaker 1>is also Afena, who works in age care, Lauren, a

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<v Speaker 1>selfless job that isn't glamorous, and it isn't pretty, and

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<v Speaker 1>as far as I'm aware, doesn't necessarily pay great.

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<v Speaker 3>But you know what a job like that does do, Lauren.

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<v Speaker 3>It tells me the kind of person Afena is.

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<v Speaker 1>She's caring, she's compassionate, she's kind, And these, Lauren, are

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<v Speaker 1>all the traits we are yet to see in you.

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<v Speaker 1>The reason I'm angry about this is because I come

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<v Speaker 1>from a very working class background. I didn't grow up

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<v Speaker 1>with money. I didn't grow up in a family where

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<v Speaker 1>we could splash out on designer things and present ourselves

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<v Speaker 1>in a certain way with.

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<v Speaker 3>The best products or whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>And when I turned twenty one and got offered an

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<v Speaker 1>internship that took me from you know, the government housing estate,

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<v Speaker 1>I grew up in Manchester to suddenly working in the

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<v Speaker 1>media in London. I constantly faced so many little snide

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<v Speaker 1>remarks like that one from Lauren about Athenis hair extensions.

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<v Speaker 1>It was always like just little comments and remarks about

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<v Speaker 1>the way I spoke my accent because it's quite northern,

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<v Speaker 1>which in the UK's classters, you know, the working class

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<v Speaker 1>part of England.

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<v Speaker 3>And it was comments about maybe what I.

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<v Speaker 1>Was wearing, why I wasn't a certain brand, and all

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<v Speaker 1>these things that other people wouldn't necessarily notice, but to

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<v Speaker 1>me I understood they were subtle ways of people also

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<v Speaker 1>in the media making it clear to me that me

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<v Speaker 1>being where I'm from and presenting myself as they do

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<v Speaker 1>made others believe they were genuinely above me. Even working

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<v Speaker 1>my first ever season, I married at First Sight back

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<v Speaker 1>in twenty seventeen. I won't mention who this bride was,

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<v Speaker 1>but I just landed in Sydney as a backpacker. I

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<v Speaker 1>was figuring things out. I didn't have any money, I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't have much to my name, and I got a

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<v Speaker 1>job for a few months working at a magazine and

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<v Speaker 1>one day we were doing a photoshoot with all the

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<v Speaker 1>brides from that season, and in between, like the cast

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<v Speaker 1>doing individual shots, most of us were sat around like

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<v Speaker 1>this big table on set which had like snacks and shit,

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<v Speaker 1>and my colleague would be taking people one by one

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<v Speaker 1>for interviews on the side. And I remember, while like

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<v Speaker 1>all of us were sat around this table, there was

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<v Speaker 1>one moment where I wanted the brides and I'm laughing

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<v Speaker 1>because like, I've never forgot this, but this bride. She

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<v Speaker 1>said to me as I picked my phone up from

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<v Speaker 1>the table to go do another interview, she went, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>is that an iPhone eleven or whatever the older iPhone

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<v Speaker 1>model was back then at that time. And she said

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<v Speaker 1>this in front of everybody else on the table, and

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<v Speaker 1>she said this in a way of why do you

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<v Speaker 1>have that iPhone?

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<v Speaker 3>It's so old?

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<v Speaker 1>No, like there's been three new models since then. And

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<v Speaker 1>to me, there was no question about why she made

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<v Speaker 1>that remark other than this belief that she genuinely thought

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<v Speaker 1>she was better than me, as she had the latest

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<v Speaker 1>iPhone model, which I didn't have because I couldn't afford it.

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<v Speaker 1>And at the time, I remember just replying to her like, ah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it is the iPhone eleven.

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<v Speaker 3>Full stop, as in like yeah, and I remember once.

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<v Speaker 1>We finished that photo shoot that day, I went back

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<v Speaker 1>to my friend's apartment afterwards, because as I said, I

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<v Speaker 1>was a backpacker, I didn't have much money, and I

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<v Speaker 1>was sleeping on the floor on an inflatable mattress in

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<v Speaker 1>his studio apartment on the North Shore. And as I

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<v Speaker 1>got back to my friend's place, I remember thinking like, fuck,

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<v Speaker 1>how am I ever gonna fit into life here in

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<v Speaker 1>Sydney if I can't even afford the latest iPhone? And

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<v Speaker 1>it kind of like messed with my head a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit for a few days, and over time I realized,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what fucked that bride? And fuck how superficial

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<v Speaker 1>people can be, especially here in Sydney. But I've just

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<v Speaker 1>never forgot that one incident. And yeah, that hair extension

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<v Speaker 1>comment from Lauren again just reminded me of that and

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<v Speaker 1>led to me writing this open letter I will read now,

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<v Speaker 1>which I suppose I wish I wrote back then to

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<v Speaker 1>the bride who made that iPhone comment to me. I

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<v Speaker 1>literally hand wrote this, let me get my paper, dear

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren from that she is.

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<v Speaker 3>Married At first sight.

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<v Speaker 1>Firstly, it's outstanding that at thirty seven years old you

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<v Speaker 1>can have such little in life, I loky. You want

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<v Speaker 1>to say that the level of delusion you live your

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<v Speaker 1>life with is kind of impressive, but it's not.

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<v Speaker 3>It's just sad.

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<v Speaker 1>Your genuine belief that someone's entire worth as a person

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<v Speaker 1>is determined by material possessions is also just sad too,

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<v Speaker 1>as is the fact that you genuinely see yourself as

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<v Speaker 1>superior over others because of the things you may wear

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<v Speaker 1>or the way you may look and present yourself to

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<v Speaker 1>the world. Judge people on their actions, judge people on

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<v Speaker 1>how they behave towards you or in your presence, and

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<v Speaker 1>judge them on the things they say and do, and

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<v Speaker 1>not for anything other than those things. Looking down on

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<v Speaker 1>people like you do isn't funny, It isn't comical, It

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<v Speaker 1>isn't cute. It doesn't make you likable or endearing in

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<v Speaker 1>any way whatsoever. As I said, it's just sad to

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<v Speaker 1>see you are Lauren, a thirty seven year old woman,

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<v Speaker 1>So just grow up. I hope that one day you

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<v Speaker 1>reach a point in your life where you realize that

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<v Speaker 1>the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the type

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<v Speaker 1>of hair extensions you wear, or the model of iPhone

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<v Speaker 1>you have means nothing. It bears no reflection to who

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<v Speaker 1>you are as a person or you're standing in society.

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<v Speaker 1>Go read the news, Lauren, go look at the world

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<v Speaker 1>around you, and please go gain some perspective. And until

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<v Speaker 1>you do that, I assume you'll be indefinitely single because

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<v Speaker 1>any guy you may attract because of your nice clothes

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<v Speaker 1>or expensive hair extensions will eventually see past all of

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<v Speaker 1>that as your personality eventually takes over. And sadly, Lauren,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't buy a nice one of those. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, have a nice day, and that's all I've

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<v Speaker 1>got for today's episode of this podcast. Goodbye and good

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<v Speaker 1>night friends. I don't really know what the point of

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<v Speaker 1>this was. It's just that fucking hair extension comment like

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<v Speaker 1>riled me up so much that I was compelled to

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<v Speaker 1>literally bring pen to paper.