1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:03,360 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Sam. This is John, the og story 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: Time podcast host. Oh yeah, we got some great stories 3 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: coming up. 4 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,639 Speaker 2: But before that we get a teeny two minute break 5 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 2: from the sponsors that keep the show propped up like 6 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 2: a little house. 7 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, my. 8 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,159 Speaker 3: Boss is forcing us to send our medical records and 9 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 3: it backfired on him. 10 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, it sounds like the most illegal thing you could 11 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: possibly do. 12 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 3: First of all, a bit of misleading title, as the 13 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 3: person in this situation is not me but my friend. Second, 14 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 3: this is going to be fairly long and perhaps unnecessarily 15 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 3: context heavy. It's not an urgent request for answers, and 16 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 3: I hope this will be more interesting than boring, even 17 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 3: if it is long winded. And by the way, this 18 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 3: comes from OMG, can they do that? And if you 19 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 3: want to submit your own stories, go to the r 20 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 3: slash Okay Storytime supredit. 21 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: And I'm Angie, I'm new Koda. 22 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 3: And we're here to give good advice. Goofily. But we 23 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 3: don't have all the answers. We're just gonna guess what 24 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 3: we would do in the situation. Let us know what 25 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 3: you would do in the comments. So to get to 26 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 3: the main issue, though, one of my friends coworkers passed 27 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 3: away while at work last month. It was apparently a 28 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 3: massive heart attack. He was under fifty, so it shocked 29 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,839 Speaker 3: everyone more so than it happened literally at his desk 30 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 3: in the middle of a shared open plan office. While 31 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 3: at the wake, my friends and the deceased's direct boss 32 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 3: was talking to some family members and informally learned that 33 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 3: the worker who passed away had some existing high blood 34 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 3: pressure and other health problems that he had been neglecting 35 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 3: to treat. Relatives apparently think he would not have passed 36 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 3: away had even more vigilant with his health a moot point, 37 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 3: and certainly none of his boss or coworker's businesses. The 38 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 3: boss took the situation pretty hard. I gather he was 39 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 3: extremely freaked out on the day of the incident, and 40 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 3: the information that the worker had a pre existing medical 41 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 3: condition that could have potentially predicted what would have happened 42 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 3: seems to have sparked the idea in his head. On Friday, 43 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 3: he announced to the office as a whole, all twenty 44 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 3: ish of his direct reports, part of a larger company 45 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 3: of two hundred and fifty to three hundred people, that 46 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 3: he was giving them until May first, specifically after tax season. 47 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 3: Because he thinks he is being nice and is unnecessarily 48 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 3: accommodating of people's time to provide him personally, not HR, 49 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 3: not higher execs, just him quote updated copy of your 50 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 3: full medical history. According to him, this means a visit 51 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 3: with a PCP slash GP quote no less than six 52 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 3: months prior to the do date and fully accounting by 53 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 3: the doctor for all at risk health factors and a 54 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 3: full further accounting of all risk factors in your full 55 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 3: medical history. These are direct quotes he gave everyone a memo. 56 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 3: The wording in the memo is pretty basic directions in 57 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 3: poorly thought out legalies, some of almost stream of consciousness style. 58 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 3: He is in a habit of dictating to his assistant 59 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 3: and gets uptight about her recording exactly what he said 60 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 3: rather than rewording things to make more sense, even with 61 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 3: important correspondence. He is claiming this policy will allow him 62 00:02:59,919 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 3: to prevent further trauma inducing incidents like a coworker passing 63 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 3: away very suddenly at his desk a few feet away, 64 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 3: and honestly seems to believe this will protect the company 65 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 3: from legal intimidation in case anyone wants to sue for 66 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 3: the trauma of witnessing a passing in the workplace. I 67 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 3: guess the idea is that if he knows a coworker 68 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 3: is likely to pass away suddenly, he can fire them 69 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 3: first to prevent anything from falling back on him or 70 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,519 Speaker 3: the company. It doesn't seem to make much sense on 71 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 3: the surface, and I can't guess if this is truly 72 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 3: his real motivation. Also, as if a medical history could 73 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 3: accurately predict sudden passings of that type, he is clearly 74 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 3: not rational on this plan. Honestly, to me, it sounds 75 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 3: like he was freaked out by witnessing the incident himself. 76 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 3: When the thought crossed his mind to sue the company 77 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 3: for his own trauma. It eventually turned into an idea 78 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 3: to play it as if he were a good policymaker 79 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 3: trying to protect the company from legal trouble from people 80 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 3: like himself. Apparently, he's been angling for a promotion for 81 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 3: years and has in the past already come up with 82 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 3: some hair brained schemes to suck up to his own bosses. Anyway, 83 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 3: my friend is pretty level headed, and her immediate instinct 84 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 3: is to go to HR on Monday and let them 85 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 3: know what's going on. But the way she presented this 86 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 3: story to me gave me pause. She described it casually 87 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 3: over drinks last night, in a manner like, listen to 88 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 3: this completely illegal thing my boss is trying to do. 89 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 3: It does seem to me like he is crossing some 90 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 3: dubious legal lines. But I've been lurking here long enough 91 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 3: to see a lot of people come in with workplace 92 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 3: issues they are sure are one hundred percent against the law, 93 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 3: and it often turns out the answer to can they 94 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 3: do this is yep. I think the question of is 95 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 3: this stupid for my boss to do and should I 96 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 3: bring it to HR SLASH higher ups is a pretty 97 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 3: clear yes, since it doesn't have to be illegal for 98 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 3: HR to have other reasons to want to shut this 99 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 3: down immediately. Still, I'm curious about the actual legality of 100 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 3: what this blowhard is planning. 101 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: This is about confidential medical history. Yeah, this isn't something 102 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: your boss you just have on hand without any o oversight, 103 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: you know, dictating how he uses it, because he could 104 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: theoretically now fire people based on their medical history without 105 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: anyone in the company being made aware of it, and 106 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: that would be a massive lawsuit at the end of that. 107 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: So they don't want this your company would not want 108 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: him to have access to this. 109 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, it might not be illegal, but also I feel 110 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 3: like it probably would be. But it's also kind of like, 111 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 3: what is he gonna do though, Like, what is he 112 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 3: gonna do with all that and medical information? Is he's 113 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 3: just gonna be like, hey, guys, you have to be 114 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 3: treated for your ailments or else you're gonna pass away 115 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 3: in the workplace. Personally, I just can't handle it. 116 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: She's just like, I want to be a doctor. Yeah, 117 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: I was in the wrong field. I should have been 118 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: a doctor. I'm gonna trust every last one of you 119 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: as my patients. 120 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 3: Just got off the phone with my friend a few 121 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 3: minutes ago, and it is official. Boss is now ex Boss. 122 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 3: My friend did in fact go to HR as she 123 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 3: was planning and laid out the situation for them. They 124 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 3: seemed concerned and assured her that they would look into it, 125 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 3: and then shed no more of it for about a week. 126 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 3: X Boss was also suspiciously quiet about the policy during 127 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 3: that time period until last Monday, when he was not 128 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 3: even in the office. There was no explanation given to 129 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 3: the office at large, but my friend spoke to his 130 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 3: assistant and from the information she got pieced together that 131 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,919 Speaker 3: he was in some sort of long important meetings with 132 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 3: corporate HR, and he would then be taking the rest 133 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 3: of the week on personally. The weekend passed and he 134 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 3: didn't return. The office was in limbo for the beginning 135 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,919 Speaker 3: of this week, but today someone came down from corporate 136 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 3: and announced that X boss was officially no longer working 137 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 3: for the company, and that new corporate guy would be 138 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 3: serving as their temporary supervisor until a new one was hired. Obviously, 139 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 3: everything largely went on behind the scenes, but since my 140 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 3: friend was the one to blow the whistle to her 141 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 3: friend in HR, yes, I did see the comments on 142 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 3: the previous thread about how HR is never your friend 143 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 3: o wo. She managed to get a couple of d 144 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 3: details at lunch about it. The way it all went down, Apparently, 145 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 3: Corporate was quickly and heavily concerned about X Boss's scheming 146 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 3: because he had a history of dumb ideas that blew 147 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,239 Speaker 3: up in his or someone else's face. In the past, 148 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 3: he always managed to take the heat off himself by 149 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 3: throwing someone else under the bus. When local HR came 150 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 3: to tell him that this new policy was officially very stupid, 151 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 3: it would cause him in the company far more liability 152 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 3: than he could possibly save them from. Sorry that she said, 153 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 3: I'm covering my butt right now. 154 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, so funny. I've never heard that. 155 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 3: He threw a temper tantrum and insisted that the higher 156 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 3: execs would understand what a good idea it was. The 157 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 3: meetings with corporate were initially them trying to talk him 158 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 3: down and explain why he was wrong. He resisted this 159 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 3: strongly and turned them into seminars on why he was 160 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 3: actually right. Eventually a VP got involved and it was over. 161 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 3: X Boss was not technically fired, but was strongly encouraged 162 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 3: to submit his rest nation. He will not be getting 163 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 3: any reference other than a confirmation that he did, in 164 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 3: fact work there. My friend hasn't personally heard anything from 165 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 3: the guy since he's suddenly disappeared from the office. If 166 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 3: he's contacted any of her coworkers, they didn't share it 167 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 3: with her. She's pretty excited to see the last of him, 168 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 3: and is hoping her new boss will be less of them. 169 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 3: More on, Apparently, one of her longtime coworkers, who has 170 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 3: always been a bit of a mentor figure to her, 171 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 3: is being considered for a promotion internally instead of them 172 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 3: hiring someone new as a supervisor, so my friend might 173 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 3: even materially benefit from this fiasco. Again, my thanks to 174 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 3: everyone he provided info and advice, and to those who 175 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,839 Speaker 3: were just supportive. I did drop off commenting after a 176 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 3: few hours because i do browse Reddit most of my 177 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 3: workday and I'm paranoid about accidentally commenting with my man 178 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 3: when I mean to use my throwaway and vice versa. 179 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 3: So I just stayed logged out of this account. Sorry 180 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 3: for the lack of real time clarification, but hopefully this 181 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 3: update makes up for it. That's the end of that story. 182 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 3: I want to hear you your comments, Dakota. 183 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: I'm glad that your friend is getting something materially out 184 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: of this. Yeah. Funny enough, that's the exact thing. He 185 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: was like, I'm gonna save the company money and whatever. 186 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: I don't know. Sometimes you just gotta let people, you know, 187 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: destroy themselves. 188 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 3: Yeah. 189 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: And it didn't even really sound like this guy was 190 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: doing anything like super evil. He was just dumb. 191 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 3: It's just very stupid. And I was like, hey, Bud, 192 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 3: that's legal. 193 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like hey, and even to the point where 194 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: the company's like hey, so kind of like blanket asking 195 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: everyone of your direct reports for their confidential private medical history. 196 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 3: Right. 197 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,319 Speaker 1: Kind of can't work here anymore, buddy, So just go 198 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: ahead and resign. We won't fire you, so it won't 199 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: look bad on you. But you gotta get out of here. Yeah, 200 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: because you asked for their medical records to save us 201 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: money after one of their coworkers keeled over it their desk, 202 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: had a heart attack in the middle of the day. 203 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, dude, you can't. It's run for so many reasons, 204 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 3: so many of them. But that is the end of 205 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 3: that story. 206 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,959 Speaker 1: My husband stopped inviting me to work events. I think 207 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: he's ashamed of me. 208 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he is too. 209 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: My husband and I have been together for nine years. 210 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: He started his company with some friends a year after 211 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,319 Speaker 1: we got together. He is the major owner and they 212 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: now have one hundred and twenty employees, about eighty percent 213 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: of them men. By the way, this comes from a 214 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: deleted user and if you want to submit your own stories, 215 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: go to the r slash Showcay storytime subredded. I'm Dakota, 216 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: I'm Angie. We are here to give you good advice. Goofully, 217 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: but we don't have all the answers. We only know 218 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: what we would do, so let us know what you 219 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: would do in the comments. About a year ago, my 220 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: husband stopped taking me to company parties, events, dinners, and 221 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: other work functions. He always came up with some excuse 222 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: to take my mother in law instead or another family member. 223 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,319 Speaker 1: Sometimes he didn't even tell me there was an event 224 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: and just went by himself to the smaller ones. He 225 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: said it was because he wanted the rest of the 226 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: family to sell him too. I was a bit hurt, 227 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 1: but I thought, yeah, he's probably right. Now he's in 228 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: a big city in Europe for a major product launch. 229 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: He took my sister in law with him. I admit 230 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: that I cried when he excluded me this time because 231 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: it was such a big deal for his company. But 232 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: he promised to take me on a luxury vacation instead, 233 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: just the two of us. That's his new thing. Every 234 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: time I'm excluded, I get a trip or jewelry. I'm 235 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: good friends with the other wives of the company owners. 236 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: One of them is eight months preggorino, so she didn't 237 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: go on that trip either. She was surprised to hear 238 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: that I was home too, so we planned a lunch. 239 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: During lunch, she told me about an incident that happened 240 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: at my husband's work. Apparently in one of the conference rooms, 241 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: somebody forgot to turn off the projector from the previous meeting. 242 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: The conference rooms are located in the middle of the office, 243 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: with glass walls and doors so everyone could see inside. 244 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,679 Speaker 1: On the big screen, there was a list of names 245 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: the wives of the owners and some of the management team. 246 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: My name was first on the list, marked as one 247 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: with numbers two through ten empty, then another name at eleven. 248 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: My husband heard about this and launched an internal investigation. 249 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: It turned out that a group of coworkers had been 250 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: ranking the wives front airbags for fun. 251 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 3: Oh shoot, that is so not what I was expecting. 252 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: My husband was furious. The wife who told me about 253 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: it was surprised that I didn't know, because the whole 254 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: situation had created quite a buzz at the company. Her 255 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: husband told her about it, and she assumed mine had 256 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: told me too, but he hadn't. When I asked her 257 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,439 Speaker 1: when this happened, it was around the same time my 258 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: husband stopped inviting me to company event. I am so 259 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: hurt and embarrassed. I didn't realize he was ashamed of me. 260 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 1: I'm one hundred percent sure this is the reason he 261 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: doesn't want me there, and I don't know if I 262 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: should confront him. Girl, why is your first thought that 263 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: he's ashamed of you? 264 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 3: I feel like, with knowing this information, we should know 265 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 3: that that's very much not the case. 266 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: Should I confront him? I haven't done anything wrong, and 267 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: I at least deserve to know what's been going on 268 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: behind my back. I'm just so made. Almost none of 269 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: the guys from that group work there anymore. I never 270 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: wear provocative or revealing clothes, which makes me even sadder 271 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: because if he's blaming me, I don't know what I 272 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: could have done differently. Thank you for your comments. The 273 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: majority of people seem to believe that my husband's reaction 274 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: was the right and healthy one because he loves me 275 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: and wants to protect me. We both love each other, 276 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: but to protect me part. I'm thirty eight and I 277 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: can stand up for myself. Would it be okay if 278 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: the roles were reversed? Do I have any right to 279 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: keep him away if it was his body being ranked 280 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: by my colleagues. I'm not something to be hidden or protected. 281 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,559 Speaker 1: I don't mean to offend anyone, and I'm not ungrateful 282 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 1: for the support, but I really want to understand, Opey, I. 283 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 3: Get what you're trying to say. You know, you're a 284 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 3: strong independent woman, but if this is your husband, right, 285 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 3: they're not. It's not just a yes, yeah, this is 286 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 3: your husband. I feel like if I was in your situation, 287 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 3: I definitely wouldn't want to know. I'd be so grossed out. 288 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 3: I feel like it would have been fine for you 289 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 3: to know. But I don't think it's that wrong for 290 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 3: you to not know. Although I guess if you did 291 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 3: spiral into the whole like, well, why am I not coming? 292 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 3: Then what are you hiding? 293 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,079 Speaker 1: But I guess she only did that because he hid 294 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: it from her because he started like bringing his mother 295 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: and his sister instead of. 296 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 3: You're subjecting your mom and your sister to that kind. 297 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: Of Yeah, but I mean like it's more yeah, Okay, 298 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, Yeah, you should 299 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: just tell your partner. Yeah, I don't know. If you 300 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: want to come, I'll let you decide. I'll tell you 301 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: what happened, and I'll let you decide if you want 302 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: to come to the work events. Still, because they objectified 303 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: you comments number one, I wouldn't jump straight to the 304 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: conclusion that he's ashamed of you. He's just as likely, 305 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: I mean, I would even say more likely, to be 306 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: ashamed that his peers and employees would make fun of 307 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: you and the other wives, so he wanted to spare 308 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: you from it. If I were in your shoes, i'd 309 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: just tell him you found out from a coworker's wife 310 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,040 Speaker 1: and that you're not angry at him about what the 311 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: other employees did to me. It seems more alike you're 312 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: mad he kept something from you, and that in the 313 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: future you want to deal with this kind of thing 314 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: together because your life Potner's tell him that, hopefully he'll 315 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: understand you all perspective. Reply says, I think it's exactly this. 316 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: He's embarrassed by their behavior and he doesn't want to 317 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: subject his wife to any creeps like that, so he'd 318 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: rather keep his separated from any of his employees. Update. 319 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: Hi again, I have a little update, and I hope 320 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: I don't ramble your whole evening away. I don't know 321 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: how to feel about everything right now. Before I update, 322 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 1: I want to address something. I stand by the title. 323 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: I got many messages, probably from men, asking why call 324 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: it making fun when they're rating me highly. Let me 325 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: tell you this unsolicited compliments are intimidation. A bunch of 326 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: men I don't know or care about discussing my and 327 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: other women's bodies is not cute. I don't feel special, 328 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: and I don't get any satisfaction or confidence from it. 329 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: I know this will bring more hate in the DMS, 330 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: but that's the dark side of the inn and I'm 331 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: aware of it. So bring your best misogynistic crap on 332 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: and I will report anybody who steps over my boundaries. Second, 333 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: I think I made the top of the list simply 334 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: because my husband is the owner, not because I'm bragging 335 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: about my looks. My husband arrived this morning. Maybe I 336 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: should have waited until tomorrow to talk to him and 337 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: just spent today cuddling. Oh well, I made it till 338 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: lunch after his nap. I told him about my lunch 339 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: with the other wife and asked if he stopped taking 340 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: me to company events because of what happened. He simply 341 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: said yes. He didn't even try to deny it. I 342 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: asked him why, and he seemed surprised because he thought 343 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: it was obvious. He said he didn't want his colleagues 344 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: googling his wife and disrespecting him. He said he didn't 345 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: tell me because he didn't want to upset or hurt me, 346 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: and that he was sorry that I found out. I 347 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: told him he should have let me decide what embarrassed 348 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: or hurt me. I felt like he took away my agency. 349 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: He got annoyed and said, I don't want my private 350 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: life mixed game with my work life. I like to 351 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: keep them separate. 352 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 3: But you can bring your mom and your sister though. 353 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, you literally brought your family into work. 354 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 3: I'm kind of annoyed by ogling your mom now exactly. 355 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 3: And then also like, I guess maybe he's okay with 356 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 3: that because he doesn't see it as disrespecting him, which 357 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 3: I don't like that. I don't like that. 358 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: I tried to argue some more, but he shut me 359 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: down and said the discussion was over. I didn't feel 360 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: good afterward, but I dropped it anyway. He apologized later 361 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 1: and told me to respect how he handled the situation. 362 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: He said he felt undermined and disrespected when the gossip 363 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: started about me and the other wives, and that with me, 364 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: there were more gruesome details like photoshop pictures and clips 365 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: with my face being spread around. Oh my god, so 366 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: all of those people are fired right, right, right, All 367 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: of the people sexually harassing your wife are fired, correct. 368 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:39,280 Speaker 3: Crazy. 369 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: I'm a minority, so there were also elements of fetishism 370 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: and raisism involved. I was targeted more than the other women, 371 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,360 Speaker 1: and that's why the others didn't take such drastic measures. 372 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: There was a huge inquiry with HR and i T 373 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: departments involved to trace the source, and many were fired 374 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 1: or bought out. My husband decided then that he didn't 375 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: want this to ever happen again, and his solution was 376 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: to separate word and private life. 377 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 3: That's so crazy. I was wondering if, like something extra happened, 378 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 3: but I was not expecting that to happen. 379 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it should have been that it being 380 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: that intense, It's like, well, yeah, I kind of want 381 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: to shelter you from this. But you could have also 382 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: just gone to your partner and gone, hey, I need 383 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: to tell you something, and don't make it like a discussion, 384 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: be like this is I want to do this moving forward. 385 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 1: Because there was some really messed up stuff that has 386 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: gone around about some of the wives at work, and 387 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: yours was really the worst, and we fired people. I 388 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: just want to keep my private life separated from my 389 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: work life. I just don't want to create a situation 390 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: where this could ever happen again, So I'm not going 391 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: to really, I don't want to bring you around any 392 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: more work events. 393 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 3: He should have thought about that, but maybe they had 394 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 3: some sort of conversation that we don't know about, like 395 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 3: with the other guys, and it was still like too 396 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,359 Speaker 3: big of a risk to have like the wife there, 397 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 3: but like he trusted that like with new people, they 398 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 3: wouldn't do that. 399 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. 400 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 3: I'm hoping that there's more context behind the scenes that 401 00:18:58,800 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 3: we're getting with that. 402 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: I didn't argue, I just listened, I have to say, 403 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: and I know many of you, based on the support 404 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: my husband got in the previous post, will disagree with 405 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: me that I totally disagree with how he handled this. 406 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: They did a great job taking the matter seriously and 407 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: taking action against those involved. But what was I collateral damage? 408 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: A casualty. I should have been the one to decide 409 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: how to handle something that targeted me as a person, 410 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:23,400 Speaker 1: but he did it for himself. He wanted to spare 411 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: himself the headache and embarrassment, not me. I've been with 412 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: him since the start. I've been his number one believer, 413 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: even when things were rough in the beginning, and I 414 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: basically own half his shares. All of this just feels 415 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: so unfair. And that is the end of that story. 416 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,199 Speaker 3: Oh, because I guess she does have a little bit 417 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 3: of like part in the company. I forgot about that. 418 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 3: This is a company that he started grew to like 419 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 3: a whole bunch of people. I forgot about that. 420 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: You can make the same argument though about his side. 421 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: You know, it's like I kind. 422 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 3: Of understand both, yeah perspectives. 423 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 1: I see why he maybe could try to hide this 424 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 1: from you, but also because he was just like, well, 425 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: the last thing I want to do is not make 426 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,440 Speaker 1: this a fight between me and my wife. But now 427 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: it's like, you know, no matter what, but it's it's 428 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 1: created frictions now. And that's the end of this story. 429 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: Let's head to the next one. 430 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 3: I called my CEO by his first name and got so. 431 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: Shamed for It's pretty bad. 432 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 3: I twenty four mail work at a smallish nonprofit aquarium 433 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 3: in the membership department. Among other things, it is my 434 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 3: job to track the comings and goings of members and 435 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 3: other individuals closely related to our organization, such as donors 436 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 3: and trustees. By the way, this comes from a music 437 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 3: mage for one, one, four and if you will to 438 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 3: submit your own stories, go to the r slash Okay, storytime, 439 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 3: separate it and I'm Angie. 440 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 4: I'm Dakota, and we're here to give good advice goofily, 441 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 4: But we don't have all the answers. 442 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:43,400 Speaker 3: We're just gonna guess what we would in the situation. 443 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,360 Speaker 3: But let us know what you would do in the comments. 444 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 3: So whenever an important person visits the aquarium, I am 445 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 3: required to notify a list of people in various other departments, 446 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,360 Speaker 3: particularly people who work directly with donors, so that they 447 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,479 Speaker 3: can follow up with them, ensure that they have slash, 448 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 3: had an enjoyable visit, et cetera. Depending on the importance 449 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 3: of the visitor, this list changes somewhat, and at the 450 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 3: highest levels of importance, the primary and contact for these 451 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 3: notifications is our organization CEO, along with a multitude of ccs. 452 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 3: While these notifications in general are frequent, it is rare 453 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,880 Speaker 3: that a visit is important enough to warrant notifying the CEO, 454 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 3: who is sixties mail. In fact, I have only needed 455 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 3: to send out notification of this level once before in 456 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 3: the year that I have worked here. Today, I received 457 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 3: a call from a representative at the gate saying that 458 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 3: we had just made a visit. I immediately compiled the 459 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 3: list of people to be notified, with the CEO as 460 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 3: the primary recipient and everyone else's c seed, and sent 461 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 3: out this email. I have access to all of the 462 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 3: names involved. Here's the email. Good afternoon, Stanley, Chairman of 463 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 3: the Board's granddaughters just checked in at the gate along 464 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 3: with their two babysitters. Their mom sent them with a 465 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 3: nice note explaining who they were, though of course we 466 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 3: would have admitted them regardless. We provided them with tickets 467 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 3: to feed the animals, and they are happily on their 468 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 3: way OPE. Aside from the specifics of their visit, this 469 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 3: is identical to my previous notification I had sent to 470 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 3: the CEO and is basically the format I use for 471 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 3: all notifications of this type, simply changing who I sent 472 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 3: it to. I have never had issues with these notifications before. 473 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 3: Not five minutes later, I get an email from the 474 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 3: Assistant Director of Donor Relations, Janis forty's female also on 475 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 3: the notification list, who I do not report to in 476 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 3: any way, Dear Op. It took me three and a 477 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 3: half years before. I called doctor President Stanley. He is 478 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 3: usually the one to extend that privilege from Janice. She 479 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,080 Speaker 3: had also ceceed my boss on her reply. For what 480 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,679 Speaker 3: reason I can't imagine. Honestly, I was taken aback. I 481 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 3: communicate with Janis frequently, as membership and donor relations tend 482 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 3: to overlap. 483 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 1: It. 484 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 3: Being the holiday season means that we've been communicating even 485 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,159 Speaker 3: more as donors like to purchase memberships as gifts for 486 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 3: their friends and family, and I notify her when this happens. 487 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 3: Let me be clear, everyone, and I do mean everyone 488 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,400 Speaker 3: in my organization operates on a first name basis, regardless 489 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 3: of age or position. I call my boss by her 490 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 3: first name. I call her boss by her first name. 491 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,959 Speaker 3: I call the executive VP of guest Relations, our collective boss, 492 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 3: by his first name. This has never been an issue. 493 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,360 Speaker 3: Being an aquarium. We have many individuals here with degrees 494 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 3: that give them a title, but we've used first names 495 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 3: with them as well. All correspondence with other people in 496 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,439 Speaker 3: the organization, whether we have met them personally or not, 497 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 3: uses first names. Even at my orientation, when I was 498 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 3: being briefed on who the important people at the organization 499 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,880 Speaker 3: were I was specifically told Dan Lee is our CEO. 500 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 3: He's very nice. When you meet him, he'll probably ask 501 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 3: you to call him Stanley. 502 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:58,160 Speaker 4: Wow, all right, okay, Jannish Janis, to be fair, I 503 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 4: have not yet met him in person, refers to him 504 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 4: by his first name, and I have never had any 505 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 4: indication that I should do otherwise. I immediately replied to 506 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 4: her with Janis, I appreciate the correction. I had previously 507 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 4: referred to doctor President as Stanley in my last notification, 508 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 4: but no one thought to say anything to me. Then 509 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 4: I will adjust my future correspondence accordingly. I then wrote 510 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 4: a quick email to the. 511 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,440 Speaker 3: CEO and cce Janis and my boss. Dear doctor President, 512 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 3: I apologize if I have been presumptive in addressing you 513 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 3: by your first name. Janis informed me that it was 514 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,640 Speaker 3: improper and I intended no disrespect. Sincerely, Ope, our CEO 515 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 3: isn't on campus on weekends, so I didn't receive a 516 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 3: reply from him, nor have I heard anything further from Janis. 517 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 3: My boss will be in tomorrow, so she will see 518 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 3: the exchange tomorrow. I still feel mortified. I honestly had 519 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 3: no idea that I was doing something incorrectly and now 520 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,239 Speaker 3: I'm paranoid that the whole host of other people on 521 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 3: that notification list are having the same thoughts as janis 522 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,679 Speaker 3: about me. So now what do I do Do I 523 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 3: just let this be the end of it. Did I 524 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 3: handle this correctly? Any would be appreciated. Maybe I'm just 525 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,159 Speaker 3: making mountains out of molehills, but this has really bothered me. 526 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 3: We do have some comments, But what do. 527 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:08,679 Speaker 1: You think to go to I think you need to 528 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: find where doctor President lives and you need to start 529 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: washing his car, mowing the lawn, and cleaning all the 530 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: windows to his house without asking first, so that you 531 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:25,880 Speaker 1: can prove to him that you are appropriately paying your 532 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: penance for the egregious disrespect you have visited upon the 533 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: doctor president name, or just like move on. Yeah, I 534 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: think you could actually, you know, and I said that 535 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: one out loud. I think you could just move on 536 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:38,639 Speaker 1: from this and it's fine. 537 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, No, I think you've done everything that you 538 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 3: can do. You addressed him apologizing for disrespect. I wouldn't 539 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 3: even thought to put it that way, but I think 540 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,159 Speaker 3: that's a good way to put it. Yeah, if that 541 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 3: was even possible. I really don't think if you were 542 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,640 Speaker 3: told that in orientation. I think you're fine, mister Strangelove, 543 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 3: MSc says, maybe it took him three years to ask 544 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,119 Speaker 3: her to call him Stanley because he sucks as a person. 545 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 3: I agree with another commentary, especially considering that she refers 546 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 3: to a dude generally called Stanley as doctor President, which 547 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 3: is precisely at the end of the effing spectrum of 548 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 3: things a CEO can be called. Ope says, well, I 549 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 3: actually couldn't think of a generic last name, so I 550 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 3: put president and said, okay, the gist was that I 551 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 3: should use doctor last name. First of all, thank you 552 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 3: to everyone who took the time to reply to my 553 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,919 Speaker 3: original post. The general consensus was that I had handled 554 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 3: the situation well, or at least as best as I 555 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 3: could have given my situation an experience. Even those of 556 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:35,719 Speaker 3: you who thought I had screwed up said so in 557 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 3: a way that was sensitive and respectful, So thank you 558 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 3: was all around. Now on to the update. I mentioned 559 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 3: in my original post that I had only sent one 560 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,760 Speaker 3: of these notifications to our CEO once before, and no 561 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 3: one had said anything that When he replied to me 562 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 3: that time, it was only one word thanks, no salutation, 563 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 3: no signature, just that one word. Understandably, he's a busy man, 564 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 3: but this is very important for understanding what happened this time. 565 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 3: I got into work this morning and opened my email. 566 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 3: Among my various other usual emails, I saw that the 567 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 3: CEO had responded to my original notification email at about 568 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,160 Speaker 3: seven thirty pm last night, a Saturday. He had kept 569 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 3: intact the original list of people to be notified, so 570 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 3: everyone who had seen my original message also saw his 571 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 3: reply to me, including Jennie. This time it was three words, 572 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,959 Speaker 3: but I could feel the deliberateness of everyone. Dear op, 573 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,359 Speaker 3: thanks from Stanley. Okay, so that's. 574 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: Nice for words, what the friend nice? 575 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 3: And there is a little bit more to the story. 576 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 3: We got our answer. 577 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: It's Stanley, It's Stanley. 578 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:40,400 Speaker 3: It's Stanley. 579 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: It's Stanley until the end of time. 580 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 3: And make sure to call him doctor president because you 581 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,640 Speaker 3: have you do not deserve to call him Stanley anymore. 582 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 3: But there is a little bit more to the story. 583 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,919 Speaker 3: So yeah, I think it's pretty clear where he stands 584 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 3: on this whole business. I feel a million times better 585 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,359 Speaker 3: since the CEO is clearly a very glassy My boss 586 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 3: also saw his response and also told me that I 587 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 3: had done everything right and not to worry about it. 588 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 3: So everything worked out. Okay, thanks again to everyone who 589 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 3: helped me stop freaking out. And there are some top 590 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 3: comments and worst comments as twenty fifteen June says, thanks Stanley, hah, 591 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 3: that's great. Screw you Janice to lead it says effing Janie. 592 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:27,679 Speaker 3: I had to work with a lady named Janice who 593 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,440 Speaker 3: was just like that. You mandled this very well. And 594 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:31,240 Speaker 3: that's the end of this. 595 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 1: We all have it. We all know it, Janie, we 596 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: all know it. Somewhere across time, we have all come 597 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: across a Janis. 598 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 3: Don't we all know? Oh my goodness. 599 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: Yeah. 600 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 3: I feel like if if that story went on any longer, 601 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 3: I think it would start to be very annoyed with OPM. 602 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: Not No, I'm annoyed with op as well. To be clear, 603 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: I'm like, how are we in the workforce? 604 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 3: Like, why are we to be freaking out about this? 605 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: This was freaking us out. 606 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 3: I'm annoyed with you a little bit, but overall I 607 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 3: enjoyed it. So thanks for that story. 608 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: Sam. 609 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,719 Speaker 2: Here ogi host, Wh're going to get back to these stories, 610 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 2: but here's three minutes fads from our sponsors. 611 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 5: First, my boyfriend wanted an open relationship until I did 612 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 5: two open for me, but not for the I come 613 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:18,800 Speaker 5: from a. 614 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 3: Small town where everyone knows each other. 615 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 5: I was raised in a very strict Catholic household an 616 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 5: had a pretty sheltered life growing up. No dating, no parties, 617 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 5: none of that stuff. So when I moved to the 618 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 5: city for college, it was a whole new world. I 619 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 5: had total freedom. 620 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: Okay Aladdin right. 621 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 5: By the way, this comes from users deleted and if 622 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 5: you want to submit your own stories, go to the 623 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 5: r slash Okay storytime severed it. I'm Carly, I'm Dakota, 624 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 5: I'm Riley, and we're here to give good advice. Goofully, 625 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 5: But we don't have all the answers. We only know 626 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 5: what we would do, So let us know what you 627 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 5: would do in the comments, and Opie says, that's when 628 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,040 Speaker 5: I met my boyfriend. He's a little older and and 629 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 5: honestly the most amazing person I had ever met. 630 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 3: He taught me so much. 631 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 5: About life and love and made everything feel exciting. I 632 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 5: was completely over the moon when we became a couple. 633 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 5: We've been together for three and a half years now. 634 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 5: I had so many firsts with him. Naturally, I assumed 635 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 5: we would get married. He was my one and only. 636 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,479 Speaker 5: Then about eight months ago, he sat me down and 637 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 5: he told me he felt like our relationship was losing 638 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 5: its spark. 639 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 3: I was shocked. 640 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 5: Because I thought we were doing really good. For a second, 641 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 5: I thought he was about to break up with me, 642 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 5: but instead he said we should open up the relationship 643 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 5: and explore polyamory. He said it's more normal now and 644 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 5: that it could actually help bring us closer. I was hurt, 645 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 5: like really hurt. I couldn't believe he'd even ask me that, 646 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 5: But I loved him too much. He's my first love. 647 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 5: I didn't want to lose him, so I said yes. 648 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 5: He made some rules, like no bringing other people into 649 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 5: our beds we live separately anyway, and to keep things 650 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 5: away from places we'd usually go. 651 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,040 Speaker 3: But honestly, I didn't care about the rules. 652 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:10,600 Speaker 5: I couldn't even imagine being with someone else. I only 653 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 5: wanted him. But that first month things didn't get better. 654 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 5: I saw him less and less. 655 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 3: He was always busy. 656 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 5: I checked to social media and saw he started hanging 657 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 5: out with some girl. She posted him all the time. 658 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 5: I was burning with jealousy, but I didn't say anything. 659 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 5: When I did see him He was sweet, like always, 660 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 5: but it started to feel like he was just trying. 661 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 3: To make up for not being around. I felt like 662 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 3: I was. 663 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 5: The one doing all the work, planning stuff, texting, first, 664 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 5: chasing after him, holding on so tight while he felt 665 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 5: far away. Then a few months ago, we were supposed 666 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 5: to see a movie together, but he bailed on me 667 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 5: last minute. 668 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 3: I went anyway. 669 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 5: While I was there, I ran into one of my 670 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 5: friends and she was with her older brother. We ended 671 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 5: up watching the film together. Afterward, we grabbed some drinks 672 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 5: and I started noticing how how attractive and funny he was. 673 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:04,080 Speaker 5: I caught him looking at me a certain way too, 674 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 5: like maybe he felt something. I didn't pursue anything, though. 675 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 5: This was all so new to me, liking someone else 676 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 5: that felt so weird. He eventually found me on Instagram 677 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 5: and we started talking. I told him about the open relationship, 678 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:20,560 Speaker 5: and he was super chill about it. 679 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: Of course, yeah, bab I hear you. I'm like, totally cool, 680 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,160 Speaker 1: super chill because he wants some Netflix and chill. 681 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 5: Yeah, he's like, oh, you got a boyfriend, but you 682 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 5: can still hang out with me. 683 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 1: Super chill man. 684 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 3: He said he was happy to spend time with me. 685 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 3: Without worrying about cheating. 686 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 5: We started hanging out more, and honestly, I didn't feel 687 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 5: so alone anymore. 688 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 3: I didn't feel like I had to beg someone for love. 689 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 5: Even the little time I spent with my boyfriend started 690 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,640 Speaker 5: to feel enough because my heart. 691 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 3: Didn't feel so empty anymore. 692 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 5: One day, after we'd become close friends, he just kissed 693 00:32:57,600 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 5: me on the lips, and it hit me I have 694 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 5: had feelings for him spicy related one. 695 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,000 Speaker 1: Uh oh, he kissed your lips. 696 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,719 Speaker 5: We ended up hooking up not long after, and it 697 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 5: was amazing. 698 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:13,640 Speaker 3: I felt wanted. 699 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:18,640 Speaker 5: I felt wanted and cherished, and he was so gentle 700 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 5: and so. 701 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: Generous, generous with his delivery. 702 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 3: I couldn't get enough of him. 703 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,200 Speaker 5: It felt like he balanced me out in a way 704 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 5: I didn't know I needed. I finally understood what being 705 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 5: Polly could really mean, loving more than one person in 706 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:36,040 Speaker 5: a way that felt real and full. We even joined 707 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 5: the gym together and started working out. He is a 708 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 5: busy guy, but always made time for me, always invited 709 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 5: me into his world and his hobbies. I felt special 710 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 5: and gigging. 711 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: Okay, so just I feel like what you're really experiencing 712 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 1: is having a good boyfriend versus a bad one. My 713 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: mic is naked, naked, nobody look at it. Yeah, I 714 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,080 Speaker 1: think this is just what you know, actual love is 715 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:01,840 Speaker 1: supposed to be. You said this was like your first boyfriend. 716 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 3: The other one was your first. 717 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's like you're just discovering, like, oh, this 718 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: is what a this is what a relationship thought, that's 719 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: what a good partner feels like. 720 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,240 Speaker 5: Then this week, my boyfriend comes to me and says, 721 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 5: I think we should close the relationship and focus on 722 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 5: each other. 723 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 3: I was confused. 724 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 5: I asked him why things are going really good for us. 725 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 5: He said, it's time to think about the future and 726 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 5: building something serious. 727 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,319 Speaker 1: Bro, this guy is so full of it. 728 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 3: We're thinking about it now. 729 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,400 Speaker 1: This is when you just leave this guy and you 730 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: start dating the other guy that you. 731 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 3: Like, the one that makes you giddy. 732 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, because this guy is the gwitty That was what 733 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:45,160 Speaker 1: he should have said. At the He said, Hey, I 734 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:49,480 Speaker 1: feel like our relationship is losing its you know, magic, 735 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,880 Speaker 1: it's pizzazz. And then it's like, let's focus on us 736 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: and like really try to, you know, bring a back 737 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:58,360 Speaker 1: quality time to our relationship. 738 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 5: It just feels like he had a girl in that 739 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:02,439 Speaker 5: he was like, I'm gonna go off with this girl 740 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 5: for a little bit. Oh, I'm kind of bored of 741 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 5: this girl, and you kind of like seem like you're 742 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 5: trying to maybe get interested in someone else. So I'm 743 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:10,320 Speaker 5: I think we should close this off because I'm not 744 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 5: comfortable anymore. 745 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 1: Hundred percent. I bet he got rejected. 746 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,880 Speaker 5: Then he brought up religion. You're a Catholic. You should understand. 747 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 5: If you want this to last, it has to just 748 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,320 Speaker 5: be the two of us. When I hesitated, he started 749 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 5: guilt tripping me, like I was doing something wrong, like 750 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,040 Speaker 5: I wasn't thinking about us. 751 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:29,840 Speaker 3: I love him, I really. 752 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 5: Do, but now I feel confused. 753 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 3: I feel upset. I didn't ask for any of this. 754 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 5: He opened the door and I just followed because I 755 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,800 Speaker 5: loved him, and now that I found a little peace, 756 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,640 Speaker 5: a little joy, he wants to shut it all down. 757 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 5: It feels unfair and I don't know what to do. 758 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 5: I'm here for advice and support. I feel so depressed 759 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,080 Speaker 5: about this issue, and we have some comments. As a 760 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,640 Speaker 5: Polly person, what he did and is doing isn't Polly. 761 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,319 Speaker 5: It's cheating with extra steps. Polly has to be worked 762 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:01,319 Speaker 5: on and agreed upon. 763 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,760 Speaker 3: By all parties. You go in together, you go out together. 764 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 5: You can't just drag your partner along and then unilaterally 765 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:12,200 Speaker 5: decide to close. If he lost the spark after only 766 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:14,920 Speaker 5: three and a half years and you're twenty one, he 767 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:17,560 Speaker 5: is not in it for the long haul. He does 768 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 5: not respect you. And this is Opie's moment of clarity. 769 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 5: Main reason I stayed monogamous was because of my faith 770 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,719 Speaker 5: and my love for him. He knows it and probably 771 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 5: banked on that. I have the clarity I needed after 772 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:31,720 Speaker 5: posting here, I'm ending it. 773 00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:37,879 Speaker 1: All right, nice post, post clarity, and. 774 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:38,720 Speaker 3: We have an update. 775 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 5: I spoke to my boyfriend and told him I don't 776 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 5: want to close the open relationship. 777 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 3: I've grown to really. 778 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,880 Speaker 5: Enjoy dating the other guy, and it's not something I 779 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 5: agreed to just experiment. I told him it should be 780 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,520 Speaker 5: a joint decision. You can't just open and close a 781 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:57,360 Speaker 5: relationship as you please, especially when someone else's feelings are involved. 782 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,319 Speaker 5: I also told him I was incredibly disappointed that he 783 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,319 Speaker 5: brought up my faith, knowing how much trauma and gil 784 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:07,800 Speaker 5: I've carried from my religious upbringing, it felt manipulative and unfair. 785 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,840 Speaker 5: He didn't respond to my comments. About religion, but instead said, 786 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:14,080 Speaker 5: if you want a future with me, this needs to 787 00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,800 Speaker 5: end or we're done. I told him, then. 788 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,239 Speaker 3: It's done exactly. I said. 789 00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:22,520 Speaker 5: They offer you the door and then you just go, okay. 790 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:25,720 Speaker 1: They're like, she won't walk out, and then you walk out. 791 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 3: And go that's. 792 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:34,400 Speaker 1: Yeah. You weren't supposed to be with anyone else. 793 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 3: She wouldn't let me make a pickle pie. 794 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 1: So I said, we're done, ilse mad if I promise 795 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:46,120 Speaker 1: from now on, I'm not gonna say pickle pie ever again? 796 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 3: All right? 797 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:48,279 Speaker 1: Go? 798 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,080 Speaker 5: I hate it and said I was throwing away nearly 799 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:53,880 Speaker 5: four years for a guy I've only been seeing for 800 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,720 Speaker 5: a few months, and tried to make me feel guilty, 801 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,279 Speaker 5: but I reminded him that he was the one who 802 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,320 Speaker 5: lost this bark, who wanted to sleep with other women, 803 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 5: and who opened the relationship in. 804 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 3: The first place, not me. 805 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 5: I just agreed because I loved him and hoped he 806 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:11,480 Speaker 5: would realize I'm the only one for him. 807 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:12,759 Speaker 3: I didn't ask for this. 808 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:16,240 Speaker 5: After some time he calmed down, we had a long 809 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,760 Speaker 5: emotional conversation. He cried, he apologized. 810 00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:21,600 Speaker 3: He told me he should have. 811 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:25,879 Speaker 5: Ended things instead of trying to fix our relationship. With polyamory. 812 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 5: He admitted he still loves me and that seeing me 813 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,920 Speaker 5: happy with someone else made him jealous, even though he 814 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,120 Speaker 5: knew he had no right to be. He said, he 815 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:37,279 Speaker 5: probably deserves the pain, and he respects my decision to 816 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,880 Speaker 5: end it. We hugged and agreed that even though our 817 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 5: relationship is over, the first two years were beautiful, even together. 818 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:48,239 Speaker 1: Three and a half, be still my heart. I'm sorry, 819 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:51,279 Speaker 1: who is this guy? This was your first? It makes 820 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 1: sense this was your first because you just don't know. 821 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 1: You know, you're like twenty one. You just don't know 822 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:59,720 Speaker 1: that this guy is kind of garbious. You don't understand 823 00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:02,680 Speaker 1: what prospects are out there. I can't imagine saying that 824 00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:04,200 Speaker 1: to a partner. 825 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,160 Speaker 3: They mutually agreed that one. We hugged and agreed, all right. 826 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:10,200 Speaker 1: You should have ended a year and a half ago. 827 00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 5: Will always have a place in each other's hearts, even 828 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,680 Speaker 5: though the relationship has run its course. Later, I met 829 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,120 Speaker 5: up with the other guy I've been seeing. I told 830 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,960 Speaker 5: him everything. I ended things with my boyfriend because I 831 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 5: didn't want to let him go. I told him I'm 832 00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:27,080 Speaker 5: not rushing into anything that I don't expect him to 833 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 5: give me all of his time or energy right away, 834 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:31,799 Speaker 5: but I'd love to date and see where things go. 835 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:35,480 Speaker 5: That's when he opened up and told me that watching 836 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:37,680 Speaker 5: me stay with my boyfriend while we were seeing each 837 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,279 Speaker 5: other was hard. He said it hurt him, but he 838 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,600 Speaker 5: kept quiet because he liked me so much and knew 839 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,120 Speaker 5: what he was getting into. He never intended to be 840 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,439 Speaker 5: in a polyamorous relationship, but only agreed to it because 841 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:50,719 Speaker 5: he really wanted to be with me and didn't want 842 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,160 Speaker 5: to lose the chance. He secretly hoped we'd break up because, 843 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:57,600 Speaker 5: in his words, you deserve someone who wants you completely. 844 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad that you found this guy who actually 845 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,440 Speaker 1: will treat you right and cares about you. Yaya to 846 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:03,919 Speaker 1: the gym. 847 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:06,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, they have a gym membership together. 848 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:08,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, put the gym together. He's a busy guy, but 849 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,359 Speaker 1: he reminds me, still thinks of her, and hangs out 850 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:13,400 Speaker 1: with her in his free times. 851 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,640 Speaker 5: He said he likes me a lot, sees the future 852 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:19,160 Speaker 5: with me, and wants to just date each other for now. 853 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,840 Speaker 5: We're not rushing into exclusivity, but we've both agreed not 854 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,759 Speaker 5: to see other people and see how this naturally unfolds. 855 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,000 Speaker 3: We already know we like each other and. 856 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,600 Speaker 5: Don't want to see anyone else. At the same time, 857 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:33,880 Speaker 5: I don't want to jump into an exclusive relationship. I 858 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 5: just want to take my time since I left my 859 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:37,799 Speaker 5: first long term relationship. 860 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:39,440 Speaker 3: I hope that makes sense. 861 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,120 Speaker 5: So even though I'm mourning the loss of my first 862 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,960 Speaker 5: relationship that meant the world to me for a long time, 863 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,759 Speaker 5: I feel hopeful. I feel like I'm stepping into something new, 864 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:53,360 Speaker 5: something healthy, something that only involves just two people. 865 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:55,680 Speaker 3: Loo And that's the end of that story. 866 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,680 Speaker 1: My ex betrayed me with my best friend, so I 867 00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:01,120 Speaker 1: cut them off for good. 868 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, that makes sense. 869 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:09,000 Speaker 1: Betrayal. I eighteen female and my ex eighteen female dated 870 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 1: for almost two years back in high school. She was 871 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,759 Speaker 1: a lot of my firsts as I'm by and had 872 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:18,200 Speaker 1: only had one unofficial girlfriend before her, and she was 873 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 1: a lover of women who had a couple of girlfriends 874 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,600 Speaker 1: before me. I'll call my ex Jana, my best friend 875 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:28,800 Speaker 1: Harper nineteen female, and my other mentioned friend as Mia. 876 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:32,680 Speaker 1: By the way, this comes from user shoddy Dentist twenty 877 00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:35,000 Speaker 1: eight forty one. We got a real crenticst on our hands, 878 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:36,920 Speaker 1: and if you want to submit your own stories, go 879 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,000 Speaker 1: to the r slash oowkay, storytime suburn it. I'm Dakoto, 880 00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:42,279 Speaker 1: I'm Carl, What's little kids, And we're here to give 881 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:43,719 Speaker 1: you a good advice goofley, But we don't have all 882 00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:45,160 Speaker 1: the answers. We only know what we would do. So 883 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:46,759 Speaker 1: if you would do something different, let us know in 884 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 1: the comments and be nice and cute and stuff, and 885 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,759 Speaker 1: Op says. Jana and I were friends, but I was 886 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,000 Speaker 1: in the closet and had turned her down when she 887 00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:01,400 Speaker 1: asked me out in freshman year, so until she began 888 00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: dating one of my oldest friends, Mia, Gianna and I 889 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,279 Speaker 1: rekindled our friendship, but obviously didn't go further than that. 890 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:11,719 Speaker 1: Loyalty to my friend was the priority. At some point, 891 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:13,960 Speaker 1: the two of them broke up, leading to Gianna and 892 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:16,960 Speaker 1: I becoming closer than usual. Mia had moved on to 893 00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:20,000 Speaker 1: a different relationship already, and she and I spoke clearly 894 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:23,160 Speaker 1: about my own blossoming relationship with Gianna, in which Mia 895 00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:25,440 Speaker 1: told me she didn't mind us dating and that she 896 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:29,080 Speaker 1: was even rooting for me. No drama there, just clear 897 00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:33,880 Speaker 1: communication for context. Harper was my first lady crush, and 898 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,240 Speaker 1: we had been unofficially on and off throughout middle school. 899 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:39,440 Speaker 1: The summer just before high school, both of us were 900 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,239 Speaker 1: getting into trouble with our families finding out about us 901 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:46,200 Speaker 1: passive proclivities, so we both went right back into the closet. 902 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:49,319 Speaker 1: I actually regressed so far back that I genuinely thought 903 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:51,080 Speaker 1: I was straight for my first year of high school, 904 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,080 Speaker 1: despite my very obvious previous feelings for Happa. When I 905 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:57,440 Speaker 1: finally left the closet again during the pandemic, Gianna and 906 00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,799 Speaker 1: I became friends again, and Harper and I were best 907 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:03,120 Speaker 1: friend friends. Harper had different after school activities than I did, 908 00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:05,600 Speaker 1: so we got used to not seeing each other much, 909 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:10,280 Speaker 1: especially during online school, but I consistently sent her texts 910 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:12,920 Speaker 1: to tell her about my day and to ask about hers. 911 00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:15,279 Speaker 1: I never minded being the first one to reach out 912 00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:18,080 Speaker 1: because she was always kind of without an online presence, 913 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,479 Speaker 1: but I loved our conversations. I even told her about 914 00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:24,120 Speaker 1: my feelings for Gianna. She supported me during that period 915 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:26,960 Speaker 1: and teased me when Gianna and I did start dating. 916 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:29,880 Speaker 1: She's like, Ooh, you got a good friend that. 917 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:33,680 Speaker 3: You like a little liker like her, of girl. 918 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:41,480 Speaker 1: Gianna, more like you g wanna kiss her. It was 919 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:46,160 Speaker 1: a nice balance, or so I thought. That's right here 920 00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:49,960 Speaker 1: comes the betrayal. I'd had a nice amount of good 921 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:53,520 Speaker 1: friends from middle school going into high school, but we 922 00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:55,440 Speaker 1: weren't the kind of friends that went out to the 923 00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,279 Speaker 1: mall or to eat. We were fine with that, but 924 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:00,600 Speaker 1: the more I spent time going out with Gianna and 925 00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:03,040 Speaker 1: her friends, the more I enjoyed actually being out of 926 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:05,320 Speaker 1: the house. I had a really tough upbringing, so it 927 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,400 Speaker 1: took me all these years to break away from a 928 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:10,399 Speaker 1: lot of my old social norms. Gianna knew about most 929 00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:13,200 Speaker 1: of my childhood traumas, and though she couldn't do much 930 00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:16,360 Speaker 1: to help, she was supportive. I admit wholeheartedly that my 931 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:19,759 Speaker 1: problems at home affected too much of our relationship. Back then, 932 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:25,920 Speaker 1: my parents were not supportive of my attraction to Gianna, 933 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:29,440 Speaker 1: so when they found out about Gianna, they forced me 934 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:31,840 Speaker 1: to break up with her. I told her exactly what happened, 935 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:34,840 Speaker 1: so she understood, but we were both heartbroken. I stayed 936 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:37,080 Speaker 1: home crying before finding out she had gone to a 937 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:40,200 Speaker 1: football game with her friends, laughing and buying drinks. I 938 00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:42,799 Speaker 1: only found out because my parents spotted her there when 939 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:45,520 Speaker 1: picking up my brother. I was torn apart because I 940 00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:47,520 Speaker 1: was convinced she was as hurt as I was, but 941 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:49,600 Speaker 1: it didn't matter enough for her to not go out 942 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,200 Speaker 1: and have fun anyway. I know this is probably going 943 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:56,120 Speaker 1: to be worse, but that isn't really a bad thing. 944 00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,680 Speaker 1: People cope with breakups in different ways. You don't have to, 945 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,480 Speaker 1: you know, just be sad at home. 946 00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:04,480 Speaker 3: Right, Some people cope by going out. 947 00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:06,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, you should never cope by hooking up with your 948 00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:07,720 Speaker 1: ex's best friend. 949 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:11,040 Speaker 3: No, that's probably one of the worst ones to do. 950 00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:18,040 Speaker 1: That's yeah, that's evil, hope, he continues. But we got 951 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:22,600 Speaker 1: back together anyway. Okayh congrats job for now. I guess 952 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:26,000 Speaker 1: secretly at first, and despite my sadness about her not 953 00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:28,319 Speaker 1: caring like I did. It was a long time before 954 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:31,120 Speaker 1: my parents tolerated our relationship. We dated for a while, 955 00:45:31,239 --> 00:45:33,640 Speaker 1: but we proceeded to have other breakups due to our 956 00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:36,680 Speaker 1: vast differences in opinion and our refusal to just move on. 957 00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:39,759 Speaker 1: I grew codependent, which was my own fault, because I 958 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:41,520 Speaker 1: had always known she wasn't the kind of girl to 959 00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:43,600 Speaker 1: get attached. I should have known better, but I was 960 00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:45,960 Speaker 1: too invested and in love to call it quits. It 961 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:48,400 Speaker 1: didn't matter what she caused me to feel because I 962 00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:51,320 Speaker 1: was also convinced all our problems were my fault. I 963 00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:53,839 Speaker 1: was the emotional one, hurt by all the time she'd 964 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:56,600 Speaker 1: tell her friends about my problems at home, hurt by 965 00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,200 Speaker 1: her refusing to say I love you first, Hurt by 966 00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:01,319 Speaker 1: her never come meant to me anymore like she did 967 00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:03,560 Speaker 1: in the first months of dating, hurt by her treating 968 00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:06,759 Speaker 1: me as an afterthought. Then halfway through junior year, I 969 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:08,960 Speaker 1: was hurt by her getting closer and closer to my 970 00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:12,840 Speaker 1: best friend, Harper. Harper and I have been very close 971 00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:15,520 Speaker 1: for all these years, but Harper and Gianna had more 972 00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:17,879 Speaker 1: in common. It got to a point where Gianna began 973 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,000 Speaker 1: joining all of Harper's extra curriculars and bringing up Harper 974 00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:24,360 Speaker 1: in all of our conversations. They even skipped school together 975 00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:27,000 Speaker 1: with two other friends and left me behind despite me 976 00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:29,720 Speaker 1: advising them not to skip. Gianna and I fought often, 977 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:31,880 Speaker 1: almost always about how close she was to Harper, and 978 00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:33,880 Speaker 1: I never blamed Harper for any of it, because it 979 00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:36,480 Speaker 1: was Gianna who was my girlfriend. We even went to 980 00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:40,560 Speaker 1: six Flags with one of our school clumbs. I regretted 981 00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:43,360 Speaker 1: the entire trip because I had to stand in line 982 00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:46,759 Speaker 1: beside Harper and Gianna while they play fought. Gianna was 983 00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:49,000 Speaker 1: all over her with her arms around her shoulders and laughing. 984 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:51,239 Speaker 1: I also ended up having a panic attack after one 985 00:46:51,239 --> 00:46:53,680 Speaker 1: of the rides, and at least Harper was there for me, 986 00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:55,720 Speaker 1: offering to help me find coffee. 987 00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:58,920 Speaker 6: No, no, oh, yeah, you're like, you know what I 988 00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:00,640 Speaker 6: really need to make my heart? 989 00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:01,960 Speaker 3: My heart go calling more. 990 00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:06,439 Speaker 1: That's the most teenager thing I've ever heard in my life. Yeah, 991 00:47:06,520 --> 00:47:08,800 Speaker 1: I had a panic attack. I need espresso. 992 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:11,759 Speaker 3: You want to straight espresso right now? 993 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:15,160 Speaker 1: H I'm glad we all froze at the same moment. No, no, no, no, no, 994 00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:20,120 Speaker 1: no no no. Harper was generally just beside me while 995 00:47:20,200 --> 00:47:22,800 Speaker 1: Gianna had to leave because of her club duties. No 996 00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:25,000 Speaker 1: matter how often Gianna and I thought about Harper, I 997 00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:26,960 Speaker 1: never told Harper about it. I didn't want Harper to 998 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:28,759 Speaker 1: feel like she was at fault when she simply had 999 00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:31,000 Speaker 1: no idea. But I was struggling. I don't know why 1000 00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,560 Speaker 1: I kept dating Gianna except that I was too dependent 1001 00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:35,879 Speaker 1: on her. Gianna straight up asked me if she could 1002 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:38,920 Speaker 1: buy Harper a rose during one of Harper's musical performances. 1003 00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,040 Speaker 1: At least it was for that specific occasion, but the 1004 00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:43,520 Speaker 1: fact that she asked when she never put that effort 1005 00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:45,520 Speaker 1: in for me. Upset me a lot. I feel like 1006 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:49,399 Speaker 1: her even asking just like means she knows that it's bad. Yeah, 1007 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:51,000 Speaker 1: She's like, I need the permission. 1008 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:55,000 Speaker 5: This is such a little like middle school starting high 1009 00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:56,600 Speaker 5: school relationship. 1010 00:47:56,920 --> 00:48:00,360 Speaker 1: I'm like wow. During our arguments, Gianna would tell me 1011 00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:02,600 Speaker 1: she'd pick Harper over me if I ever put an 1012 00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:05,120 Speaker 1: ultimatum up. So, for some stupid reason, I took that 1013 00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:07,720 Speaker 1: as a sign that I was in the wrong. Finally, 1014 00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:10,960 Speaker 1: Gianna and I broke up on New Year's twenty twenty two. Oh, Pee, 1015 00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:14,279 Speaker 1: at least you had this terrible toxic relationship early in 1016 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:16,480 Speaker 1: your life, so that now you know all the signs. 1017 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,400 Speaker 1: You know. Gianna broke up with me over text, and 1018 00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:21,279 Speaker 1: I had to call her to actually talk about it, 1019 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:23,719 Speaker 1: more like cry about it to each other. It was over, 1020 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,200 Speaker 1: and back then I thought the world would end because 1021 00:48:26,239 --> 00:48:28,440 Speaker 1: I had imagined living my whole life with her. Thankfully, 1022 00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:30,560 Speaker 1: I'm a teenager and my world did not end. I 1023 00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:30,960 Speaker 1: don't know. 1024 00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:35,880 Speaker 6: Sounds like, yeah, it sounds like when when you're a 1025 00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:38,680 Speaker 6: teenager that is your world. It seems like it's ending. 1026 00:48:38,719 --> 00:48:40,640 Speaker 1: But good for you, Opie. I guess yeah, you did it. 1027 00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:44,239 Speaker 1: I finally told Harper the truth. I explained every single thing, 1028 00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:46,680 Speaker 1: including the fact that Gianna had been gradually falling in 1029 00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:48,680 Speaker 1: love with her all this time, and that I never 1030 00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:50,960 Speaker 1: blamed Harper but that I thought she deserved to know. 1031 00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:54,360 Speaker 1: Harper told me she'd remain neutral with Gianna. That should 1032 00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:56,880 Speaker 1: have been the first red flag, but I was blind, 1033 00:48:57,320 --> 00:48:59,879 Speaker 1: Like an idiot. I got close to Harper all over again, 1034 00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:03,239 Speaker 1: even realizing I was starting to feel something for her again. 1035 00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:05,880 Speaker 1: But I chose to prioritize my friendship with her because 1036 00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:08,520 Speaker 1: I hated how distant we got because of Gianna. Oh 1037 00:49:08,560 --> 00:49:11,560 Speaker 1: that's right, I forgot Op's like first lady crush was Harper. 1038 00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:14,680 Speaker 1: Harper was the one that she realized I got feelings 1039 00:49:14,719 --> 00:49:15,400 Speaker 1: for this lady. 1040 00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:19,480 Speaker 5: There's way too many strings attached here, like I need 1041 00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:20,760 Speaker 5: to move on and find someone. 1042 00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:24,640 Speaker 6: WHATNA call it like investigation boards. This is what it 1043 00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:27,400 Speaker 6: feels like, and there's too many strings across or attached 1044 00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:30,560 Speaker 6: and is not looking good. It's like Charlie days, I'm 1045 00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:31,279 Speaker 6: figuring it out. 1046 00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:35,200 Speaker 1: There is no Peppe Sylvia. Yeah, Charlie, all of these 1047 00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:37,960 Speaker 1: people exist, and all they're talking about is where is 1048 00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:40,960 Speaker 1: their male senior year was halfway done, and I surprisingly 1049 00:49:41,040 --> 00:49:43,360 Speaker 1: got over Gianna within a month and began to rediscover 1050 00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:46,760 Speaker 1: my independence. I had a couple close, amazing friends, excluding 1051 00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:49,040 Speaker 1: Harper because she chose to stay friends with Gianna and 1052 00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:51,640 Speaker 1: left me behind. I was directing in my theater club 1053 00:49:51,719 --> 00:49:55,200 Speaker 1: with my actual friends. I got accepted into an amazing college, 1054 00:49:55,280 --> 00:49:57,759 Speaker 1: got to be roommates with my current best friend, and 1055 00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:00,640 Speaker 1: I'm finally happy. I even have a new balance with 1056 00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:03,800 Speaker 1: my home life, reconnecting with my closest cousins and gradually 1057 00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:08,080 Speaker 1: finding inner piece. I also matured from my past mistakes, 1058 00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:10,320 Speaker 1: and I feel good about myself. From the beginning of 1059 00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:13,080 Speaker 1: the summer to now, I actually began writing my first 1060 00:50:13,160 --> 00:50:20,400 Speaker 1: full length book. What the genre is in detective fiction, okay, Batman, 1061 00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:22,840 Speaker 1: But the story was my way of coping with the 1062 00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:25,000 Speaker 1: loss of a friend and what it means to garner 1063 00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:28,200 Speaker 1: independence after a betrayal for obvious reasons. The book has 1064 00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:30,880 Speaker 1: greater weight and consequences than a silly high school drama, 1065 00:50:31,239 --> 00:50:33,640 Speaker 1: but it sure as heck helps me cope. It's gratifying 1066 00:50:33,680 --> 00:50:35,279 Speaker 1: to look at my drafts and see how much came 1067 00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:37,920 Speaker 1: out of my previously unresolved pain because I'm in a 1068 00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:41,880 Speaker 1: much brighter place now. I think, Yeah, good on you, teenager, 1069 00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:45,120 Speaker 1: moving on, moving on up. Life is great. I was 1070 00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:48,239 Speaker 1: sad about losing my supposed best friend, but over the 1071 00:50:48,280 --> 00:50:50,280 Speaker 1: summer I found out from one of my actual friends 1072 00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:54,680 Speaker 1: that Harper and Gianna did indeed start dating. I felt 1073 00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:57,640 Speaker 1: betrayed all over again, but I also always saw it coming. 1074 00:50:57,840 --> 00:50:59,520 Speaker 1: It didn't matter how much the two of them gas 1075 00:50:59,640 --> 00:51:01,719 Speaker 1: lit me in believing they were just friends. But at 1076 00:51:01,719 --> 00:51:04,120 Speaker 1: the very least, I'm happy knowing they deserve each other 1077 00:51:04,360 --> 00:51:06,400 Speaker 1: at least this way. If they keep dating, no other 1078 00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:08,799 Speaker 1: girl will have to deal with the consequences of dating them. 1079 00:51:09,160 --> 00:51:13,440 Speaker 1: Good riddance. Yay, we did it. That's the right where 1080 00:51:13,480 --> 00:51:16,200 Speaker 1: we want to be. We did it. Hey, Yeah, we 1081 00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:18,520 Speaker 1: got there. We got there. I'm happy for you. Op. 1082 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:21,359 Speaker 1: That's the end of that story. Hey is John Ogi host. 1083 00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:22,919 Speaker 1: We're gonna get back to the stories. But a quick 1084 00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:24,440 Speaker 1: freemanu of break of ads from our sponsors. 1085 00:51:25,320 --> 00:51:29,680 Speaker 5: My glow up made my wife insecure. Now she's scared 1086 00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:30,319 Speaker 5: I'll leave her. 1087 00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:32,680 Speaker 1: Oh the glow up blow up. 1088 00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:37,160 Speaker 5: I thirty six male, have been happily married to my wife, 1089 00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:41,240 Speaker 5: thirty four female, for about fifteen years. We met playing 1090 00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:44,839 Speaker 5: Halo three, and I moved across the country for her 1091 00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:47,279 Speaker 5: when I was twenty one and she was nineteen. We 1092 00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:51,080 Speaker 5: aren't officially married since neither of us is religious and we've. 1093 00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:53,200 Speaker 3: Never felt the need for the ceremony. By the way, 1094 00:51:53,320 --> 00:51:53,960 Speaker 3: this is from. 1095 00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:56,720 Speaker 5: Vertex Reaper, and if you want usubmit your own stories, 1096 00:51:56,760 --> 00:51:58,680 Speaker 5: go to the r slash okay storytime separated it. 1097 00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:02,080 Speaker 1: I'm Carly, I'm Keon, and we're. 1098 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:04,160 Speaker 5: Here to give good advice goofully, but we don't have 1099 00:52:04,360 --> 00:52:06,360 Speaker 5: all the answers. We only know what we would do, 1100 00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:08,600 Speaker 5: So let us know what you would do in the comments. 1101 00:52:08,960 --> 00:52:11,840 Speaker 5: One of the best things about our relationship is that 1102 00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,840 Speaker 5: we haven't gotten into a fight one time since we got. 1103 00:52:14,719 --> 00:52:18,040 Speaker 3: Together, not one. I'm so grateful to have her in 1104 00:52:18,120 --> 00:52:18,480 Speaker 3: my life. 1105 00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:21,480 Speaker 5: Four years ago, I had a dad bod and my 1106 00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:24,000 Speaker 5: wife had gotten a bit thick due to the VID. 1107 00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:27,040 Speaker 5: At the end of twenty twenty one, I got diagnosed 1108 00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:30,480 Speaker 5: with type two diabetes. Honestly, I didn't know much about 1109 00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:32,960 Speaker 5: the disease other than you're not supposed to eat sugar 1110 00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:35,640 Speaker 5: and go easy on the carps. When I learned all 1111 00:52:35,719 --> 00:52:38,400 Speaker 5: the terrible things that can happen because of this condition. 1112 00:52:38,840 --> 00:52:39,680 Speaker 3: I freaked out. 1113 00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:43,399 Speaker 5: Losing your limbs, going blind, losing your hearing. It's all 1114 00:52:43,600 --> 00:52:46,280 Speaker 5: so crazy to think about. So I took it seriously 1115 00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:49,359 Speaker 5: and started improving my diet. My A one C got 1116 00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:52,480 Speaker 5: so much better, and my glucose levels averaged around one 1117 00:52:52,560 --> 00:52:55,759 Speaker 5: hundred and twenty. I lost about forty pounds over two 1118 00:52:55,880 --> 00:52:59,279 Speaker 5: years with proper diet, balancing out around two hundred. To 1119 00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:02,040 Speaker 5: be clear, I'm not a tall guy. I'm about five 1120 00:53:02,080 --> 00:53:05,960 Speaker 5: to six, so two hundred is still thick at my height. Fortunately, 1121 00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:08,400 Speaker 5: my wife is five foot, so I'm tall to her, 1122 00:53:08,600 --> 00:53:09,720 Speaker 5: which we both enjoyed. 1123 00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,319 Speaker 3: I wanted to lose more weight, so I started going 1124 00:53:12,360 --> 00:53:14,360 Speaker 3: to the gym. I saw immediate results. 1125 00:53:14,560 --> 00:53:18,000 Speaker 5: Since I was already practically keto out of necessity, my 1126 00:53:18,239 --> 00:53:21,719 Speaker 5: high protein, low carb diet was a perfect match. Over 1127 00:53:21,800 --> 00:53:25,520 Speaker 5: the first year, I lost another forty pounds, staying around 1128 00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:28,880 Speaker 5: one sixty. I was losing fat and building muscle at 1129 00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:32,000 Speaker 5: the same time. Now I'm lean, have muscle tone, and 1130 00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:35,880 Speaker 5: instead of avoiding tight shirts, I wear them intentionally. Also, 1131 00:53:36,080 --> 00:53:40,040 Speaker 5: let me tell you my love life improved. Not to 1132 00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:44,040 Speaker 5: give away details, but I last longer. We can do 1133 00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:47,480 Speaker 5: things we couldn't do before, and my wife. 1134 00:53:47,320 --> 00:53:49,080 Speaker 3: Initiates things more often too. 1135 00:53:49,600 --> 00:53:52,279 Speaker 5: My sugar hasn't been over one twenty this whole year, 1136 00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:55,400 Speaker 5: and my A one C is exactly where it should be. 1137 00:53:55,760 --> 00:53:58,640 Speaker 5: I'm living a healthy life and enjoying being in my 1138 00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:00,279 Speaker 5: relationship more than ever. 1139 00:54:00,640 --> 00:54:01,960 Speaker 3: So let's get to the issue. 1140 00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:04,839 Speaker 5: About six months ago, I got offered to move from 1141 00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:06,680 Speaker 5: my company to another company. 1142 00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:09,399 Speaker 3: To be clear, I did not apply for this job. 1143 00:54:09,640 --> 00:54:14,160 Speaker 5: They reached out to me on LinkedIn, and things changed drastically. First, 1144 00:54:14,400 --> 00:54:18,000 Speaker 5: I was no longer working the late shift. Second, my 1145 00:54:18,400 --> 00:54:23,400 Speaker 5: salary increased nearly triple what it was, And lastly, I 1146 00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:26,000 Speaker 5: got a huge signing bonus that would change my life. 1147 00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:28,879 Speaker 5: When I was young, I never got braces. My teeth 1148 00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:31,719 Speaker 5: have always been crooked. This money meant I could have 1149 00:54:31,880 --> 00:54:35,320 Speaker 5: my smile repaired overnight with a full set of veneers. 1150 00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:37,520 Speaker 3: I don't know why that. I was expecting you to 1151 00:54:37,600 --> 00:54:40,400 Speaker 3: be like with braces, like within visies. 1152 00:54:40,440 --> 00:54:42,600 Speaker 1: Give me the porcelain teeth, In said, He's like, now, 1153 00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:45,000 Speaker 1: get rid of them, give me to grind them down, 1154 00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:46,319 Speaker 1: give me the fake ones. 1155 00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:47,120 Speaker 3: It's crazy. 1156 00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:50,640 Speaker 1: It is good. Good veneers are good. The bad veneers, 1157 00:54:50,719 --> 00:54:55,960 Speaker 1: but bad veneers are the worst bad horse teeth scary, scary? 1158 00:54:57,520 --> 00:54:58,280 Speaker 3: Do you have braces? 1159 00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:01,080 Speaker 1: I had braces? Yeah? Do you got braces? Yeah? You 1160 00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:01,600 Speaker 1: know I did. 1161 00:55:01,680 --> 00:55:02,560 Speaker 3: You want to know who didn't? 1162 00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:03,719 Speaker 1: Yeah? And I can tell why. 1163 00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:07,120 Speaker 3: I think he's got really nice teeth because he's so confident. 1164 00:55:07,480 --> 00:55:11,520 Speaker 5: No before everyone jumps on me for destroying my teeth. 1165 00:55:11,719 --> 00:55:14,960 Speaker 5: I also have never had the greatest oral hygiene. I've 1166 00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:18,000 Speaker 5: had cavity after cavity filled a few teeth, pulled, a 1167 00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:20,719 Speaker 5: bridge put in, and some chips from an accident when 1168 00:55:20,760 --> 00:55:23,800 Speaker 5: I was a kid repaired a few times. Well, this 1169 00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:26,480 Speaker 5: felt like a chance to fix everything at once. I 1170 00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:29,120 Speaker 5: talked to my wife about the bonus, and she was supportive. 1171 00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:31,600 Speaker 5: I first asked if there was anything we could use 1172 00:55:31,680 --> 00:55:34,640 Speaker 5: this for elsewhere. She told me that with my new salary, 1173 00:55:34,800 --> 00:55:37,719 Speaker 5: anything she wanted could wait. My wife knew how self 1174 00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:40,920 Speaker 5: conscious I was about my smile, and she was excited 1175 00:55:40,960 --> 00:55:43,279 Speaker 5: to let me get a brand new smile. So I did. 1176 00:55:43,560 --> 00:55:45,799 Speaker 5: Being a guy, I guess I didn't notice this all 1177 00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:48,800 Speaker 5: that much, but apparently women started giving me more and 1178 00:55:48,920 --> 00:55:52,320 Speaker 5: more compliments. He's like, I didn't notice all the compliments 1179 00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:53,600 Speaker 5: rolling in because I'm a guy. 1180 00:55:53,880 --> 00:55:56,320 Speaker 3: But yeah, my wife should. 1181 00:55:56,920 --> 00:55:58,280 Speaker 1: My wife certainly did. 1182 00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:03,160 Speaker 5: Around my style, as I tend to dress more professionally 1183 00:56:03,280 --> 00:56:06,160 Speaker 5: these days for my new role, of course, being thick. 1184 00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:09,840 Speaker 5: I didn't think they were flirting, just being nice. My wife, 1185 00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:12,719 Speaker 5: on the other hand, saw it very differently. When we 1186 00:56:12,760 --> 00:56:15,560 Speaker 5: would go out, waitresses were starting to chat with me more. 1187 00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:18,880 Speaker 5: Some girls apparently were giving me bedroom eyes. 1188 00:56:19,160 --> 00:56:20,080 Speaker 3: I hate that phrase. 1189 00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:24,800 Speaker 5: And again, my dumb self didn't notice that I'm already 1190 00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:27,480 Speaker 5: with my soulmate. Why would I care what other girls 1191 00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:29,920 Speaker 5: say to me or how they look at me. Everything 1192 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:32,040 Speaker 5: I want is waiting for me when I get home 1193 00:56:32,120 --> 00:56:37,399 Speaker 5: from war. The person I want to spend my time 1194 00:56:37,480 --> 00:56:40,600 Speaker 5: with is already there. I don't want anyone else. I've 1195 00:56:40,680 --> 00:56:44,120 Speaker 5: been in love for fifteen years now. The trouble We 1196 00:56:44,239 --> 00:56:46,480 Speaker 5: went to Target so I could pick up my diabetes 1197 00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:49,680 Speaker 5: medication and so she could grab Starbucks. After I got 1198 00:56:49,760 --> 00:56:52,040 Speaker 5: my medicine, I walked over to where the keto and 1199 00:56:52,120 --> 00:56:54,480 Speaker 5: sugar free snacks are in the hell aisle, you know, 1200 00:56:55,040 --> 00:57:00,319 Speaker 5: the name brand specific peanut buttercups, the specific chips. Who 1201 00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:03,440 Speaker 5: was definitely younger than me, walked up and asked if 1202 00:57:03,480 --> 00:57:06,040 Speaker 5: the chocolate covered peanuts I picked up were any good? 1203 00:57:06,280 --> 00:57:09,480 Speaker 5: I started sharing my knowledge on these items. We made 1204 00:57:09,480 --> 00:57:11,600 Speaker 5: a few jokes about the taste of some of the stuff, 1205 00:57:11,960 --> 00:57:15,080 Speaker 5: laughed a little, and just had a fun conversation. Then 1206 00:57:15,160 --> 00:57:17,400 Speaker 5: I excused myself and told her I had to go. 1207 00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:18,560 Speaker 3: Find my better half. 1208 00:57:18,760 --> 00:57:22,400 Speaker 5: That was the first time I noticed she seemed disappointed 1209 00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:24,880 Speaker 5: that I was taken, but didn't say it out loud. 1210 00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:27,320 Speaker 5: It turns out my wife was hiding on the other 1211 00:57:27,440 --> 00:57:29,360 Speaker 5: side of the aisle the whole time. 1212 00:57:29,640 --> 00:57:32,120 Speaker 3: Who I found her immediately was. 1213 00:57:32,160 --> 00:57:34,520 Speaker 5: Happy to see her, gave her a little kiss, took 1214 00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:37,240 Speaker 5: her hand, and we went to check out. Later that night, 1215 00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:40,800 Speaker 5: my wife seemed unusually quiet. I figured maybe she was 1216 00:57:40,880 --> 00:57:41,840 Speaker 5: starting her period. 1217 00:57:42,080 --> 00:57:46,040 Speaker 3: I mean, hey, I he didn't say that rudely. He 1218 00:57:46,160 --> 00:57:46,800 Speaker 3: knows his wife. 1219 00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:51,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's not like all these women in the freaking ovarias. 1220 00:57:51,480 --> 00:57:53,640 Speaker 1: He's just like you know, maybe she was feeling a 1221 00:57:53,680 --> 00:57:54,640 Speaker 1: little extra sensitive. 1222 00:57:54,840 --> 00:57:57,040 Speaker 5: My wife then told me she was going to go 1223 00:57:57,240 --> 00:57:59,680 Speaker 5: back to bed and lay down a bit. Something fell off. 1224 00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:02,080 Speaker 5: After ten minutes, I walked back to see if she 1225 00:58:02,200 --> 00:58:05,320 Speaker 5: was okay. I found her bawling into a pillow. 1226 00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:09,040 Speaker 3: No, put it on you show you it's you know what? 1227 00:58:09,120 --> 00:58:10,680 Speaker 1: I can't even make fun of you. My girl says 1228 00:58:10,720 --> 00:58:13,840 Speaker 1: it like that too. The cool kids say it pello pello, 1229 00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:15,240 Speaker 1: And I was like, where is she? 1230 00:58:15,440 --> 00:58:17,280 Speaker 3: What is she from? 1231 00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:18,520 Speaker 1: Lay? 1232 00:58:18,800 --> 00:58:21,720 Speaker 5: Immediately I moved over to her side and started rubbing 1233 00:58:21,800 --> 00:58:24,240 Speaker 5: her back. Of course, I asked her what was wrong, 1234 00:58:24,360 --> 00:58:26,800 Speaker 5: and she got herself together enough to look up at 1235 00:58:26,840 --> 00:58:30,400 Speaker 5: me with tear filled eyes and with the quietest, meekest 1236 00:58:30,520 --> 00:58:31,640 Speaker 5: voice I'd ever heard. 1237 00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:33,720 Speaker 3: She said, please don't leave me. 1238 00:58:34,440 --> 00:58:38,760 Speaker 6: Oh, and then you pull the masterchief cote and say, 1239 00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:41,360 Speaker 6: you know me when I make a promise, and she says, 1240 00:58:41,680 --> 00:58:44,960 Speaker 6: you keep it, and that's a quarte if you do that, 1241 00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:48,320 Speaker 6: she's your quartana cheesy. 1242 00:58:48,040 --> 00:58:52,680 Speaker 3: And I didn't know it. Crazyl. I was floored. 1243 00:58:53,160 --> 00:58:56,479 Speaker 5: My heart chattered into a thousand pieces. For the life 1244 00:58:56,520 --> 00:58:58,760 Speaker 5: of me, I couldn't figure out what was going on. 1245 00:58:59,560 --> 00:59:02,040 Speaker 5: What did I do to make her think that I 1246 00:59:02,120 --> 00:59:04,560 Speaker 5: don't stay out late. She knows where I am one 1247 00:59:04,640 --> 00:59:07,640 Speaker 5: hundred percent of the time, and we willingly hand each 1248 00:59:07,640 --> 00:59:10,280 Speaker 5: other our phones when the other is missing theirs. To 1249 00:59:10,400 --> 00:59:13,360 Speaker 5: say I was caught off guard was an understatement. This 1250 00:59:13,760 --> 00:59:15,520 Speaker 5: is when she filled me in on the fact that 1251 00:59:15,680 --> 00:59:18,400 Speaker 5: women in general have been more and more interested in 1252 00:59:18,480 --> 00:59:21,080 Speaker 5: me lately, and that she's seen how some. 1253 00:59:21,200 --> 00:59:23,840 Speaker 3: Of them look at me like I'm a slab of meat. 1254 00:59:24,200 --> 00:59:26,960 Speaker 5: My mind was blown. I didn't push back, but I 1255 00:59:27,120 --> 00:59:29,480 Speaker 5: asked what she meant. Little by little, she started to 1256 00:59:29,520 --> 00:59:32,520 Speaker 5: get herself together and explained all the attention I've been getting, 1257 00:59:32,720 --> 00:59:36,880 Speaker 5: the looks, the chats, the attention, the approaches, and tonight 1258 00:59:37,040 --> 00:59:41,520 Speaker 5: when that busty blonde Barbie was chatting me up, she 1259 00:59:41,680 --> 00:59:44,919 Speaker 5: realized that if I wanted to upgrade, I really could 1260 00:59:45,360 --> 00:59:48,120 Speaker 5: upgrade to what how do you go up? 1261 00:59:48,440 --> 00:59:48,640 Speaker 1: From? 1262 00:59:48,880 --> 00:59:49,280 Speaker 3: Soul me? 1263 00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:53,240 Speaker 5: I immediately told her that I never had any intent 1264 00:59:53,360 --> 00:59:56,560 Speaker 5: of leaving her or that I wanted to, and if 1265 00:59:56,640 --> 00:59:58,520 Speaker 5: I was flirting, I didn't mean to. 1266 00:59:58,880 --> 01:00:02,040 Speaker 3: She reassured me that I wasn't flirting. Bless her heart. 1267 01:00:02,240 --> 01:00:04,920 Speaker 5: My wife explained that she was listening to her husband 1268 01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:08,360 Speaker 5: share his life experience and his passions, not a cheating 1269 01:00:08,400 --> 01:00:11,360 Speaker 5: knucklehead trying to get some. We both kind of laughed. 1270 01:00:11,560 --> 01:00:15,120 Speaker 5: We talked for about an hour after that. Eventually we cuddled, 1271 01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:18,080 Speaker 5: watched a movie, and fell asleep in each other's arms. 1272 01:00:18,320 --> 01:00:21,040 Speaker 5: The last few days have been good, like really good. 1273 01:00:21,280 --> 01:00:23,480 Speaker 5: But is there anything I can do to make sure 1274 01:00:23,560 --> 01:00:25,800 Speaker 5: the love of my life. Never feels like I'm going 1275 01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:29,000 Speaker 5: to leave her. I can't stress enough that this woman 1276 01:00:29,280 --> 01:00:33,320 Speaker 5: enhances me. She emboldens my passions. She gives me all 1277 01:00:33,400 --> 01:00:34,400 Speaker 5: that I need and want. 1278 01:00:34,640 --> 01:00:36,320 Speaker 3: I tell her I love her every morning. 1279 01:00:36,760 --> 01:00:40,600 Speaker 5: I call her beautiful as a greeting, physical touch, kisses, hugs. 1280 01:00:40,800 --> 01:00:41,720 Speaker 3: I'm not distant. 1281 01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:44,120 Speaker 5: I'm active, and I want to be with her till 1282 01:00:44,160 --> 01:00:47,120 Speaker 5: I'm old and gray and burying her so that she 1283 01:00:47,240 --> 01:00:49,320 Speaker 5: doesn't have to endure the pain of losing me. 1284 01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:52,560 Speaker 3: Any advice is welcome, and we have an update. 1285 01:00:53,040 --> 01:00:57,360 Speaker 5: Oh well, See, personally, I feel like this is something 1286 01:00:57,440 --> 01:01:01,480 Speaker 5: that's just like potentially an adjustment time. And if he 1287 01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:04,080 Speaker 5: keeps being so reassuring and so nice and maybe just 1288 01:01:04,120 --> 01:01:06,200 Speaker 5: doing like even a little bit extra of it for 1289 01:01:06,280 --> 01:01:09,120 Speaker 5: a little bit, yeah, Like eventually she'll settle into being 1290 01:01:09,200 --> 01:01:11,520 Speaker 5: like this is how it is, like he obviously still 1291 01:01:11,600 --> 01:01:14,360 Speaker 5: loves me kind of yeah, Like, yeah, there's no reason 1292 01:01:14,480 --> 01:01:16,520 Speaker 5: that she should think that she's just getting a little 1293 01:01:16,560 --> 01:01:18,320 Speaker 5: bit like, oh my god, this is something so new 1294 01:01:18,360 --> 01:01:19,080 Speaker 5: that I haven't dealt with. 1295 01:01:19,080 --> 01:01:19,840 Speaker 3: And it worries me. 1296 01:01:20,160 --> 01:01:21,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think you can just like, you know, 1297 01:01:22,240 --> 01:01:23,800 Speaker 1: show her kind of what you wrote in this post 1298 01:01:24,320 --> 01:01:26,280 Speaker 1: even or like show her, uh he needs a what 1299 01:01:26,880 --> 01:01:30,080 Speaker 1: you know, right, just write a little special something write 1300 01:01:30,200 --> 01:01:31,960 Speaker 1: or a little cute thing and just keep showing up 1301 01:01:32,000 --> 01:01:33,000 Speaker 1: the same way you're showing up. 1302 01:01:33,160 --> 01:01:35,880 Speaker 5: You know. So I've been thinking about this situation, and 1303 01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:39,720 Speaker 5: I appreciate everyone's perspective. My wife got home about fifteen 1304 01:01:39,760 --> 01:01:42,000 Speaker 5: minutes ago, and I showed her what I'd written. Like 1305 01:01:42,160 --> 01:01:46,080 Speaker 5: some people suggested they were right, she really appreciated it. 1306 01:01:46,320 --> 01:01:48,880 Speaker 5: As to getting married, she still thinks it's a goofy 1307 01:01:48,960 --> 01:01:51,840 Speaker 5: tradition made up by religious people and currently just a 1308 01:01:51,960 --> 01:01:54,680 Speaker 5: good way for people to waste a pile of cash. Also, 1309 01:01:54,800 --> 01:01:57,360 Speaker 5: like you could just give her a ring and just 1310 01:01:57,440 --> 01:01:59,959 Speaker 5: be like, we don't actually have to get like officially married, 1311 01:02:00,200 --> 01:02:03,640 Speaker 5: but like I consider us married now, yes, or like 1312 01:02:03,640 --> 01:02:04,160 Speaker 5: a legit. 1313 01:02:04,120 --> 01:02:06,800 Speaker 6: Thing, have a friend, a couple of friends, some witnesses. 1314 01:02:07,040 --> 01:02:08,600 Speaker 5: I think it would still cost a little bit of 1315 01:02:08,680 --> 01:02:12,120 Speaker 5: that might be when it so like she doesn't need it, 1316 01:02:12,240 --> 01:02:15,360 Speaker 5: But if she wants that, like slight further promise or something, 1317 01:02:15,640 --> 01:02:16,680 Speaker 5: they can pretend to do it. 1318 01:02:17,560 --> 01:02:19,640 Speaker 1: You know, what you can do is cover your hand 1319 01:02:19,720 --> 01:02:22,800 Speaker 1: in super glue and then touch her with it, and 1320 01:02:23,000 --> 01:02:24,480 Speaker 1: you go, I'm never leaving. 1321 01:02:24,680 --> 01:02:28,280 Speaker 5: However, someone pointed out all the legal benefits to being married, 1322 01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:30,080 Speaker 5: and I honestly can't disagree with that. 1323 01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:32,120 Speaker 3: So we're getting married, yo. 1324 01:02:32,840 --> 01:02:37,080 Speaker 5: Okay, but she firmly said, no dresses, no DJ, no food, 1325 01:02:37,360 --> 01:02:40,520 Speaker 5: no archway, just a few family members for a witness 1326 01:02:40,600 --> 01:02:43,520 Speaker 5: and whoever needs to officiate. I couldn't help but laugh, 1327 01:02:43,800 --> 01:02:46,280 Speaker 5: but I guess we're going on a honeymoon in September, 1328 01:02:46,360 --> 01:02:49,160 Speaker 5: around her birthday. She wanted me to pass her thanks 1329 01:02:49,240 --> 01:02:51,800 Speaker 5: along to those who offered their support and advice. 1330 01:02:52,080 --> 01:02:54,360 Speaker 3: And that is the end of that story.