Speaker 1: To accept.
Speaker 2: Press one, just send a voicemail.
Speaker 3: Press two. Hello, Hello, what is your name?
Speaker 1: Sir? Call me Michael?
Speaker 3: All right, Michael, what's going on with you?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 2: What about three weeks ago I got arrested?
Speaker 3: Okay? Uh? Do you want to tell me what you
Speaker 3: got arrested for? I?
Speaker 2: Uh, I took a little too much like acid, and
Speaker 2: I started like freaking out pretty much.
Speaker 3: Uh did you do something illegal?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I guess, so, Okay, do you I mean, you can
Speaker 3: tell me what it is if you want to?
Speaker 2: Well? Should Basically the night started off fine. I took uh,
Speaker 2: I took three tabs, which is probably the most I've
Speaker 2: ever taken, and towards like the peak of the trip,
Speaker 2: bro That's that did not feel like three tabs. It
Speaker 2: felt like a lot more. And I started to get
Speaker 2: like super anxious, and about like about like three hours
Speaker 2: into the trip, I started to black out. And apparently
Speaker 2: I started like wandering around my neighborhood with my shirt
Speaker 2: out or with my shirt off, and one of my
Speaker 2: neighbors saw me and they called the police. And when
Speaker 2: the when the police came, I started, I guess, resisting arrest,
Speaker 2: and like I remember, I remember thinking they were gonna
Speaker 2: shoot me or something. So I started running away and
Speaker 2: I went on someone's doorstep, and I guess I started
Speaker 2: kicking in their door.
Speaker 3: Were you alone when you took these three tabs of acid?
Speaker 2: Now? My mom was down home.
Speaker 3: How often are you are you taking three tabs of acid?
Speaker 3: That's a lot of acid?
Speaker 2: Oh shit, man, The last time I took acid was
Speaker 2: probably like a year ago.
Speaker 3: Okay, so this was this was and you said this
Speaker 3: was three weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Just about about like a month ago.
Speaker 3: Were you taking the ascid like by yourself or did
Speaker 3: you have like friends taking it with you?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: I was about myself.
Speaker 3: Uh So what happened after you got arrested?
Speaker 2: Uh? They took me to the hospital, and I guess
Speaker 2: that's when I kind of like came to because I
Speaker 2: was out of it. Dude. I was just like hallucinating crazily,
Speaker 2: which is nothing that I've really ever experienced before while
Speaker 2: I was taking acid.
Speaker 3: Do you remember what? Do you remember what you were
Speaker 3: hallucinating when you were in uh these people's yards?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So I remember thinking I was like some sort
Speaker 2: of like football player. So I wasn't just like walking around.
Speaker 2: I was like running around through people's yards. Like like
Speaker 2: shirtless with my fucking chest, hair out and everything, and
Speaker 2: like it's probably like seven in the morning, so this
Speaker 2: light outside, and like I live in like a like
Speaker 2: a college town, so I'm sure I'm on like Instagram
Speaker 2: reels somewhere because if I saw if I saw a
Speaker 2: teenager running around someone's yard with no shirt on, I'd
Speaker 2: start recording.
Speaker 3: Are you a teenager?
Speaker 2: I was at the time, I was nineteen and I
Speaker 2: just turned twenty.
Speaker 3: So, uh, what are you in school? What do you do?
Speaker 3: What's your life? Uh?
Speaker 2: I work at a hospital and I work at Burger King.
Speaker 1: That's nice, but I just got I just.
Speaker 2: Got the burger king job to pay for pay for
Speaker 2: the door.
Speaker 3: Oh did you destroy a door when you were on acid?
Speaker 2: I went and checked out the door, and it looked
Speaker 2: it looked fine, but I don't think it's I don't
Speaker 2: think it's destroyed or anything. But apparently I was trying
Speaker 2: to kick it in, So.
Speaker 3: Like, I guess, I'm is this. Are you upset about this?
Speaker 3: Like how do you what do you make of this? Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't. I don't know. It's weird because like
Speaker 2: at first, I was like mortified, bro, because I'm really
Speaker 2: just like a normal dude. Like I'm not. I'm not
Speaker 2: the type of dude to take a bunch of acid
Speaker 2: and and run around with my shirt off. But it's
Speaker 2: weird because like this has kind of made me lock in,
Speaker 2: you know, catching like a court case and everything. And
Speaker 2: I've made even in the short few weeks since it's happened,
Speaker 2: I've made a lot of like changes in my life.
Speaker 2: It's kind of made me realize, like I'm not, I'm
Speaker 2: not in high school anymore. You know, I gotta I
Speaker 2: gotta start acting like an adult. I guess it's it
Speaker 2: sucks because I owe money for the door and people
Speaker 2: my neighbors probably think I'm crazy. But learned a lesson.
Speaker 3: What sort of changes have you made as you as
Speaker 3: you have locked in?
Speaker 2: I stopped smoking weed every day, That's a big one.
Speaker 2: And then getting I got that second job, which I
Speaker 2: probably needed to do to like build up some savings
Speaker 2: and whatnot. Not just really given thought into what I'm
Speaker 2: going to do with my future in terms of like
Speaker 2: a long term career.
Speaker 3: And what have those thoughts yielded.
Speaker 2: I've decided that probably my best course of action would be,
Speaker 2: like I try to get into a trade. You know,
Speaker 2: because I'm not I'm not the type of dude who
Speaker 2: could really go to college and then work in like
Speaker 2: a corporate sitting. I don't think i'd really fit in,
Speaker 2: So you know, maybe I'll go pour concrete and a
Speaker 2: hundred degree weather.
Speaker 3: How do you feel having locked in a right? Is
Speaker 3: there a part of you that's almost glad that this happened,
Speaker 3: that it could cause you to lock in? Is a week?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean relying to.
Speaker 2: That, I mean, like like I've been, I've been kind
Speaker 2: of locked in, you know. I go to the gym,
Speaker 2: my journal, I fucking I get outside, I go on runs,
Speaker 2: I try to watch what I'm eating and whatnot. But
Speaker 2: I don't know, this has kind of made me just
Speaker 2: like realize all the different kind of bullshit I got
Speaker 2: to cut out of my life, you know, and like
Speaker 2: like even on the phone, like I'm so stressed about this.
Speaker 2: I try to act like it's fine and try to
Speaker 2: push it off, you know, but I'm just trying to
Speaker 2: see the good in the situation. But every time I
Speaker 2: try to go to bed bro, I can think about
Speaker 2: it's like how fucking crazy I looked, or my neighbor's
Speaker 2: lawn sprawled out with my fucking nipples out, and.
Speaker 3: Shit, it is a little funny.
Speaker 2: It's it's a little funny. But I think it's too
Speaker 2: soon to start laughing about it, because like I haven't
Speaker 2: told any of my friends.
Speaker 3: About this either, really want none of your friends know
Speaker 3: about this?
Speaker 2: Hell no, bro, because like I've been uh uh, Like
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm a type of character that has like
Speaker 2: a lot of baggage, you know, and like I've done
Speaker 2: a lot of stupid shit in the past, and like
Speaker 2: in the past year, I've kind of, like I said,
Speaker 2: locked in and I don't want to like fucking tell
Speaker 2: all my friends that this happened.
Speaker 3: You, Like, how much? How much bat How at twenty
Speaker 3: years old have you been able to accruse so much baggage?
Speaker 2: Oh? Fuck man, I just I've lived a lot of life, bro,
Speaker 2: I've been to a lot of shit. I know, like
Speaker 2: I'm still young, but I don't know. But I just
Speaker 2: I've really lived. I've really lived in my high school experience.
Speaker 3: I guess what kind of baggage and how do you
Speaker 3: what and how do you feel like this baggage is
Speaker 3: holding you back?
Speaker 2: Well, I don't think it's holding me back, but I
Speaker 2: think like people have a predisposed opinion of me because
Speaker 2: like I don't know. One thing is like I've had
Speaker 2: like twelve jobs in the past two years, and a
Speaker 2: lot of my friends are like, what the fuck are
Speaker 2: you doing? Like you got to stay at a job,
Speaker 2: But I don't know, there was There's been a lot
Speaker 2: going on in my life for pretty much my entire life,
Speaker 2: and a lot of that is like like caused by me,
Speaker 2: but a lot of it is shit that I was
Speaker 2: just going throughout the time. I don't know if that
Speaker 2: makes any sense, but I just feel like a lot
Speaker 2: of the people around me don't think I'm don't think
Speaker 2: that like I want more for myself, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3: So you've been going through a bunch of different jobs
Speaker 3: and like you're you're afraid that the people around you
Speaker 3: think that you're inconfident.
Speaker 2: Yeah, or like just just not taking life seriously? Which
Speaker 2: is which is? Which is fair enough? Like I can't
Speaker 2: if all they see is a bunch of bullshit whatever,
Speaker 2: or they're supposed to believe you.
Speaker 3: Know, Okay, but you're telling me that over the past
Speaker 3: three weeks you've woken up and decided that you want
Speaker 3: to take life seriously.
Speaker 2: Well, no, no, I would say it's been longer than that.
Speaker 2: I just think, like I don't know, like like over
Speaker 2: the past year, I'll be like like doing good for
Speaker 2: like two weeks, three weeks at a time, and then
Speaker 2: I'll just have a week where I'm fuck it, getting
Speaker 2: drunk every day or like just going out doing stupid shit,
Speaker 2: going to the parties, getting into fights and whatnot. And
Speaker 2: this has kind of made me realize like like that's
Speaker 2: like I need to just stay on a straight path,
Speaker 2: you know, like we really try to get my life together.
Speaker 2: I can't let myself just uh you know, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go get drunk at fucking three am and sit out
Speaker 2: a fucking Wendy's parking lot for six hours and then
Speaker 2: expect to feel quite good about myself.
Speaker 3: You know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not a linear journey.
Speaker 3: It's like a it's like ups and downs. I feel yea,
Speaker 3: even to me, to I mean, I don't know, man,
Speaker 3: even to me, the fact that you're self aware that
Speaker 3: you don't want to fuck up your life is like huge.
Speaker 3: It's the biggest thing, especially you know at twenty, because
Speaker 3: I'm here people a lot of people at that time,
Speaker 3: You're just like, well, fucking fuck everything. Let's just you know,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna live forever or I'm gonna die Tomorrow's let's
Speaker 3: just drink in the Wendy's parking lot every day.
Speaker 2: Yep. It gets tough though, man.
Speaker 3: But also this fear that your friends and family are
Speaker 3: gonna think that you don't take life seriously. Do you
Speaker 3: think you take life seriously?
Speaker 2: I think I take life very seriously. But I also,
Speaker 2: like I struggle with a lot of like I guess,
Speaker 2: mental health issues and stuff, because like, I really have
Speaker 2: been through a lot of shit, and I think for
Speaker 2: the amount of things that I've gone through, to be
Speaker 2: in the position that I'm in right now is honestly crazy.
Speaker 2: But I'm still not in a good position overall, you know,
Speaker 2: like I should. I could be doing a lot better,
Speaker 2: but I'm doing great from where I come from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, how's your family?
Speaker 2: Uh, it's interesting, it's really it's really just me and
Speaker 2: my mom right now. My brother lives in the same
Speaker 2: in town too. But and then, like I met the
Speaker 2: other side of my family, my dad's side of the family,
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, and then I got sent to go
Speaker 2: live over there until my dad died and then I'm back,
Speaker 2: and so now we don't really talk as much anymore.
Speaker 2: So it's just really it's really just me and my mom.
Speaker 3: Do you have a good relationship with your mom?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, good, she's like she's my rock.
Speaker 3: What what was her reaction when she saw you half
Speaker 3: naked running around your neighbor's yard on acid.
Speaker 2: I don't Well, she didn't see me because she's legally buying.
Speaker 2: But she like, I've done a lot of stupid shits,
Speaker 2: so she wasn't like, this is not this is not
Speaker 2: the first time that the ambulance and ship came to mind.
Speaker 2: This is like the fourth time some ship like this
Speaker 2: has happened.
Speaker 3: So you know, this is the fourth time that you've
Speaker 3: been you've been picked up by an ambulance.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my neighborhood. So I think my neighbors don't like
Speaker 2: them very much.
Speaker 3: What are your goals do you have you? What are
Speaker 3: your goals for the future now that you're locked in, like.
Speaker 2: Long term goals or short term goals?
Speaker 3: Both?
Speaker 2: So I U I OWE. I think twenty five hundred
Speaker 2: to the door, which I think is there's no way
Speaker 2: because it's like two thousand dollars in labor and I'm
Speaker 2: also like seven hundred bucks in credit card debt, which
Speaker 2: isn't a lot. So my goal is, like short term,
Speaker 2: it's just to work both these jobs and get that
Speaker 2: paid off, and then as soon as I do that,
Speaker 2: try to get about like two thousand dollars savings to
Speaker 2: have like some sort of emergency fund because if my
Speaker 2: car breaks down and someone, I don't want to be
Speaker 2: fucking walking again. And then really just like within this
Speaker 2: next year, really focus on our mental health. So just
Speaker 2: just trying to stay like I guess, mostly sober. Honestly,
Speaker 2: that's that's probably a big thing holding you back. And
Speaker 2: then in terms of like long term goals, I'm really
Speaker 2: trying to decide about either if I'm going to go
Speaker 2: to college or go apply for like a union apprenticeship
Speaker 2: or something. So I guess a long term goal would
Speaker 2: be like trying to figure out what I'm going to
Speaker 2: start as a career.
Speaker 3: Well, let me say this, and look, I know that
Speaker 3: you're probably beating yourself up because this just happens with
Speaker 3: the you know, three taps of acid, no that shit,
Speaker 3: And I guess, like I'll say this, I think that
Speaker 3: you're uh, at least the fact that we're able to
Speaker 3: have this conversation right now, and you're able to tell
Speaker 3: me these things and think of these thoughts and look
Speaker 3: at your life in this way. Tells me that you're
Speaker 3: like self aware enough to not like that that I'm
Speaker 3: not sitting here going this guy is not gonna make
Speaker 3: it and he's gonna We're gonna find him dead in
Speaker 3: the Wendy's parking lot. I don't think that's gonna happen
Speaker 3: to you. That might happen to me. I might be
Speaker 3: dead in the Wendy's parking lot, but that would be
Speaker 3: from eating too much Wendy, it's not from drinking. So
Speaker 3: I think you're actually in a good spot here. Like, sure,
Speaker 3: you've made a bunch of mistakes and you had to
Speaker 3: kind of deal with the ups and the downs as
Speaker 3: a result of whatever the fuck happened to you as
Speaker 3: a result of whatever the fuck like happened to you
Speaker 3: in your life up until this point. Yeah, but you
Speaker 3: gotta really the fact that you've locked in is great.
Speaker 3: So I mean, for whatever it's worth from this Gecko man,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm optimistic for you listening to what you got
Speaker 3: going on.
Speaker 2: So you know that means that means. That means the
Speaker 2: world to me. Bro Good, I don't even know.
Speaker 1: Bro.
Speaker 2: I listen to you every single day while I'm at work.
Speaker 2: You're not just you, but the people who come on
Speaker 2: here and talk about their experiences. Really Like, I'm in
Speaker 2: a really depressed date. It really helps pull me out.
Speaker 2: That's awesome what you're doing. It really helps people. Bro.
Speaker 3: I'm trying my fucking best, bro Good, But I'm I'm
Speaker 3: not worried about you, man, I don't. I don't have
Speaker 3: any I don't have any words for you. I think
Speaker 3: you're gonna be okay. And as far as like telling
Speaker 3: your friends about it or whatnot, I mean.
Speaker 2: Dude, I'm not I'm not telling I'm not telling them
Speaker 2: until like probably like two years, you know, like what like,
Speaker 2: and then I can look back and on it.
Speaker 4: But while I'm.
Speaker 2: Going through the situation, I don't want I don't.
Speaker 3: I get it, man, I get it. I tell I.
Speaker 3: I kind of tell my friends everything, and that's like
Speaker 3: so sometimes I wonder if that's the best thing to do.
Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, I don't know.
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, with that kind of shit,
Speaker 3: I almost I almost have this opinion of like, if
Speaker 3: you're the kind of person like like me, where you
Speaker 3: want to tell your friends fucking everything, I almost approach
Speaker 3: it like, like, look, if you decide to take my
Speaker 3: openness and use it against me by making fun of
Speaker 3: me or or whatever else, like, that's a much stronger
Speaker 3: reflection on you than it is on me. But whatever, man,
Speaker 3: I you know, do you live your life well crazy?
Speaker 2: Yeah? They're pretty cool, green dude.
Speaker 3: I'm trying my best. Do you guys? Have you ever
Speaker 3: had the Whopper chips?
Speaker 2: The Whopper chips?
Speaker 3: Yeah, dude, maybe this is in Glasgow, Scotland. I got
Speaker 3: these Doritos that were flavored like Whoppers, and like, bro,
Speaker 3: you eat one and they really do taste like a Whopper.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't even know the last time
Speaker 2: I fucking ate a Whopper. I don't I might work
Speaker 2: at burger King, but I do not eat the food.
Speaker 2: But that's because that's because my my burger King has
Speaker 2: ran really poorly and my supervisors on Heroin.
Speaker 3: So tell me no more information about how your burger
Speaker 3: King is run, because I don't want it to be
Speaker 3: ruined for me. This is why I think I have
Speaker 3: as much stronger chance of dying in a Wendy's parking
Speaker 3: lot than you do. I think you're gonna be fine.
Speaker 3: Is there anything else us say to the people of
Speaker 3: the computer before we go?
Speaker 2: Comparison is the thief for joy Man, it really is
Speaker 2: your life. Your life might be a dream to somebody else's,
Speaker 2: so no matter where you're at, just be glad you're breathing.
Speaker 3: I could not possibly agree more with you, sir.
Speaker 2: Thanks Man, Have a good night. Yep, you too.
Speaker 3: Attention listeners of the Therapy Gecko podcast. Do you know
Speaker 3: that I do a live version of this podcast on
Speaker 3: stage in person in front of real people, And that
Speaker 3: I'm doing this live show in several cities across the
Speaker 3: United States and Europe this fall, and that tickets are
Speaker 3: available right now at therapy geckotour dot com or at
Speaker 3: the link in the episode description. It is all true.
Speaker 3: I'm currently on my third tour doing Therapy Gecko Live
Speaker 3: all around the country and it is the most fun, sick,
Speaker 3: amazing thing ever and you should come out and be
Speaker 3: a part of it. The shows involve a mix of
Speaker 3: material and presentations from myself, combined with a group gek
Speaker 3: therapy session where members of the audience come on stage
Speaker 3: to share things from their lives in front of a
Speaker 3: big group of people, just like we do here on
Speaker 3: the podcast. Whether you're a fan of the podcast or
Speaker 3: you have no idea what this is and you clicked
Speaker 3: on it by accident, you're gonna have a great time
Speaker 3: at the live show once again. Tickets are available right
Speaker 3: now at therapy geckotour dot com or at the link
Speaker 3: in the episode description. These are really fun shows. They're
Speaker 3: always wild, they're always unpredictable, and I hope to see
Speaker 3: you guys there all from Nick, Hello, how's it going on?
Speaker 3: What's your name?
Speaker 2: Nick?
Speaker 3: How can I get you to led? Nick?
Speaker 4: Ah Gecko? I don't even know where to begin. I
Speaker 4: know I definitely got something I want to talk about.
Speaker 4: I'm not exactly sure if I should marry my girlfriend
Speaker 4: or if I should break up with her looking for advice?
Speaker 3: Those are two very very different options here. Why, yeah,
Speaker 3: I know, let's let's talk about it.
Speaker 2: What uh?
Speaker 3: What? What? What? What's what's the dichotomy here?
Speaker 4: Well, she and I have been together since twenty nineteen,
Speaker 4: so it's not like five years. You know, I'm in
Speaker 4: my least thirties at this point, well not late I'm
Speaker 4: mid thirties. It's not that time where you know, I
Speaker 4: should be settling down, like getting married and all that junk.
Speaker 4: And you know, we've been together for so long. It
Speaker 4: just kind of like makes sense. It's not that I
Speaker 4: don't love her, it's just it's complicated.
Speaker 3: Why are you considering breaking out with her?
Speaker 4: Well, there's a number of different reasons, but I think
Speaker 4: the number one reason why is just because I'm afraid that.
Speaker 4: So the deal is is that she is a chain smoker,
Speaker 4: just like her parents are. Her parents her father smokes
Speaker 4: well over two packs a day, and her mother has
Speaker 4: said numerous bounts of cancer and heart attacks and strokes,
Speaker 4: and we basically have to take care of both of them.
Speaker 4: And I watched her smoke with them. I was a
Speaker 4: nicotine user and I quit back in October, and I
Speaker 4: just I'm just I don't know what to do because
Speaker 4: the way I feel about it is like, I she
Speaker 4: doesn't she doesn't want to be with me my whole life.
Speaker 4: I want to be with her my whole life. But
Speaker 4: if she doesn't want to be with me, like she
Speaker 4: doesn't want to take care of herself, It's like what
Speaker 4: am I doing here? You know, so.
Speaker 3: You're you're equating her chain smoking to she doesn't want
Speaker 3: to be with me her whole life.
Speaker 4: Kind of, I know that's not like fair, you know,
Speaker 4: it's it's not how she thinks about it. It's not
Speaker 4: how any normal person would think about it.
Speaker 3: The assessment. The assessment is I don't want to marry
Speaker 3: this person if they don't care about their health and
Speaker 3: don't plan to be around for a long time enough
Speaker 3: to stop chain smoking. That's that's sort of the assessments. Yeah,
Speaker 3: kind of, is there any other go ahead?
Speaker 4: Sorry, you know there's like other reasons too, where like
Speaker 4: it gives me like pause. We do have things in common,
Speaker 4: but we argue a lot. You know, she has a
Speaker 4: lot of problems with like an anxiety. You know, who
Speaker 4: doesn't like I have, you know, like I got depression.
Speaker 4: Everybody these days has got depression. It's part of life.
Speaker 4: But she's got like crazy anxiety issues and the other
Speaker 4: big elephant in the room that's really hard to talk
Speaker 4: with her about. So her parents, you know, they're in
Speaker 4: their sixties. They both look like they're one hundred. Her
Speaker 4: mom looks like the crypt keeper, but she has an
Speaker 4: older sister who has disabilities. And they both take care
Speaker 4: of her, so any day now they're going to drop
Speaker 4: dead and then it's going to be on us to
Speaker 4: start taking care of her older sister. And the thing
Speaker 4: about it is like, I wouldn't it wouldn't be a
Speaker 4: big deal if she wasn't going down the same exact
Speaker 4: path they are. You know, we argue about this, and
Speaker 4: it's not like she's like smoking like two packs a
Speaker 4: day like her old man is, but it's pretty close,
Speaker 4: and I just I don't know what to do.
Speaker 3: So I got a few questions, so, you know, I
Speaker 3: mean when you you said you talk about this all
Speaker 3: the time, and when you talk about it, what does
Speaker 3: she say? And when you and when you when you
Speaker 3: say to her like as you've laid out to me
Speaker 3: just now, the your issues, when you lay them out
Speaker 3: to her, what does she say in response? And how
Speaker 3: does she help to resolve them?
Speaker 4: You know, Usually it's like I know, or it's like
Speaker 4: I get it, or how many times I heard her
Speaker 4: say I planned to quit smoking and all that stuff.
Speaker 4: And then other times, if I'm pestering her too much,
Speaker 4: then she just gets angry with me. She says things like, well,
Speaker 4: you telling me not to do it just makes me
Speaker 4: want to smoke more like a child's And it's just
Speaker 4: half of it is her agreeing with me and saying, yep,
Speaker 4: I'm going to change, and then maybe it'd be a
Speaker 4: couple of days where she, you know, changes, and then
Speaker 4: sooner or later she was right back into old habits again.
Speaker 4: And you know, I've tried giving her like patches, I've
Speaker 4: tried giving her gum like that's how I quit, like
Speaker 4: because you know, the truth of it is like I
Speaker 4: chewed chewing tobacco for a number of years and I
Speaker 4: was like sixteen, and and then we had one of
Speaker 4: those he had one of those moments where you can't
Speaker 4: unsee it, and I just quit pretty much, pretty much
Speaker 4: cold turkey. It took me a couple of weeks, agom,
Speaker 4: but I was done smoking after about two weeks after that.
Speaker 3: So tell me this, Okay, we've ran through one side
Speaker 3: of this. What's the other side. What's the side that
Speaker 3: makes you feel like you want to get married to
Speaker 3: this person?
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: It's I You know, I am have not had a
Speaker 4: lot of luck with relationships in my life. You know,
Speaker 4: I'm in my the thirties. I spent all of my
Speaker 4: twenties single, you know, basically like living by myself. And
Speaker 4: she and I met each other like online, and you know,
Speaker 4: she like gets me, and it's just nice to like
Speaker 4: have a life partner. You know, it's so hard to
Speaker 4: live alone all the time. And it's not just like
Speaker 4: you know, she's like my life like it's not that
Speaker 4: like utilitarian, but and there is other things, like you know,
Speaker 4: we we like like the same things. You know, we
Speaker 4: both like anime and play video games. You know, we
Speaker 4: like the same types of music, and we like to
Speaker 4: go to concerts together.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: It's just nice that like have somebody where it's like
Speaker 4: we can both agree on, like she is like my
Speaker 4: friend like and also my girlfriend type of thing.
Speaker 3: So this, this problem, this topic is is something I've
Speaker 3: I've thought a lot about and I don't I have
Speaker 3: no conclusion because it's such a difficult topic. I have
Speaker 3: ways that like I I uh, sort of lean and
Speaker 3: things that I think about, Well, I don't have like
Speaker 3: I'm I'm going to I'm disclaiming. I want to disclaim
Speaker 3: something that is extremely important, which is that I do
Speaker 3: not have opinions on this. I'm just I'm thinking it
Speaker 3: through with you and These are the thoughts that I
Speaker 3: think as I think through because it's such a thing
Speaker 3: I go really back and forth on and so difficult
Speaker 3: is this idea of Like, on one hand, my fucking
Speaker 3: gut really tells me that if you're gonna get married
Speaker 3: to somebody, that should be a fuck yes decision. You
Speaker 3: should be getting married because you're like, I want to
Speaker 3: fuck I love this person and I want to be
Speaker 3: with them for the rest of my life. That should
Speaker 3: that shouldn't be a thing that you're on the fence about.
Speaker 3: That should be a fuck yes decision, right because it's
Speaker 3: like it's like one of them. It's one of, if
Speaker 3: not the most important decisions you're gonna make in your
Speaker 3: entire life. It should be a one hundred percenter or
Speaker 3: minimum like ninety five percenter fuck yes decision. So that's
Speaker 3: what one part of my gut tells me. The other
Speaker 3: part of my gut levels and goes, yeah, sure, that's great.
Speaker 3: Yeah sure, and your perfect, beautiful, amazing version of the
Speaker 3: universe where everything goes great and perfect and awesome one
Speaker 3: hundred percent of the time, as we all know life
Speaker 3: does not, that would be great. The other partlem I
Speaker 3: got is like the other part of I got recognizes
Speaker 3: how painful it is and how difficult it is to
Speaker 3: be alone and to date, especially as you get older
Speaker 3: and older, and fully understands why, like really really understand
Speaker 3: and why you would say to yourself, you know what,
Speaker 3: there's these problems, and they're not small problems, they're big problems.
Speaker 3: But I can get past those problems because I like
Speaker 3: this person enough, so let's do it. And I don't
Speaker 3: want to be alone and I can't go back into
Speaker 3: the dating pool. And it's not like I don't like
Speaker 3: this person. It's not like this person is abusive to me.
Speaker 3: It's not like this person, you know, it's not like
Speaker 3: I actively hate this person. I like this person. She's
Speaker 3: my friend. We get along, we have a lot in common.
Speaker 3: We've been together for five years. She gets me. As
Speaker 3: you said, Yes, we have these problems, but I can
Speaker 3: get past it because I like her enough that I
Speaker 3: think we can have a successful relationship together. And I
Speaker 3: know what it's like to be alone into to struggle,
Speaker 3: and I fucking dear God don't want to do that.
Speaker 3: And so I understand what that part of my gut
Speaker 3: tells me to say about this situation and those two
Speaker 3: parts of my gut, the part that like levels and goes, yeah,
Speaker 3: it's good enough and I don't want to be alone,
Speaker 3: versus the part that goes, no, I'm not gonna quote
Speaker 3: unquote settle and I'm gonna be fuck yes about this
Speaker 3: and I'm gonna make sure I ain't even gonna be
Speaker 3: struggle to find I'm gonna try to find somebody that
Speaker 3: I can be you know, one hundred percent is excited about.
Speaker 3: I don't know which parts of those gut. I don't
Speaker 3: know which of those two sides is the right one.
Speaker 3: I have no idea. I really don't, because again, the
Speaker 3: part of me that's like, well, this should be one
Speaker 3: hundred percent decision makes so much logical sense. But then
Speaker 3: when you throw in the difficulty of navigating being being
Speaker 3: alone and and and then the the side that goes, well,
Speaker 3: we have this much in common and this and that
Speaker 3: and the other thing, like, let's just make it work, buddy.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 4: You're not You're not You're not very much help to me,
Speaker 4: are you.
Speaker 3: I'm not. I'm no, I'm zero help to you at all.
Speaker 3: I'm zero helped. You don't. I'm sure I've expressed the
Speaker 3: two sides of your brain as well. Have I not?
Speaker 4: Yeah, And it's like something I think about every day.
Speaker 4: The thing that always gets me, know, to be honest,
Speaker 4: is the thing I always think about more is I
Speaker 4: think more about breaking up with her than I do
Speaker 4: about marrying her, which is the killer to me sometimes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah again you way that you you have
Speaker 3: you make that decision for yourself ultimately at the end
Speaker 3: of the day. And if you're thinking more about breaking
Speaker 3: out with someone than you are a boy getting together
Speaker 3: with them, that's a it's definitely signify something. I mean,
Speaker 3: how long have you been thinking about breaking up with
Speaker 3: this person?
Speaker 4: I don't know, maybe like two years at least. I
Speaker 4: mean that's pretty much like because that's pretty much like
Speaker 4: right when we get over our honeymoon phase, you know,
Speaker 4: being together, and that's when her problems like really started
Speaker 4: to present themselves. And it's just so tough, you know,
Speaker 4: because it's like we I own a home, I'm very
Speaker 4: grateful to own a home, not nowadays, and we like
Speaker 4: live together, but at this point we're like practically married.
Speaker 4: Like how could you even like divide our because she
Speaker 4: and I have been like living together pretty much right
Speaker 4: from the get go, like within a week of us
Speaker 4: knowing each other. Even we were like living together essentially
Speaker 4: because she was like living at home with her parents
Speaker 4: at the time, and I was like, well, just come
Speaker 4: live with me if you don't live with your parents,
Speaker 4: and that's how it went.
Speaker 5: So it's like, if I, how do you think she
Speaker 5: feels about marrying you?
Speaker 4: Oh, I know she wants to. I know she she
Speaker 4: hints and talks about it. It's a little weird for her, thankfully,
Speaker 4: Like not thankfully, but it's a little weird for her
Speaker 4: because she was engaged at one point and then that
Speaker 4: didn't happen. So she's a little bit gunshy about the
Speaker 4: whole thing.
Speaker 3: But I know that if I asked her, why did
Speaker 3: you say thankful? Why did you say thankfully?
Speaker 4: Because she's never really bugged me about this question, you know,
Speaker 4: she has, of course, she's like broached the subject. But
Speaker 4: if I say, like, it's not she's like, okay. But
Speaker 4: then we just move on with our lives. You know.
Speaker 4: We're both so busy all the time, you know, between
Speaker 4: like work and like dealing with her family and stuff, like,
Speaker 4: we at a lot of time to think about it. If
Speaker 4: I worry that if I did ask her to marry me,
Speaker 4: I would just be putting more stress on her plate
Speaker 4: because she doesn't deal with stress pretty well. And so
Speaker 4: it's like, can I And it's funny, like I have
Speaker 4: a built in excuse. When we first got together, I
Speaker 4: made a joke about Harry Potter and she had never
Speaker 4: read Harry Potter, and I told her, which was the
Speaker 4: truth of the time. I told her. I promised myself
Speaker 4: I would never marry anybody that hasn't read Harry Potter.
Speaker 3: Bro Bro, Bro, Look, do whatever you're gonna do, and
Speaker 3: I can't. I said everything I said. If you decide
Speaker 3: you're gonna break up with this girl, don't fucking blame
Speaker 3: it on Harry Potter.
Speaker 4: I'm I'm not I'm not. I'm not saying I'm just
Speaker 4: saying that whenever this kind of comes up, it's like, well,
Speaker 4: you haven't you haven't been reading, have you.
Speaker 3: I'll blame it on Harry Potter. Bro don't blame.
Speaker 4: I'm not.
Speaker 2: Weird.
Speaker 3: Truly, truly, truly, truly, this is It's really something I
Speaker 3: think about a lot, is like what what what should
Speaker 3: we do? Should we.
Speaker 6: Find what should we do? Should we pick somebody and
Speaker 6: fucking make it work or should we, you know, keep
Speaker 6: keep playing the lottery and playing the field until.
Speaker 3: We find something that naturally works. And I don't know,
Speaker 3: I don't know. Logically, my brain is telling me, if
Speaker 3: you're thinking about breaking up with someone constantly over two years,
Speaker 3: that's friendly.
Speaker 5: That's say, you know, that's something that's not nothing. That's
Speaker 5: not something to to ignore. That's not something to ignore.
Speaker 5: That's not something to ignore. But again, it's a tough situation.
Speaker 3: And and and what you know, this is, this is
Speaker 3: all all I can really do is sit here with
Speaker 3: you and think this through as I as I as
Speaker 3: I have before. But don't blame Harry. But don't blame
Speaker 3: Harry Potter.
Speaker 4: I'm not. I'm just saying like it's it's it's in
Speaker 4: my back pocket as a reason why we haven't gotten
Speaker 4: married yet. That's all.
Speaker 3: What's your name again?
Speaker 2: Nick? Well?
Speaker 3: Nick? Is there anything else you want to say to
Speaker 3: the people of the computer before we go?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 4: It would be cool to each other, I guess.
Speaker 3: Oh, good luck, sir, Thank you, sir, have a good one.
Speaker 3: That would be kind of funny if he decided he
Speaker 3: was going to break up with her and then like
Speaker 3: the day he was gonna have the conversation, she was like,
Speaker 3: you know, I finally got around to reading Harry Potter
Speaker 3: and I'm a big fan, and I got us tickets
Speaker 3: to the Wizarding World in Universal Florida. Then he'd be fucked.
Speaker 3: Then he'd have to heat definitely have to marry her.
Speaker 1: Corey.
Speaker 7: Hello, Hey is a flyle?
Speaker 3: Yes? How are you doing?
Speaker 1: Sir?
Speaker 3: What is your name?
Speaker 1: I am Corey? How are you?
Speaker 3: I'm hanging in there. I'm trying my best. What's going
Speaker 3: on with you? Corey? How can I get you today? Oh?
Speaker 7: This is a this is actually kind of an interesting one.
Speaker 7: So I I have my dream job, but it doesn't
Speaker 7: pay nearly enough, like at all. So have you ever
Speaker 7: heard of Kindama?
Speaker 3: The fucking the thing with the ball in the cup? Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah? So I actually make a living? Well yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Oh dude, that's so sick that you know what
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 7: So yeah, I'm like one of six people and in
Speaker 7: like North America who do this for like a living.
Speaker 7: And like right now, I'm like it's kind of like
Speaker 7: a weird time in my life where it's like I
Speaker 7: really believe in Kandama and like it's growth and shit
Speaker 7: right like in the down the line, you know what
Speaker 7: I mean, But like as of right now, like there's
Speaker 7: no like there's money in it enough for me to
Speaker 7: like have a job, and like I'm thankful for that.
Speaker 7: I'm beyond blessed. Like there's so many people who would
Speaker 7: like die to have my job, and I just I'm
Speaker 7: in a weird place where it's like I know I
Speaker 7: need to like move on, I guess, or not move on,
Speaker 7: but like I just don't know what to do because
Speaker 7: like I need to make money, but also like man,
Speaker 7: I just fucking love what I.
Speaker 3: Do, So I guess. For the uninitiated, the condoma is
Speaker 3: kind of like a it's like a ball in a cup.
Speaker 3: It's like this ball that you like attached via string
Speaker 3: to a stick with a bunch of little cups on it,
Speaker 3: and you gotta throw the ball up and get it
Speaker 3: into the cup.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I guess, But anyone who's listening, it's K E
Speaker 7: N D A M A.
Speaker 3: So this is not is this your business or is
Speaker 3: this a job?
Speaker 7: So okay, So I've been playing since I was like fourteen,
Speaker 7: and when I first started, it was a very very
Speaker 7: small community, like just my town knew about it, and
Speaker 7: it's like one of those things. I guess it's like
Speaker 7: whenever it does get to like where you're at. Like
Speaker 7: how I found out about it was like everyone at
Speaker 7: my school had one. It was kind of like a
Speaker 7: bad like silly bands, I guess at that time, which
Speaker 7: I guess for people who are younger probably don't even
Speaker 7: know what that is. But but yeah, so like I
Speaker 7: found out about it around fourteen years ago, and like
Speaker 7: I guess in the in the time to now, like
Speaker 7: I I've just been playing ever since then, and so
Speaker 7: like the company I work for is actually the first
Speaker 7: company I ever bought a kandama from when I was
Speaker 7: like fourteen, and so like obviously like when I first started,
Speaker 7: this was none of this was ever like a reality.
Speaker 7: Like I've kind of seen everything like get bigger and bigger,
Speaker 7: and I'm just like stuck in a place now where
Speaker 7: it's like, man, I fucking love what I do, but
Speaker 7: like it's it's like I could make more. Just to
Speaker 7: put in perspective, I guess I can make more money
Speaker 7: working at Walmart than what I do, even though it's
Speaker 7: so specialized.
Speaker 3: So what do you exactly do do you make?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: You see that you're not seen from toy story two,
Speaker 3: where like that fucking guy with the glasses is like
Speaker 3: recreating Woody and ship? Do you like do that withs
Speaker 3: Like you're sitting there.
Speaker 1: And like very much.
Speaker 7: It's very much to like that. So I can't give
Speaker 7: out like too much details on like what we do,
Speaker 7: but like I can tell you that make.
Speaker 3: You can't give away the secret recipe for your.
Speaker 7: Because like.
Speaker 3: Just just are you? Are you genuinely you're protecting a
Speaker 3: like Condoma crafting secret? Is that why you can't?
Speaker 7: Legitimately? I have an nd A?
Speaker 3: That's very funny? Uh well, can you talk about the
Speaker 3: company you work for? What company is it?
Speaker 7: Yeah? I work for Condoma us.
Speaker 3: A Condoma U s A. Then they're one of six.
Speaker 7: There so no, like so when I said that, I
Speaker 7: legitimately mean like six people. But so I'm actually not
Speaker 7: the owner of my company obviously I said that, but
Speaker 7: it's literally like four of us at the company.
Speaker 1: Like that's it?
Speaker 3: Would you ever? Would you ever go into business for yourself?
Speaker 6: See?
Speaker 7: Like that's the thing is like before I start doing this,
Speaker 7: I knew nothing about what I do, and like my
Speaker 7: boss has been such a fucking goat and like in
Speaker 7: order for me to like do it on my own,
Speaker 7: I would have to have like hundreds of thousands of
Speaker 7: dollars just like start up, you know what I mean,
Speaker 7: and like economically just I and also morally, I couldn't
Speaker 7: like just pick up and be like all right, bro,
Speaker 7: like thanks for like giving me the knowledge. I'm just
Speaker 7: gonna go like start a company and like.
Speaker 3: Well, okay, you have you do? Is the company successful?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'd say, like right now, we have like like
Speaker 7: one or two other main competitors. But as far as
Speaker 7: like the the USA made product, that's us, Like there's
Speaker 7: not really like there's other people in the US who
Speaker 7: do it, like I said, but they're like accord.
Speaker 3: How many condomas are we selling a day?
Speaker 1: You think, ooh, that's a good question.
Speaker 7: I couldn't tell you that because I'm not I'm not
Speaker 7: at that warehouse, like we have two locations, so I
Speaker 7: don't really see that. But I can tell you how
Speaker 7: much I make. So I usually like usually we do
Speaker 7: orders of like one hundred of each wood type, and
Speaker 7: we do like birch, maple, ash and then hickory sometimes,
Speaker 7: so like every every wood type, we usually do around
Speaker 7: eighty to one hundred and and right now we're working
Speaker 7: in order that's like around six hundred pieces, and that
Speaker 7: that's taking us like two months.
Speaker 3: Oh, I thought you wanted to talk. I thought you're
Speaker 3: gonna say how much money you made?
Speaker 7: Oh no, no, no, no, no, no that.
Speaker 3: I thought you were gonna be. I thought you're gonna
Speaker 3: be like I make candamas and my wife sells wooden birdhouses,
Speaker 3: and our budget for five million.
Speaker 5: No.
Speaker 1: So like.
Speaker 3: Sorry, okay, So, so why why did you ask for
Speaker 3: a raise?
Speaker 7: I mean, I guess I should ask for a raise.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what is what is it solid about? You're the
Speaker 3: only I don't understand. So you don't want to go
Speaker 3: do your own thing, You don't ask for a raise,
Speaker 3: you don't want to get a different job.
Speaker 7: Well, it's just more so like we're in a wall
Speaker 7: right now with our Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when when's kandama season?
Speaker 7: When it's not city economic times, I guess.
Speaker 3: I guess people are. I guess Kandama is a very
Speaker 3: disposable income parts.
Speaker 1: Believe it or not, it is it is.
Speaker 3: Well, I believe it, bro, Why don't you fucking Okay,
Speaker 3: but listen, if you're the only I assume if you're
Speaker 3: the only company that makes condamas. They're popular enough that
Speaker 3: like people kind of I guess fucking know what they are.
Speaker 3: So why don't you ask for a raise?
Speaker 1: I think you're right enough that.
Speaker 3: You can make more than working at fucking Walmart. You're
Speaker 3: not even that much. I mean, where do you What
Speaker 3: state do you live in?
Speaker 1: I live in Georgia?
Speaker 3: Okay, how much does it cost to live in Georgia? Like, fucking.
Speaker 1: I wish that'd be nice.
Speaker 7: I mean, like, right now, I'm leaving with my parents.
Speaker 7: I'm like twenty seven them, so like I'm just you know,
Speaker 7: I'm saving, I'm doing what I can, but I just.
Speaker 3: Know that it's just your full time job legitimately. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and it doesn't pay you enough to at least like
Speaker 3: live in a place that's not with your parents.
Speaker 1: Not at the moment.
Speaker 3: You should have for a raise.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're right. I should ask for a raise.
Speaker 3: Just at least enough for you to like get your
Speaker 3: own place, yeah, or get a place with random dudes
Speaker 3: on greg List.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. I gotta just ask
Speaker 1: for that raise.
Speaker 7: And if he doesn't say yes, then then I can
Speaker 7: go into panic mode, I guess. And then then figure
Speaker 7: it out.
Speaker 3: What if he says, I'll give you a raise, but
Speaker 3: you have to get the ball in the cup three
Speaker 3: times in a row.
Speaker 1: That'd be easy. That'd be easy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you are you good? Are you nice?
Speaker 7: I was sponsored at one point, I uh.
Speaker 3: Sponsored by who? There's only one company that makes it.
Speaker 7: Okay, so so well American man, So like there there's
Speaker 7: a lot of It's actually gotten really big in the
Speaker 7: States right now. Actually, my friend just landed Japan. They're
Speaker 7: doing the Kondoma World Cup right now, so he is
Speaker 7: in that. For those who don't know, Kandama is its
Speaker 7: birthplace is Japan. It's a Japanese skill toy. But yeah,
Speaker 7: it's like super big over there because like in school
Speaker 7: they teach them like from from like a very young age,
Speaker 7: like it's incorporated into their like school programs and stuff,
Speaker 7: and that's pretty crazy.
Speaker 3: They teach kandomics. But why don't you move to Japan
Speaker 3: and be a kandoma guy over there? That sounds like
Speaker 3: sounds like that sounds like that's your dream you want
Speaker 3: to be with You're like it's like it's like when
Speaker 3: it's like when when like I don't know if you
Speaker 3: ever had this moment when you were in high school
Speaker 3: and you read some article on the internet that was like,
Speaker 3: did you know that in Korea professional gamers are are
Speaker 3: treated with as much respect as uh fucking football players
Speaker 3: are in the US.
Speaker 7: Remember reading shit like that, Oh, that'd be that'd be nice.
Speaker 3: That's like you with kandamas, you know, I bet the
Speaker 3: there's there's a bigger industry there.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 7: Low Kiev is literally a street called Kandama Street, and uh,
Speaker 7: they're like legitimately, I think tomorrow night or the night after.
Speaker 7: I don't know when they do it, but they do.
Speaker 7: Like this giant ass party. I just get all crazy
Speaker 7: and just drink a shit ton and it's a good
Speaker 7: time from one of here. I haven't been yet. I
Speaker 7: really want to go. I'm hoping next year.
Speaker 3: What's the most expensive kndama that your company sells.
Speaker 7: Oh, it's definitely one of the ones that we make.
Speaker 7: There's one on our website that's like I think it's
Speaker 7: just over one hundred. I think we just did a
Speaker 7: price drop on it. But like, so for those who
Speaker 7: don't know, like the praise, it's depending on the wood type,
Speaker 7: and then also like it's got a really good pain
Speaker 7: on the ball, so like for those who don't know,
Speaker 7: like there's balance tricks you can do, and so like
Speaker 7: having a paint that's like grippier and like kind of
Speaker 7: sticks better to the ken, which is what the part
Speaker 7: you catch it with is you kind of want it
Speaker 7: to be like not super glossy paint wise, so that
Speaker 7: way it doesn't like slip out of your hands.
Speaker 3: Bro, you need to raise nobody else. Nobody else knows
Speaker 3: as much about Condomas as well as you just said.
Speaker 3: Only your boss is not going to be able to
Speaker 3: replace you. It's your name again, Corey, Corey. Is there
Speaker 3: anything else you want to say to the people of
Speaker 3: the computer before we go.
Speaker 7: I make music. You should listen to me. H my
Speaker 7: my artist name is little.
Speaker 3: Snipes, Little Snipes, Little Snipes, just like you do you
Speaker 3: have a music do you have any you have a
Speaker 3: music video where you're like fucking condoming it up?
Speaker 7: I do. It's from years ago, though it's not it's
Speaker 7: it's literally I don't want anyone to see it.
Speaker 3: All right, take care of all right, appreciate what you did.
Speaker 3: You want to plug your I forgot if you plugged
Speaker 3: your thing or not?
Speaker 7: Oh uh yeah, so Condoma USA if you guys.
Speaker 3: Are no, don't plug them. They whatever, all right, plug them,
Speaker 3: but just just here's the thing. Okay, hold on, if
Speaker 3: you if you go to Kandama, USA, just use the
Speaker 3: code Cory so that he gets a commission.
Speaker 7: Mess my boss and tell them to do that, because
Speaker 7: there's not a code for that.
Speaker 3: Uh no, your bands. I thought you were gonna plug
Speaker 3: your bands.
Speaker 7: Oh oh my music, just little snipes. I just I
Speaker 7: do produce. I produce produce myself and you know I'm
Speaker 7: a vocalist. So if you if you like that kind
Speaker 7: of thing. If not, then like.
Speaker 1: That's cool to see a chord.
Speaker 7: Appreciate it, man, have a good one.
Speaker 6: Goes on the line, making.
Speaker 2: One calls every night, every can goes to exact teaching.
Speaker 3: Thanks,