00:00:08 Speaker 1: But I invited you here. I thought I made myself perfectly clear. 00:00:17 Speaker 2: But you're a guest to my home. 00:00:21 Speaker 1: You gotta come to me empty, And I said, no, guests, your presences presents enough. I already had too much stuff, So how did you dare. 00:00:36 Speaker 2: To surbey me? 00:00:49 Speaker 3: Welcome to? I said, no gifts. I'm Richard Wineker, We're in the backyard. I'm completely rattled. I woke up to countless emails. Almost every one of them was an email I snoozed last week, and so I'm just on the edge, absolutely freaking out. Let's get into the podcast. I love today's guest. It's Richard Perez. Richard, Welcome to. I said, no gifts. 00:01:15 Speaker 2: Hi, good morning. 00:01:17 Speaker 3: You kind have already walked me through your morning, which sounded so relaxed, and I was just. 00:01:21 Speaker 2: Yeah, the opposite of you're so tense. You are tense. Do you snooze emails? Yeah? Yeah, depens depends, but yeah. 00:01:30 Speaker 3: I snooze almost every email just to put it off for a minute. But last week I think I snoozed every email every day, and I woke up to probably twenty extra emails. No, they've all been snoozed until this afternoon. And they're all like urgent. They're not urgent, but they all need to be responded to, right it they do. So it's I feel like my week is just wrecked. I don't know, but you've you woke up at six thirty this morning? I did, You're in Los Angeles. I'm in Los Angeles from New York. How's it feeling so far? 00:02:01 Speaker 4: Well, I flew into the Pacific Northwest Saturday. 00:02:06 Speaker 2: What's today? Today's Monday? 00:02:08 Speaker 4: I flew in Wednesday night, Okay, And so I think I'm like acclimated or is that even the right word. 00:02:15 Speaker 3: Sure, Like when you put a fish in from the pet store and you have to put it in the bag into the. 00:02:22 Speaker 2: That's what happened to me. I wonder if anyone knows what I'm talking about. No, no, no, yeah, yeah, you gotta you got leave the. 00:02:29 Speaker 3: Bag in the fish tank right until it like gets used to the temperature of the water. 00:02:34 Speaker 2: Yes, I feel like I remember seeing something like that. I think a. 00:02:39 Speaker 3: Video you watched as a kid. So you've acclimated to what's happening the time. Did you drive from Portland or Seattle to here? 00:02:49 Speaker 2: Yeah? 00:02:50 Speaker 3: No, no, I flew You're flying all over the place. Yeah, do you enjoy flying? 00:02:55 Speaker 4: The thing is like I'm new to flying. You are the first time I ever got on a plane twenty two. 00:03:01 Speaker 2: No way, yeah, wow? And what was that experience? 00:03:03 Speaker 4: Like it was honestly like really emotional and like amazing. Was it scary a little bit but like not really like I I And it was to fly here to LA It's a long true, so it's like, you know, yeah, like a five and a half hour flight and that's my first time ever. Wow, Because I don't know, like I grew up in Jersey and like moved to New York really young, and I'd like been there for like thirteen years now, and so I just like stayed put in one place and no reason to go elsewhere, I guess, yeah, And like we just like never got on planes growing up or anything. I was just like everyone else does that, Like I won't know or something. I just kept like putting it off for you, it's not for me, like everyone else can whatever. And so then finally like I got on the plane and I was a little bit scared, but then once the it like took off, like I was so emotional and I was like crying. I had a window seat. This really hot eye was hit next to me. I didn't want him to see. 00:04:05 Speaker 3: I'm like, couldn't my shoulders convulsay, just like looking at the window. 00:04:10 Speaker 2: You feel his hands undernath Wow, that's wild. Yeah. 00:04:14 Speaker 4: And I've flown like a little you know, more time since then, and then definitely this past month I've gone on like four plane rides or something, which now I'm like, i feel like I'm getting experience and I'm starting to understand a little bit like different airports have different vibes, and like Portland was like a three second security check. 00:04:35 Speaker 2: You yeah, yeah, honey, I could get through. You're holding a rifle. Yeah, like I had a gun. I could buy my gun too. 00:04:44 Speaker 4: They're just like, yes, we did just get just go go ahead and get here. I have a great time that first flight. 00:04:50 Speaker 3: Was it boring at all or was it like I feel like, yeah, no, oh, did did get more quickly? 00:04:55 Speaker 4: It was it was more the build up of like take off, and then I started crying, and I'm like thinking, you know, I am so grandiose like in my mind, and I'm like, oh my gosh, like. 00:05:04 Speaker 2: This is the newness of things. 00:05:05 Speaker 3: I have a whole world of things to discover about myself and life and there's so much things. 00:05:10 Speaker 4: To try in this life. And I was like, I just turned thirty. I'm like my thirties, Like, oh, my goodness is gonna be amazing. And then I could I also popped a z equill or something like that. Oh sure, I board it, And so then it really it hit me. I slept for like forty minutes, and then I woke up and I was like, are we almost there? We had like four hours left. Horrible feeling, and then I was like, wait, this is really boring. 00:05:37 Speaker 2: It's like I was like, no, like what am I gonna do? How do I get through this? And I just had to figure it out. 00:05:45 Speaker 3: Right, that happens to me on almost every flight. We're all fall asleep for probably fifteen minutes and think that I've been asleep from the entire time, and then I have to occupy myself. 00:05:54 Speaker 2: For all of that. Yeah, what do you I like? I do? 00:05:58 Speaker 3: I read, I listened to pod and I play video games kind of in cycles until it's all over. 00:06:03 Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like I'm finding I do something similar thing. I mean. 00:06:07 Speaker 4: Also, it's just like your interest kind of goes in and out I'm like, oh, I'll go on Instagram and then I'm like I don't want to do that. 00:06:13 Speaker 2: And then I'm like. 00:06:14 Speaker 4: I'll watch something and then I'm just like I'm over it. I can concentrate after like twenty minutes, and then I'm like, Okay, I'll uh, maybe I'll just like try to answer an email or like write something down, like an idea of something. 00:06:27 Speaker 3: And see, I won't get on the internet on a flight. First of all, it costs eight dollars, so I said no to that. And I also love that I can't that I can't like answer an email or anything. 00:06:39 Speaker 2: Right, it feels incredible. 00:06:40 Speaker 3: Yeah, but I feel like we're getting close to there being free Wi Fi on planes. Yeah, and then it will again just be another thing that I won't do anything on except for. 00:06:48 Speaker 2: A look at my phone. Right, But that's fine. 00:06:51 Speaker 4: I suppose some seats or what if you get like more space or like whatever they like provide Wi Fi. 00:06:58 Speaker 2: I don't know that it ever comes. I mean maybe in first class. 00:07:01 Speaker 3: I would I would hope that if you're paying that much money they would give you. 00:07:06 Speaker 2: Can I ask you, like, do you fly first class like all the time? I God, I wish not in a million. I know nothing. I know nothing. I'm new to this. 00:07:13 Speaker 3: Okay, first class, as far as I know, is just truly unattainable. 00:07:17 Speaker 2: I mean it's so expensive, it's super super expensive. Oh. 00:07:21 Speaker 4: When I flew to Chicago last weekend, I upgraded my seat at the last minute because I was like, I just want to like get on the first boarding group and not worry get my chances to like put my carry on. I travel light. I just have one carry on in one bag. I have never done checked bags. 00:07:41 Speaker 3: Like, Oh, chacking a bag is a huge mistake that I'm like scared to experience. 00:07:45 Speaker 2: But I'm sure one day I'll have to. 00:07:46 Speaker 3: You don't have to, really, I'll never do it again. Yeah, just take less things, Yeah, I truly. 00:07:54 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:07:54 Speaker 3: It's like yeah, I mean, if you really need something, you'll get it. 00:07:57 Speaker 2: Wherever you go, right, That's what. Yeah, I don't know. 00:08:00 Speaker 3: I used to check bags, but then when you're sending it a luggage carousel at the end of a flight, you just want to die. 00:08:06 Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't want to go through that. No, you shouldn't have to go through that. 00:08:10 Speaker 4: I'm like scared too, So I'm like I'm like I'll do anything. I'll upgrade my you know. So, like last minute, I like upgraded my seat and it was like one A. 00:08:19 Speaker 2: So I was like, wow, I was like one A. 00:08:21 Speaker 4: I like didn't look at like the map of like the seats or like whatever, and I thought it would be like, oh, there's first class, like the nice seats and you know, like the essentially beds or whatever, and then you get the rest of it. 00:08:36 Speaker 2: And I thought I was going to be there. 00:08:38 Speaker 4: So then when I get to the plane, I see that that wasn't there, and I like showed it to one of the like flight attendants. 00:08:45 Speaker 2: They're like, yep, you're sitting right there. 00:08:46 Speaker 4: That's you for first you know whatever, And I was just like my first class. 00:08:53 Speaker 3: So wasn't a playing without first class just entirely, or you accidentally bought a first class ticket? 00:08:58 Speaker 2: Were you in one of the bed things? 00:08:59 Speaker 1: No? 00:08:59 Speaker 2: I wasn't. 00:09:00 Speaker 3: And it was one of these plays, one of those place has like everyone's the same, Yeah, pretty much. 00:09:04 Speaker 4: I think that's how they're like, and they still label it first class. Oh interesting, yeah. So but then I had such imposter syndrome about it. I'm like, I'm not first class. There's no way. 00:09:14 Speaker 2: I'm new to this. Were you treated differently a little bit? A little bit? What does that mean? 00:09:23 Speaker 4: Well, the same thing happened on my way from Portland to LA I was also sitting in one A. I'm sensing like a pattern here, but I was I was hitting in one A and yeah, I feel like someone. This flight attendant came up to me and was called me by my last name, mister Perez. 00:09:44 Speaker 2: Can I take your coat? 00:09:45 Speaker 3: Because I had a trench coat and I was like wow, I was like, I don't deserve this. 00:09:50 Speaker 2: Is that really? That feels like you were actually in first class? Yeah? And then they took my coat? Why. Then they were also just like, do you want anything to drink? I was like, ginger ale. 00:10:01 Speaker 4: They brought a little glass with ice cubes and a ginger Ale. 00:10:04 Speaker 2: Are you a ginger ale drinker outside of a plane? Yeah? 00:10:07 Speaker 3: Okay, because I feel like ginger ale is like a flight drink. Oh it is, Yeah, but you just happened to just drink ginger ale all the time. Yeah, ginger and Dia Cooke. 00:10:17 Speaker 4: Especially if I'm at a bar or something, I don't drink, so I'll usually order those two. 00:10:22 Speaker 3: I do love a ginger Ale. On a plane. But yeah, I feel like I've been recently getting the fruit flavored mineral. What is what do we call it? Like a Lacroix X it's but it's called like aha, which is the worst thing to have to order to say I want an ahah. 00:10:39 Speaker 2: It feels insane. Is it just seltzer? 00:10:42 Speaker 3: It's just seltzer. It's like and it's the worst flavor. It's like watermelon, lime or something. 00:10:47 Speaker 4: Do you have to like like You're like, can I have an ah watermelon? 00:10:50 Speaker 3: Because I've tried, because I don't want to say that. Yeah, I'll just say like could I just have a sparkling water? 00:10:55 Speaker 2: Yeah? And then they make me specify what it is. 00:10:57 Speaker 3: And aha is a hard thing to say loud on a plane because there's no real hard consonant there. 00:11:02 Speaker 2: Yeah ah Yeah. 00:11:04 Speaker 3: It just kind of feels like you're opening your mouth to them. It's they need to get a different type of Seltzer on planes. Yeah, there are so many other ones. Lacroi is easy to say, yeah, Waterloo, Well those are the two I can think of. A friend recently stayed here at my house and left some Trader Joe's sparkling water. That's blueberry lemon Oka the worst liquid I've ever tasted, real blueberry lemon. Yeah, that sounds like I'll drink anything, and I just need to warn people. 00:11:31 Speaker 4: I think blueberry lemon you can't fake that so much like blueberry especially Righteah, you can't fake blueberry like I think. Like I literally had over the weekend a blueberry lemon cheese Danish what And it was fabulous. 00:11:47 Speaker 2: Where in Portland? 00:11:48 Speaker 3: Oh okay, okay, And I just like popped in and I was like, oh yeah, I'm gonna go for it. 00:11:54 Speaker 2: And it was really really good. But you can't fake it. They had to use the real ingredients. They used the real thing. Let oh, so I guess it was probably like lemon curd or something. 00:12:02 Speaker 4: I think actually maybe there wasn't lemon in it. I mean there was lemon in it. 00:12:09 Speaker 2: It sounds nice. Yeah, I remember it was really delicious. Do you when you're in LA do you go to any bakeries? Not? Really? Yeah? What are you doing for entertainment while you're here? What do you do? Do you enjoy? In Los Angeles? 00:12:22 Speaker 4: I'm really big on like going for a walk, like I need to, especially if I'm like I'm here to like perform like do my show right, but doing it two times this week, So like I feel the day of I get nervous, of course, and so I just like need like at least an hour to kind of just like walk and like listen to music and kind of just like And I know they say that La is like not such a walking city, but there are some pockets, like there's some. 00:12:50 Speaker 2: Places to definitely go for a walk. 00:12:52 Speaker 4: So I find myself like going in this like routine like walk through like Beechwood Canyon too, Franklin Franklin Avenue. 00:13:02 Speaker 2: Yes, all the way to North Vermont. Oh, you're passing the Gelson's. 00:13:07 Speaker 3: You're passing the house Pies, my former barber. Yeah, trying to think if there's anything else there. UCB, You're definitely passing UCB and all the horrible restaurants around it. Guys, what music are you listening to? 00:13:22 Speaker 2: I listened to. 00:13:25 Speaker 4: Sometimes I will get kind of like, I'm like, I'm gonna listen to like LA music. 00:13:34 Speaker 2: I think that's fine. 00:13:35 Speaker 3: I think to have a theme to kind of set up the vibe of the city you're in. 00:13:40 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. 00:13:41 Speaker 4: I have like two bands that come to mind from like my first time visiting here, I felt like I was heavy listening to uh ryle O Kylie. 00:13:50 Speaker 3: Oh sure and no doubt both very La bands. Yeah, very one of them has child actors in it. Yes, And then gwent Stefani and Anaheim Anaheim, she's an Anaheim. 00:14:02 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think that's fine. Yeah, it's just like. 00:14:04 Speaker 4: That kind of like rock like right, like whatever, and I'm just like, yeah, I'm here, I'm here. 00:14:11 Speaker 2: We'll throw in best coast. 00:14:13 Speaker 3: Oh sure that's fair that sometimes, yeah, I'm sure, like, yeah, here we are. I've heard I don't know if you have heard this, but like when you go to a new city or whatever you're supposed to listen to, like if you listen to a specific type of music or new type of music, it will be tied to that city, like the memory will be like the sense memory really works for whatever reason. 00:14:31 Speaker 2: Literally, that's what happened. 00:14:33 Speaker 4: That's been that's been happening on this like little trip Chicago. 00:14:37 Speaker 2: I've never been to Chicago. 00:14:39 Speaker 4: I went for the first time last weekend, and you know, I'm on Instagram stories like screaming promoting the Hell Shop and I type in I like take a little silly picture. 00:14:50 Speaker 2: I put music to it. 00:14:52 Speaker 4: I type in Chicago, I'm like, what songs called Chicago, and then it hit me Sufi and stevens Oh, he has the whole alcohol Yeah, Illinois, right and Chicago. 00:15:03 Speaker 2: That's a song, right, And I put that on there, and it's like I fell in love again. All things go, all things go. I'm going to do the whole song. 00:15:16 Speaker 3: I'm going to be quiet into the song. So there's nothing more comfortable than imitating Sufi and Stephens. 00:15:23 Speaker 2: I'm like making intense eye contact with you. It's really I fell in love again. I don't. I haven't heard that song in such a long time. 00:15:36 Speaker 4: Same and then I like did go on a walk, like an hour walk in Chicago and that song Like at first I was like, oh ha haa, like whatever, there's like a two thousand and four like completely indie like whatever. And then I listened to the song and it like hit me in this way that now it'll forever. 00:15:55 Speaker 2: Be like that. 00:15:56 Speaker 3: That's my memory of Chicago. And I listened to it on the ride back to New York. I'm sure Sufien would be so happy to hear this. Yeah, that was kind of the beginning of his he was going to do fifty states and then I think he did one, two, two albums after states, right, that was why would you announce that? I mean he truly was telling people, I'm going to do fifty albums, one after each state of the United States. Really, yes, this was a real thing. And then of course you can't do that, Yeah, that would take three lifetimes. Yeah, so I think that was the last. That was kind of the last one that he did, and that's when he was announcing it, right. 00:16:37 Speaker 2: God bless, but so curious what New Jersey would have been, Like, I know, I wanted to know what Utah would have been. Yeah, literally what would those But he. 00:16:45 Speaker 3: Probably wanted to know what any of those would have been, Like he doesn't know the states that well, yeah, he probably would have just ended up being like him reading a Wikipedia article or sex strumming the guitar. 00:16:56 Speaker 2: I kind of, yeah, I haven't listened to it. 00:16:59 Speaker 3: He feels like a very of a time and place, and so I haven't really tried to revisit, but maybe I should. 00:17:04 Speaker 2: I don't know. 00:17:05 Speaker 4: I mean, well, I don't know his work, like super Wow, but I think he like just came out with a people. I feel like I don't know there's I don't know, he think too much whispering for me. 00:17:16 Speaker 2: Really, I like have grown to like love that shit. 00:17:21 Speaker 4: I love when a singer is like whispering or has like I love that. Like in middle school, I played trumpet okay, and my teacher I took it super serious and I was like, this is my life path. And my teacher was like, you should listen to vocalists to think that way when you're playing Okay. So he's like Aretha Franklin, Karen Carpenter like, and I love he like showed me like those artists. And then like at a Barnes and Noble like those like CD preview things you can like Barnes. 00:17:53 Speaker 3: And I try an album. I wonder where those are all. They must have just thrown them into a dump or something. Yeah, they're like, yeah, I thought have one in my home. Yeah me too. I love that feeling. 00:18:03 Speaker 4: Oh like and Mariah Carrey, Selein, Dion Whitneys and all three of them like came into my life at the same time. Oh incredible, And I just like went through this like deep dive of like all three of them and throughout middle school, like I thought good music would only be if you like felt have the greatest voice technically, yeah, if you like have that that that like grand like incredible voice, then that's good music only. 00:18:32 Speaker 3: And so it wasn't until high school where like that kind of changed. And right now I'm like, oh, I love I love a whisper. Right, but you're a good singer? 00:18:40 Speaker 2: Did you think so? 00:18:41 Speaker 3: I think you're a good singer from like the bits of i've heard you singing, thank you so feeling. 00:18:45 Speaker 2: But don't you think you're you're a pretty decent singer. I think you. I think I'm acknowledge that. 00:18:52 Speaker 4: I think I'm good at impersonating singing. 00:18:55 Speaker 2: Oh, interest, well that's all you need. Yeah, I could impersonate singing. 00:19:00 Speaker 3: If I were to say, like, can you sing this note? Would you be able to just do it? 00:19:03 Speaker 2: Maybe? Can you sing like a a middle C. 00:19:14 Speaker 3: March Simpson's that comes out of piano? 00:19:19 Speaker 2: Don't ray me? Wow, that's great. Did you ever take singing lessons? 00:19:28 Speaker 3: No? 00:19:28 Speaker 2: I was too scared of just trumpet trumpet? Yeah? Do you still play the trumpet? 00:19:32 Speaker 3: No? 00:19:33 Speaker 2: Do you own a trumpet? 00:19:34 Speaker 3: And no? 00:19:34 Speaker 4: I gave it away to a family member. But you know, I do catch myself. I do like scales sometimes. 00:19:42 Speaker 3: Oh it's just with your finger positioning of them air trumpet. Yeah, I do that sometimes when I'm like thinking or oh interesting, it's like still somehow tied into your brain. Yeah, when was the last time you played the trumpet? 00:19:57 Speaker 4: Probably not since since, like maybe like sophomore year of high school. Okay, Yeah, I like quit band when because we you know, we got we go to a different school for freshman year onwards, and it was a different program. I was a different teacher, so and it was like new students too, like from a different town that like we share school with. 00:20:18 Speaker 2: Was there ever temptation to join a SKA band? No, no, no, not SCA. I probably would want to do that now. 00:20:27 Speaker 3: Yeah, that feels like the one place of trumpet's kind of a let or Sophie and Stevens probably right, or no doubt kind of a SCA bank, Yeah, what is no doubt? No Doubt's kind of scotti ish sco. 00:20:39 Speaker 4: And then like then they can of send it to like pop right, like they've even did a little reggae. 00:20:45 Speaker 3: By right, some new wave new wave, yeah, kind of all over the place. 00:20:50 Speaker 2: Yeah, but ska feels to me very Anaheim. Yeah, I can see that, and I've never been. 00:20:56 Speaker 3: You've never been? Oh, of course you haven't been it. Have you been to any sort of Disney prop? 00:21:00 Speaker 2: I have nott never? Do you have any interest? I do? 00:21:03 Speaker 3: Okay, I mean I think it's worth one time. Yeah, where's the nearest one in Anahei? That's that's Disneyland. 00:21:10 Speaker 2: How far is that from here? 00:21:11 Speaker 3: Like, I think probably an hour drive. Okay, it's probably. 00:21:15 Speaker 2: Like twenty miles or something. Uber there after this sudden I inspired my cars here for sure, Thank you so much. 00:21:28 Speaker 3: To take an uber to Disneyland. It probably cost three hundred dollars. 00:21:31 Speaker 2: That's crazy. 00:21:35 Speaker 3: Wow, Well you'll have to go at some point. I'm always curious what an adult like that has been. I've been, but I went as a kid, right, and that I've been a few times since, and it's obviously such a different experience as an adult. 00:21:47 Speaker 2: Was Disney like everything too? Growing up? 00:21:49 Speaker 3: When I was in like elementary school, I loved Disney. I loved the idea of going to Disneyland. Yeah, but now when I go, I'm I have a hard time. I have a pretty rough time there, right, But I think it just entirely depends on who you're with. 00:22:03 Speaker 2: Are you into like amusement parks and like rides? 00:22:05 Speaker 3: And I like to like, if I'm on a ride, I'm having a good time, although I get really nauseous now on most rides. Yeah, Like I was okay until probably the end of high school, and now I get so nauseous. 00:22:18 Speaker 2: Yeah, do you get no, I do. Don't go on ride. You don't go on any terrified. Have you ever been on a ride? 00:22:25 Speaker 4: Like when I was little, like like maybe like middle school was like the last time I tried. 00:22:29 Speaker 2: Wow, And then I was like, Nope, it's not for me. What are you afraid's going to happen? 00:22:35 Speaker 4: I don't probably die or something. But I'm like, that's not so bad. 00:22:41 Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm like, uh, yeah, I don't know. 00:22:46 Speaker 4: It's like but now I've taken plane rides now, so I'm like maybe. 00:22:53 Speaker 3: The weird thing about planes for me is I'm now getting more and more scared being on planes, like and I've been on I think the more I go on planes, the. 00:23:00 Speaker 2: More afraid I am. 00:23:01 Speaker 3: No, which is very it feels like the opposite of what should be happening. I don't know, but turbulence, don't you get scared? During turbulence. 00:23:08 Speaker 2: I mean, I've only experienced it once. Horrifying. Yeah, it is scary. 00:23:12 Speaker 4: I like woke up it was a red eye, and I just like woke up in the middle of like sleeping, and I was like, and I was. 00:23:18 Speaker 2: Like, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. And I was also just so tired. You're just happy to die anyway. 00:23:24 Speaker 4: Yeah, I was like, I'm down to die. And when you're so tired, you're down to die. Like do you ever have that, Like, oh yeah, when you're like a little paranoid, like you hear something in the middle of the night in the hallway or something, but you're so tired or like whatever. 00:23:40 Speaker 3: So I can either go to sleep and die or go to sleep and wake up. Yeah, that's how I am, like during turbulence, Like I go through an entire cycle where I'm like, oh my god, we're gonna die, and then I have to like come to peace with that. Yeah, and then there's a moment where I'm like, well, at least i won't be on the plane anymore. And then then I've finally come around to it because I'm like everyone else seems fine, and even the flight attendants are like walking around, So why am I. 00:24:04 Speaker 2: Having a meltdown? Right? Yeah? But what if it's the time? Wait, and I guess, then I guess it just then it's just it's then it's over, and it's over. 00:24:13 Speaker 3: Well, I think we should talk about something else. Look, Richard, I was very happy to have you here today. I was really excited to have you come over and chat, just looking forward to it. So it was a little surprised the podcast is called I said no gifts, and I, okay, come down to the driveway and you're standing there with in a You're holding a huge bag. Yeah, it's clearly a gift. Okay, I'm just curious what's going on? 00:24:43 Speaker 4: Okay, Well, I just well, in New Jersey, we you know, my MoMA raised made it. You know, I'm going over to someone's house. I think it's polite to just bring something, a little treat, Okay, sure to you know who's hosting me. And I'm just so excited to be here, to have a conversation with you in your beautiful backyard. And I thought maybe you would appreciate this gift. 00:25:11 Speaker 3: Okay, Well, should I open it here on the podcast or I'm happy to open it at another time. 00:25:18 Speaker 2: I think you should open it. 00:25:22 Speaker 3: It's in this enormous bag that's just thank you on it. Yes, we're pulling it out. 00:25:27 Speaker 2: The birds sound wonderful. Okay. 00:25:29 Speaker 3: Now it's in a little a little brown paper panera bag. 00:25:35 Speaker 2: Yeah, now we're reaching in more. There's a napkin. Oh yeah, I forgot about that tissue paper. Oh and there's a cooking inside. 00:25:44 Speaker 3: A cookie that's like covered in eminem's that are very off color. 00:25:49 Speaker 2: I'll say, yeah, they really are. 00:25:53 Speaker 3: These are the weirdest color like fake eminems I've ever seen. There's like an army green, like a mustard yellow. I mean, they're kind of tasteful, like it would be a taste tasteful color palette in any other category, but as a candy, it's very interesting. 00:26:09 Speaker 2: You hate it. I hate it. I know I shouldn't have done this. Tell me why you brought this to Okay. 00:26:20 Speaker 4: I need you to understand that this is incredibly intentional. Okay, okay, and I put so much effort into this gift. Okay, So yesterday I arrived at Lax right right, and I'm thinking about I'm like, oh, yeah, tomorrow morning I'm gonna go to Bridgers. 00:26:39 Speaker 2: I'm doing his podcast. I gotta get him a little gift. 00:26:42 Speaker 4: I want to I want to show him who I am some some semblence of that. 00:26:49 Speaker 3: And I took an uber from the airport. Horrible experience over there. It feels like children of Men anyway, it's horrible. 00:26:57 Speaker 4: Yeah, So I did that, okay, and then I take an uber to the nearest Panera Bread, which was like a ten minute drive outside the airport. Okay, I get there. I ordered myself a little meal. But then I was like, I'm going to bring a cookie to your house. Panera Bread is very, very meaningful to me because it was the first job I ever worked at as in high school, right, and I worked there for like four years. 00:27:23 Speaker 2: In what position cashier cook. 00:27:25 Speaker 4: Cashier sometimes bury stock quote unquote in like dining room. 00:27:29 Speaker 2: I'd like clean the tables right right. 00:27:32 Speaker 4: And so I was like, you know what, I think Panera bread is something we can we can dive into. 00:27:38 Speaker 2: This is Ebbs. 00:27:39 Speaker 3: I mean, I think we kind of shared this in common. I kind of worked at Utah's version of a Panera Bread one of my early jobs. And I probably told this story on this podcast before but they accused me of burglarizing it. 00:27:52 Speaker 2: But I was doing similar things. I was cashier. 00:27:54 Speaker 3: Well, I was not to brag the night shift leader, and so I had a lot of a lot on my plate. We were both working at kind of a bakery where I don't know, it doesn't have a lot of respect my bakery. Well, and I also had to do a thing where I had to rip apart a whole turkey every morning. What Yeah, why, Well, when I would work the day shift, they had like turkey on their sandwiches, and so they would cook whole turkeys and then you would have to like shred it at six a m. Just with your bare hands, which is one of the most disgusting possible things. Yeah, but I want to hear about your Panera experience. 00:28:36 Speaker 2: My Panera experience. 00:28:38 Speaker 4: I started working there when I was sixteen, and then I still worked there in college. Like I would bop back like from like the location, yeah, when I was on break and stuff like that. So I started working there it was what like two thousand and like six or seven or something, And I remember in training day they were like, We're an oasis from the hustle bustle of like everyday life. We're here to give people a little break from all that stress. We would never open a Panera Bread in a major city because we want to keep things really like chill essentially. And then as soon as I moved to New York City in twenty eleven, they opened to their first location on J Street. That's just so clearly not true, which I'm like, downtown Brooklyn. I'm like, that's crazy, and the whole I feel like the vibe of the plate like chain like changed. Oh so you felt an actual shift, yeah, because I'm like my memory of Panera Bread even like the music. I remember this song. I don't know the name of it. If someone knows the name of the song, please let me know. But this is how it goes. 00:29:53 Speaker 2: You know that song, Okay, they would play that all time. 00:30:00 Speaker 3: Everyone's just losing their yeah on repeat, torturing their employees. 00:30:06 Speaker 2: They would play that. 00:30:07 Speaker 4: And then now I get the feeling when I go to Panera Brea like more like now i feel like they're like playing like we're just getting older and we don't even get anymore Dana Dana, Like, I feel like they would play more of that kind of stuff now, right, So something changed. 00:30:26 Speaker 2: I hope. 00:30:27 Speaker 3: That's the literally the only thing they've changed. They stop playing circus music. 00:30:32 Speaker 4: So something something, there was a shift there. And also just like I don't know. My memory of it was like, you know, I thought Paneraba was like the most sophisticated, like Raying, and I was just like, I don't know, especially even like people I would see from high school there, I'm like, oh, these are like the cool, like artsy like. 00:30:52 Speaker 2: Right, because it was like a bakery cafe. 00:30:55 Speaker 4: Yeah, and they like sit together in the corner, and I'm like, oh, if only I could be like them. 00:31:01 Speaker 3: I bet Panera at some point did have more of that vibe, and they've just expanded rapidly, right, Yeah, Because I remember in two thousand and five, my sister and I came to La under the most insane circumstances to be in a Weezer music video. 00:31:18 Speaker 2: We had zero money. 00:31:19 Speaker 3: I think we spent all of our money to get here, and we probably had a total song. 00:31:23 Speaker 2: I mean, it's horrifying. The whole thing is hills. 00:31:28 Speaker 3: I have to defend myself. I didn't know what I was walking into. 00:31:31 Speaker 2: Oh Z, can you speak? Can you see yourself in the video? Yes? 00:31:36 Speaker 3: Unfortunately I mean, you're going to watch that. Oh my, I love that song so much. 00:31:43 Speaker 2: It is a horrible piece of music. 00:31:47 Speaker 3: So well, I'm definitely gonna be listening to that during my time here in La adding it to the soundtrack. But we came here with no money and we went to Panera. I had never been, and it was like that during that time of when you're you're like, you've go on a trip and everything is incredible. And I think we probably had a total of twenty six dollars and we I don't know how we didn't starve that weekend, but I think we split a brownie to eat it. But I was like, this is the best brownie I've ever eaten, and it was at Panera bread Wow. But now we took it after the shoot. This was before before the shoot, and then we had craft services at the shoot. It was at the Playboy Mansion. The whole thing was just such a surreal experience. And then I don't even know how we got home, I mean, how we got back to the hotel or anything, but Panera is a huge part of that trip for me. Eating a brownie at Panera, drinking a cactus cooler, and then having craft services at the playpoint, Wow, did you feel like you were a good Panera employee? 00:32:50 Speaker 4: I feel like in some ways, yeah, okay, I was. I was following the rules. I worked a lot, honestly, because like there'd be some schedules were like I don't know, like I just remember seeing the number of hours per week at the end of it, right, it's like, this is how many hours are working, and like there would be some weeks where I'm working like thirty five hours. 00:33:09 Speaker 2: That's a while. 00:33:10 Speaker 3: I'm like a full time student, right, that's a lot. And I was like, whoa, it's nearly a full time job. 00:33:16 Speaker 4: Yeah, And I like, I don't know, I had the energy and I could just like do it or whatever. And I also just give you it was my first job, and I just felt like I was like, oh my gosh, Like I have my job and I can like I'm getting get paid, right, four hundred dollars, and I could do whatever. I can go to the mall, I can like you know whatever, like get dinner with my friends. Like I feel like an adult, right, And I was like, so, I like, I think I'm mostly focused on that. It's thrilling you get a paid check, and yeah, how much were you making an hour? 00:33:49 Speaker 2: I think it was like eight. 00:33:50 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not exactly how much I was making or something. And I remember the daytime manager was making a lot more money than me. I felt like I was getting ripped off. But then I did not gloriz that. They they did think I did. That thought you did. But so you were a decent employee. Do you stay in touch with any former employees. 00:34:09 Speaker 4: I haven't in a while, but because like that job, like I really feel like informed, like even like my sense of humor, because I don't know, like working those kinds of jobs, like it's not competitive necessarily, right, And like we were most of us were like teenagers, were like early twenties, and like we did not care, and we were just so goofy and playful and like the inside jokes we'd come up with, like it was crazy. It just felt so like, Yeah, I don't know, there's just some some characters there that I feel like totally have like stayed with me right since then, But I yeah, like there's these two people who we dm here and there, Jenny and Melissa. We they're still like best friends. Oh that's great, Yeah, okay, well yeah right, no now they're yeah, they're doing something completely different. But I hope the stars the line and we like hang out again because I'm sure we could just like go three hours of just reminiscing. 00:35:10 Speaker 2: Oh that's like about that of course. 00:35:13 Speaker 3: Yeah, those like part time jobs are so strange because you put get put into a group of people that you probably never spend. 00:35:18 Speaker 2: Time with otherwise. 00:35:20 Speaker 3: Yeah then yeah, you all kind of don't like being there, but it's fun anyway, right, Yeah, I think bonding Yeah, that way, it's like no other Like once you actually start doing career things, there's I don't feel like there's any other thing that can compare to that. Right, And like to be at a job where you just don't care about the quality of the product, that's such a great feeling. 00:35:40 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:35:40 Speaker 3: Yeah, Literally every coffee I ever made was returned to the counter where they were like this, you didn't do this correctly, But I shouldn't have been allowed to do that anyway. 00:35:50 Speaker 2: Uh, do you want to try the cookie? Yeah? I think you should try it. Not, at least you want to try some cooking here. Okay, everyone grabs they're they're like, soft is a decent cookie. 00:36:01 Speaker 3: It's good, right, it has every right to be a bad cookie. Yeah, it's really not bad. 00:36:07 Speaker 2: Color looks crazy, but it tastes, tastes good and tastes good. 00:36:11 Speaker 3: The eminems really are like I hope that that's like a purposeful It looks like they found them in a closet or something. 00:36:18 Speaker 4: Yeah, they're like expired Eminem's or they're a memory of eminem. 00:36:24 Speaker 2: They are kind of like a like a seventies memory. Yeah, seventies memory. 00:36:29 Speaker 3: Yeah, there's like a filter over them. 00:36:32 Speaker 2: What was your order at Panera? 00:36:34 Speaker 4: I remember the first one I ever had that I repeated again and again was a bacon turkey Bravo Bravo. I don't know if they still do it, but it was like a tomato basil bread thick slice. And then there was like bacon turkey tomato. I forget what cheese. I think it was a Gouda cheese or something. This like Bravo sauce, which was essentially like thousand Island dress, and then like at us or something, and with a tomato soup. 00:37:04 Speaker 2: Oh that sounds true, mummy tomato. It was so good. And I would also get the Italian combo too. What's in the Italian combo. 00:37:13 Speaker 3: For catcha bread with turkey. I think there's like maybe ham ham sure prolonge okay, no or Swiss no prolong caper and chinik. The first time I never heard that word. I still to this day mumbled up because I don't know that I'm pronouncing it correct. When I have to order it somewhere, I just kind of yeah, pointing a Mrginiini to make sure you catch the beginning and the ending GINII, Oh thank you. 00:37:48 Speaker 2: But yeah, it was really really yummy. 00:37:51 Speaker 4: Yeah, that was my order, and I don't When I went yesterday, I just got like the soup in the mac and cheese, okay, which when I worked there, the mac and cheese was like new. 00:38:01 Speaker 2: Oh that was like brand new. Has it held up? Yeah? Good for them. 00:38:05 Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm so I've baffled though, because you flew into lax and then you took an uber specifically to a Panera. 00:38:12 Speaker 2: Yeah, to specifically get you this. This was so. It wasn't for lunch, No, it was for it was incredible. Okay, that makes more that I was. 00:38:21 Speaker 4: Like, I'm gonna I was like, this will open a door. I love it to talk about Panera the past. It's wherever we want to go. 00:38:29 Speaker 3: Yes, of course with I could talk about this topic truly all day. I had so many part time jobs like this. Yeah, one that was so similar. My very first job was at Schlatsky's Delhi. Have you ever heard of this? No, it's like a chain out of Texas, I think, But is that kind of in the same category, except for every sandwich is like on an English muffin or something very odd? And I worked there for three days, quit and never got paid. They still only probably sixty dollars wait a little longer and gee, but it was like a taste of a first job that was just so miserable. I was like, I can't do this. I think it was in ninth grade, but then I think my next job was at Gecko's Mexican Grill. 00:39:07 Speaker 2: First day was on nine to eleven. Oh my god. So just a lot of. 00:39:13 Speaker 3: Things like that, right, But after Panera, did you have another job like this or was this kind of your last chain restaurant job? 00:39:21 Speaker 2: Like I've worked retail too. 00:39:23 Speaker 4: Where I've worked retail at Esop okay, which I've realized on this trip has been like my north star for cities because I'm like, I went to Chicago, Seattle, Portland. 00:39:39 Speaker 2: Never been to either of those places. 00:39:40 Speaker 3: So when I have some time off, I'm like, I want to walk around, So I google, like, Where's Esop because I know the area, like other shops or a little cafe like some cutesy little like suggests a neighborhood. Yeah, and so I type Esop and then I go to so like I go to ESOPs whenever I travel, travel tip for anyone, and yeah, I just I just checked that out. I worked there for like two years, like twenty sixteen or like twenty eighteen. 00:40:10 Speaker 2: Did they give you an employee discount? They did good discount bad? 00:40:15 Speaker 4: It was pretty good actually, And they also gave us like free like like shrink, which was like if a customer return even if they like didn't open it, they just wanted to exchange something. 00:40:26 Speaker 2: It's immediately unsellable. Yeah, we couldn't. We can't sell it. We can't resell it. 00:40:30 Speaker 4: So we would just collect that and then divide it amongst our correc at the end of the month. 00:40:34 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:40:35 Speaker 3: So my whole bathroom everything was ESA. Oh and I had an expensive back full full skincare routine like seven step routine at that time. 00:40:46 Speaker 2: But you're no longer doing that routine. 00:40:48 Speaker 3: No unsustainable, I imagine, Yeah, I wonder if they don't allow it because they think people like went home and stuck a syringe into the soap or whatever you filled it with poison. I'm not yeah that yeah, like if it's unopened, I don't but that's the only thing I can imagine. They probably also charge way more than what it's worth, so it's probably right, like the markup is probably enormous on soap that they're just like whatever, like right, well, just I don't think I've ever actually been in any sub you have. Obviously I have seen and used the product. 00:41:20 Speaker 4: I feel like it's like for as a customer, it's like so nice. How so because like you walk in and I think, here you can get a little weird, like depending on the vibe of the person, of course, but like like I don't know, some people like walk up to you like Hi, what brings you in today, and you're just like, I'm just taking a browse. 00:41:38 Speaker 2: Oh are you familiar with with the brand, And you're just like yeah, no, whatever. 00:41:44 Speaker 4: You can go from there and then, but if you are looking for like a product, especially skincare, something a little bit more prescriptive. They can like walk you through it and they take you to the basin. 00:41:55 Speaker 2: Oh. They have like the hand washing, Yeah, I love and then they do it. They do it on your hand. 00:41:59 Speaker 4: Then you get to like feel it and smell it and they give you samples. They also have like tea or like Osha BORI like sometimes I have that and like the colder weather. It's incredible cool off for warm your fate, steam it whatever. 00:42:14 Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe I'll go to one today. Yeah. They treat you so well. 00:42:18 Speaker 3: And when I stopped working there, and then when I came here to lay for the first time, I was like, let me pop by the silver like location and I was like holding my breath, like I'm like, I can't let them know that I used to work at because I want to be treated like like a customer. I would never work here, yeah, because I don't know there's something in me that's like nervous that they'll be like, oh you did you know? 00:42:40 Speaker 2: And that drops like that. Then their tone changes with me. I'm sure there would be right, Yeah, they're like oh yeah, so did you feel like you were treated at that point? 00:42:51 Speaker 3: It feels like you're like a secret shopper where you're like doing a quality assurance chip. 00:42:56 Speaker 2: Were you treated well on this trip at the Silver? Like okay? 00:43:00 Speaker 4: The Silver I was okay, But then I I went there twice. The second time, I bought something for my friend who I was staying with, and they asked for your first or last name, you know, for a client profile they can log your purchases, you know whatever, and I created a new one with my personal email and so I gave them that. But then the guy found my like other account and was just like, oh, you used to work here, and then I was like my face just like dropped and I was like, yeah, yeah. 00:43:38 Speaker 2: Like forever ago. I'm a different person here. 00:43:41 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:43:43 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:43:44 Speaker 4: He's like, oh cool, like where and I'm like New York and I was just completely like, I was like, I want to die. 00:43:53 Speaker 2: I want to die. 00:43:53 Speaker 3: I want to die. 00:43:54 Speaker 2: I want to die. I want to die. He's like, do you want samples? 00:43:56 Speaker 1: Load? 00:43:56 Speaker 3: Like sure, Oh that's good, because that interact could go either way where they're like, oh you fraud or they're like, oh you're part. 00:44:03 Speaker 2: Of the family, right, you know what this is? Yeah, Well I'm glad that works. 00:44:07 Speaker 4: I just I just feel embarrassed because definitely before we got to check out. 00:44:11 Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, this is so lovely, completely exposed. 00:44:17 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you saw that, Like I was caught. It's so embarrassing. 00:44:22 Speaker 2: Oh wow, oh it smells good. 00:44:26 Speaker 3: I think I would have tried to keep up the line like someone's using my name, yeah, like one if your employees us. 00:44:33 Speaker 2: Yeah, oh no, wow, Well I have to try that. I should go. 00:44:39 Speaker 3: We were talking about Keels on a recent episode The Keels Experience and been in their store. I haven't, Actually, I wonder if it's a similar thing. Yeah, me too, I'm sure. I just like to go in and get I like to use a free standing sink. I think that's what's really important to me. Yeah, to go into a retail store and just see a sink free of a bathroom and washway. 00:45:01 Speaker 2: I mean it's a novelty. 00:45:02 Speaker 4: Yeah, it is lovely, just like pop in. I just gotta watch. And I remember some people would do that, like in the summer, if you leave the door open, customer would come in and be like can. 00:45:11 Speaker 2: I just wash my hands? Really? Yeah? 00:45:13 Speaker 4: Like yeah, of course, And I'm like that's fabulous. 00:45:17 Speaker 2: That's not a bad idea. 00:45:18 Speaker 3: Every retail store should just have a sink to kind of pop in and wash your hands. Yeah, especially in New York when it's almost like bathrooms are inaccessible. 00:45:27 Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, much harder to get too. Oh. And then then other job. 00:45:32 Speaker 3: That I worked at too was Everlane Ever Like, well, you've really worked at nice retails, like retail stores that are you know. What's so funny is like Panera Bread was like at that time, newer, and it had this like appeal of like I don't know, like it almost was like reminds me a little bit of Aesop. It had this like word of mouth sort of like it's buzzy buzzy yees because. 00:45:57 Speaker 4: Like yeah, and I remember them saying like we would never advertise, like you wouldn't see us on like a billboard or a magazine or TV like. 00:46:06 Speaker 2: The way they turned. 00:46:07 Speaker 4: Yeah they yeah, And I remember Esop like, and I think may probably stay true to this. But their strategy is also kind of that like word of mouth, Like they provide their hand wash in like you know, intentionally, like in different like restaurants or establishments or whatever that from there, like people will be like, oh, this is so nice and the bottles really cute, and then they like get led to a store right and they're like, oh, yeah, I saw your hand wash at this restaurant and whatever. You take it from there. But yeah, I feel like both, I don't know, there's like that kind of theme or that kind of ethos. Yeah that I guess I just kind of strive yeah, yeah. 00:46:57 Speaker 2: And what was ever what was I've never been. 00:46:59 Speaker 4: In an f neither Everlane. I don't know if Everlaine's necessarily trying to do the same thing. 00:47:05 Speaker 2: I don't know. 00:47:06 Speaker 4: But their thing is like radical transparency or something yeah like that, so they're like, oh, like we'll let you know. Like I think on their website you can see how much like the process of how the products are made to like how much they cost to what you're getting charged interesting or something, so you know, like why it's expensive yeah, or like that you are getting a good deal and that like this isn't like exploitative or like labor or anything like Like I can't even picture what an Everlain piece of clothing looks like. 00:47:38 Speaker 2: I have a sweater on. Oh, it's very nice. So it's just kind of casual. 00:47:43 Speaker 3: What staple pieces right right, Like you want you know, go to Jenes go to like buying up suirt jacket, you. 00:47:52 Speaker 2: Can go there. 00:47:53 Speaker 3: Did you work on commission? No, thank god, that would stress me out. Yeah, that I've never experienced. I don't think I could do it ever worked. Yeah, I worked at the Apple store. Oh really, no commission there, no commission. Yeah, that was a fine job that Actually I didn't mind that job at all. But the weird thing was it was the first Apple store in Salt Lake City, and so it was like obviously packed all the time. And it was during a period when Apple was like really focused on how their stores looked, even more so than they are now, and so they wouldn't have security devices on anything. And this was like iPods were very popular at the time, and like teens would come in and just knock like multiple iPods into a bag and walk out of the store, and we couldn't do anything about it. People were just stealing NonStop. 00:48:33 Speaker 2: Holy shit. It was a but I feel like that's. 00:48:35 Speaker 3: Kind of like a mall thing, where like you can't really confront a shoplifter. Yeah, so people just come in and take whatever they want. It's so bold, which is good for them. Yeah, I was so scared. 00:48:45 Speaker 2: I would be terrified. Yeah, have you ever shoplifted. Yeah from where ma see's what did you steal? I stole? 00:48:54 Speaker 4: This is like in my show, which is so funny, but I'm like, I stole a T shirt and jeans, skinny jeans. I think it was like Levi's and like Calvin Client, like a Calvin Klein T shirt that said Calvin Clin on it and these skinny jeans. And I was making a return to Lord and Taylor a cardigan, shopping a cardigan. Something's ever changed, and like I was, I was like exchanging size or something. And then I walked through Macy's and I got caught stealing. I don't know what came over me, but I like decided to steal. And and I was sixteen, and I feel like that year, I was like I'm gonna st it. Yeah, I want to go for it, like I like stole from like a thrift store, Like I stole a full ass jacket from the thrift store. So I was like, I was like I can I can do anything. I felt like invincible, and so then I was like, I can steal from Macy's. 00:49:52 Speaker 2: Like people always steal from Macy's. 00:49:54 Speaker 4: So then I tried and then I was caught instantly how they were like watching me. I guess I was probably being so sus I was probably just. 00:50:05 Speaker 2: Like really like like I starting, yeah, like. 00:50:09 Speaker 3: Just looking everywhere, like contemplating, pacing back and forward, like should I do it? 00:50:14 Speaker 2: When I? Should I do it? Should I? 00:50:15 Speaker 3: And then finally running to the dressing room. Running out, I took two steps out of Macy's. Then this like huge security guard, the deepest voice was like, excuse me, where do you think you're going with those jeans? And I was like I'm I. He's like, yeah, those jeans. He like pointed at my shopping bag and then he's like come with me, and I was like I can pay for it, like I have money, like how you know, like I had like eighty dollars or something. I'm like, I'll pay for the jeans like that. He's like you should have thought about that before he stole. 00:50:50 Speaker 2: So what happened? Did they take you into a back room? Yes, they took me. Did they threaten like calling the police? They took me to the back room. Yeah. The guy like there was this guy I just remember. 00:50:59 Speaker 4: He was kind of like, so we've been watching you and I'm like oh, and there's like little screens. Yeah, and I was like ah, and he like interrogated me, was asking me all these questions, and I was like so terrified. I feel like I was just like telling him anything and I was just like I don't know. 00:51:20 Speaker 2: I just I was gonna go to New York. And he's like, what are you doing in New York? And I'm like I was just gonna go there with my friends. I don't know. 00:51:25 Speaker 3: I just like I'm taking pictures. Like He's like, what do you take pictures of? And I'm like i don't know, just like anything. I want to go to art school and like he was just like art school, what are you gonna do there? 00:51:36 Speaker 2: And I'm like, I really don't know. You're on a date. 00:51:40 Speaker 4: Yeah, I went on a speed date with him and he I just remember he was just like usually we have to call the police. 00:51:50 Speaker 2: I'm not going to do that. 00:51:51 Speaker 4: He's like, you seem I remember, he was like you seem like a good kid who fucked up, and he's like you know, but before he said that, he was just like like, you know, you can get in big trouble doing stuff like this, Like you know, we can call the police and this will be on your record. 00:52:09 Speaker 2: And you know that dream. 00:52:11 Speaker 4: You have about going to art school and you can kiss that goodbye. I was like, pit, my stomach's like turning, and I'm just like, what's gonna happen to me? What did I just do? I like just ruined my life? And I was like, oh my god. And then yeah, he had to He called my mom and that was like I can hear her voice, like I'll never forget, like him calling her and he's like, hello, we have your son, Richard Perez here at Macy's security department. 00:52:45 Speaker 2: He was caught stealing we blah blah blah. 00:52:47 Speaker 4: And then he backs his head away from the phone because she's screaming. 00:52:51 Speaker 2: I just hear her. 00:52:52 Speaker 4: Like like, and I was like, I'm fucked. So she had to pay, like should pay a fine to get me out? 00:53:02 Speaker 2: Well, what the Macy's fine? What does that mean? Yeah, Macy's law. 00:53:07 Speaker 4: I think it was like that had like my mom had to pay the amount of what those things were. 00:53:12 Speaker 2: Oh okay, that feels illegal to or something. Yeah. Part of me was like maybe it wasn't really just taking our money or something right, And he was like, yeah, we won't call the cops. We only take cash. Yeah, it was weird. 00:53:25 Speaker 4: But then he was like, you are banned from ever entering a Macy's for I think he said ten years. 00:53:33 Speaker 2: That's not enforceable. 00:53:34 Speaker 4: And he was like, you know, are we gonna know where you like you're in a Macy's. No, but he's like, but if you get caught stealing again into Macy's, it will show up and then we'll press charges. 00:53:45 Speaker 3: So you're been from stealing from Macy's ever. But I was terrified of Macy's for ten years. 00:53:51 Speaker 2: Have you been in yes? I think literally for the first time, like two years ago. How did that feel? 00:53:56 Speaker 4: I could just like laugh about it. I was like, why was I so scared? It wasn't so bad. 00:54:04 Speaker 3: That is incredible. 00:54:08 Speaker 2: I don't know, it's just, yeah, it is grind. 00:54:11 Speaker 3: I mean that's traumatic. Though my brother, my mom had taken me and my siblings to this. It was kind of like Kmart was called shop Coo to just like buy stuff, and my brother switched the price tag on like a model plane, and she, my mom bought it not knowing this, and then we were caught and then it was just literally the whole family crying. They're like back in the security room, just harassing my mom. It was a wild experience, especially over something like a nine year old did. Is an interesting thing to a hard stance on that. But I guess maybe they thought my mom was the leader of a crime ring. 00:54:48 Speaker 2: I don't know. And they were like, we're going to get our son to. 00:54:51 Speaker 3: Yeah, she's using children to steal to get discounts on toy planes. 00:54:56 Speaker 2: Oh my god. 00:54:57 Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like that must be behind us that left that time of security. Yeah, although I don't know, I'm still a tempted to shoplift, Like I could take this, have you not? As an adult, I've stolen so much. There's like a thrift store chain in Utah that I would steal from as a teenager all the time. I probably stole. I definitely have stolen there as an adult. Yeah, because I'm like, I don't want to pay for this, right and who cares? 00:55:22 Speaker 2: Right? Literally, who cares? 00:55:25 Speaker 3: But there's a thrilled to shoplifting there. I encourage anyone to do it. Yeah, I think people should go for it. 00:55:31 Speaker 2: It's free. 00:55:31 Speaker 4: I'm gonna I'm gonna endorse that too. It's an adread rush, you know those big companies, right, of course, see what happened. Yeah, I feel like my sister has unintentionally shoplifted because she has kids and they like put things into. 00:55:45 Speaker 2: Her shopping card. That kind of thing. Now, so I say, go for it. 00:55:49 Speaker 4: I remember one time I was really little, like Pokemon. I was like obsessed with Pokemon and I was like collecting cards and I stole a pack of cards like from like a Canian store or whatever, and my dad like, I slid them into my jacket sleeves or whatever. 00:56:08 Speaker 2: It's very magician. 00:56:09 Speaker 4: Yeah, and then when we stepped out, they fell out of my pocket. 00:56:13 Speaker 2: And I was kind of like, wait, what is that? 00:56:17 Speaker 4: And I was like, oh, this is from like earlier, and he's like, oh okay, he like didn't really question it, which I was like truly touched by an angel, because of course I don't even know what happened. 00:56:29 Speaker 3: Well, even as an adult, like the parent in that situation, I wouldn't want to be like, now I have to take you back into Yeah, mom, I have to learn a lesson, right. I don't have the time or the energy for this kind of thing. Yeah, did you get any good cards in the Pokemon pack? 00:56:43 Speaker 4: I don't remember that pack, but I mean I did have all one hundred and fifty. 00:56:47 Speaker 2: Wow. That's a fresh generation. Wow. 00:56:50 Speaker 4: And I I think it's at my dad's place, Like there's a binder that has like me and my brother collected Pokemon cards and we still have the one hundred and fifty. 00:56:58 Speaker 2: I feel like that must be worth something at this point. 00:57:00 Speaker 4: If anyone is interested in buying our cards, please reach out so down to sell them. 00:57:06 Speaker 2: Was it hard getting to one hundred and fifty? Yeah? I think probably to buy trade them too, that's right. 00:57:12 Speaker 4: At school, it's like, oh, I have two of these holographic one like or whatever. 00:57:17 Speaker 3: You know, I'll trade you one of them for that other one. Right, So there was that kind of thing. 00:57:21 Speaker 4: I think eventually my brother and I were both like full time trying to. 00:57:25 Speaker 3: Kind of became a career. Yeah, did you have a favorite Pokemon? 00:57:30 Speaker 4: I mean I think classic, like Jigglypuff is someone that I think has made me who I am today and made me want to be. 00:57:38 Speaker 3: A Performerglypuff is a performer, yeah, first and foremost singer. 00:57:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's all jigglypuffed up. 00:57:45 Speaker 4: The tragedies that like everyone sleeps and like Jigglypuff doesn't feel horrible yeah, and. 00:57:51 Speaker 2: Kind of does their own thing. Yeah. Well that's a good choice though, that makes perfect sense. Were you into Jigglypuff I Pokemon? Yeah, I like Jigglypuff. 00:58:00 Speaker 3: I liked the middle of the chars chars Ard, what's Charmander? Charmander like Charmander's the first Yes, and I liked There were various forms of Pikachu, but I wasn't Pikachu's fine. Yeah, they're like smaller versions Piachu. Piachu I loved, which was somehow even cuter than Pikacha. Yes, a really adorable little creature. Yeah, I love Piachu. Right, cho Wright's kind of like a more mature, cooler Pikachu. 00:58:29 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:58:33 Speaker 3: Well, I think we should play a game. Okay, we've got to play Gift to a Curse. I needed a number between one and ten from you. 00:58:40 Speaker 2: Seven. 00:58:40 Speaker 3: Okay, I have to do some light calculating right now to get our game pieces. You have the microphone, you can recommend, promote, do whatever you want. 00:58:48 Speaker 2: Hi everyone, my name is Richard. If you. 00:58:53 Speaker 4: Didn't catch that from the title of this episode. I am on tour right now doing my show. It's called I have to do this, and by the time this comes out, I would have been done with it, but I will be continuing to do the show again in New York, LA, and there's talks of in the near future going to San Francisco. I got a DM from a venue in Massachusetts near Boston that reached out. It looked really cute, like a cute little black box theater, and I'm like, that's literally where I want to do the show. So I'm going to talk to them and potentially maybe I'll be doing it there. 00:59:34 Speaker 2: So yeah, think about that beautiful. I hope this is how the venue finds out. Yeah, they're like, oh, so he wants to do it. He refuses to answer our emails. Yeah, he hasn't answered. 00:59:45 Speaker 3: But everyone goes see Richard, follow Richard on whatever social media to do whatever you want. This is how we play Gift to a Curse and the name three things. You'll tell me if there are a gift or a curse, and and then I'll tell you if you're right or wrong. Okay, because there are correct answers. This first is a suggestion from a listener named Ayana ai y a n a that feels right, Ayanna, Gift to a Curse. People who get a lot of likes on comments and then edit the comment to thank the people for liking it. 01:00:21 Speaker 2: Curse why. 01:00:22 Speaker 4: I think you don't need to do that. I think just own it. You did it, amazing that you're having a moment and that it shined. And just trust that whoever really received it received it, and whoever wants to then go on the journey with you, they'll go on the journey with you. 01:00:44 Speaker 2: Wrong. Wrong, Okay, I think that's it. I mean, I think that's it. I've never seen this. 01:00:50 Speaker 3: Yeah, but I love this idea of kind of monitoring how many likes your comment is getting and then returning later. The idea of editing and saying, hi, everyone, thank you liking my comment is an incredible idea to me. 01:01:03 Speaker 2: Maybe I'll do it. I think we should all start doing that. You've never done it. I've never done it, but I'm willing to try. Okay, maybe I'll try. How many likes does your comment need to get for you to return to think? True? 01:01:13 Speaker 4: Because I'm like, I also don't comment that much. I realized I don't know if I do. It's like I'm an emoji, right, I never like? Aha, and like, that's it. 01:01:23 Speaker 2: Leaving an essay for people to enjoy. 01:01:25 Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't have like quippy like one line like more like blah blah blah blah. 01:01:31 Speaker 2: And then you know a lot of people like it. But you could return to thank people for liking the emoji. You know what I think it's worth. 01:01:39 Speaker 3: I've never have you seen this on a lease. This behavior is interesting to me. I mean it makes perfect when. 01:01:44 Speaker 4: You post this, I'm just gonna comment and be like, thank you for liking my comment. 01:01:50 Speaker 3: You're now committed comment on that, then return to edit that. This is it's gonna like shut down the servers. Yeah, I won't be able to handle how much editing is happening. I didn't know you could even edit a comment. Yeah I didn't really either, just like it was kind of set in stone. Yeah, but I guess that's the thing you got it wrong. 01:02:10 Speaker 2: Okay. Number two This is from a listener named Matt Gifter. A curse cookie spread cook nice spread. 01:02:17 Speaker 3: I assume that's like, you know, like a Trader Joe is I have, like it's like peanut butter, but it's made from cookies. 01:02:24 Speaker 2: Oh, a curse? Why? 01:02:27 Speaker 4: Because I think it's also you know, just trust yourself, you know, like it's you don't have to. 01:02:36 Speaker 2: If you want cookies and. 01:02:37 Speaker 4: Peanut butter together, literally just get a cookie and put peanut butter on it. It almost reminds me of like blueberry lemon saltzer. What like, what is cookie like spread? 01:02:48 Speaker 1: You know? 01:02:48 Speaker 2: What is it? Cookie and oil just crushed together. 01:02:53 Speaker 3: I'm like, yeah, do you make cookie oil like out of like a cookie? 01:02:56 Speaker 2: And then you ask me, I've never even considered this. How would do they get? A liquid? Cookie? Is such a dry thing? Yeah? On at least you have any idea what the ingredients are in this. 01:03:05 Speaker 3: I mean, it's just just so it's you have to take bisk Off cookies or Speculus cookies and then you boil them. 01:03:10 Speaker 2: You need coconut oil, honey, ground cinnamon. I mean, I don't know everything in there sounds really good to me. I'm not seeing it. At least don't get in on this. It's a curse. It's a bad idea for product. 01:03:23 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it's just like, I mean, it's just essentially frosting, isn't that what we're talking about? So just and I don't know where you even put that? Where do you put the cookies spread? You're not making a sandwich out of that. 01:03:35 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I don't get that. 01:03:36 Speaker 3: I think it's a bad idea for product. Yeah, and I love peanut butter. Yeah, helicopter is roaring through the backyard, absolutely crashing through the. 01:03:46 Speaker 2: Backyard because you're wrong. 01:03:47 Speaker 3: It's straighter shokes. No, it's on a leash. You've been unfortunately. 01:03:55 Speaker 2: Let go. 01:03:57 Speaker 3: The rest of I'll produce the rest of the podcast. No curse, job on that. 01:04:02 Speaker 2: Thank you. 01:04:03 Speaker 3: Number three. This is from a listener named Calli Gifter. A curse marrying the Homecoming King. 01:04:11 Speaker 4: Oh shit, homecoming King, as in a like like I'm like thirty three, like marrying him. 01:04:22 Speaker 2: Damn. I think I'm so sorry. I think it's a curse. I don't know. 01:04:29 Speaker 4: I think some things are just I mean, I don't know, I just it's I mean, this is so like boring. But like you know the classic like you know, you peak in high school blah blah blah or whatever, like if that's kind of the vibe, like I think the Homecoming King. Maybe I'm just thinking of a specific kind of person that like flops after that moment, right, and then to like marry a flop and if they and then also if this Homecoming King is being so like, but I was the homecoming King. It's like, come on, you gotta let it go. You gotta let it go. Then that's a curse. But if he's like so chill, he's just like, yeah, it's homecoming King. It was so dumb. I was homecoming King, and he just like is still fine as hell and sweet doing it. 01:05:23 Speaker 2: Popular And that's a little blessing. 01:05:29 Speaker 4: But I'm gonna just I'm gonna envision that this is like someone that's like high school was my glory days. 01:05:35 Speaker 2: Right, that's a curse. 01:05:36 Speaker 3: I mean, I'd love to try to find a way to say you're wrong here, but I think, I mean, you've made a very I mean, every one of your points is exactly on think you. I mean the idea of like anyone after age, when do you become the homecoming king. 01:05:50 Speaker 2: Like seventeen seventeen or seventeen yeah. 01:05:53 Speaker 3: Ten minutes after that, you shouldn't be talking about it. Yeah, imagine being in an adult relationship with someone who I don't don't feel like it's the right thing to do. Yeah, although you know, go for it, right, That's actually it's a gift. 01:06:06 Speaker 2: It's an absolute gift. This person's accomplished something. 01:06:10 Speaker 3: They really they've got something in their past that they can bling to. 01:06:14 Speaker 4: Like success is like so young and also to lose it and then maybe get it back. 01:06:20 Speaker 3: Yeah, they really have kind of experienced the entire rate of life so early and can build from there. 01:06:28 Speaker 2: Yeah. 01:06:29 Speaker 3: So you've really married kind of a jam and you found the best person in high school and he's nothing but gold from there. I mean, we all know that the Homecoming King is. 01:06:39 Speaker 2: As good as it gets. Yeah, so it's a gift. 01:06:43 Speaker 3: I think we're the three of us sitting here or not married to the Homecoming King, and that probably played into our answers, our initial answers. 01:06:48 Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm sorry to anyone who's a homecoming king. I'm really sorry, and I'm sure you're wonderful. 01:06:56 Speaker 3: Okay, well, I feel like you kind of got I don't even know how to calculate what you've got for a score this time, because the last answer we kind of circled back on. But you did a decent job. Okay, good job, Thank you. This is the final segment of the podcast. It's called I Said No Emails. People write into I Said No Gifts at gmail dot com just in need of answers. Advice guidance. Will you hope me answer a question? Okay, yeah, Okay. This is highbridger, so they didn't even mention you, which is fine. 01:07:27 Speaker 2: Okay, says I. 01:07:28 Speaker 3: Have a non gift related question. You said, the emails can be about anything, okay, pointing fingers. I have been seeing my current therapist for about six months. She has been pretty helpful, and while she never takes notes, she seems to recall every detail I've spoken about week after a week. I am an artist and talk a lot about how my work relates to my lived experience in what I believe was an attempt to relate to me. This therapist has recently revealed that she is a screenwriter. Let me say we do not live in hot Hollywood. We are in a small city on the East Coast. I wonder where this could possibly be, but she's made it clear in the latest sessions that she is passionate about her scripts and getting them made into films. This therapist is talking a lot. 01:08:13 Speaker 1: Yeah. 01:08:14 Speaker 3: In one of our reservices, in one of our recent meetings, she said, talking to you is like walking through an old library filled with stories I want to read. First, I was flattered thinking that she finds me terribly interesting. She later admitted that after a career changed from architect to licensed therapists. While this person is the career changes are big swings. She changed from architect to licensed therapists, she just wanted a job where she could listen to people's stories all day. Now, I'm concerned that this major career move was made purely to gain fodder for her own written stories. I'm bringing this quandary to you being that you yourself are a screenwriter and have often Hollywood types. I'm looking at Richard right now on your podcast. What do you say it might be fun to see my trauma played out on the big screen one? Or am I wasting my time and this woman isn't capable of truly helping me while she's preoccupied with memorizing the most compelling aspects of my tales? What do you guys think, Molly whoa this therapist started as an architect, became a therapist and is clearly making another pivot to film to film. And this person is wondering should she just play into this game right? Or I guess not playing this game? I think those are the two options. Or I guess you could confront the therapists and say I need you to stop thinking trying to turn my life into a movie. 01:09:37 Speaker 2: First of all, therapy is expensive. Therapy is very expensive. 01:09:40 Speaker 4: It's expensive, hard to find, hard to find, and especially like yeah, like clicking with someone that you want to keep going back to and being like, here's what's going on, here's my you know, here's my stuff, here's my story, here's da da da that. Like if you're if you feel like you're getting something out of it, like really getting some thing out of it, then like maybe try to see it through. 01:10:03 Speaker 2: I guess like that's fine. Maybe I don't know. 01:10:08 Speaker 4: I think it's weird to like bring in your outside interests as a therapist into your like sessions. 01:10:14 Speaker 3: Yeah, I've never known about a therapist's anything. 01:10:17 Speaker 4: Yeah, Like maybe the most is that like they have kids or something like right or right they used to live in this other city, right, you know, Like I totally get if like a therapist is like here's a story, an anecdote or something to relate to what you're talking about or your situation, like briefly like here's this blah blah blah. The lesson is this, and I'm like Okay, like, you know totally, but yeah, I really don't like that vibe of like you've got such interesting stories. So tell me more. What else happened when you were when you were in art school? 01:10:53 Speaker 2: Wait? Can you tell me again? 01:10:54 Speaker 4: So what happened in art school when you you were going through that breakup and that you moved to that new city and you and your mom did what like what happened was I'm just kind of like, I don't know that that. 01:11:07 Speaker 2: I don't think will I don't know, maybe maybe. 01:11:12 Speaker 3: Confront confront Have you ever confronted a therapist? 01:11:16 Speaker 4: Actually, the last therapist I saw, I remember one time I told him that I was just in a stream of consciousness just like talking, and I was like, I'm trying to impress you, right or whatever, because it's more of like in my mind, you're like some authority figure or something even like in a sexual. 01:11:37 Speaker 2: Sense, right, right. 01:11:39 Speaker 4: And I like remember like saying that to him, and he was kind of like, Okay, then continue and then yeah, and I just like kept going and he was really chill about it. I don't I know, it kind of blocked out like what his response was, but he had a little more understanding of like. 01:11:57 Speaker 2: My vibe at that time, But that was probably like a break through. 01:12:00 Speaker 3: Maybe you're like, now I've been so honest that, like, yeah, that I'm like, I can, I can, Like I might still be trying to impress, but at least there's some transparency, kind of an ever lain level of transparency. Yeah. I think that's probably natural for a lot of therapy, right, where like, yeah, for the first while, you're like, well, I'm going to tell them. 01:12:20 Speaker 2: Four percent of what's real. 01:12:21 Speaker 3: Yeah, and then so you're just paying someone money to impress them. 01:12:26 Speaker 2: Right. 01:12:27 Speaker 3: I feel like it's been a lot of my therapy actually just never really breaking down and actually revealing. But this person has revealed so much, so much that their therapist has revealed so much. We know about the therapist's. 01:12:38 Speaker 2: Sole job job. We shouldn't be doing. We shouldn't be knowing that. 01:12:43 Speaker 3: No, and this is a huge mistake on the therapist's part, to be honest. If they want to do write this to steal this person's stories, they should have just shut up. Yeah, don't tell Molly, don't take the notes, write the movie right, and then once it's on the big screen, deal with the court battle or whatever. But by then you'll have made enough money to sue Molly into the ground, kind of gaslight Molly into thinking, this isn't. 01:13:08 Speaker 2: Your story, isn't your story, it's. 01:13:12 Speaker 3: These are things I told you and our therapy sessions. So what I'm we're actually reaching out to the therapist at this point. And I think it's really a matter of telling Molly that you can't see her anymore, destroy the records, and then write the movie and Mollie, I don't know, do whatever you want. 01:13:30 Speaker 2: I don't care. 01:13:32 Speaker 3: It's not my problem. We answered the question perfectly, Richard. I've had such a nice time, fabulous. I love to talk about bakery cafes. I could talk about them for weeks. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me listener. The podcast is just over it. I mean, it's there's nothing left to say. I love you, goodbye, I said. No Gifts is an exactly right production. It's produced by our dear friend Annalise Nelson, and it's beautifully mixed by Ben Holliday. And we couldn't do it without our guest booker, Patrick Coottner. The theme song, of course, could only come from miracle worker Amy Mann. You must follow the show on Instagram at I said, no gifts. I don't want to hear any excuses. That's where you get to see pictures of all these gorgeous gifts I'm getting. And don't you want to see pictures of the gifts? 01:14:30 Speaker 2: THEO invit? Did you hear? 01:14:34 Speaker 1: Funa man myself perfectly clear. When you're a guest to me, you gotta come to me empty. And I said, no guests, your presences presents enough. I'm already too much stuff. 01:14:56 Speaker 2: So how do you dare to survey me? 01:15:00 Speaker 1: The game bet