Speaker 1: Jackie, I have some good news. Well, it seems like
Speaker 1: there's some interest in turning the Heavyweight podcast into a
Speaker 1: TV show. So I was just calling to see who
Speaker 1: maybe you know who you want to play, Jackie. I
Speaker 1: was thinking, you know, maybe Rita Marino.
Speaker 2: Don John No one's gonna watch your show.
Speaker 3: Baby, what did you say? You wait?
Speaker 1: I'm confused on two counts. A that you would say
Speaker 1: something so cruel and that b you would punctuate it
Speaker 1: with babe. You know a lot of people believe in
Speaker 1: this project. Why would you laugh at that?
Speaker 3: A lot of people believe in this project From Gimblet Media.
Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Goldstein and this is Heavyweight Today's episode Brandon
Speaker 1: right after the break.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll just roll in there and see what's going on.
Speaker 1: This is Brandon. He's thirty three years old and wearing
Speaker 1: a suit and string tie. His wife, Megan is in
Speaker 1: a sun dress, and together they're about to enter the
Speaker 1: new Palestine High School prom. Megan is the school's our teacher,
Speaker 1: but tonight she's chaperoning with Brandon as her date. She
Speaker 1: introduces him to the other teachers. At a certain point,
Speaker 1: they're interrupted by the announcement of prom King and queens.
Speaker 4: Students.
Speaker 1: While Megan congratulates her students and makes small talk with
Speaker 1: her colleagues, Brandon wanders off and observes the kids. Some
Speaker 1: are dancing, some are lined up for the photo booth.
Speaker 1: There are kids talking to teachers and others gossiping among themselves.
Speaker 1: But then Brandon's gaze lands on another subset, those aimless
Speaker 1: kids wandering along the margins alone. They remind Brandon of
Speaker 1: himself when he was a teenager and his own prom.
Speaker 1: Brandon thinks about his prom a lot, and the improbable
Speaker 1: path that led him to it, which began when he
Speaker 1: was just a little kid.
Speaker 2: Through middle school and junior high I had a lot
Speaker 2: of bullying problems. That was kind of an easy target.
Speaker 1: There were a number of things that made him one.
Speaker 2: First, I'm like still a big guy now, but I was.
Speaker 2: I was at my biggest in high school, heaviest.
Speaker 1: Second, Brandon tried too hard to fit in. Like the
Speaker 1: time he shaved a Nike swoosh into the back of
Speaker 1: his head.
Speaker 2: I just thought, like sports, that's that's cool.
Speaker 1: So it made your head look like a running shoe exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I sat in front of this kid named Cyril,
Speaker 2: and he said it looked like a hockey stick, and
Speaker 2: that was enough that everyone was like, that's a hockey stick.
Speaker 2: That is not a Nike swoosh.
Speaker 1: Finally, Brandon was a Coda, a child of deaf adults.
Speaker 1: His family attended a deaf church and spends a lot
Speaker 1: of time in the deaf community. He says he was
Speaker 1: brought up with different social norms.
Speaker 2: Like volume, Like volume is not a concern around deaf
Speaker 2: people and in a deaf environment, and then of course
Speaker 2: it is around hearing people.
Speaker 1: So what is that mean?
Speaker 2: Like any examples, Yeah, like school, where it's like time
Speaker 2: to be quiet. I was just constantly talking to myself
Speaker 2: or just vocalizing my thoughts, you know.
Speaker 1: Then in middle school, Brandon's parents divorced. There was less
Speaker 1: space for him, less attention paid to him. He drew inward.
Speaker 2: I think I wanted to put off a harder like
Speaker 2: you can't hurt me exterior than I really had on
Speaker 2: the inside. So wearing hot topic clothes, spiky things, black clothes,
Speaker 2: and trying to just like keep your hoodie on and
Speaker 2: get through the day.
Speaker 1: And for the most part, Brandon succeeded in going unnoticed
Speaker 1: until the spring of his senior year, Brandon was sitting
Speaker 1: at the back of a classroom during a free period,
Speaker 1: eavesdropping on a conversation from across the room. Some classmates
Speaker 1: were talking about a prom, and among the group was
Speaker 1: a girl named Ali. She was going on about what
Speaker 1: a great night it was going to be, how excited
Speaker 1: she was.
Speaker 2: She had like long blonde hair with highlights, big features,
Speaker 2: like big eyes, She had a big smile. M. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Like when she smiled, she looked really happy. And I
Speaker 2: think she kind of pulled me into the conversation by
Speaker 2: directing some of those questions at me, like are you
Speaker 2: going to prom? Who are you going to prom with?
Speaker 1: Brandon had no intention of going. He hadn't a girlfriend
Speaker 1: or any prospects for a date, and he was confused
Speaker 1: about why Ali was talking to him. Brandon says they'd
Speaker 1: barely ever spoken. They were from totally different social worlds.
Speaker 1: Ali was in student government. She was popular and beautiful.
Speaker 2: She was just really well put together, clean, and you, M, no,
Speaker 2: that's not a word I'd use to describe myself in
Speaker 2: high school. I mean, like I would like smell my
Speaker 2: clothes before I put them on in the morning, you know,
Speaker 2: like I got dressed from the floor, okay, in my bedroom.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and yet Ali kept throwing questions at him. Why
Speaker 1: wasn't he going. If he did go, who would he take?
Speaker 1: Brandon answered in monosyllables, hoping she turned back to her
Speaker 1: friends and leave him alone, but instead she rose from
Speaker 1: her seat and began striding towards him.
Speaker 2: Inside, I was like, uh, like inflamed, do you know
Speaker 2: what I mean? Like my heart my heart rate was rising.
Speaker 1: With each question. Ali moved closer and closer until she
Speaker 1: was sitting at the desk in front of him, facing him.
Speaker 1: Then she did something that still flummixes Brandon fifteen years later.
Speaker 2: She just kind of outright said, take me to prom, Like,
Speaker 2: go to prom, take me, Let's go together. I immediately
Speaker 2: had questions, questions like why, why me? What's going on?
Speaker 2: I guess I was skeptical, this is some kind of trick.
Speaker 5: Hmm.
Speaker 2: You know, why would you be asking me this other
Speaker 2: than to setting me up for a punchline or something
Speaker 2: like that. But no punchline really came, so I just agreed.
Speaker 1: On the big night, Brandon met up with Ali and
Speaker 1: her friends for a pre dance dinner at her friend
Speaker 1: Jen's house. He was in the fancier part of town.
Speaker 1: Brandon showed up wearing his rented suit with a corsage
Speaker 1: and a bright blue necktie that matched Ali's stress. Before
Speaker 1: leaving to the dance, everyone lined up for a group picture.
Speaker 1: Did you like just feel like saying why the heck
Speaker 1: am I here right? What happened? Was this a mistake?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, I would have loved an answer to that question,
Speaker 2: but I would never have thought, couldn't fathom saying it.
Speaker 1: You know, do you still have that prom photo that
Speaker 1: you guys took?
Speaker 2: No? To be honest, I'm not even sure I ever
Speaker 2: got it, so I don't think I ever even saw
Speaker 2: that picture.
Speaker 3: Hmm.
Speaker 1: What do you think you would see in that photo?
Speaker 2: I mean, just imagining it makes me laugh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, why?
Speaker 2: It would be a line of like beautiful high schoolers,
Speaker 2: you know, and like me. There just feels like if
Speaker 2: your eyes set on me for a little too long,
Speaker 2: that maybe you'd be able to see that I didn't
Speaker 2: fit in.
Speaker 1: Aliander friends look like the girls in those movies about prom,
Speaker 1: and those girls always had guys who gave them the
Speaker 1: time of their lives. For Brandon, a sense of duty
Speaker 1: kicked in.
Speaker 2: It felt like a huge responsibility. It was like, this
Speaker 2: is going to be a big deal in Alley's life forever,
Speaker 2: and I have a big responsibility as her date to
Speaker 2: make sure that I live up to this position.
Speaker 3: Hmm.
Speaker 2: I was really really nervous.
Speaker 1: Did did you guys? Did did you and Nally slow dance?
Speaker 1: I'd pretty feel like I feel like when I asked
Speaker 1: these questions, I feel like Hannibal Lecter, like I'm asking
Speaker 1: these questions from a straight jacket in a cell. Did
Speaker 1: you slow dance? Did you slow dance?
Speaker 2: I do remember slow dancing because I remember thinking, like,
Speaker 2: it's funny that in TV shows and in movies, this
Speaker 2: is such a big deal, but it's just standing like
Speaker 2: you're kind of just like stepping slightly. Yeah, Like that's
Speaker 2: not hard. Like I was in like a hip hop
Speaker 2: dance crew and youth group. You know that was hard?
Speaker 1: Wait, you were in a sorry repeat that you were
Speaker 1: in a hip hop dance youth group.
Speaker 2: What? Yeah? So the church I went to was just
Speaker 2: like through a lot of performances and hip hop dance
Speaker 2: that happened.
Speaker 1: Did you ever at any point break out any of
Speaker 1: your Christian youth group hip hop move on the dance floor?
Speaker 1: Do you do anything like on the floor, like where
Speaker 1: you spin on your back, or you didn't. You didn't
Speaker 1: want to ruin the rental. You learned to get your deposit.
Speaker 1: At the prom, Brandon pop for the Lord and locked
Speaker 1: for the Lord. He made Allie's friend laugh. And it
Speaker 1: was right there on the dance floor, the place one
Speaker 1: might expect a high school boy to feel the most
Speaker 1: self conscious, that Brandon felt most at ease. He was
Speaker 1: a part of the group, of a group.
Speaker 2: That kind of felt like a resolution of what all
Speaker 2: of Greade school was like for me. You know, I
Speaker 2: never felt safe enough to bring my true self into
Speaker 2: that space. But like, dancing around at prom with your
Speaker 2: peers is like one of the most vulnerable things you
Speaker 2: can do, and it came out on the other end
Speaker 2: of it, okay.
Speaker 1: At the end of the prom, Ali and all her
Speaker 1: friends headed to one of their classmates' houses for the
Speaker 1: after party, but having never been to a house party,
Speaker 1: Brandon decided not to go. Do you remember saying goodbye
Speaker 1: to Ali?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: And then what happened after that? Do you recall speaking
Speaker 1: with her singer in school after that night?
Speaker 2: I had to have because we both went back to school,
Speaker 2: But I don't have any specific memories of talking to
Speaker 2: her again.
Speaker 1: PROM is supposed to stay with you for the rest
Speaker 1: of your life, and for Brandon it has but eclipsing
Speaker 1: the dancing, the music. The last night out with his
Speaker 1: peers is a lingering question.
Speaker 2: Which was, like, why me out of all the people
Speaker 2: that you could be going with. Maybe it was one
Speaker 2: of those situations where all of these people out there
Speaker 2: are thinking, well, Ali's taken, She's totally going to problem
Speaker 2: with somebody already, I'll have to ask somebody else, you know,
Speaker 2: and then leaves her without a PROM date. If that
Speaker 2: was what was going on. Maybe maybe she just had
Speaker 2: a breakup. Maybe I was part of a charity case.
Speaker 1: So you want to ask her why why did she
Speaker 1: pick you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, I want to know that. Yeah. Without her,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have gone to PROM. It would have just
Speaker 2: been another thing on my list of things I regret
Speaker 2: from high school, you know, But it's not on that list.
Speaker 2: It's on the shorter list of things that I feel. Okay, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'd like to thank her.
Speaker 1: I'm just nervous, which is why Brandon has reached out
Speaker 1: to me. If you get nervous, I mean, I can
Speaker 1: always jump in sure, I've just assumed I'm going to
Speaker 1: be coming along to chaperone. After the break, I chaperone
Speaker 1: Brandon back to high school. Before Brandon can ask Ali
Speaker 1: the question that's been on his mind since senior year,
Speaker 1: we first need to track her down. Her last name
Speaker 1: is Schmartz Schmutz. I'm just making that Brandon's part of
Speaker 1: a Facebook group for his high school graduating class, and
Speaker 1: Ali's a member of the group as well. Does that
Speaker 1: mean that you can have a better chance of messaging
Speaker 1: or through that group?
Speaker 2: I mean, like, if I were going to use the group,
Speaker 2: it would be making a post for my whole graduating classes.
Speaker 1: Might as well go big, like say, hey, I'm just
Speaker 1: going to put this out there to everybody.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're not Ali, please don't read this.
Speaker 1: But Ali, I just want to say, Hey, hit me up.
Speaker 1: Here are my digits. Everybody else, just lose this number.
Speaker 1: Maybe Facebook friend her.
Speaker 2: I could do that. Yeah, I'd have to change my
Speaker 2: name on Facebook. My name hasn't been my real name
Speaker 2: for a long time.
Speaker 1: What's the name that you operate under?
Speaker 2: Oak Tree?
Speaker 1: Just oak Tree, just oak Tree. I can't even find
Speaker 1: you as brand. I'd have to look up oak Tree.
Speaker 2: That's right. I was kind of playing with what kinds
Speaker 2: of words it lets me have as a name?
Speaker 1: Can you change your name from oak Tree to Brandon?
Speaker 2: Probably a good idea.
Speaker 1: Then you don't have to start with a whole rigmarole
Speaker 1: about how like my name's not really oak Tree. This
Speaker 1: is Brandon, by the way, you remember from high school.
Speaker 1: And so the mighty oak Tree sheds his leaves and
Speaker 1: his name, and the Mighty Brandon sends Ali a friend request.
Speaker 1: A week later, Brandon texts with an update. Ali has
Speaker 1: accepted his friendship. Now he just needs to send her
Speaker 1: a message. Okay, so you've crafted something already.
Speaker 2: Yeah, would you could you read it? Sure? Yeah? Hi Ali?
Speaker 1: Good?
Speaker 2: So far?
Speaker 1: Casual?
Speaker 2: Okay? Cool?
Speaker 1: Go ahead?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Hi Ali. Maybe you'll remember me. We were prom
Speaker 2: dates our senior.
Speaker 1: As Brandon reads me a draft, I focus my Keen
Speaker 1: podcast producer's ear.
Speaker 2: By my recollection. It was your idea for us to
Speaker 2: go to prom together.
Speaker 1: Now let me pause, sorry, let me hit pause there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like the way that you're underlining your idea, you're not
Speaker 1: actually underlining that, though I did italicize it. It was
Speaker 1: your idea for us to go to prom.
Speaker 2: Together.
Speaker 1: Is that what you're saying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds accusatory out loud. Yeah, so me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe we'll do italicize that part. Okay, keep going.
Speaker 1: Brandon tells Ali that he still thinks about their prom.
Speaker 1: He says he wants to talk to her about it.
Speaker 1: Would you be up for that? Okay, Okay, let's take
Speaker 1: a look at this here. Okay, so maybe I'll remember.
Speaker 1: As Brandon and I pour over the message, a worry
Speaker 1: suddenly pops into my head. I wonder if there's a
Speaker 1: way to work in the fact that you're married, you know.
Speaker 2: How about just I'm married? But I'll just start with it. Hey, listen,
Speaker 2: I'm taking speaking.
Speaker 1: As a married man. Me and my wife are wondering.
Speaker 1: That is my wife and I. We were wondering the
Speaker 1: other night after making love.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to be doing good work, and I hope you're well.
Speaker 2: All the best.
Speaker 1: Once we've crafted the perfect message, Brandon readies himself to
Speaker 1: hits end.
Speaker 2: Should I go ahead and do it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's do it. Go ahead, HiT's end.
Speaker 2: Enter, it's sent.
Speaker 1: Congratulations, thank you. A week later, Alli writes back, she's
Speaker 1: willing to talk.
Speaker 2: So that's good. It's a positive response.
Speaker 1: I look at you. You're you're You're giddy, You're giddy
Speaker 1: with expectation.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Can you tell to keep wiping my face and
Speaker 2: touching my eyes?
Speaker 1: Would it be fun to do it on a video call? Sure? Sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Do you still have the suit that you wore to
Speaker 1: your prom I'll be like, I never took it off.
Speaker 1: Any things that you want me to bring up, just
Speaker 1: kind of like conversationally, words or any upcoming projects that
Speaker 1: you want to promote or.
Speaker 2: No, keep it organic whatever.
Speaker 1: Cool cool, I can keep it organic cool.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Hello, Hello, I'm getting a little bit of static on
Speaker 1: your end.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Hello better.
Speaker 1: Yeah. On the day of the video call with Ali
Speaker 1: Brandon and I get on early and wait.
Speaker 2: It feels like I'm getting back into the psyche of
Speaker 2: my high school self. Like I'm hi, Hi, Allie, Hi,
Speaker 2: how are you good?
Speaker 1: Allie smiles a big smile full of big white teeth.
Speaker 1: She's wearing a blue pattern blouse that matches the blue
Speaker 1: of her nails.
Speaker 2: I'll just tell you what I've seen on your profile.
Speaker 2: You live in Carmel and you have a baby.
Speaker 4: I have two daughters, a three year old and a
Speaker 4: two year old.
Speaker 2: Awesome, they're right here on my.
Speaker 1: Wall, Brandon and Alley catch up.
Speaker 4: The Midwest is just such a nice place to raise
Speaker 4: a feet. It's recruiting, but there's like a sales element.
Speaker 4: And then of course the grandparents are here.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I figured that was part of it, just a family.
Speaker 2: It's a huge reason there.
Speaker 4: They're always willing to.
Speaker 1: Brandon's question hasn't gotten any easier to ask since high school.
Speaker 1: In fact, it's gotten harder. After a pause of a
Speaker 1: few minutes or even a few days, one can feign casualness,
Speaker 1: by the way, why'd you choose me? But to ask
Speaker 1: after fifteen years, there's no way to buy the way
Speaker 1: your way through it. But eventually, so.
Speaker 2: Can I ask you some questions?
Speaker 4: Absolutely?
Speaker 2: I guess first, like, what are your memories of me
Speaker 2: in high school?
Speaker 4: Yeah? So, I was trying to think of this. Did
Speaker 4: we ever have any classes together?
Speaker 2: Probably not?
Speaker 4: Yeah, So we met senior year, right.
Speaker 1: I think so doesn't remember much, but one thing she
Speaker 1: does remember is that day in the back of the
Speaker 1: classroom we.
Speaker 4: Were talking about prom, you know, as seniors do, and
Speaker 4: I think you had you were like not into going
Speaker 4: to prom right, and You're like, no, I'm not gonna go.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I remember, like you had to really spell it out.
Speaker 2: You were like, are you going to prom? They're not okay?
Speaker 2: Like if you were, would you be going with someone? No? Okay?
Speaker 2: And then eventually you were like you and me can
Speaker 2: go to prom? Like why don't we go to prom?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: And then Brandon asks this question sort of.
Speaker 2: Like at any point did you consider having having someone
Speaker 2: else as a date?
Speaker 4: Well, I would have been totally comfortable going by myself.
Speaker 4: So I don't have any memories of thinking like I'm
Speaker 4: gonna ask Brandon and then if that doesn't work, I'm
Speaker 4: gonna ask so and so they're just kind of like
Speaker 4: I'm asked Brandon.
Speaker 2: That is surprising, I guess because I thought like that.
Speaker 2: It was like spur of the moment. Your friends were
Speaker 2: hearing this for the first time too.
Speaker 4: No, no, I was very obsessed with my friends, so
Speaker 4: I'm sure that I ran it by them. So you
Speaker 4: passed the friend test.
Speaker 1: Brandon grows quiet. It wasn't a prank. It wasn't pity.
Speaker 1: Ali planned to ask him. What's more, she wasn't going
Speaker 1: to take no for an answer.
Speaker 4: I do remember, like you did say no. I remember
Speaker 4: you saying no, and I'm like, oh, yeah, but give
Speaker 4: him a day. I'm gonna make him go. He's gonna
Speaker 4: go with me. But yeah, you were just surprised by
Speaker 4: the fact that I asked you.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, definitely hmm.
Speaker 1: Alie pauses trying to find the right words.
Speaker 4: You made me laugh a lot, and I remember that
Speaker 4: you were just, you know, fun to be around and goofy,
Speaker 4: and you smiled at me a lot. I remember that,
Speaker 4: you know, like I liked being around you, and if
Speaker 4: I made a joke, you would laugh at it, you know, maybe.
Speaker 2: Feel like I was funny, which is a great quality.
Speaker 4: You got me a corsage.
Speaker 2: I remember that.
Speaker 4: I remember not expecting you to get me a corsage.
Speaker 4: I'm thinking that was really nice. I do remember that.
Speaker 4: Isn't that silly? But like, I don't remember a lot,
Speaker 4: but I remember that.
Speaker 1: So you know, I'm going to be a little blunt
Speaker 1: here because sure, was there anything else to it? Like
Speaker 1: what was there an element of something romantic?
Speaker 4: So we probably flirted, right, But I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 4: friendship is really just the main feeling that I can recall.
Speaker 4: I'm not saying that there wasn't you know. I mean,
Speaker 4: I don't know. You're a teenager, You're feeling all kinds
Speaker 4: of things. I'm sure there were moments where I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: is this you know, was this turning into this?
Speaker 2: Yeah? That?
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 2: I think that I would have found that really hard
Speaker 2: to believe as a kid, you know, that would have
Speaker 2: gone against the narrative of school and what people thought
Speaker 2: of me that I had.
Speaker 4: I don't know. I guess to some extent, I knew
Speaker 4: that we were I want to be honest, I knew
Speaker 4: that there was some people were surprised by the fact
Speaker 4: that we were going together, right. I do remember one
Speaker 4: time when I told some dude in my physics class
Speaker 4: I can't remember, that was going with Brandon and they're like, wait,
Speaker 4: what And I was like yeah, and they're like that's weird,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, you're weird.
Speaker 6: Well.
Speaker 1: Brandon remembers himself as a misfit. Allie remembers someone who
Speaker 1: was different than a lot of the other guys in
Speaker 1: high school. Brandon made rye jokes, he was sweet and
Speaker 1: self deprecating. She remembers things that Brandon doesn't. She says
Speaker 1: there was one time Brandon did a whole monologue about
Speaker 1: how he found it hard to drive because of his
Speaker 1: fear of hitting birds. In other words, Allie asked him
Speaker 1: to prom for the one reason Brandon never considered. She
Speaker 1: just wanted to go with him.
Speaker 2: Did you have a good time? Eproum? Because I really
Speaker 2: wanted that for you. I spent a lot of time thinking, like,
Speaker 2: that's my role on the date. Here I go.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, Allie grows thoughtful.
Speaker 4: I guess I didn't even think that, because I mean,
Speaker 4: I talked you into it, right, so then here you
Speaker 4: are kind of not stuck, but like, yeah, feeling like
Speaker 4: you wanted to make it special for me because I
Speaker 4: was the one that was all about it. Yeah, I
Speaker 4: guess I never even thought about that. I just think, Brandon,
Speaker 4: You're You're just so much more thoughtful, you know, I
Speaker 4: just thoughtful about the whole experience. And I do want
Speaker 4: to thank you because that's so nice that you were
Speaker 4: thinking it was your duty to try to make sure
Speaker 4: I had the problem I wanted to have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I honestly didn't even expect to be thanked from
Speaker 2: you for anything. I feel like I have to thank
Speaker 2: you because there's something really simple and superficial about this,
Speaker 2: but it felt really real that I finished high school
Speaker 2: as a person who went to prom. I got to go.
Speaker 2: I got to have a fun time and forget the
Speaker 2: misfit feelings I was having.
Speaker 5: That's awesome. That's so awesome to hear you say that.
Speaker 5: That's really nice.
Speaker 2: My life started to really just like blossom and grow.
Speaker 2: I guess from like the moment high school was over.
Speaker 2: And I guess I can't say for certain what that
Speaker 2: part of my life would have looked like had I
Speaker 2: not had the problem experience, but I can't say it
Speaker 2: was totally irrelevant.
Speaker 1: Was it out of that and kind of like into
Speaker 1: that period that you ended up meeting your wife Meghan?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was like that phase of life when Meghan
Speaker 2: I met her.
Speaker 1: Dress is so cute.
Speaker 2: She looks beautiful.
Speaker 1: This is Megan Brandon's wife looking at a photo a
Speaker 1: valley from prom night.
Speaker 6: She looks amazing.
Speaker 1: She looks great. After getting off the video call, Ali
Speaker 1: sent the group photo from prom, Megan studies it while
Speaker 1: seated beside Brandon.
Speaker 6: It's also like, so cute to see you flanked by
Speaker 6: these Like I mean, I'm sorry, they're in high school,
Speaker 6: so I don't really feel like should be calling them
Speaker 6: hot babes, but you know what I mean, Like from
Speaker 6: the high school perspective, you.
Speaker 1: Lucky looking man. But as Brandon looks at the photo,
Speaker 1: I imagine it isn't his day to the other kids
Speaker 1: that he's focused on so much as he's focused on
Speaker 1: the big guy in the middle and all the baggage
Speaker 1: that guy was carrying.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of weird stuff about like my weight
Speaker 2: and growing up, like dieting, and like my mom like
Speaker 2: putting me on a scale and it was like, you're
Speaker 2: over this line. You know, you're unattractive, and what does
Speaker 2: it make you to feel?
Speaker 1: Like Megan to hear that, it.
Speaker 6: Makes me feel very protective.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 4: I think if we don't, we.
Speaker 6: Really really get into squabbles. But if ever we do,
Speaker 6: what really disarms me is like thinking about that like
Speaker 6: little like young Brandon, I feel like that happened not
Speaker 6: even that long ago. Do you remember we were like
Speaker 6: standing at the kitchen and I started crying, and I
Speaker 6: was just like I had been so resentful and mad
Speaker 6: at you for a minute, and then I just like
Speaker 6: was imagining you being like a little kid and having
Speaker 6: other like adults in his life not really tend to
Speaker 6: like the difficulties of that as well as.
Speaker 1: They should have.
Speaker 6: I think about him just having to like navigate those
Speaker 6: insecurities alone.
Speaker 1: But Brandon no longer has to navigate them alone. A
Speaker 1: few weeks ago, before chaperoning the prom with Megan, Brandon
Speaker 1: went to the tailor. He wanted to wear his weddings
Speaker 1: and needed her to let it out.
Speaker 2: She was like down on her knees, like looking at it,
Speaker 2: pulling the pants in different ways, and then said, okay,
Speaker 2: go ahead and open the pants up so I can
Speaker 2: see how much we can let out. And I don't
Speaker 2: know why, but I wasn't wearing underwear. I didn't wear
Speaker 2: underwear to the tailor. I guess I didn't think that
Speaker 2: she was going to be asking that. So yeah, she
Speaker 2: asked me to open the pants and I was like
Speaker 2: right now, and she's like, yep, go ahead, and I
Speaker 2: just said, I can't do that right now, if you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. Wow, I know, I know, and
Speaker 2: I don't think. I'm honestly not sure if she knew
Speaker 2: what I meant. But she dropped it and said, Okay,
Speaker 2: I think we'll just let it out all the way
Speaker 2: and that'll probably be enough. It was off. It was awful.
Speaker 1: Brandon was spiraling so as soon as he left, he
Speaker 1: sent Megan a text at school asking her to call him, and.
Speaker 2: When she called me, I was fixing a flat. I
Speaker 2: got a flat tire on the way home. It was
Speaker 2: just like a shitty afternoon. So I was fixing a
Speaker 2: flat and telling her what it was like at the tailor.
Speaker 2: And then we hung up. And then she texted me
Speaker 2: later and just said like, I love you, and I
Speaker 2: love the way your body looks, and I don't think
Speaker 2: it's weird that you didn't wear underwear. I don't we
Speaker 2: underwear either. It was just like a you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. She was supportive. That fixed it almost immediately
Speaker 2: for me.
Speaker 3: Hm.
Speaker 4: Well, I taught him to go commando.
Speaker 2: So I feel partially responsible.
Speaker 1: What did you make of Brandon's question that he's had
Speaker 1: through the years, Why did Ali invite him to the
Speaker 1: prom in the first place?
Speaker 6: It didn't have to be a mystery. It makes perfect
Speaker 6: sense to me that somebody who looks like Ali could
Speaker 6: like the person who she's standing next to.
Speaker 5: You.
Speaker 1: Brandon says the biggest difference between his two proms was
Speaker 1: that with Megan, he didn't spend the whole night wondering
Speaker 1: why the person by his side had chosen him. He's
Speaker 1: just happy she did.
Speaker 2: I was comfortable the whole time.
Speaker 1: How could you not be comfortable? I mean you weren't
Speaker 1: wearing underpants. Now that the furnitures returning to its goodwill.
Speaker 6: Home, now that the last month's rent is scheming.
Speaker 1: With the damage to pozzle, take this moment to dissolve.
Speaker 5: If we meant it, if we tried, but felt around
Speaker 5: for far to work.
Speaker 4: From things that accidentally.
Speaker 1: This episode of Heavyweight was produced by Stevie Lane, along
Speaker 1: with me Jonathan Goldstein, and Mohemy mcgauga. Our senior producer
Speaker 1: is Khalila Holt. Special thanks to Emilyconton, Alex Bloomberg, Sharon Mashihi,
Speaker 1: mime O'donald, Jessica Young, and Jackie Cohen. Bobby Lord mixed
Speaker 1: the episode with original music by Christine Fellows, John K. Sampson,
Speaker 1: Michael Hurst, The Jacoby Family Band, and Bobby Lord. Additional
Speaker 1: music credits can be found on our website, Gimletmedia dot
Speaker 1: com slash Heavyweight. Our theme song is by the Weaker
Speaker 1: Than's courtesy of Epitaph Records.
Speaker 3: Follow us on.
Speaker 1: Twitter at Heavyweight or email us at Heavyweight at gimletmedia
Speaker 1: dot com we'll be back with a new episode next week.
Speaker 6: Like we just like goof real easy, like making up
Speaker 6: weird songs, doing weird shit like slap just like gonna say,
Speaker 6: slapping each other's passes, but just like being stupid together,
Speaker 6: which that's a corny or something, but like playing around
Speaker 6: all of the time,