Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard - Armchair Anonymous: Cautionary Tale

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us a cautionary tale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Anonymous. I'm Buck Rogers and I'm joined by the Duchess of Duluth. Where did Buck Rogers come from? That was a show when I was a kid, Buck Rogers. It was kind of maybe a B version of Star Trek. He was a star ship trooper fighter pilot. When you go by Buck Rogers on those days, can I go by Michelle Tanner?
Starting point is 00:00:21 Oh my God, yes. Who's Michelle Tanner? Mary-Kate and Ashley from Full House. Oh, okay, interesting. I guess that works. Oh my God, yes, who's Michelle Tanner? Mary-Kate and Ashley from Full House. Oh, okay, interesting. I guess that works. If we were playing connections, it would work in TV characters. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:00:30 But I'm always inclined to pin a sci-fi name on you. Like RTD2 or RDD, whatever he is. It has to be something you can pronounce. Okay, CP3, no, I'm not sure what that one is either. C3PO and R2D2. Okay, those have always been hard for me. Did they roll off your tongue? C3PO, R2D2, yes, but I'm not into sci-fi.
Starting point is 00:00:53 Right, nor are you a robot, a robot. But I am a Michelle Tanner. Okay, great, Michelle Tanner. I'm now learning that name, I don't know that name, and I'm gonna try to commit that. You might have to practice that. Let's go from the top. And we're still rolling everyone back to one.
Starting point is 00:01:05 I'm Buck Rogers and I'm joined by Michelle Tanner. That's me. You got it, dude. Oh my God, great, and you'll have a catchphrase. This works out big time for me. Today we're going to hear cautionary tales. They run the gamut, as you might expect, these cautionary tales.
Starting point is 00:01:22 But I also wanna tell everybody next month's prompts, which are, tell us a crazy stalking story. If you were murdered in this one, it probably won't be fun for us. So. Well, no, we do accept ghosts. Oh, okay. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:01:36 Okay. Tell us a crazy stalking story. Tell us about a secret your parents kept from you as a kid. Shout out to the armchair who suggested that great one. Tell us a crazy house sitting story. Also was a suggestion from an armchair. Tell us a crazy mall story. Monica's suggestion.
Starting point is 00:01:53 You guys, mall stories can be lots of things. They can be shoplifting, they can be hookups, they can be in the food court. I had a mall hookup in the Burger King bathroom. See, you already wanna tell it. Yeah, but I must protect her identity, my hookup. DJ Tanner. T-T-R-T Tanner.
Starting point is 00:02:13 R-D-D Tanner. Please enjoy Cautionary Tales. ["Cautionary Tales"] Good times, take them slow My life, I had them both But one thing you gotta know I'ma keep on shining Cautionary tale. Mine is don't get sick. That's my cautionary tale. Did you take your leave D?
Starting point is 00:02:43 I did, yeah. My brick breakthrough was taking Tusussin DM last night. Tussin? Tussin. It's the generic brand for Robitussin. Oh my God. Tussin. They're allowed to do that? Yeah, Tussin. I don't like that at all.
Starting point is 00:02:57 Tussle with Tussin. And boy oh boy, I don't know why I haven't been taking that for the last week and a half because I didn't cough it all in the middle of the night. That's what's been keeping me out. No coughs all night, it worked. Tussin DM. You died.
Starting point is 00:03:09 I'm dead. Ready for Amy? Amy. Amy Hansen? Ah, cautionary tale. Amy H. No, I hope it's Amy Hansen so bad. Oh, I love it to be Amy Hansen.
Starting point is 00:03:21 Oh my God, can it please be Amy Hansen? What if one of our friends called and told a really damaging story? You know I'm dying for that. Hi. That's us, hold on. We didn't plug in. We were chit chatting.
Starting point is 00:03:36 One second. Amy? Yes, hi. Now I can hear you beautifully. We weren't hooked up. Oh my gosh, it's important to be hooked up, y'all. Very. You gotta be.
Starting point is 00:03:46 What is this lovely collage poster behind you? Well, this is for Monica. It's actually a quilt that our friend, Luke Haynes made for me. Do you remember him? Yes, Luke who made our quilt. Oh my God, small world. And the letters on it say,
Starting point is 00:04:05 Hospitaliano, is that Italian for hospitality? You know, it's a made up word. Have you ever been to the Olive Garden? Oh, yes, yeah. In the 90s, when you walked in the Olive Garden, the host would say, Hospitaliano, to greet you. Oh, they would.
Starting point is 00:04:22 It was like the dumbest thing. I always thought it was hilarious because it's just this word that Olive Garden made up. So when Luke made the quote, he wanted me to put something on it that was like aspirational. So that's what I chose. Oh, I love it.
Starting point is 00:04:37 That's incredible. Also, it's beautiful. He's so talented. He's so talented. And I don't wanna get too off topic, but do you know the Zagat Guide where they review restaurants? Yes. They let their comedic side shine
Starting point is 00:04:49 when they review Olive Garden in particular. I don't know if you've ever read any reviews in Zagat for Olive Garden. I have not. The two that I've memorized is, this Italian Denny's prides itself on blank, blank, blank. And then another one said, if you like airplane food Italian. Oh God. Denny's prides itself on blank, blank, blank. And then another one said,
Starting point is 00:05:05 if you like airplane food Italian. Oh God. Yeah, they were rough. But I feel like that's where they cut loose a little bit. That's hilarious. I'll have to look that up. Especially since I'm such a fan. What part of the South are you in?
Starting point is 00:05:18 How'd you know I was from the South? Cause you said y'all. Well, I live in Asheville, North Carolina. We like it there. You know how much I love it, right? I talk about it all the time. I just moved here four years ago from Austin, which is another great place.
Starting point is 00:05:32 You're hitting up all the good spots. Yeah, you're ahead of me. You're living out many of my dreams. I'm just gonna keep going to like smaller and smaller, cool hip artsy beer towns until there's nothing left. Okay, so you have a cautionary tale. Let's get to the business at hand. I do have one.
Starting point is 00:05:49 There might be several cautionary tales within this big meta cautionary tale. Okay, great. This took place in the summer of 1996. And I was living in Austin. I'd just gotten out of college. I was living with my two roommates, Julie and Jason. I don't think we were working. We were just going to see shows and like drinking
Starting point is 00:06:08 China Bach and eating tacos. And that's what we did every day. It was so fun. So we had this friend named Ian who had rented a cabin for the summer about an hour south of Austin. And he invited us down one Friday afternoon to just hang out, party a little bit, get into some shenanigans. So we drove down and got there around 4.30 in the afternoon.
Starting point is 00:06:29 So it was the three of us and then Ian, and then this friend of his name, Warren. This is all going to make sense in a second while there's all these people. I can already tell Warren's going to be the variable we need to keep our eyes on. You can already predict that. Yeah, I can feel that. He's going to be the issue, but continue. Is the cautionary tale, don't trust Warren's? I know.
Starting point is 00:06:47 It's generally the friend of the friend that's the problem. Totally. Yeah, this guy that we'd never met before was there, but the other four of us had been long-term friends. So, you know, we start drinking or hanging out and the sun starts to set and Ian's like, let's go down to the creek and see the water before it gets dark. It's really cool down there.
Starting point is 00:07:06 You have to take this trail that's like a half of a mile and then you get to this ridge line and you take these rustic steps down with logs and rocks and shit. Then you get down to the creek and walk a little further. So as we're walking to the creek, my friend Julie and I kind of hang back.
Starting point is 00:07:23 We're like, let's convince the boys to go skinny dipping and we'll take their clothes and run. Oh, sure. Classic trick. It's classic, right? Monica, of course we're gonna do that. We're gonna steal their clothes and run. So that exact thing happens.
Starting point is 00:07:39 We get down to the creek basin, we walk a little ways to get to deeper water and we're like, hey guys, what do you think you think about skinny and like before we can even stop saying the sentence they're already like five seconds all their clothes are off their shoes are off and they're in the water they've been waiting their whole lives for two ladies to ask them to get naked yeah I'm sorry to interject now but this sounds very much like Crouse Springs do you know where Wimberly is yeah it was in Wimberly okay have you been to Cross Springs?
Starting point is 00:08:05 Yeah, a bunch of times, I love it. But you walk down all these pathways and there's a ridge and then there's a beautiful creek. It's really similar. My best friend lives in Wimberley. Oh really? Oh my God. Oh my God.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Shout out. Wobby Wobby's best friend lives there. Who is he? Let's shout him out. Matthew Vasquez. Warren Vasquez. Oh my God. Was it this Warren?
Starting point is 00:08:24 I hope it wasn't this Warren. When you're never going to get aired, this Warren does not like me anymore. Okay. So they get naked, they jump in. As soon as they do, we bend down, scoop up all their clothes and their shoes, every single thing, and we just start running. We run up the steps.
Starting point is 00:08:40 We're laughing. You know how you laugh so hard? You're out of breath. Just the visual, I'm imagining the three naked guys with shit swinging around like chasing after us. So we don't even turn around, we run straight to the cabin, we throw shit down, we get on the patio and we're like, yeah, awesome. High five, pour some drinks and just sit there
Starting point is 00:08:58 and wait for them to come back up the trail. Because this cabin's in like a pod of other cabins, there's other people out milling around and we just thought it was gonna be hilarious for them to come up the trail because this cabin's in like a pod of other cabins. There's other people out milling around and we just thought it was going to be hilarious for them to come up the trail naked and we would all have a big laugh. But like 20 minutes go by. Oh God. Oh, 30 minutes. No boys.
Starting point is 00:09:17 It's getting dark outside and we realized like something terrible has probably happened. We remembered that Ian, the guy who lived there, and Jason, our roommate, had grabbed little flashlights when we left the house. And remember, this is like the 90s, so there's no cell phones with flashlights or anything. It's like those little bitty mag lights.
Starting point is 00:09:39 So we started rummaging around in their pant pockets and we find two mag lights, Ian's and Jason's, and we dig around in Warren's pants. Oh yeah. We didn't find a flashlight, but what we found was the thickest pair of eyeglasses you've ever seen, like coke bottle thick. And the two of us pull it out and we're like, oh my God, this guy is like seriously visually impaired.
Starting point is 00:10:07 Yeah, legally blind for sure. And he didn't wear his glasses because he wanted to look handsome and now he's trapped down in the water naked. Exactly, and he didn't want to tell people he was blind and he took off his glasses. He didn't want us to know that. Yeah, oh, you're right.
Starting point is 00:10:22 There's a lot of cautionary tales. One is like, don't let your vanity kill you. Oh, you're right. There's a lot of cautionary tales. One is like, don't let your vanity kill you. Oh, you're right. Keep your glasses on. Also be nice, sir. Well, I think that'll be over. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:33 We realized like, oh, we left this blind guy down there in the creek. It's super dark. Oh, fuck. We've got to go rescue them. So we grabbed the flashlight, so we head back down the trail. And as I'm telling this, I was thinking about this this morning, like, it's really funny.
Starting point is 00:10:47 We did not grab their clothes or their shoes or anything. Of course, we're just like, get the flashlights and find these guys. So we get to the stairs area and hear the three of them come. And they looked like they had been to war. Like a complete disaster. Our roommate Jason was covered in mud from head to toes, caked on him everywhere. Like Lord of the Flies. Scratches.
Starting point is 00:11:14 Scratches? What the fuck, was there a tiger? His hair was all messed up, he had like sticks stuck on him. Ian, the guy who lived there, he was just dirty. He didn't look as bad, but that guy Warren, y'all. Oh no. Was blood coming out of his eyes? Monica.
Starting point is 00:11:32 Jeez, Monica. Well, you guys, he's blind. He looked like someone had full force just punched him in the face. Oh no. His eye was all swollen up. It was a black and blue. He had a big gash on his forehead,
Starting point is 00:11:50 like with all this coagulated blood. He looked just totally dazed. His knees were all busted up. Well also just see how scary it looked like. It's dark and they're shining a flashlight and they're revealing Warren's mangled face. Like you gotta think of how dramatic too the lighting probably was.
Starting point is 00:12:06 Did you guys go like, ah! Wouldn't you shine the light on us? We're like, what the hell happened? Just as we suspected, like as soon as we stole their clothes, they came charging after us. But since Warren couldn't see, he tripped over this log and he face planted immediately into a big rock. Oh, Warren. I want the story to be funny, but it's kind of sad too.
Starting point is 00:12:29 It's okay. It can be sad. Life is both a comedy and a tragedy. True. He'd fallen on his face and they thought he was a little concussed. And because it was getting so dark down there, they didn't want to just leave him. Oh, yeah. So Ian, the cabin guy, stayed with him while Jason, our roommate, want to just leave him. So Ian, the cabin guy stayed with him while Jason, our roommate tried to go find help. Oh my God, naked.
Starting point is 00:12:51 Was he lost? Yeah. How were you guys able to navigate to the cabin? No problem with Jason. Cause it had gotten dark outside. And he kept slipping in the mud or something. Wait for it, Monica. He couldn't find the rustic stairs back up to the ridge line.
Starting point is 00:13:07 Oh, okay. He had some rock climbing experience. So he decided he would climb up like the 25 or 30 foot wall to get up to the cliff above. This is also a cautionary tale. Well, he's drunk and young. Oh, he's drunk. Yeah. I forgot.
Starting point is 00:13:27 Right. And remember they're all still naked, which is important here because this wall of this cliff was covered in vines. Oh. And so he started fashioning like a harness out of the vines. Oh my God. Like wrap the vines around his feet, the vines around his waist.
Starting point is 00:13:48 He put the vines between his legs to create like this kind of seat and he literally climbed up all of these vines to the top and then he helped the guys back up. So needless to say nobody wanted to party anymore. Nobody liked us. Yeah. Everybody decided we should just go home. So we went home. We drove back to Austin. That night, you didn't spend the night. We just drove back, yeah. Oh, man.
Starting point is 00:14:14 It was bad. No one talked in the car on the way back. But flash forward to the next morning, Julie and I are hanging out in the kitchen having coffee. When we hear these sounds coming out of Jason's room, like whimpering, ill groans, sad things, we open his door and he was sprawled out on his bed with the sheets kicked off. He was again, totally nude. And he looked like someone had taken his body and dipped it in like acid
Starting point is 00:14:48 or that he'd been burned like his head and neck arms palms of his hands torso legs feet everything was like this magenta color and was he a blister everywhere? Some blisters had started in all of his crotchal region. Crotchal, yeah. Front and the back. Poison ivy? The vines were some kind of poison. Yeah, so we took him to the emergency room and the doctor diagnosed him with, and I quote,
Starting point is 00:15:21 the worst case of poison ivy he'd ever seen in his entire career. What did they do for that? They shot him full of steroids, tons of Benadryl, but he was just on his back in his bed for days after that. Oh my God. Oh my God, did you guys feel so bad? I still feel bad.
Starting point is 00:15:40 It's taken me 25 years for me to even wanna tell the story because I still feel so bad about it. I mean, that cliff that he climbed up was like Jurassic Park level, like poison ivy jungle. And you know the sad thing is it's such a G rated joke. Like it started out so silly and innocent. It's almost like out of a movie about ninth graders. Yeah, what was that?
Starting point is 00:16:03 Ninth graders? A movie about ninth graders. Yeah's from now and then. Yeah, what was that? Ninth graders? A movie about ninth graders. Yeah, it's so innocent and silly and you guys almost murdered two people between Warren's concussion and this. I know. But also, cautionary tale for Jason, know your limits.
Starting point is 00:16:18 You think you're this big rock climber and you're not. Right, it's almost like don't go chasing waterfalls. Stick to the. Yeah, like you know? Right, it's almost like don't go chasing waterfalls. Stick to the- Yeah, like you can climb rock, that doesn't mean you can climb vines. You're not Tarzan. Yeah, he took it a little too far with making his grundle and stuff.
Starting point is 00:16:34 Or his crotchle parts. There was a lot of tails in there, but this one I think is just, don't steal the Skinny Dipper's clothes. And have you stayed in touch with Jason? No, it's been a long time. But we were still friends after that. I mean, we lived together for a while.
Starting point is 00:16:50 That guy Warren though, he told Ian, like I never wanna see those girls again. Well, he doesn't have to see them if he doesn't wear his glasses. You know what's crazy? Don't make fun of people. I'm sorry, that was just so, it was really good. I can't believe you didn't laugh.
Starting point is 00:17:05 Then I had to be sad. I was thinking, what's funny is I had this dead wrong, which is Warren wasn't the issue, you guys were the issue. And from Warren's point of view, it was like, well, these friends of friends fucking almost killed us. Uh-huh. Warren's like the innocent, sacrificial. You're the friends of friends.
Starting point is 00:17:21 Yes. Oh my God, what a twist. If you found Warren and he told the story, it would be the opposite side. We're talking to Warren at 2.40 actually. Oh my God. I wonder where that guy is now. How's it doosy?
Starting point is 00:17:37 I mean, I'm gonna say, yeah, no more pranks for anyone. Well, you gotta add up all the pranks over time, the ones that went good, the ones that went bad. Did it curb your future prankiness? Did you back off pranks after that or no? No, no. Yeah. Just, you know, stealing of clothes.
Starting point is 00:17:56 I love to play pranks on people. Yeah. That was a rhetorical question, but. Wow. Yeah, I had a hunch. These cautionary tales are gonna be a bummer because no one's really learned any lessons. Well, I guess that's true.
Starting point is 00:18:08 Maybe you're just telling the story to yourself. We do that sometimes. We tell other people the stories we need to hear. That was kind of therapeutic. Thanks guys. Needed to get that off my chest. Well, Amy, that was a joy and you seemed like you were really fun to grow up with.
Starting point is 00:18:20 I'm a little jealous that I wasn't in Austin with you or now in Asheville. Cause I love to go skinny dipping and get poison IV. Come on, it's not too late. Thank you for chatting with us. Yeah, very nice meeting you. Could I ask you a super favor to say happy birthday to my friend Lori?
Starting point is 00:18:37 She is such an Armcherry fan. She loves you. She turned me on to you guys. And she's turning 50 next week. Of course. Oh, amazing. Of course. Happy birthday, Lori. Happy birthday, Lori. That means we were both born roughly the same time.
Starting point is 00:18:50 I guess she was probably 74, but I'm knocking right on the back door. Hope she has a great birthday. Stay strong, Lori. Happy birthday. Thank you both so much. Yeah, take care, Amy. Bye. Even though I wanted it to be Amy Hansen, that was very fun.
Starting point is 00:19:04 It was. She's a fun person, Amy, we just talked to. I hate pranks. I know you do. They're one of your triggers. Should we do that as a prompt? Oh, that's good. Pranks gone wrong.
Starting point is 00:19:14 Have we not done that one? No, didn't we? Cause remember the girl in her school? Yeah, we did. I don't care. We can do it again. We're gonna have to recycle for crying out loud. We gotta do 48 again.
Starting point is 00:19:22 Not yet, for like six more years than we recycle. All right, here's Madeline. Hi Monica, hi Dax. Hi, is this Madeline? It's Madeline. Look at your closet. Madeline, it's one of the most beautiful names in the world and I don't know if you've heard enough episodes
Starting point is 00:19:35 to know that my grandmother's name was Madeline. And she thought because she was born in, I guess, the 30s, that Madeline was a grandma name and an ugly name. So guess what she went by her whole life. So much prettier, Midge. Midge? So much prettier, objectively. I love my name, so thank you so much.
Starting point is 00:19:55 No, it's so beautiful. We were always confused growing up. Like why does grandma Midge think Madeline is so gross, but Midge is like a super elegant name. Midge Bull Tink. Oh wow. Bull Tink, you heard it Oh, wow. Yep, Bull-Tink. You heard it. She just doubled down.
Starting point is 00:20:08 I guess she did. Good for her. She did. Yeah, maybe Madeline Bull-Tink was too mixed message-y. Yeah. Yeah. She's a straight shooter. Madeline, where are you other than in your closet? I'm in my closet in London, Ontario, Canada. Oh my God, so close to Detroit.
Starting point is 00:20:22 Yeah, pretty close. Do you ever go to Detroit? No. Yeah, of course not. You're what, about an hour and a half from Toronto, two hours? About two hours, yeah. And you know Rachel McAdams is from your hometown, right? Oh my god. She is. One time I saw her in a coffee shop. Wow. No. What did she order? You know, I don't know what she ordered. She was just in the coffee shop, but I used to work at the University of Toronto and there was a coffee shop on campus that she went to. Oh my gosh. Was she with Ryan Gosling?
Starting point is 00:20:47 No, I don't think so. Was she a student there? No, I think that she was just in Toronto. Can you tell us more about her? I wish I could. Okay, so Madeline, you have a cautionary tale. Does it take place in London, Ontario? It doesn't. It actually takes place in Alberta
Starting point is 00:21:04 in a city called Grand Prairie, which is quite north in Alberta. Sounds beautiful. It was like a prairie, but it was close to the mountain. So I mean, I couldn't complain. It was back in 2017 and I moved there with my boyfriend at the time, who is now my husband for his job.
Starting point is 00:21:21 So we were going to move into our first house there and we worked all week and wait, should I tell you the name of my cautionary tale first? Yeah, please. You made a name for it? That's great. I did. The cautionary tale bottom line is don't brush your teeth sitting in bed. Oh, okay. I love this. Okay, good because that sounds very innocuous. I wasn't expecting that. Yes, we worked all week and then got home Friday afternoon and we were going to pack up the house to move over the weekend. And so we packed until probably about midnight, decided it was time to call it quits. And so my husband went into the en suite and was brushing his teeth, getting ready for
Starting point is 00:21:56 bed. And I was like, I'm just going to take a beat, sit on the bed, scroll my phone for a minute. Really quick, Madeline, I hate to interrupt your flow, but you call the bathroom off of the bedroom an en suite. You just educated me on something. Yeah, that's what we call it. Wow. Do you know that Monica? Primary bath.
Starting point is 00:22:11 No, I've heard that. Is it Canadian or is it not? Yeah, we've probably found that here. Okay, so he was in the en suite, which is the bathroom connected to the bedroom. That's correct. Okay, lovely. I was just sitting up against the pillow,
Starting point is 00:22:23 scrolling my phone and my husband's very sweet every time I'm around and I haven't brushed my teeth yet and he gets his toothbrush ready with the toothpaste, he does mine as well. So I knew it was sitting there waiting for me. So I was like, can you just pass me my toothbrush? I'll brush my teeth while I'm sitting here and get up and continue with my bedtime routine. And so he did and I'm sitting there just brushing my teeth and it's an electric toothbrush and it runs its course and it's done. So I'm sitting there holding it in my mouth still getting up to go
Starting point is 00:22:51 rinse and since I was leaning on some pillows I needed a little bit of momentum to get out of bed. So I leaned back and I went to like sit up. As I went to sit up my knee also came towards me and it met my elbow and hit my toothbrush, which lodged into the back of my throat. Oh my God. What? So like I impaled my throat.
Starting point is 00:23:14 No. It punctured your throat? It did. No. It went into my throat, yeah. No. So I get up, I run to the bathroom and I like push my husband out of the way
Starting point is 00:23:28 and I spit into the sink and it's just like a blood bath. Oh my God. Really quick, when you pulled your toothbrush out of your mouth, did you feel it coming out of the back of your throat? Good question, I don't remember. Yeah, you were in a state of shock. Oh my God.
Starting point is 00:23:45 I already had the heebie jeebies at the notion you were brushing your teeth without water. Fuck, oh my God. Ah. I know. I already had the heebie jeebies at the notion you were brushing your teeth without water. Oh my God. Like that's where my heebie jeebies. What do you mean? The toothbrush had been buttered, then brought to her in bed.
Starting point is 00:23:54 Yeah. For me to brush my teeth, I gotta butter it and then I run it under water. I need a lot of water in there to get this. You did that before. So it came in almost drippy and a little messy. Mine doesn't need to be drippy. I rinse it first, then I butter it, and then I brush.
Starting point is 00:24:10 But just imagine, like I did, dry toothbrush, toothpaste, then hand it to you in bed, and you just start smearing paste all over your mouth. I get what you mean. You need it to be a little wet, but he had already gotten ahead of that. Yeah, we didn't raw dog it. Oh.
Starting point is 00:24:22 Oh my God, I just remembered the throat. Oh yes, okay. Blood bath in the sink and he's like, oh my gosh, what happened? And I was like, I hit my toothbrush in my throat. So he looks and his face instantly changed from like, why are you pushing me to like, oh my gosh, we have to go to the emergency room right now.
Starting point is 00:24:41 Oh gosh. It's well after midnight, we're driving to the emergency room right now. Oh gosh. It's well after midnight, we're driving to the emergency room and we get there. We're in triage and the nurse is like, what happened? And I'm so embarrassed. Like I don't want to tell her what happened. What I say as if this is any better, I say I just brushed my teeth a little too hard.
Starting point is 00:24:58 Oh, that's worse. Aren't we all weird? We're so weird. It's such a bizarre decision to make, but I can totally relate to doing it. Yeah, I was like fight, flight, or freeze. So they still provided me excellent care. We go into the waiting room
Starting point is 00:25:12 and we waited probably an hour, which is not bad. We get into the patient room to see the doctor and he's just like flabbergasted, like has never seen anything like this before. And he's like, well, it's really late at night. I'm not calling the dentist on call, but we need to stitch this. Oh.
Starting point is 00:25:29 He goes and gets the materials. He needs to put stitches in my throat. I feel like you need a surgeon for this. Me too. Because how do you even? It's so deep in your, okay, we'll get to that. Exactly. So he gets out this big long needle,
Starting point is 00:25:42 freezes it once the anesthetic sets in. He pulls up this huge needle that is like curved. So he gets out this big long needle, freezes it once the anesthetic sets in. He pulls up this huge needle that is like curved, like it's like a big heart. Huge fish hook. So he starts stitching and I'm laying back and there's all these like surgical lights above me and my husband's standing there and he's watching him
Starting point is 00:26:00 and he'll do a stitch and then like pause for a second, take a step back and at one point he was like, I understand why dentists have those suckers because it was just like pooling saliva. Oh, sure. Lush in the back of my throat. So we do a stitch on do it, do a stitch on do it. Like I couldn't feel the pain, but I could feel it. So anyways, he finishes up, writes me a prescription for antibiotics so I don't get an infection
Starting point is 00:26:24 and sends us on our way. So then the next day I go to the pharmacy to get the antibiotics and she's like, I see you have a penicillin allergy but we normally don't prescribe this antibiotic. Can I ask what it's for? And I was just like, I can't tell her the story either. So I'm just like, oh, I have a cut in my mouth
Starting point is 00:26:41 and then I like ran out of it. It's fine now though, like it healed up perfectly. How many stitches did you receive? Do you know what? I don't know, but I did send in pictures like before and after. Oh, Rob says he doesn't have them, but I bet Emma has them. Did you send them to Emma? I sent them to Emma, yeah. I gotta see this. I'm gonna regret seeing this, but of course I have to see this.
Starting point is 00:27:03 So wow, okay, that answers my question, because you can't get your fingers back in there, so you just have an enormous long fish hook that you do it with. Yeah, that's how they do it, which I never would have known. I do wish you called the dentist on call though. I just love though that you're like
Starting point is 00:27:17 ascending level of embarrassment. You had the one lie, which is I did it brushing my teeth, which you didn't. Then even that's too embarrassing, so now it's just I cut my mouth. Yeah. Ugh.
Starting point is 00:27:26 Ugh. The idea of having a whole- Could you swallow? Yeah, when you were swallowing, what was happening? It felt like, you know, when you have a sore throat and it's razor blades. Oh, you were just talking about that. You just had that.
Starting point is 00:27:38 And that's a horrible feeling. So I took lots of Tylenol. I didn't really eat anything solid for a few days, but then it was like those stitches that dissolve and out they went and they just carried on. Wow. Yeah, and your mouth heals very quickly. I imagine your throat does too, right?
Starting point is 00:27:52 It does, yep. This is such a specific cautionary. I am scared now. I am definitely only gonna brush my teeth in an upright. Standing up in the en suite. Yeah. Although you don't have an en suite yet. My mom has to go in to hallway like a caveman
Starting point is 00:28:06 to go to her bathroom. I do, sucks. It's a long walk. But maybe it saved my life. Could have. Oh God. I would love video of you trying to rock yourself. Oh, they've come, let's see.
Starting point is 00:28:20 Oh, it is a legit just hole. Okay, great though. This is slightly better than I was expecting. It's after the surgery. Well, it's on the side of your mouth. Oh, here's a little more fresh before it's healed, I guess. That's the stitches. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:36 I was picturing the center punching your throat. No, it was kind of like biting it. It is throat, it's just a little on the side. But also, your tongue is so cute. Do you notice how, you don't have any like white on your tongue or anything. It's so- Did you face tune it? Right? I had to brush my teeth.
Starting point is 00:28:54 Well, look how healthy. Maybe she did a filter on it. This is like one of the healthiest tongues I've ever seen. It's like a baby's. It does look nice. I feel a little weird that we're zooming in on her tongue. No, you like this, right? Cause it's so complimentary.
Starting point is 00:29:05 Sure. I'd be so anxious if somebody was zooming in on a picture of my tongue. Unless you had that tongue, you'd be like, yeah, go ahead and get close. Things have gone too far, but we're very grossed out by your story. I'm glad you're grossed out by it.
Starting point is 00:29:20 Actually, after I submitted, my friend was like, no, you should submit a different story. No, it's perfect. Maybe we'll talk to you a second time for a different story. Do you have a lot of stories? Yeah, my friend was like, no, you should submit a different story. No, it's perfect. Well, maybe we'll talk to you a second time for a different story. Do you have a lot of stories? Yeah, I'm a pretty clumsy person, so I also had another good cautionary tale,
Starting point is 00:29:30 but if something comes up about washing machines, maybe I can do that one. Okay, great. Well, it's very nice to meet you, Madeline. I'm glad you healed up. Thank you for having me. This was like a bucket list experience. Yeah, you probably don't even have a scar back there, right?
Starting point is 00:29:43 Cause the mouth heals so nicely. Not that I've noticed. Well send a picture, close up picture of your tongue and the side of your mouth. I'll give it a good once over and I'll tell you. You just want to see my tongue again. It's gorgeous. You should be very proud. Well, really nice meeting you.
Starting point is 00:29:57 Thanks for telling us that story. Amazing. Thank you guys. Bye. I feel like I want to go look at my tongue in the mirror up close. To see if it looks like that? I wanna see what mine looks like. I would be very nervous that mine had like some white on it
Starting point is 00:30:10 or something. Because you're sick. I don't know, I drink a lot of things. I know. I don't know. Most of us. Oh fuck, I don't wanna make anyone self-conscious. Uh oh, what?
Starting point is 00:30:17 You know sometimes you see someone their tongue's like white. That's, oh, you're right, we're not allowed to. Yeah, because I don't think anyone's picking that or doing it intentional. I don't think anyone's picking that or doing it intentional. I don't think you can give yourself that on purpose. But I brush my tongue really thoroughly every morning and every night.
Starting point is 00:30:31 Me too. Because I have a big fear of having that whiteness. Well, also that's where a lot of the bacteria lives. And you know where else it lives, according to my dentist, so once I learned this, I do it all the time, your palate. That's tickly. Yeah, it's gaggy and tickly, but it's important to do. I'll do it.
Starting point is 00:30:47 I'll add that tonight. In fact, I can't wait now to brush my teeth. I might do it in bed. No! I'm not gonna go into the ensuite. Oh my God. You know, my therapist said to me, I've never laughed this hard in therapy.
Starting point is 00:30:59 I haven't laughed this hard in a very long time, but he said to me, well, you are, let's say, very resistant to learning. Oh, that is. And I fucking, that hit me. That's not true, though. So hard. In many ways, it's really a bullseye. I mean, in some ways it's true,
Starting point is 00:31:19 in some ways it's not true. Yeah, it really floored me. I'm glad you could hear that. Oh my God, you know, like when someone hits something. You can only hear that coming from a few people. Hence that you have a hard time learning. Oh yeah. Because you don't trust anybody or anything.
Starting point is 00:31:34 So, kind of came out of the blue, but I just said that because. Tongues? Yeah, because I am gonna try brushing the roof of my. And you're gonna try to impale yourself. No, I'm just gonna make an effort to be more open to learning. Oh, that's good. I was laughing so hard
Starting point is 00:31:47 because I'm like, it's so right and how embarrassing, because I'm expressively someone who claims to love learning. I like learning info from a book that no one has to deliver to me. I know. All right, here's Eric. Eric Richardson! All our friends are calling in. Hi! Is it Eric?
Starting point is 00:32:23 Yeah. You've draped some kind of makeshift sound dampener behind you. I like it. Me too. It's blankets and like one of those arc lights. I got some like potato chip bag clips. Oh.
Starting point is 00:32:34 You went all out. It looks good. It sounds good. We appreciate it. Are you a fabricator by trade or just today you stepped up to the plate? You called me on it. I'm an architect.
Starting point is 00:32:43 Oh. Oh my God. I'm a architect. Oh! Oh my God. I'm a nerd. Architects are cool. My best friend's dad is an architect and he's very cool. Where are you at? I'm in Seattle. Great town for an architect.
Starting point is 00:32:53 It is. And do you do commercial or everything? Did you love Fountainhead? Do you like Howard Roar? Tell me. You know, I read it when I was in the eighth grade. When I was a little kid, I was obsessed with it. I was like, that's what I want to do.
Starting point is 00:33:05 Then it kind of came out later that it's just this kind of narcissism and there's all this toxic philosophy in it. And I was like, huh, yeah. But I did a long roundabout thing before I got into architecture. I went and I was a design builder and I built like earth houses. Okay, wow.
Starting point is 00:33:21 Very Washington of you. I lived all over the place. So I moved all around in Colorado, California. You've done it all. Yeah. The fountainhead, I think appeals to a young man a lot because it's all about having conviction in who you are and a vision.
Starting point is 00:33:35 And then you get older and you're like, yeah, it's my way or the highway. And then I'm lonely and no one likes me. So maybe there's another approach. Well, that's the biggest problem with architecture is egos. We call them like, you know, the caped architects. They come in and it's like,
Starting point is 00:33:48 I've come to save you poor ignorant people. It's terrible. And I mean, it's one of the most collaborative professions there are. And it should be all about good interdisciplinary thinking. You know, asking the questions is the funnest part. You sound nice like my architect, Bill. Shout out.
Starting point is 00:34:05 I love him. I take that as the highest praise. It is. Okay, you have a cautionary tale. Yes, this is actually from my honeymoon. 2007, my wife and I got married in Portland. We wanted to go to Thailand for like a month and really like do it up. My wife's best friend decides to get married the week after,
Starting point is 00:34:22 even though we'd been planning it for forever. So anyway, we have to like go to New York City right after. So we're like, okay, where's close? We were kind of dirt bag kids. 27 is kind of young, I guess, to get married. So we've done Central America a bunch, but we've never been to Belize. It's super beautiful for a honeymoon.
Starting point is 00:34:38 It's great because there's not a lot to do. So you can just do what you need to do on your honeymoon. And it's on the Caribbean, yeah? Yeah, we were in Ambergees Key. We stayed at this little beach cabana, three cabanas, and then like a restaurant, like a little tiki bar type thing. That sounds like heaven. I want to go.
Starting point is 00:34:53 It really was like the owners, maybe they've been on like Jimmy Buffett tour too long. Yeah. Like stay too long in Margaritaville. Parrot heads. A little bit older. Ex-pats. Very nice. Boozy.
Starting point is 00:35:02 Very boozy. I think one of them was reforms, but then it would like kind of go off the rails. Sure. Dak Shepard type. Yeah. They have a 14 year old son and there was always this kind of like tension and drama.
Starting point is 00:35:14 Like he was always getting into trouble. We were just having a good time and we were trying to like ignore all of that. There are these like kind of fights and like, we're going to send you to military school. Oh my God. It was a little bit of a lot, but anyway, so we kind of ignore that.
Starting point is 00:35:27 We have beautiful days. And then the third night we went to like the nice local restaurant. My wife decides to eat the salad. Oh. Okay. And I was kind of like, oh, I don't know. The next day, Jackson Pollock and porcelain type situation. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:43 You know, I wanted to like stick around, but you know, out of here. Monica policy. Yeah. I was like, all right, what do I do? And then I remember this kid that I've been like trying to put out of my mind. He's very boisterous. He was like, I'll show you the best spots on the islands for spear fishing. And I was like, oh, great.
Starting point is 00:35:58 You know, that's going to be fun. I lived in Hawaii, done some spear fishing before. I was like, that sounds great. So I got really excited. I'm like a big child when it comes to the ocean. Fins, masks, spears, hop into a kayak. The whole place is like this big linear beach and then there's a reef.
Starting point is 00:36:14 I did my Monica fact check. It's the longest barrier reef in the Western hemisphere. 700 miles. There's like a half a mile between the beach and the reef and it's just this kind of like monolithic extrusion. Yeah. So we went out, there are different little anchor spots. You tie up your kayak.
Starting point is 00:36:31 It's like a swimming pool. There's not a lot going on. It's kind of boring and there's no fish. So I was kind of like, what about the next spot? This kid kind of had a lot of pigeon-y-isms. Oh, okay. What's that mean? Hybrid language, like slang, island slang. He was like really trying to fit in,
Starting point is 00:36:46 take on the local language, but it was kind of like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Sure, sure, poser. Yeah, we went to the next spot, same thing. We went to another spot. Each time, you know, he's like, oh, big time. I know what you, you know, we're gonna find the beef spot.
Starting point is 00:37:00 You know, it's gonna be great. Tons of fish. Every time I was like, all right. You know, I think it was third or fourth time. And like, we left, it's gonna be great. Tons of fish. Every time I was like, all right. You know, I think it was third or fourth time. And like, we left at like eight in the morning. It was well afternoon, like one or two. We just brought water.
Starting point is 00:37:11 It was like hasty. When I was running out to the kayak, I was like applying the sunscreen myself. I didn't wanna ask my wife. But something snapped within this kid, cause I started complaining and like questioned, I think his masculinity a little bit. You know, it's like, okay, fine. I got it. We're his masculinity a little bit. He was like, OK, fine.
Starting point is 00:37:25 I got it. We're going to go to the spot. I was like, all right, great. I think this is a breakthrough moment. So we paddle way farther south from where we were. Half an hour paddle, same thing, anchor tie off. Pop in, and we start cruising around. And it does start to drop off and get deep.
Starting point is 00:37:40 And I'm like, oh, this is sweet. Start going down and checking stuff out. This is perfect. And as I'm just happy oh, this is sweet. I start going down and checking stuff out. Like, this is perfect. And as I'm just kind of happy enjoying it, you know, look over to the kid, like, good job. About that time I started to realize that we're being pulled and being pulled pretty fast. Oh, you're in like a current.
Starting point is 00:37:56 Basically, he took me to this huge channel where there's this kind of cut in the reef. We're like in this river where basically at low tide, that whole 700 mile thing was just emptying out in this channel out through the reef. We're like in this river where basically at low tide, that whole 700 mile thing was just emptying out in this channel out through the reef. Oh my god. I look around at him and again, I'm like, all right, time to turn around. And so we basically just start paddling back. We're paddling pretty hard. This is probably like
Starting point is 00:38:18 a quarter mile gap in the reef. So there's no rocks on either side, but we're just continuing to get pulled out. Oh boy. It starts to fuck with your head. I knew that last thing you wanna do is panic, just stay calm. This kind of went on, we got pulled out into the ocean pretty much,
Starting point is 00:38:32 just like past the reef. All right, now we need to kind of figure out a way to like come back around. And so we started trying to get to the edge of the channel. Really quick, are you swimming or are you in the kayak at this point? We're swimming. We have our like fins and masks on.
Starting point is 00:38:45 We have our spears. Well, don't lose those. Helpful. Yeah. Like a couple of idiots. So as we're out there trying to come back, when you're a half a mile away, you don't realize how big the waves are on the reef. The waves are huge, crashing on big jagged rocky reefs.
Starting point is 00:38:59 Trying to thread the needle of getting out of that big channel in the current and getting close to the reef, but not too close. And we're probably paddling like an hour or so just trying to get back in. And it started to go through those like head games of my wife flying back by herself. Of course. Yeah. Oh, did you hear about Eric? What an idiot. They never found him. Or I was like thinking, oh, well, we're going to be those people that are just like out in the open ocean for multiple days slowly getting pecked at. So it was like thinking, oh, well, we're going to be those people that are just like out in the open ocean for multiple days, slowly getting pecked at.
Starting point is 00:39:27 So it was like all these terrible thoughts. And I swear to God, I could see back to the cabana, like a half a mile away, and I could imagine my wife just sitting there just like, where is he? What's going on? Like, it's just like, please. I think as I was spinning in my head, this kid was also totally losing his shit freaking out. Of course. So he like pulled his mask off, you know, water, and he was also totally losing his shit. Freaking out. Of course. So he like pulled his mask off, you know, go, ugh, water, and he was like, I can't. Oh, God.
Starting point is 00:39:51 I'm not as tough as I thought I was. And I don't speak pidgin. The mask was off, like literally the mask was off. The dark part of our brains was like, he can't swim anymore. Like, what the fuck am I going to do? Yeah, every man for themselves at this point. And then I was like, I'm not going to ditch the owner's kid
Starting point is 00:40:05 and try and go and get help, grab the kid's hands. And I'm like, we're fucking going. Like you are swimming, kick, like stop. And I think basically because I had to convince him, yeah, going, I basically talked myself into continuing to push and kick. Oh, you told him what you needed to hear. Pretty much. We made it out right around the edge. There are a few times where we got pretty close to the rocks, but got where we got pretty close to rocks, but got out, got back to the kayak, paddled back onto the beach, stumbled into the cabana.
Starting point is 00:40:31 The first thing I did was just lean into the sink and just drink out of the sink, which is like the last thing you should ever do. Oh yeah, oh my God. I didn't have water in multiple hours. My whole back, you could see where my fingers were trying to apply. And there's just this like red raised well.
Starting point is 00:40:47 So the cautionary tale is don't do anything aggressive on your honeymoon. That's not the time. Don't listen to boisterous kids and take them for their word, which is obviously like a duh. Yeah, I feel like the cautionary tale is much more don't allow a 14 year old boy to lead you anywhere. Cause they're gonna be full of bravado
Starting point is 00:41:05 and they do not know what they're doing. They're trying to act like a man. It's like an awkward situation where it's like, oh, this kid's kind of a guy. This is totally fine, right? Sure. And I don't know what 14 years old is on the island. Maybe that's 19 in New York.
Starting point is 00:41:18 I hope he got sent to military school. I kept pushing him too. I only made it worse. Maybe that's part of the cautionary tale. Don't do that. Don't challenge your 14 year old guy. Just hang out with your wife when she has the harness. Oh, that would have been so sad for her
Starting point is 00:41:33 if she got food poisoning and her husband died. Well, and then she would tell herself it was her fault. Cause had she not gotten food poisoning, he wouldn't have left her. No, she'd be like, my husband's an idiot. In a weird way, and I don't know why I think this, but I've been in the situation probably four times in my life where you're losing your shit
Starting point is 00:41:54 and you have to say, oh, this is that time you hear about, you need to get your thinking together or you actually are going to die. I feel like my Bora Bora story that you probably heard is very similar. Being halfway between that island and the barge I jumped off of and just going like, yeah, well, I can't swim to either of those points.
Starting point is 00:42:12 I don't have enough energy left. But in a weird way, I'm super grateful to have had that experience. Do you feel that way? Like, I feel like people should have that. No, because a lot of people die. This has happened twice though. I one time when I lived in Hawaii,
Starting point is 00:42:24 I was out swimming with the dolphins. Perfect day. The humpbacks are just there. I can totally see them. Pictorial fins waving. Tried to go farther out. And yeah, I had a really long tough bout trying to get back. Where you keep like getting on your back.
Starting point is 00:42:39 You're like, well, the only way I'll make it is if I float on my back and pedal, but then you can't see where you're going. You get off course. Just no more oceans. Yeah, so I don't fuck with the ocean anymore. Yeah, smart. That was strike two, strike three, I'm done. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:52 Yeah. I just don't want to ever get on a cruise ship and get knocked off. I think about that every time I've been on a cruise ship. You're out at night looking at the stars, it's beautiful, but then you start looking at the churning water, and it's black, and you're like, oh my God, and it takes the boat five miles to turn around.
Starting point is 00:43:07 That's kind of terrifying. Well, Eric, I'm really glad you made it. I actually am more curious. So that was 17 years ago. So that boy's 32. Oh my God. I wonder if he took over the family business. Maybe he'll call in for a prompt at some point.
Starting point is 00:43:23 I was an idiot kid. So no judgment. And also I was an idiot kid, so no judgment. And also I was an idiot 27 year old. Yeah. That's true. Well, it's very nice meeting you and hearing that story. I just have to say, you're obviously at the top of the game and what you do, for me, it's like, how can I be a better human?
Starting point is 00:43:39 Your honesty, your love, your truth, your banter, everything. You guys bring so much joy to my life and I know so many other people, so thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Well, it's so nice meeting you. You're every bit of every armchair. I know.
Starting point is 00:43:53 You're super smart and kind. We're grateful for you. Yeah, big time. Back at ya. All right, be well. Bye. I'm so glad he didn't drown before he listened to us. Me too.
Starting point is 00:44:03 We could have had one less arm chair. We need him. We love him. Okay, seriously though, I'm saying it and I mean it, I'm never getting in an ocean. Oh wow. Because I already hate it and I already have Spidey senses, it's not good for me.
Starting point is 00:44:17 But we've had so many bad stories. Yeah, the ocean's a bit unpredictable. Yeah, I prefer my unpredictable. On terra firma? Yeah, in my friends. Yeah, the ocean's a bit unpredictable. Yeah. I prefer my unpredictable. On terra firma? Yeah, in my friends. Oh, okay. In your connections group? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:32 Here's Riley. Hello. Hi. Riley, what is your sweatshirt? Say camp something? Yeah, it says the camp store, Carlsbad. I'm from San Diego, so we go camping in Carlsbad every year.
Starting point is 00:44:45 Are there caves there, caverns or something? Yeah, there are, but we camp right on the Carlsbad State Beach, and I got it because it looks like Padres colors. Oh, wow. A double. It's a cool sweatshirt. Your voice sounds like somebody and I can't place it.
Starting point is 00:44:59 Well, give me some time. I'll work on it. Okay, where are you at currently? Currently, I'm actually in a place called Jersey Channel Islands, which is in between England and France. It's 11 20 PM where I'm at. Wow. In my head when I imagine this moment, I was never in a hotel in Jersey, but my dad's from here. So like all my family lives here. So I'm just out here visiting family.
Starting point is 00:45:23 Oh fun. And is it owned by France or England? England, but it's actually closer to France. Interesting. Okay. You have a cautionary tale. My cautionary tale is set in 2019. I was a sophomore in college at San Diego state. Like I said, I'm from San Diego.
Starting point is 00:45:40 So I was working at a brewery next to my house where my parents lived. And I was kind of on like, um to my house where my parents lived. And I was kind of on like a health kick, not feeling so great after two years of college partying. I was trying to be more active, going to spin class, going to yoga, drinking kombucha, like on a health wave. So every day I'd come into work and I'd bring a kombucha with me. I had this one coworker who took special interest in me. I was not reciprocating, but he was nice. And one day he came into work and was like,
Starting point is 00:46:10 I brought you something. And he was like, it's a kombucha. And I'm like, well, that's awfully observant of you. Thanks, I'll take it. Even though didn't really wanna take it, mostly because it was watermelon, which is not a flavor I enjoy. But I was like, whatever.
Starting point is 00:46:25 I'm just going to take it to avoid the awkwardness. And I also just felt awkward. I'd rather just do my job, take your nice gesture, move on. But I didn't want to drink it because I just don't like the flavor. So I put it in my car, forgot about it. Fast forward like two weeks. I'm driving over to spin class. Life's good.
Starting point is 00:46:41 I get home and I'm like, I'm going to clean up my car. I was cleaning everything out, grabbing everything I possibly could in my hands. And I see the kombucha bottle underneath my seat and I'm refusing to take two trips. Yes, of course. Cautionary tale already. Cautionary tale number one, take two trips. I'm putting everything in my arms. I'm carrying it all.
Starting point is 00:47:00 And as I'm walking into my garage, I can hear my phone's calling somebody. Oh boy. And I'm like, what? So I'm trying to fumble around, trying to turn off the phone because I don't know who I'm calling, can't see it. And I can feel the kombucha slip out from underneath my armpit. It hits the ground. It makes the loudest sound.
Starting point is 00:47:18 Like I can hear it in my head to this day and it explodes into like a billion pieces. Yeah, because the pressure in those things build up, right? As it ferments, it's releasing gas and getting pressurized. Right. It's been in my car for like a couple of hot weeks. Bumpy bumpy, swervy swervy, shaky shaky. It's been ready to go. So it explodes into like a billion pieces.
Starting point is 00:47:40 It makes the loudest noise. I'm like, what the hell? I look down and there is a hole in my leg. Oh! Were you wearing shorts? Oh, cause you're coming from spin class. I'm in my spin outfit. I'm like, oh my God.
Starting point is 00:47:53 And meanwhile, my best friend, I can hear her voice going, hello, Riley? Riley, are you good? If I would have just let the phone call go, that wouldn't happen. Yeah. I see the hole in my leg. I'm like, okay, what the hell?
Starting point is 00:48:08 So I get on the ground. I'm in like a very interesting position on all fours, with my leg kind of like cropped up. Interesting choice to observe your leg, but I understand that's what happened. It was like right here on my leg. Above ankle. Gap between ankle and calf in back.
Starting point is 00:48:24 So I'm like looking into my leg, there's no blood, just a big hole, like this big. What? No. She's putting up the size of a silver dollar. The second I start to sit down, blood is rushing out, like all over. I'm wearing a sock, it fills the sock, and I'm like, okay, shit, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
Starting point is 00:48:41 Going back up. So I call my mom, like, hey, I've dropped something. I've cut myself and we're probably gonna need to go to urgent care. I'm fine, everything's fine, but it's pretty bad. And can you come home? She's like, Riley, I'm in line in the grocery store. Can I check out with my stuff first?
Starting point is 00:48:58 Yeah, this would be me. And by the way, this is a family tradition because she too can't deviate from this, like making two trips for her would be, you know? Yeah. What if she dropped all her groceries and then even she also got a hole in her leg? Amputated her. It was contagious.
Starting point is 00:49:14 And then she called her father. Yes. He lost his sternum. So she's like, okay, fine, I'll come right now. I'm like, yeah, please just come. Oh, a work shirt was something that was in my pile of my arms. So I take the work shirt. I like tie it as tight as I can around my ankle. Great. So I'm just waiting feels like 45 minutes, but it was probably like five. She was not very far away. She gets there. She's like, okay, let me see. So I unravel and I show her. She's like,
Starting point is 00:49:37 I'm calling 911. Monica, I'm sure you'd appreciate that. I love her. Cut to the chase. You guys love 911. I love it. Knock on wood. Knock on wood. That might sound like a little bit silly But there was glass literally everywhere. We didn't know what was in there what had happened We didn't want to cause any more damage if we tried to move me. Let's just call 9-1-1 they get there I'm still just kind of being like what the hell they wrap me up. They put me in the ambulance They take me to the maroon serum and I'm sitting there and I'm crying finally and they're like, are you in pain? I'm like, honestly, I'm not in pain.
Starting point is 00:50:07 I'm just so frustrated. You're mad at yourself? Yeah. Now I'm going to have to get stitches. I'm not going to be able to go to my workout classes. I'm not going to be able to be active. I'm going to have to prolong my health journey for another two weeks. I'm just annoyed. This was so avoidable.
Starting point is 00:50:21 I get to the hospital and after a while they come and they're like, we're gonna clean it out. And they stick like a bottle inside of my leg and just squeeze as hard as they possibly can. And I started screaming, I'm like, okay, that hurts, that hurts, that hurts. And they're like, oh, do you want us to numb it first? I'm like, that was an option? Yes, I would like you to numb it first.
Starting point is 00:50:41 And so they numb it, they stitch me up, they're like, okay, you're good to go. Just stay off of it for like two weeks. And they're like, hold on, we should maybe check your Achilles because it's kind of like right over your tendon. I'm like, okay, yeah, go ahead. They have me lie down on my stomach
Starting point is 00:50:55 and they squeeze my calf because that's how you can manually check your Achilles, your foot will move. They squeeze my calf, blinding pain, foot not moving. Oh boy. It severed your Achilles? No! This is Greek all of a sudden.
Starting point is 00:51:10 Icarus. And then you might have a little bit of a tear, might have a little damage. You should just follow up with ortho. And on my head, I'm still thinking like, it can't be that bad. I mean, go meet with another doctor the next day, and he's like, yes, it's not hanging on by a fiber.
Starting point is 00:51:24 I say it's completely cut. What? Really quick, when they got in there and they flushed it out and then they stitched it, did they find a big chunk of glass? No. And did they find the watermelon scoby in there? They found nothing.
Starting point is 00:51:39 They even did an X-ray to make sure that there wasn't anything in there before they stitched it up. He was like, yeah, I'm gonna have you meet with a surgeon because they're gonna need to repair it. So I meet with a surgeon. He's telling me very nonchalantly, right, you're not gonna walk for a year.
Starting point is 00:51:52 That health journey is just getting pushed farther and farther in the distance. It'd be like if you're still alive, your health's gonna decline so rapidly. Yeah, so he's like a full year for full recovery. I'll put you in a series of tasks. Those fibers will naturally grow back together. So we can actually avoid surgery. Then we'll put you in a boot with
Starting point is 00:52:10 ankle lifts. So that we'll gradually put it down. And then we'll get you walking and physical therapy and all the works. And I'm like, how did this just happen? I can't believe I've done this to myself. He didn't believe me when I told him the story. He was like, just so you know, this is a one in a million chance. I'm like, wow, I'm so lucky. He tells me all that. He's like, we're going to get an MRI just to make sure. So I get home after doing my MRI and he calls me and he's like,
Starting point is 00:52:34 there's a four centimeter gap in your Achilles. It was much lower than normal because it was a slash, not a tear. Yeah. Sick. He's like, this is is gonna be the biggest incision that I do as an orthopedic doctor for feet and ankles. And I'm gonna go all the way up to the back of your knee from your heel.
Starting point is 00:52:53 What? Oh my God. This guy's a Frankenstein. Right, he's like, I'm gonna have to get creative. I'm gonna be honest, I'm not sure what we're gonna do. Wait, they should never say that. I'll wait till I have you open that. They should never say that. He basically said, I'm gonna wing it. Cautionary tale number Wait, they should never say that. I'll wait till I have you open that. They should never say that. He basically said, I'm gonna wing it.
Starting point is 00:53:06 Cautionary tale number three, don't tell people that. Well, when your doctor says he's gonna wing it, second opinion time. So he's like, when I get in there, there's a couple of options. I could shave a piece of your calf tendon and then sew it to the starting gap and then nail it into your heel. And I'm like, I'm gonna be honest, I don't even want to know. Whatever you got to do, just do it. My mom did.
Starting point is 00:53:29 That's like a friend who was a doctor. Should we get a second opinion? And she was like, honestly, he's the best in the business. If he's saying this, this is what's happening. So just go for it and get it done as soon as possible. So I go into surgery and my parents get a call like an hour and a half later. They were expecting the surgery to be like six hours. And my mom's thinking like, oh my God, she's dead.
Starting point is 00:53:47 She's freaky now. And he's like, when we got in there, it was just coiled up. Okay. When they cut it, it was like a rubber band and just sprung up and coiled up. He could just unravel it. Oh my God. And reattached it.
Starting point is 00:54:01 Wow. So could you walk in less than a year? I could, but I had a gnarly limp and I still kind of have a limp to this day, but I think that was just kind of like the nature of the injury being so awkwardly placed. I have a very funky scar. Like usually Achilles surgeries are straight. Mine's shaped like an S
Starting point is 00:54:20 because it was going along the site of the laceration. That's his creativity, yeah. That's his signature. So yeah, whether the cautionary tale be not to accept a gift from somebody you don't want to, take more than one trip to the car or to always carry a kombucha bottle with two hands. There's a lot of lessons in here.
Starting point is 00:54:42 Wow. The one I'm most drawn to because I constantly do this. And I even admit to myself at a certain point, it's taking me way more time to stack this stuff on my arms in this manner. And you realize you've passed the point of no return in the middle of it. You're like, yeah, I would be done by now if I would have just taken two trips. I'm the most disappointed in myself when I do that. Imagine how I felt.
Starting point is 00:55:03 Yeah. I mean, the laziness of us. It's not lazy, we think we're being efficient. We think we're not being lazy. We think it's like, this is the smartest, fastest way to get this thing done. Plus I can't bear to take a second trip. Every time I pass like a kombucha at the store
Starting point is 00:55:18 or if my friends see one, they'll send me a picture and they'll be like, watch out. They have those like big giant ones now. I'm like, that's my worst nightmare. Break your femur. Have you heard the show enough to know who Perfect 10 Charlie is? I listen to the show religiously
Starting point is 00:55:33 and I haven't told anybody that I'm on this show because they know how much this show means to me. And so I'm just gonna be like, I tell you guys to listen to this all the time. Please listen to this episode, it's so good. Oh, that's exciting. This is a great plan. Also, now we've transitioned from cautionary tale to advice.
Starting point is 00:55:49 This is an advisable strategy. What is? That she's just gonna trick everyone into hearing it. Oh, sure, yeah, yeah. Yes, I really, I like this. Did you get the voice? I think I have it. Oh, who?
Starting point is 00:55:58 Jennifer Lawrence. It's not doing what I wanted it to do, but I never figured it out for me either. I got distracted by your story, to be honest. I know I had declared I was gonna figure it out, but then I completely stopped thinking about that. I did start thinking about something else, which is you kind of do look like
Starting point is 00:56:14 what Lincoln will look like. Okay. I can see, can you see that? Yeah, she looks identical to Seth's wife, Claire, too. You've got a lot going on. You have a lot. Wow, well anyway. So, Burbankton Charlie, he snapped his. He was humiliated by how it happened.
Starting point is 00:56:29 He was doing virtually nothing and he's a professional body builder. And yeah, his snap. But he didn't get surgery and same thing, a year of just barely limping around and waiting. He just now can like hike and everything. It's such a bummer of an injury. It was the worst, especially because I wish I was doing something athletic or something cool or like anything else besides a freak accident
Starting point is 00:56:50 that was absolutely unnecessary, but you know, it is what it is, it's a part of my many collections of stories and I'm here now. Worth it, not really, but kinda. This past, I was really listening. It is very specific and there is someone who you sound identical to. In like four weeks.
Starting point is 00:57:04 No one ever tells you anything? Sometimes people say that I look like people, but never the voice. Who do they say you look like? Lincoln when she gets older. Lincoln in 2036. My hair growing up was blonde. People always told me I looked like Scarlett Johansson
Starting point is 00:57:18 and then I dyed my hair red and then I became Black Widow. Oh wow. So still Scarlett. I'll take it. If I listen to this episode without looking at her, I'll be able to get it. Okay, we'll get back to you. TBD. I would Black Widow. Oh wow. So still Scarlett. I'll take it. If I listen to this episode without looking at her, I'll be able to get it. Okay, we'll get back to you. TBD.
Starting point is 00:57:28 I would love to know. Oh, I guess my last single question is if you ever found yourself trying to take one trip again and then been like, you fucking asshole, you already learned this lesson. All the time. Still do it. And every time I'm holding any kind of bottle,
Starting point is 00:57:40 it's always two hands. Miley Cyrus. Oh yeah, that's it. That's good. That's it, that's it. I think that is it. Really? Yep. Oh my God, It's always two hands. Miley Cyrus. Oh yeah, that's it. That's good. I think that is it. Really? Yep. Oh my God. That's the huge one. That is it. Wow. Yes. Oh my God. I'm shocked you did that. The best person you could have said. Oh, I love her. I love her. Like, I am like the product of the Hannah Montana era. That is my ship. So I've been with her through all the eras, all the things, she's my favorite.
Starting point is 00:58:05 And you kind of look like her too. Like it's the whole thing. Wow. Good job. Boy, I'm glad I got that. Yeah, that was exciting. That was really exciting. That was not what I was expecting.
Starting point is 00:58:17 What a pop out. Riley, Miley. Oh my God. What if your last name was Montana? This feels like a rip in the space time. Or Byrus, Riley Byrus. This is really turning into something. Ah!
Starting point is 00:58:31 Oh! I know, it's really sims happening. Okay, Riley, so glad we went long so we could figure that out. Yes, thank you. That mystery. Me too. Last thing I wanted to say was, my mom and I, we love you as Carl and baby mama.
Starting point is 00:58:44 Oh, thank you, Carl Loomis. My dad passed away like four years ago and we went through a period where my mom and I would only watch rom-coms before bed, just to kind of soothe the soul and baby mama was on rotation. So thank you for that. That's Amy and Tina's compliment, but I appreciate it.
Starting point is 00:59:01 You're a huge part of it. Thank you so much. Great meeting you. Love your voice. Keep on a huge part of it. Thank you so much. Great meeting you. Love your voice. Keep on rocking in the free world. Thank you. All right. Bye. Take care.
Starting point is 00:59:10 Carl Loomis. I don't get a lot of shout outs for Carl Loomis. It's a funny character. You know what's very fun to do. New York in the springtime. Okay, cautionary tale. Those were really good. I learned a lot.
Starting point is 00:59:24 No oceans, no teeth brushing, no one trip, always two trips. I didn't learn that, but I needed to hear that. Back to my thing, I didn't learn anything because I'm resistant to learning. What a terrible character. Seems like everyone in the world is resistant to learning. They've all done these things many, many times.
Starting point is 00:59:41 That's true. That makes me a little depressed. Yeah, we're forgetful. As Rami says. Yes, the Arabic word for human is forgetful. I think he has a new special. He does. That's supposed to be good, I wanna see it.
Starting point is 00:59:52 I saw a guy hiking, I think I was hiking with my hiking buddy, Jake Johnson, and I saw Rami walking at us down the street. Did he say hi? And I was like, oh my God, what's up? Not Rami, a guy that looked just like Rami. Cautionary tail. And when I called him out and stopped him.
Starting point is 01:00:08 Did you say Rami or did you say hey? I go Rami. Yeah, yeah. No, I told him, oh my God, dude, I thought you were Rami Yousef. He was fine because we're both on TV, the guys that stopped him. So we get a little pass for that.
Starting point is 01:00:19 That's not fair. I know it's not, but I'll take it. Okay, well, if we're doing cautionary tails, don't do that and you won't get a pass because you're probably not famous. But he wasn't offended because Rami's cute. Of course. Well, you wouldn't be offended,
Starting point is 01:00:33 but you'd be like, oh man, I wish I was Rami. Okay. Well, we learned a lot and nothing. Knocked on wood. Knocked on wood. And I love you. I love you too. Do you wanna sing a tune or something? We know a theme song. Oh, okay great.
Starting point is 01:00:49 We don't have a theme song for this new show so here I go go go. We're gonna ask some random questions and with the help of our cherries we'll get some suggestions. Help of Armcherry's will get some suggestion On the fire rhyme dish, on the fire rhyme dish, enjoy

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