Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard - Armchair Anonymous: Wild Card VI

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us a crazy story.Follow Armchair Expert on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on You...Tube or listen to Armchair Expert early and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/armchair-expert-with-dax-shepard/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to Armchair Expert early and ad free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts. Or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Anonymous. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by Monica Padman. Hi, wild. Wild card.
Starting point is 00:00:22 Rar! Wtish! Oh, again. I'm enjoying making that noise today. Wattish. Do you think it's a good wattish? It does sound good. Much better than my spitting.
Starting point is 00:00:30 Remember when I was fake spitting? Oh yeah. Don't try it again. People did not like that. Micephonia? Yeah, I guess it was that or adjacent. Or just disgusted with spitting as you are. You've really got in my craw, I gotta mention.
Starting point is 00:00:44 I did. You did. And in my craw, I gotta mention. I did. You did. And then even thought of a counter argument that I believe in. Okay, go for it. But you're still in my craw. You hate spitting.
Starting point is 00:00:54 That was on a previous fact check. Yes. So now what I remembered is we have had debates about boogers and your disgust with the notion of eating a booger because your body has made this to be repelled. Remember that was your argument? Yeah, I think I stand by that.
Starting point is 00:01:11 And there's bacteria and why would you eat that? Yes, oh. Monica. No, but- Minimally you gotta say, okay, it's inconsistent. Okay, but listen. My argument isn't then to put boogers all over the street where other people are walking or put them on people's shirts.
Starting point is 00:01:28 Maybe I should carry a wine silk or one of those little bags that you put wine in. Yeah, to put your loogies in. All I'm saying is if we agree that boogers should leave your body and not be put back in your body, why not the boogers that's coming from your lungs? Get them out of there too. I know.
Starting point is 00:01:46 Look, I understand. You gotta meet me in the middle here. I understand what you're saying, but you cannot spit, you can, you can spit it all over the street, but I'm gonna be disgusted by you. I know, and that's your right to. It's not like I enjoy seeing other people spit.
Starting point is 00:02:01 I got in your craw, and I also got in the original person that I was talking about's craw and made its way back to him. I wonder if you've had an impact on like many thousands of people that listened. What if people start dropping dead because of the back. Because of their infections, yeah, that their body told them to get out and spit into a bush
Starting point is 00:02:21 which no one cares about. Okay, this is wild card. We love Wild Card. And this was wild. It delivered on its. There's some bad stuff in here. Yeah, yeah. Oh, but can people listen? Not that last one.
Starting point is 00:02:35 Oh, fuck. Yeah, this is a sincere warning. There is a child that gets injured in the last story. Not fatally. No, yeah, to be clear, the child is okay. The child's totally okay, but I can imagine if you've had a similar experience, that it would be a real bummer to hear.
Starting point is 00:02:53 So yeah, the last story does have a kid getting inadvertently injured. Yeah, and there's also some, there's a body thing that's like ee. Oh, oh. Ee. What body thing? Second story. Oh, oh. Ee. What body thing? Second story.
Starting point is 00:03:07 Oh, and you called it. Yeah. All right, anyways, please enjoy Wildcard. What's the first step to growing your business? Getting people to notice you. But how do you do that? Two words, constant contact. Your struggle with expensive, slow, and unmeasurable approaches to marketing your business is over.
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Starting point is 00:04:25 How you feeling, bud? Good. Goodie? Mmhmm. How much did you sleep last night? Well, I had to take a Benadryl at three. Oh, so you couldn't sleep. Because my finger. Oh, let me see it today.
Starting point is 00:04:38 It's looking a lot better. Let me see. But in the middle of the night. Yeah, that's significantly better than yesterday. Yeah, it is. In the middle of the night it started, that's significantly better than yesterday. It is. Middle of the night, it started itching you? Yeah, like crazy.
Starting point is 00:04:48 It must be multiple stings, because it hurts in a lot of places. That's so weird. It is weird. And maybe the sting is still in there, which I think just makes it take longer. Do you want me to cut your whole finger off today? No, thank you.
Starting point is 00:05:00 Okay. I'll pass. Okay, all right, let's do it. Oh, wow. Kyle. What a fun little environment you've created. Look at, you're in a little tent. It's my tent, Monica, yeah. Oh, it's beautiful.
Starting point is 00:05:14 I like a tent. And it sounds gorgeous. I wanted my big screen so I could see your faces, so I had to go tent instead of closet. And how do we look so far? Beautiful, not nearly as orange as I was expecting. Some Keegan-Michael-Key conversation. How dare you, Kyle? I get it, Kyle.
Starting point is 00:05:32 I can already see you're on Team Monica. With the tent and the orange. That's not unfair. Okay, so Kyle, this is one of our favorite prompts. Wild card, we have no idea what's coming. So let me ask, have you guys heard other wild cards today already? Not yet, you're number one our favorite prompts, wild card. We have no idea what's coming. So let me ask, have you guys heard other wild cards today already? Not yet, you're number one.
Starting point is 00:05:48 You're number one wild card. I think I am like a stage setter, so set expectations appropriately. Okay, wonderful. Into my story, there's a bit of guessing. Hopefully you guys can take part. Oh, exciting. A mystery. So I grew up in Western Washington, like Everett area.
Starting point is 00:06:05 I took every summertime to go out to Maryland at my Nana and Papa's for like a month without my parents. Me and my sister, when you talk about Papa Bob's, get away, enjoy my grandparents. Get spoiled. Exactly. So we went out to Maryland to their river house, which has like an 80 foot dock, a boat. It's heaven for me. The story takes place in the year 2000.
Starting point is 00:06:30 I'm 12. We are hanging out with all of our aunts and uncles and cousins. Probably like 25 people at the house. Nineties attire, Monica, you probably remember being roughly that age. Yeah. Boys were like big baggy board shorts. Oh yeah. I ripped out the liner.
Starting point is 00:06:48 Oh, cool. Okay. Because you didn't like how it felt? Yeah, yeah. It's just a little too touchy. Netting was for chumps. Everyone knew that if you had netting, you were like eee. Oh, that was a big no-no.
Starting point is 00:07:02 You would have been 13. Yeah, I guess I would have been. You had thoughts on boys netting in your board shorts? Yikes. I only wore boxer shorts. And then when I would get into a swimsuit with the netting, I felt like I was in women's panties. Like all of a sudden I was in a tiny little tight panty.
Starting point is 00:07:17 I could see that. And it was confusing. Some parts good, some parts bad. Yeah, no judgment there. So we're on the end of the dock doing a dive contest and we're just going back and forth. We're swimming around, having fun. It's my turn.
Starting point is 00:07:31 And so I go to jump off the dock. I realize now that I didn't spot my landing, which we always used to do. The guess is, what do you think happened next after I jumped off the dock? Okay, if you jumped off a dock into a river and you hadn't spotted your landing, I'm trying to think what obstacles would be What happened next after I jumped off the dock? Okay, if you jumped off a dock into a river and you hadn't spotted your landing,
Starting point is 00:07:46 I'm trying to think what obstacles would be in the river. I don't know a lot about rivers. Huge rocks, I guess. I'm thinking more something roped to the dock. Maybe a watercraft. Okay. Okay, those are our guesses. Rock and watercraft. I land on top of a ste nettle or a jellyfish.
Starting point is 00:08:06 Oh, oh. I didn't even know they dwelled in rivers. Yeah, they come up north in Anacope River in August, which is why we always spotted our landings. But I hit with my left foot on the dome of a pretty big jellyfish and it rode past my toes, up my gigantic board shorts, in my taint, around my crack, everywhere.
Starting point is 00:08:30 And then it stopped on my double knotted waistband. Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm not understanding. You land on this jellyfish and then the tentacles come up around your legs. My foot comes down on top of it and then it just slides itself up my leg. It just went all the way up. Oh my God. It just went all the way up.
Starting point is 00:08:45 Oh my God. Like stockings all the way up to my pelvis. So immediately you get the shock of a nettle sting. In my mind, I think like I landed on something that's gone into my foot. It's just shooting pain. I come out of the water screaming. Bryce says something about the kind of kid I was
Starting point is 00:09:03 that no one immediately like looked for.'s wrong with Kyle. But I start swimming into the shore as fast as I can. Somewhere in the swim, I realized what must have happened. So it feels like there's a bunch of hair gel in my bathing suit. And I just take it off so that I can get away from the nettle. And I just take it off so that I can get away from the nettle and then I'm high step running out of the water with 25 people around including two very cute neighbor girls who I had been talking to And you've got your shorts completely off totally off 12 year old. Hi, and he just running towards the house My Papa put in like this shower stall. So I run into there, I lock it.
Starting point is 00:09:47 I'm just crying, hiding, embarrassed. And I'm trying to rip off these nettles that are wrapped around my leg and everything else you can imagine below the belly button. Will you explain nettles just a little bit? Yeah. Because I'm not familiar with that term. Think jellyfish. Think like finding Nemo, those sort of jellyfish.
Starting point is 00:10:07 These are called steaming metals there. It is what you imagine tentacles with the bards that stick and steam. So it's like spaghetti, like, no, vermicelli all over your thighs. Yes, but less strong than a spaghetti string. So it's not only falling apart all over the place, my hands, but it's also sharp. You know, it feels like you're cutting glass. Oh my God. This is a nightmare. Yeah, this is sadistic. Yeah. So I've got ants banging on the walls, trying to get in and figure out what's going on at this point. I finally
Starting point is 00:10:44 let one of them in. She knows what's going on because I'm yelling at her. She brings in gloves and is trying to clean things off. She thinks to turn on the shower, which I didn't think of at all. And it pretty much runs off at that point. The kick to the story is that my papa went to go get the gel they use. It's like calamine lotion for the sting. The grocery store is 45 minutes away. And so I'm about 30 minutes post being in the stall when I just want to go inside and be away from everybody. My aunt convinces me that we can put some baking soda paste on,
Starting point is 00:11:18 supposed to help with the barbs and keep it from hurting so bad. So she starts applying this all over me. Oh wow. I basically have a baking soda diaper at that point. Oh. Okay. Can I ask what's going on with your penis at this point? Is your penis fully out on the scene? Are you holding it with your hands?
Starting point is 00:11:36 My hands are aching and my penis is throbbing. And now I don't remember this vividly. Okay. I remember the night after in bed I was throbbing, you know? I don't remember this vividly. Okay. I remember the night after, in bed, and just feeling like my heartbeat through my pelvis, through my hands, from the nettles being on there. How many nettles were there?
Starting point is 00:11:56 It was one giant. Was Auntie seeing, I mean, you were just nude, right? She was seeing things. Yeah. Everything was out there. Yeah, and she's rubbing your thighs with baking soda. She's touching your pelvis area. Yeah. Wow.
Starting point is 00:12:11 It needed to be done. You guys are really focusing on this more than I think I did as a child. Just trying to remember me in 12 and my aunt smearing baking soda on my upper and inner thighs while my genitalia is out. How can one not think of that aspect? And 12 is a precarious time.
Starting point is 00:12:27 I'm horny at 12. Like you said, the girls. Imagine the cute girls are applying the baking soda. Now what are we dealing with? Oh Jesus. I was not into domination at that age. The pain of those barbs in there, the thought was off the table.
Starting point is 00:12:42 So we're walking out, you okay? Cousins are laughing. So we're walking out, you're okay, cousins are laughing. Like any good older cousin, my cousin Matt thought it was a good idea to pull down my towel that was wrapped around me. And so, everybody, the neighbors included, would come over to have some crab and see what was going on. Just got to look at baking soda diapers. So probably maybe Kyle is my nickname for the entire summer. And I ran inside waiting for Papa. Oh, Matt.
Starting point is 00:13:12 Boys are so mean. Hold on. I don't think in this case it's boys. I think cousins. Cousins are relentless to each other. They're just like siblings. Lincoln wouldn't pull down Delta's towel. Mandy and Kelly would have pulled down my towel and pointed at my penis and made jokes.
Starting point is 00:13:29 Which is what they were expecting. The diaper did not make it any better. The diaper? Okay, so the diaper is a big pop out. You know, no one was expecting that. But in some ways it's better-ish. Maybe it's camouflaging a bit of the bits. Yeah, could have had a hog under that diaper.
Starting point is 00:13:48 Yeah, exactly. Pull that hog out of that. 12 year old boy. Baking soda diaper. Wow, yikes. That's tough. And you need Papa, you need Papa to return home. Yeah, and everyone to leave,
Starting point is 00:14:01 which didn't happen for another 12 hours or so. The party raged on. Seems like you came back stronger though. It's still my favorite place in the whole world. They still have it? No, unfortunately, and the popper are gone now. We went back to Maryland with my kids. I got to take them, just show them the river,
Starting point is 00:14:18 go out on a boat. That's a lot of fun. Yeah. Well, Kyle, what a sweet story. I'm sorry that happened to you. Did it like scare you off of jumping in the river or no? No, but it did make me wear nylons when I went skiing because apparently that keeps from getting stung. But I got stung probably half a dozen times.
Starting point is 00:14:36 They're everywhere in August and your kid will swim. So never so bad as to get the bits again. Yeah. Wow. I'm picturing a young man in stockings skiing,, like a panty hoe you'd put on panty hos. Yeah. Wow. Oh boy, they make it tough. Sometimes life makes it tough.
Starting point is 00:14:52 Life's tough. Yeah. Well, Kyle, what a delightful, innocent, sad story. I liked that. That's also cute. Hopefully a good start to Wildcard. I can't wait to hear what else comes your way today. It probably feels obligatory for you both to hear us say thank you so much at the end
Starting point is 00:15:08 of these things, but it means a lot to me. I was a fan of Rob from Inside of You before you guys started. I like to say to my friends who are also listeners that I'm a before day one listener. That's big. I love you guys. Monica, Sync'd is the way that I get to hear like a part of the world that I don't always get to listen to and talk about things that married me
Starting point is 00:15:33 with a bunch of kids doesn't always get the perspective on. And I can't thank you guys enough for doing this. Keep it going, have fun and thanks for having me. Well, your wife got a good catch. She snagged one. I'm telling you, her husband's listened to sync to stay dialed into the perspective. Does she deserve you, Kyle?
Starting point is 00:15:50 I don't know. We're gonna send her a test and see. And to answer your question, it does not feel obligatory. And we sincerely, every time are equally shocked and delighted and grateful. Yeah, very grateful. Well, this asymmetrical relationship is as strong as ever.
Starting point is 00:16:07 I love it. I love it. Thank you, so nice to meet you. Yeah, so great meeting you, Kyle. Take care, brother. Bye, you guys. Bye. What a sweet pie.
Starting point is 00:16:16 God damn. Where's my Kyle? Kyle. Kyle, where are you? Knock, knock, knock, Kyle. Kyle, where are you? In this interim, will you keep this in? I don't know what you keep in in the middle.
Starting point is 00:16:27 Yeah, you don't know. Sometimes I keep stuff, sometimes I cut it. You keep me guessing, I guess that's part of the fun of it all. I can't nail you down. That story was an incredible ding, ding, ding though. How so? Right before we started,
Starting point is 00:16:39 we were just talking about my sting. Oh yes, your bee sting. I got a bee sting. From Osden. It was a bit of hubris because I had a ring on my finger that I refused to take off because it was a very special ring and then it really disrupted the situation on my finger.
Starting point is 00:16:58 Well, I would say for people to imagine what your finger looked like yesterday, take a condom and fill it completely with water and then take a hair tie and tie it around as tight as you can the base of the condom. And that's what your finger looked like yesterday with this ring on it. And I had to beg you, Moni,
Starting point is 00:17:16 please let me cut that off of you. I know. It was as bad. You have got a pattern in life, Monica. You're this very weird mix of hypochondria and then when real stuff's happening to you, completely ignore the real stuff. I actually thought of that. You've got a pattern in life, Monica. You're this very weird mix of hypochondria, and then when real stuff's happening, you completely ignore the real stuff.
Starting point is 00:17:27 I actually thought of that. I was like, how dare all these people call me a hypochondriac? I am not a hypochondriac. I don't even get shit fixed when my finger might fall off. Your finger was gonna fall off. Your ear, it's shocking you still have your whole ear when I had to remove those earrings.
Starting point is 00:17:43 That's what I'm saying. It's this wonderful contradiction between fear of things and then when you have things, you don't care at all. Well, you know what the through line is? Jewelry. I really care about preserving that jewelry. It's like when you crash your motorcycle
Starting point is 00:17:56 on your first thought is like, is the motorcycle okay? I bought that ring after I booked my first commercial here. Oh, that's sweet as a reward. Yeah, as a reward. Oh, money. And it's been on that finger. I mean, I've taken it off every now and then for like another commercial or something.
Starting point is 00:18:13 Or more money. But that thing's been on my finger for like 13 years. You can get it put back on. It's not ruined. I think it's the key to my success and I think my success is over. Okay, it was really, you put half your eyelid down. So I didn't even get to get to my interstitial.
Starting point is 00:18:28 Oh, sorry. I'll save it for the next one, that's okay. Well, mine was timely. Stay tuned, if that's in, stay tuned for my interstitial between Thalia. Talia. Talia and Annie. All right, let's start the time.
Starting point is 00:18:39 Mine was very timely to Kyle's story. So is important. Mine might be too, I'll figure out between now and then. You're gonna make yours about a sting? I'll figure it out. I'll come up with a. So is important. Mine might be too. I'll figure out between now and then. You're gonna make yours about a sting? I'll figure it out. I'll come up with a segue that is seamless. In a quiet suburb, a community is shattered by the death of a beloved wife and mother.
Starting point is 00:19:04 But this tragic loss of life quickly turns into something even darker. Her husband had tried to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill her. And she wasn't the only target. Because buried in the depths of the internet is The Kill List, a cache of chilling documents containing names, photos, addresses, and specific instructions for people's murders. This podcast is the true story of how I ended up in a race against time to warn those who lives were in danger. And it turns out convincing a total stranger someone wants them dead is not easy.
Starting point is 00:19:41 Follow Kill List on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Kill List and more Exhibit C True Crime shows like Morbid early and add free right now by joining Wondry+. Check out Exhibit C in the Wondry app for all your True Crime listening. Hey, Armchairs, quick question for you. Have you ever stopped to wonder who came up
Starting point is 00:20:01 with that bottle of Sriracha sitting in your fridge? Or why almost every house in America has a game Of Monopoly stashed away somewhere. Well, this is Nick and this is Jack and we just launched a brand new podcast called the best idea yet It's all about the surprising origin stories of the products You're obsessed with and the people who brought them to life like Super Mario the best-selling video game character ever He's only a thing because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye. Or Jack, how about McDonald's Happy Meal?
Starting point is 00:20:29 Believe it or not, the Happy Meal was dreamed up by a mom in Guatemala. Every week on The Best Idea Yet, you'll discover the surprising stories behind the most viral products of all time, while picking up real business insights along the way. We guarantee you'll be that person at your next dinner party
Starting point is 00:20:44 dropping knowledge bombs at the table. Follow The best idea yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to the best idea yet early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Hello. Hi. Oh, that's a cute Nike Air sweatshirt. I want that. Thank you. I just got it. Is it vintage or new? I would give it to you.
Starting point is 00:21:14 It's vintage. My girlfriend gave it to me. She's so sweet. Oh, it's incredibly cute. Very cute. The Nike is in pink and the Air and the Shush are in copper or gold? Like a goldy copper and it has a good neckline. I like the structure of the sweatshirt.
Starting point is 00:21:30 That's my favorite. Could you pronounce your name? I don't wanna mess it up. Thalia with a TH. Thalia, wonderful. Where did mom and dad get Thalia? My mom named me after a news reporter. Oh, cute.
Starting point is 00:21:41 Like a local celebrity? I don't know if she was local. My mom just told me that she saw the name on TV and liked it. Oh, I like that. Where are you from? Originally, I'm from Illinois, but I live in San Diego right now. San Diego style.
Starting point is 00:21:57 You're close by. Okay, this is a wild card, so feel free to do whatever you want and tell us whatever you can. Give Monica your sweatshirt. Yes, I would love to give you, please. I would send it to you immediately. I couldn't Know you deserve that sweatshirt Oh, thank you so much. So I actually got selected for a different prompt and I missed the email
Starting point is 00:22:20 Oh, that's okay You know what? I get it. It's so unfortunate, but Emma was so kind and reached out to me recently for this episode and was like, Hey, I remembered your story. Do you want to do it for the wild card episode? And I was freaking out. I like ran into work. I was like, Emma's a blessing. Oh, hell yeah. She is. I feel like my email sounded so crazy, but I was like, Oh my God. Oh my God. thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, we're all about second chances here at Armchair Expert. We are now, yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:50 That's now our official, what have we changed from Messy Nasty Human Being to a podcast about second chances? Oh my God, it's even more grotesque. I know. Oh. Yeah, puke. Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 00:23:00 Okay. Well, I'm really excited. The story takes place in Illinois, where I'm from in my college town, Charleston, Illinois, EIU, if anyone knows. What year did you graduate? 2021. You're a youngster.
Starting point is 00:23:17 Yeah, you are. I am 25. You're either a youngster or a dumb-dumb. No, thanks. Yeah, like it could have taken her 12 years to go through college. Those are the two options on the table. Well, that wouldn't necessarily mean she was dumb.
Starting point is 00:23:28 I'm happy to be labeled as either. It took me six years. Hey, I'm proud of you. Thank you. It took me four and a half, but that's close, close enough. Who cares? Yeah, so I was just getting back to Charleston.
Starting point is 00:23:40 My senior year of college was about to start. It was gonna be a few weeks until the school year started, but I was in a sorority at the time. So there were some obligations I needed to do. Like we had like a little video shoot for Rushing. Oh, wow. That's fancy. Yeah. I get to Charleston, and I'm not feeling super well.
Starting point is 00:24:01 I had just gotten back. The last thing I had eaten was cheese curds from Culver's, and I'm lactose intolerant. So I was like, okay, I had a gotten back. The last thing I had eaten was cheese curds from Culver's and I'm lactose intolerant. So I was like, okay, I had a tummy ache. So I go to the sorority thing. I tell everyone, hi, I'm not feeling so good, but I'm here. I got a belly full of cheese curds.
Starting point is 00:24:15 And are you Asian? People think that all the time. I am just white. I kind of thought it. And then when I heard lactose intolerant, I remember 90% Asians are lactose intolerant. Then they'd all add it up. You take such big swings with your ass
Starting point is 00:24:28 I gotta say. I know are you astounded that I still in business? That one is wow, okay Like go on. Which part? That she looks Asian or that Asians are 90% lactose intolerant? Ovid, just why you ask that? Well cuz. We just didn't need to know that. She's Kurds. We didn't need to know that piece of my pushup. That's so good. No a lot of people do ask me that so don't feel bad Ask that! We just didn't need to know that piece. Cheese curds. We didn't need to know that piece of my question. That's so good. No, a lot of people do ask me that, so don't feel bad. Nobody believes that I am white.
Starting point is 00:24:50 Just an old-fashioned honky. That's fun, though, because then you're exotic. You didn't come with the marginalization. Right, right. There you go, win-win. I end up going home early from this thing, and then progressively over the next four days, my stomach is getting worse.
Starting point is 00:25:05 I'm constipated for sure. Okay, so you weren't dealing with Hanus Reus those four days. Say that again? That's Dax's word for diarrhea. Yeah, Hanus Reus. It sounds a little more something. Cute. It sounds cuter.
Starting point is 00:25:17 It's beautiful. I wasn't going to the bathroom like at all. So I went to the pharmacy and I was like, okay, I got to figure this out. So I kind of explored multiple different routes over this four day period. I took a bunch of laxatives. I drank a bunch of black coffee. Nothing was working.
Starting point is 00:25:36 And I was like, damn, this is the worst constipation I've ever had in my whole life. Like it hurts so bad. Are you someone that had dealt with constipation frequently or is this out of the blue? Pretty frequently. As a lactose intolerant person who loves everything dairy,
Starting point is 00:25:50 my faith's sealed. Okay. But it's not getting any better. I felt so bad I didn't wanna eat anything and I don't know why I just kind of ignored that part and I was like, nothing's working, I don't know what's going on. At the end of this period of time, I'm with a friend and I wake up in the middle of the night, I turn over to her, I nudge her, I was like, nothing's working. I don't know what's going on. At the end of this period of time, I'm with a friend
Starting point is 00:26:05 and I wake up in the middle of the night. I turn over to her, I nudge her, I'm like, I don't feel good. I quite literally have a terrible gut feeling. I think it's time I go to the hospital. And like, I had never been to the hospital really before. And she's like, I've had constipation that's really, really painful.
Starting point is 00:26:20 Like you're probably fine. And I'm like, I'm gonna go. So she's like, okay, let me know what happens. So I go to the hospital. Let me know what happened. Why doesn't she go with you? What's she going to do? She's not a doctor. It's nice to support your friends. My god. She's not a cab driver. She's not a doctor. She's not a paramedic. So I drive to this ER and it's so quiet. It's 2020. So you have to go up to the door, tell them about your symptoms and ask to be let in,
Starting point is 00:26:45 or they like assess you there. They take your temperature. Basically, they're like, why are you here? Two nurses approached the door. They're like, what are your symptoms? Take my temp. And he's like, well, there's not much we can do for a stomach ache.
Starting point is 00:26:55 Oh my God. He said, do you want me to leave? Should I go home? And the other nurse was kind of like, sorry about him. No, please come inside. I'm like, okay. Oh God. We haven't seen a patient in a week. no, please come inside. I'm like, okay. Oh, God.
Starting point is 00:27:05 We haven't seen a patient in a week. Anyway, it was wild, so they let me in, and like, no one's there. Was it really so much trouble? Also, that was dumb of him, because obviously they need to check for, I don't wanna ruin the story, I don't know if it's that, but appendix.
Starting point is 00:27:19 Oh. Okay, go on. That's good, you should guess out loud, that's a good guess. No, cause I don't wanna ruin it if it's true. No, I love it when you guys guess. Monica has a guess. I have a guess, but I'm not gonna say it.
Starting point is 00:27:30 She thinks your appendix are in trouble. Okay, my God. Can't you just respect my needs? I don't know. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I will say that was not on my mind in any way. I also was 21 years old and I was like, my tummy always hurts. I'm a girl and I eat a lot of dairy. I also was 21 years old and I was like, my tummy always hurts.
Starting point is 00:27:45 I'm a girl and I eat a lot of dairy. I wasn't even worried really. I just was like, I don't feel good, please help. You just want an x-ray, right? Just do something. That's what you're looking for. Yeah, like take a picture of my insides, please. Yeah, so I go in, I am there for about eight hours.
Starting point is 00:28:01 They give me an x-ray, I get a CAT scan, but I found out through this process that it's incredibly hard to get like an IV in my arms or even draw blood at all. You're not vascular. No, not at all. So they couldn't give me, I think it's iodine when you go to a CAT scan through an IV, which is quicker, but I had to drink it over hours and then I had to go get my CAT scan. So it took forever. After like eight hours has passed, the doctor comes in,
Starting point is 00:28:28 but he's like, I don't know how to tell you this. Your appendix has ruptured and your entire body is infected. Oh my God. You're like almost septic. Holy shit. I was beyond septic. I didn't know that at the time. I also didn't know what septic was at the time.
Starting point is 00:28:44 He didn't say that. He just was like, we have to get you immediately to a hospital and you're going to have to go get an emergency surgery. He's calling all these hospitals in the area and nobody has a bed for me because it's COVID. Oh my God. Because I needed an interventional radiologist, but I also needed a specific kind of surgeon
Starting point is 00:29:01 because there was also like an abscess from the rupture and my organs were failing, leaking. I can't believe you were just waking up I needed a specific kind of surgeon. Because there was also like an abscess from the rupture and my organs were failing, leaking. I can't believe you were just waking up and you were like, I guess I'll just drive myself to the doctor. You're a trooper. Big time.
Starting point is 00:29:15 Thalia, I would also say, could you go grab that nurse that almost didn't let me in? I'd like to talk to him. I feel like his name is Nick. I don't remember, but I did tell him he was an asshole. Oh, good. The nurses were helping me out and I was like, you is Nick. I don't remember but I did tell him he was an asshole. Oh Nurses were helping me out and I was like, you know the short guy a short nurse in the front I'm short too. So no hate but I was like he was so mean to me What if I would have gone? I died on the car
Starting point is 00:29:36 I would have died and then he comes in later I told them not to tell him but they did and he came in he's like so you think I'm an asshole and I was Like yes, I do. They had given me so much anti-anxiety meds at this point, I'm gone. Oh my God, he's trying to flirt. Let it rip. Isn't he cute? Yeah, he's like, so you think I'm an asshole? Yeah, he really thought I was into that.
Starting point is 00:29:55 Ugh. They call the nearest hospital, they don't have beds for me. I have to go to the next state over because they're the only hospital that has the surgeon and the radiologist that I need. I get in the ambulance and they're like asking me all these questions. I'm in and out of consciousness. I don't know if it's from literally dying or from the drugs that are in my system. The last thing I remember is just them asking me the questions and then I wake up and I have had surgery. I think that I just had an appendectomy and I'm gonna go home.
Starting point is 00:30:25 I did not know, but I was fully septic, if not beyond. My white blood cell count was so far beyond the qualifications for sepsis. The doctors were like, did you not feel pain? You're like a miracle. How are you walking? How are you here? And so I just was like, yeah, I felt pain, but I thought I was constipated.
Starting point is 00:30:45 Yeah. So I spent about 10 days in the hospital with a lot of morphine, a lot of antibiotics, a lot of fluids, a lot of drugs. Drawing my blood was absolutely necessary and they just couldn't do it sometimes. And they would just come back and keep trying and keep trying. Oh my God. That was worse than anything else trigger warning for needles everywhere on my arms and my hands. It was so bad Why did they put a line in so they did and it didn't work I was able to get fluids in but they couldn't drop blood out of it. Oh my god
Starting point is 00:31:20 It was like a sick joke. I was so ready to be done and I had a pick line or a midline or whatever they're called in this arm. I was able to get my antibiotics through it, but they installed it specifically to draw blood because they were having so much trouble sending all these people in trying to get it out of me and they just couldn't. Maybe you didn't have any blood. What if someone came in with like a pocket knife at some point and a cup and they're like, listen, we're just going to have to cut.
Starting point is 00:31:44 Honestly, it probably would have been less painful than what I'd already experienced anyway. I didn't fully process how sick I was even until like a year later. I had no idea that I was dying and my organs were failing me. That's scary. My infection continued after I got out of the hospital.
Starting point is 00:32:03 It was not gone. It was to a point where it was like manageable and that I would just have to do a couple weeks of IV therapy, daily antibiotics for, I would just say like two to three weeks. I missed the beginning of my senior year. So I got to go home, but because of licensing issues across state lines, they couldn't authorize any doctor to administer my IV antibiotics to me. They had to get a home health care nurse to come teach me how to do my own IV. Oh.
Starting point is 00:32:33 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got to do this too. And then I taught my girls how to do it, how to flush the line, put in the first thing. It became a little thing they would do. Yeah. I mean, I played doctor for a couple of weeks. It was cool. I remember saline blood thinner, antibiotics, saline again, close it up, clean it, do it again the next day. I was immunocompromised as well because I was so sick. So I couldn't go anywhere.
Starting point is 00:32:55 Did you lose a bunch of weight? I did. I lost so much weight. It's funny because when I showed up at my sorority photo shoot, my belly was like humongous because it was so Oh, distended. Destroyed and inflamed and sick. Oh my God. Yeah. It was summer too, so you could see the shape of my body.
Starting point is 00:33:14 I'm 4'11", I'm a pretty small girl. So someone had told me that I was like looking thick and I was like, that is an insane thing to say, but I'm gonna ignore that. That is an insane thing to say. I look back at it and I look at photos from that time and I'm like, I can't believe my appendix was just ruptured in this photo.
Starting point is 00:33:29 It was ruptured for four days while I was just walking around. You're so lucky. I know, I don't know how I managed. I want there to be some kind of contest you can enter. It's a pain threshold contest. Like maybe you could be a world champion. I think you might be.
Starting point is 00:33:45 Some of these Japanese game shows, do you ever see these, Monica, where it's like they torture people? You know these game shows? Maybe that could be, you could endure like some. I feel like I've won the contest by like being here. Yeah, by living. Being here and being on the podcast as well,
Starting point is 00:34:00 this is so exciting. So I'm like, oh, if that didn't happen, then I guess I wouldn't be here. So it'd be for me. Maybe Nick's listening too. Let's hope Nick's listening. And being on the podcast as well, this is so exciting. So I'm like, oh, if that didn't happen, then I guess I wouldn't be here. So he'd be for me. Maybe Nick's listening too. Let's hope Nick's listening. I hope he's not a listener.
Starting point is 00:34:10 He's a dick. I hope he's out there. I hope his name is Nick. I don't know if that is. I feel like it was. So I wrote in for the near death prompt. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:19 Thank you for sharing that very harrowing story. Yes. Nice meeting you, Thalia. Tell your mom we really liked the name and she did well. Thank you. She will freak out if I even tell her you said that. Have a great day. Well, take care.
Starting point is 00:34:32 Bye. That was worse than I thought. I had a sense it was an appendix situation, but I didn't know she was full septic. 10 days. Have you ever stayed in the hospital, Monica? Knock on wood. So no and then knock on wood? Yeah. Okay.ic. 10 days. You ever stayed in the hospital, Monica? Knock on wood.
Starting point is 00:34:45 So no and then knock on wood? Yeah. Okay. I did three days. By day three, I was like, oh my God, I might just leave. I can't imagine 10 days. Yeah, feeling stuck. Or Jeff Bridges, what was it?
Starting point is 00:34:57 Five weeks, five solid weeks. Time moves so weird there. Ugh, yeah, no thanks. I do like the attention, and they come in all the time. Hey, what's going on? They got a chart. ["The Time is Now"] What was the story you wanted to tell?
Starting point is 00:35:25 I'm gonna now kick it down the road between Annie and Caitlin. Okay. Here comes Annie. Here comes Amos. Well, Amos Moses lived by himself in the swamp. 100 alligator for living. Just hit him in the head with the stump. Son, Louisiana gator gonna get you Amos.
Starting point is 00:35:42 Hi Annie. Hi guys, how are you? Are you a car lover or is your lover a car lover? We all are car lovers. We have two convertible Mustangs in our household. Oh. I'm in his office, he works from home. Is that a 68?
Starting point is 00:35:59 You know what? Okay. Come on. Sure enough. And where are you Mustang owner? We are in Sacramento. Oh, okay. Our state's capital. It's where I grew up, but I raised my kids in Seattle, which is where the story takes
Starting point is 00:36:17 place. Well, take us to Seattle. Okay. July, 2020 solid in the pandemic. Kids are going stir crazy. Fourth of July is coming up and we have some very close friends who live in Idaho. So everyone in Seattle is fully masked.
Starting point is 00:36:36 We're not doing anything. There are no Fourth of July plans. Our friends call and say, hey, guess what? I could get canceled for this. So they go to Idaho. My friends live in what's called Rexburg, and it is where BYU Idaho is. They have a Brigham Young University there?
Starting point is 00:36:55 Correct. Okay, how old are your kids by the way in this story? At the time, 16 and 18. Today they are 20 and 22. Okay, 16 and 18, that's ripe age for some mischief. Yes, and they are both girls. So we send them off and they come back and the younger one created a little crush
Starting point is 00:37:13 on one of the LDS kids. And I had told my friend who is LDS, I said, do not let them get a crush on any of these LDS boys because you know they marry at like 12. Yeah, they'll go on mission and your daughter will miss him so much, she'll convince herself that they should be married.
Starting point is 00:37:30 Exactly. We are not LDS. So they come back and she says, I met this boy and he's really sweet and cute. And I call my friend, I'm like, who is this boy? And she says, oh, he's a nice kid, friends of our kids. Fine. About five weeks later, she says, Hey, that boy, he's coming to
Starting point is 00:37:45 visit his grandma who lives in Kirkland. So it's right next to Redmond. I said, Oh, okay. She goes, we're going to meet out at the lake and we're going to go hang out. So I'm going to give you some details that need to be in, but it's going to be weird. Great. She wakes up that morning at like 7am, unlike her, especially during the pandemic, everybody's sleeping in. Emma, what are you doing? She goes, oh, a friend of mine stopped by and gave me coffee. I'm like, nobody knocked on the door yet.
Starting point is 00:38:14 He came around the corner and gave it in my bedroom window. And I'm all, okay, don't have your friends go through the bedroom window. Please have a knock, even if it's 7 a.m. You know I'm awake. One quick second. To me, if I'm the parent, I'm like, there's more to this story
Starting point is 00:38:28 than someone came to your window and brought you coffee. Were you suspicious and just letting it go, or what was happening? I'm not suspicious because she had had a crush on this boy before the pandemic, so I thought he was just showing up really sweetly. They were not dating or anything, not thinking anything, because I have two girls, and one of them is drama, one of them is not.
Starting point is 00:38:47 This is the not. Oh, gotcha. Okay. Your guard was down. Correct. So I go about my day and she goes upstairs and talks to her father who is also working from home. That's all I know about that.
Starting point is 00:39:01 Later, she goes off, goes to the lake with this boy who's visiting his grandma. And my husband calls me and he says, you know that whole thing with the boy and the coffee? When she came upstairs, I looked outside, there was a boy walking down the driveway. I said, who is that? She goes, oh, that's that boy. He brought me coffee.
Starting point is 00:39:21 He goes, that didn't sit well because last night I heard a noise. It was like 2 a.m he went downstairs to check on the girls and He goes to the door and he tries to open it. It's locked He knocks on the door and she comes out she goes what Papa what? It's 2 a.m. Why is your door like she goes, oh, we stayed up watching TV, I don't know. Oh, that makes no sense, okay. None of this is fitting.
Starting point is 00:39:48 So I call her and I say, where are you? And she goes, I'm at the lake. And I said, so last night saying Papa came into your room, the boy at the coffee, something feels wrong. Yeah. And she goes, no, nothing's wrong. I'm like, if there's anything wrong, now's the time to tell me.
Starting point is 00:40:08 And she says, I got nothing. I don't know, are you sure? She goes, have I ever given you any reason not to trust me? Oh, okay, she was desperate. That's the line. She was desperate. And I go, no, you haven't. And I want to think everything's fine.
Starting point is 00:40:22 Sure, exactly. So can he come over for dinner? Yes, he can come over for dinner. So we meet this to think everything's fine. Sure. Yes. Yes. Yes. So can he come over for dinner? Yes, he can come over for dinner. So we meet this boy. He's fine. I'm not thinking anything. He lives in Idaho. Does your husband say that's the boy that was walking down? No, we're still under the impression there is a boy separate from the Idaho kid who was walking down the driveway. So he is hanging around and for four days, he's hanging around. He's like leaving at night, going to grandma's, showing up at like 9 a.m., they're going to breakfast,
Starting point is 00:40:55 they're watching TV, they're going to the lake. And I'm like, when are you going home? I don't even know you. Go home. And doesn't your grandma want to hang out with you? Is there a grandma? He says, yeah, my grandma knows I have a big crush on your daughter,
Starting point is 00:41:13 so she's okay with me hanging out here. And my husband and I are all, what the freak, go home. We are all done. All done. Day four, I get up really early. I have a thing I do. I get up, I grab everybody's laundry, then I go about my day. I do my little journaling, I have a little coffee, the whole nine yards.
Starting point is 00:41:32 And I go into the laundry area and I can see there's no laundry for my daughter. I go to get it because I know where it is. It's on the floor of her room. That's how she rolls. So I go and it's locked. What the freak? Why is it locked? She wh on the floor of her room. That's how she rolls. So I go and it's locked. What the freak? Why is it locked? She whips the door open right then. I said, what are you doing? She goes, oh, I was going to the bathroom. What are you doing? I said, I'm coming to get the laundry that I know is on your floor. And she's all, no, no. And she's like pushing me away.
Starting point is 00:42:00 And I go, what are you doing? Let me in, I just want to get your laundry. And she's like, mama, you know, it's messy. You know you hate how messy it is. She's really sticking to it. She's got no choice, she's in a corner. So finally she holds me one more time and I get mad. I'm like, knock it off. By the way, I should have a caveat.
Starting point is 00:42:18 Everybody said I could tell the story. Okay. Oh, that's great. So I walk into her room and there is clothes all over the floor and I pick it up and I put it in to my little bag and I walk in. She goes, where's Papa? And I said, he's upstairs about to get in the shower. And she says, I have a question I want to ask both of you. And I thinking she's going to ask if she can drive back to Idaho with this kid. And I said, well, he's upstairs. Go catch him before he gets in the shower. So she goes upstairs. I go to the laundry room, but then I'm like, there's something. And I drop the laundry and I go back into the room. She has sliding doors for
Starting point is 00:42:57 her closet. And I open one side of the sliding door and I am like I hate myself for this I hate that I don't trust her and I open one side and there's nothing there okay and I open the other side and there's feet and I just take my eyes and there's legs and there's shorts and there is a 16 year old boy going, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and I just looked at him and I just punched him in the stomach. Oh wow. What?
Starting point is 00:43:31 Oh wow. Oh my God. And I screamed, get the fuck out of my fucking house. And I'm screaming it because I'm not a cusser and I'm screaming it because I know he'll be overwhelmed at the cussing. And so I'm like screaming, get out of my house.. Because he's, and so I'm like screaming, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like. As if he's a burglar or something.
Starting point is 00:43:47 Or a bear. I yell my daughter's name. Where are you? I go upstairs and Michael, he is blissfully standing there, turning his shower on. He has no idea what's going on. I said, oh my God, he's in the closet. And he goes, what the fuck?
Starting point is 00:44:03 And he's like trying closet! And he goes, what the fuck? And he's like, trying to get, sweats on, and he runs out, and she comes in crying, and he looks at her and he goes, I don't know what's gonna happen to you. Just super quietly. I don't know what's gonna happen to you. Oh my God, this is so, this is so intense. Wait, hold on, hold on, hold on.
Starting point is 00:44:25 Is this boy the Idaho boy or is this a different boy? Okay. The friend who brought her the coffee was him. He had driven 10 hours in the middle of the night, crawled through her window, and then crawled out of her window. My parents are gonna see this boy walking down the driveway. Uh-huh. Which Michael did.
Starting point is 00:44:46 Their thought process was... It was short-sighted. I grabbed the dogs because I'm so pissed and I'm like, I'm going for a walk. I'm so mad. And I'm stomping down the driveway and my other daughter calls. The older daughter is on a road trip and she goes,
Starting point is 00:45:03 hey, mama. And I'm like, you knew. And she goes, sister secrets. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Epilogue, four years later, they're still together. Yeah. Oh wow. I like that. And do you like him? After much therapy, we like him a lot. Oh good.
Starting point is 00:45:27 Was there any grandma? Was he just coming to stay at your house? There was no grandma, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. For four days he's. So he was sleeping there every day. Yes, scandalous little punks. I know, I couldn't get comfortable.
Starting point is 00:45:40 I'd be so nervous the whole time. I was thinking the same thing. I was talking to my daughter before I got in here and she said, I don't know what we were thinking. I'll tell you what they were thinking. They just wanted to be together. They were like a wall of fire will not stand in between our love.
Starting point is 00:45:53 She said, at the time, I just had to see him. I loved him so much. Even though they had only known each other for like a week. She was right. Yeah, she was kind of right. It's been a, you know, a little rollercoaster for us, not for them.
Starting point is 00:46:09 Yeah, they're just fine. What did Michael land on as a consequence? Oh, so that was the best bedroom in the house. It had its own bathroom and it was the biggest. And accessible. Exactly. And we moved her upstairs into the tiniest bedroom possible. Into the storybook, what do they put the princess up in the?
Starting point is 00:46:28 Yes, in the tower. In the tower, yeah, you put her in the tower. And then she had a share bathroom with her sister, which she ended up actually going downstairs because that didn't work out. Yeah, the sister's like, what the fuck? I didn't do anything. Except not tell my parents.
Starting point is 00:46:43 That's a good sister though. We want that out of a sister. Yeah, you gotta respect that. I do respect it. But he told me he cried all the way home, called his mom, said she thought he was with his actual grandma in whatever, someplace Idaho. No one knew he had just kept driving.
Starting point is 00:46:59 Oh, young love. I have questions, but they're best not asked, I think. Well, like, were they doing it? Were they making love down there? And is the fact that he's LDS-ing, like he's like wrestling. That drive home for him is probably like, oh my God, the parents know, oh, I gotta tell my mom, oh my God, I probably sinned.
Starting point is 00:47:17 Yes, like that's heavy. It's probably a heavy ride home. Yeah, I think he told her more than my kid told me. I'm very close to my daughter, but I'm sure she was sparing me. Yeah, and Michael. They both say no. There was some keen and a sheen, as my mother would say.
Starting point is 00:47:32 Heavy patting, snuggling, okay. I hate that. I hate that stuff. That's so gross. I know, it is really gross. Wow, well, you guys made it through that. Annie, I really like your personality a lot. I give it a 10 out of 10.
Starting point is 00:47:47 In fact, I can't even believe you were angry. It's a rough one for me to get there. You gotta make me angry. Yeah. Sounds like you have too good of a sense of humor about life to ever get really that angry. I knew that they would sneak around, so we said, listen, we're gonna support this relationship,
Starting point is 00:48:02 but you guys have to tell us everything. And the problem with that is I really tamp down how angry I actually was. I think it really came to a head about a year ago when I was finally like, I'm all done with this kid. I'm all done. And finally I went to therapy and now I'm good. It was an opportunity for you to grow.
Starting point is 00:48:22 We've all grown and now we're all in. Yay. Until Michael finds him driving one of his Mustangs, then it's a whole new. New prompt. Well, lovely meeting you. This has been very fun. Nice to meet you guys.
Starting point is 00:48:35 Thank you so much for letting me share it. Oh, so fun. Okay, bye. Bye. Okay, do you wanna hear my story now? Yes, what's your story? It's a very short story. You and I returned home from Austin two days ago
Starting point is 00:48:47 and I weighed myself yesterday morning and I was 202.4 pounds, which means I gained like eight pounds on that trip. And this morning, 24 hours later, I was 195. I lost seven and a half pounds yesterday through many, many, many harnesses. Okay? Okay. That was my story.
Starting point is 00:49:10 Worth it? Oh yeah. Her Zoon name says Katie. Okay, we'll see. Caitlin or Katie or Catalina? Can I call you Catalina? I can't believe she punched him in the stomach. Good for her. Hello. Hi.
Starting point is 00:49:22 Hi. So let's bring you into the argument we were having when you were signing on. And do you go by Caitlin or Katie? I go by Katie. Okay, Katie. What is your thoughts on females being physically violent towards young males that they find in their closet?
Starting point is 00:49:36 I kind of like this. Really deep question. Yeah. I guess it depends on the situation. You're a woman and you find a man in your closet. The woman punches the man in the stomach. That is not the scenario at all. You're a woman with teenage kids.
Starting point is 00:49:51 Daughters. And you open the closet and there's a boy there that was obviously hanging out with your daughter. All night in her bed. I can understand. You can understand a punch. Yeah. Little sock in the tummy.
Starting point is 00:50:03 Yeah. People react. Yeah, it's like a jump scare Yeah. Little sock in the tummy. Yeah. People react. Yeah, it's like a jump scare almost. Okay, great. So where are you calling from, Katie? I am calling from Duncan, Oklahoma. Very small town. Ron Howard's from here.
Starting point is 00:50:15 Oh. Oh. Yeah. And then the guy who played the elf king, I can't remember his name in The Hobbit. He's from Chickasha. Lee Pace? Yes, there it is.
Starting point is 00:50:25 Yeah, I gotta say, and this is no dig on Oklahoma. I almost never meet anyone from Oklahoma. They love it so much they don't leave. It's cheap and I like it a little bit. There's not as much traffic. I mean, I do actually live in the city, but I'm down here recording this. Because I was here for my dog, sadly.
Starting point is 00:50:43 Because what? Because you're what? Did you just speak in tongues? Why are you? What happened? Sorry, I came down here recording this. Because I was here for my job shadowing. Because what? Because you're what? Did you just speak in tongues? Why are you? What happened? Sorry, I came down here for job shadowing. Oh, job shadowing, that's not bad. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:52 Yeah. Okay, so this is a wild card story. It could involve anything. Where are you in this story and what year has this set us up? Okay, so I was in my hometown, which is like 15 minutes away from where I'm at right now in Marlowe, another very small town. The year was 2016.
Starting point is 00:51:10 I had just turned 16 a month prior to the story. A little context that you need to know is that I'm the oldest of seven. Oh my Lord. Split and blended, you know how it is. So as soon as I got my license, that task was set to me to take the kids to school, pick them up, do all the good stuff that an older sister would do. One day after school, I was a sophomore in high school and my brother was an eighth grader. I got to the middle school and he was like, Hey, Kate, can you take my friend home? And I was like, yeah, of course,
Starting point is 00:51:38 he lived a couple blocks from us. So I'm going to code name him JP. I took him home and he didn't give me the address, but he just gave me like directions to the house. So I got to his house and it's set off on the road. They probably have like a 50 foot gravel driveway and there's like a little white fence that runs along it like halves the driveway up. I pull into the driveway but I'm not facing the house how the driveway goes. I pull into it and I'm parallel with the road. So I'm on the wrong side of the road, but I'm in their driveway. So JP gets out and his father and grandfather come up to me. And they're like, hey, you old enough to drive?
Starting point is 00:52:15 And I was like, yeah, I literally just turned 16. They're like, are you sure? And I was like, yeah. And I like, when do we get my license out? And they're like, no, we're just heckling you. Thanks for bringing our boy home. And I was like, yeah, of course. JP is the oldest of five. So he had several younger siblings outside at the time
Starting point is 00:52:32 on top of the parents. He gets out and I go to leave and I turn around, check my blind spots from behind me, check in front of me. I go off and I just accelerate and I just hit this huge bump. Oh my God. Oh no, oh no. I looked at my brothers and they were in the car with me. I was like, what's that?
Starting point is 00:52:51 And they were like, I don't know. And they just got back on their phones. I looked back over and everybody is running to the room. So I get out. I walked to the back of the car and this blush of energy. It's like the craziest drug I have ever felt I walked to the back of the car and this blush of energy. It's like the craziest drug I have ever felt that I've been on. There was a kid laying in the road.
Starting point is 00:53:14 An entire child. He's not dead. I didn't kill him. But I just ran over him. Okay, yeah. Was it JP? No, it was one of the siblings. It was not JP.
Starting point is 00:53:24 It was his youngest sibling. He was about to be two. Oh! Oh! Yes, girl, yes. This was a baby crawling under. Oh my God, what the fuck? This baby crawled literally right past the feet
Starting point is 00:53:37 of the two adults. There was a toy in the driveway, so whenever I pulled off, my back driver's side tire ran over his torso. Oh my God. Oh my God. I forgot to specify, I drove a 2002 Tahoe. I drove a big bitch.
Starting point is 00:53:54 Oh, yeah, that's a 5,800 pound vehicle right there. Oh my God. This is my nightmare. Will you knock on wood? Oh, I gotta knock on, hold on Katie, I'm gonna knock on wood, okay. we had to knock on wood. Okay. Okay, we're back. I was actually the one to call the police.
Starting point is 00:54:08 The grandfather was like, call him, call him. I was describing what was going on, and she was like, okay, what's the address? And I was like, I don't know, I never got the address. So the grandpa takes the phone from me, and he's talking to them, and the police get there, and they take out their little notepad and come talk to me. Of course, the first thing I asked,
Starting point is 00:54:24 I was like, am I going to jail? And he was like, pins. I was like, literally on what? I assume if they had not told the same story, maybe the baby was already in front of me and I was on my phone or something. Or they find out you're drunk, you're on drugs. Yeah, I never even thought of that.
Starting point is 00:54:43 Oh yeah, but because you weren't, so you didn't think of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really quick, when you were looking at this baby, when you first saw the baby, was the baby moving? The baby was writhing around crying, and thank God he was crying. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:54:57 And the mother had run out of the house, and she was screaming and crying, understandably, and she like pulled me down there with her, and we were just all cradling together, like she was rocking us. Nobody was mad at crying understandably. And she like pulled me down there with her and we were just all cradling together. Like she was rocking us. Nobody was mad at me or anything. They all said it was a horrible accident. I mean, nobody saw him.
Starting point is 00:55:13 So I gave him a collapsed lung, a tear in his liver and like a torn ligament in his neck. Oh my God. It was crazy. Also is your brother just like, what the fuck? I don't think they said a word. I've actually, I've never considered what they went through that day until now.
Starting point is 00:55:33 Yeah, ugh. I drive for Amazon. I drive one of those big cargo vans. So anytime I'm on the road in a neighborhood and I see a kid just inching their way towards the road, I'm like, stop. Wow, I'm impressed you entered the field of driving after that trauma.
Starting point is 00:55:49 Maybe she's trying to heal. Yeah, like get back on that horse. Uh-huh, eight hours a day. Now, they took the toddler to the hospital presumably, and how long was he or she in there? He was in there for I think like a week and a half. Oh, that's so long. I believe he spent his birthday in there.
Starting point is 00:56:07 Oh, wow. He's 10 now. He is 10 years old and I see pictures of him. He looks like a normal kid. It was truly wild. Now this may seem like a stretch of a silver lining, but I am gonna say it. No one should run over kids,
Starting point is 00:56:21 but when you're a new parent and you're like so concerned they're gonna fall off the couch, they're fucking durable. Yeah. You would assume a 6,000 pound vehicle driving over a 25 pound baby. Definitely, there's no question there. But they're saved by the rubberiness. Just the fact that it was just a few centimeters
Starting point is 00:56:41 from the super, uber important parts. His head. Oh. God, yeah, it was crazy a few centimeters from the super, uber important parts. Oh, his head. Oh. God. Yeah, it was crazy. Oh, fuck. This is such a nightmare. Yeah, how long before you calmed down? Was it like days later?
Starting point is 00:56:54 I mean, I gotta imagine I would just keep thinking of getting out of the car and seeing that. I didn't drive for a minute. And anytime I hit like a bump, I literally, not to be dramatic, but I look in my rear view mirror. Just make sure. Yeah, when you do something like that
Starting point is 00:57:08 without any notion that there was something wrong, you have to permanently consider that that's on the table. There's something that feels really unfair about it. It's like you're just in your car, you're just dropping this nice kid off. You don't even wanna be there. And then it's not on you. What are you gonna do?
Starting point is 00:57:23 Get out of your car every four minutes to make sure something's not under your. What are you gonna do? Get out of your car every four minutes to make sure something's not under your tire? You couldn't have done anything. We're blaming all the wrong people. It's the two-year-old's fault. Well, of course. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:33 I knew something like that was coming. After he got out of the hospital, him and his family brought up to the high school a flower, like a little flower vase for me. I was like, oh my gosh. It's actually really sweet. Yeah. That's nice. Did word get out in high school
Starting point is 00:57:48 that you would run over a child? Yes, I had 87 people in my graduating class. Oh no. Honestly, you'd think that it was spread the worst in high school, but my family gives me shit. Anytime they can make a joke, they give me shit to this day. It's their job.
Starting point is 00:58:03 You're tough. I'm impressed by you. Like I said, oldest of seven. Yeah. Anytime they can make a joke, they give me shit to this day. It's their job. You're tough. I'm impressed by you. Like I said, oldest of seven. Yeah. I'm sorry that happened to you. Me too. No other prompt matched it.
Starting point is 00:58:12 And when I saw that a wild card got prompted, I was just like, hop on that. Yeah, we would never be audacious enough to put out a prompt. Tell us about a time you ran over a kid. You almost killed a child. Shhh. As dark as we are.
Starting point is 00:58:23 Yikes. Ooh, boy. Well, thank you for sharing. As dark as we are. Yikes. Oh boy. Well, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, we very much appreciate it. And I hope we're keeping you company on the road while you're driving around nonstop. Yes, I'm going through all of it.
Starting point is 00:58:35 Thank you. All right, well, be well. Great meeting you. And I'm sorry that happened to you. You too, guys. Thank you for listening. Okay, bye. Bye. Oh man.
Starting point is 00:58:44 Oh, that's a nightmare. God. That is a listening. Bye. Okay, bye. Bye. Oh man. Oh, that's a nightmare. God. That is a nightmare. Wow. Do you wanna hear an uplifting story to right size? Yeah. Okay, so we got home from Austin on Sunday night and I got on the scales Monday morning.
Starting point is 00:58:57 Again? And I was 202.4 pounds. Bye. I love you. Love you. I love you. Do you wanna sing a tune or something? We know a theme song. Oh, okay great.
Starting point is 00:59:13 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 on the flyer rhyme dish, on the flyer rhyme dish, enjoy. Follow Armchair Expert on the Wondry app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:59:40 You can listen to every episode of Armchair Expert early and ad free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondry.com slash survey.

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