The Jordan Harbinger Show - 904: Ditching Bad Dad Would Make You So Glad | Feedback Friday
Episode Date: September 29, 2023How do you overcome your abusive father's harassment and protect yourself from his unhinged, unwelcome intrusions in the future? Welcome to Feedback Friday! And in case you didn't already kno...w it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in! On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: How do you overcome your abusive father's harassment and protect yourself from his unhinged, unwelcome intrusions in the future? Should you endure the discomfort of working alongside a sleazy colleague who sleeps with every woman he can, or actively seek new employment despite being a few months away from your degree? Should you step down as best man for kicking a disrespectful jerk of a guest out of your friend's bachelor party? You assumed you and your significant other of six years would eventually marry, but since neither of you wants kids, you've been told there's no point in "getting the government involved" in your lives. Is it time for you to cut your losses and search for someone who is willing to make a real commitment? If your feathers have been ruffled by something we've said on this show, is it possibly a sign they were in need of being ruffled? Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com! Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger. Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/904 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
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Welcome to Feedback Friday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger. As always, I'm here with Feedback Friday producer, a guy who, well, just finished his first short film as a director this week. No vicious roast today, Gabriel. You get the day off. Congratulations. Thank you. Appreciate that.
On the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories, secrets and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. And our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker. During the week, we have long-form,
conversations with a variety of amazing folks, from arms dealers and drug traffickers to Russian spies,
investigative journalists and rocket scientists. This week we had Michael Easter on Scarcity Brain.
Of course, we overdo it with food, but we also overdo it with information. We do it with
status. We do it with shopping. Really interesting conversation where I talked a little bit too
much. It must have been hyper. Maybe speaking of overdoing it, I probably had a little bit too much
caffeine, super interesting conversation with him. And returning to the show, Dan Ariely,
about misbelief, conspiracy theories,
why people believe the crazy things that they believe,
like the hollow earth or that there's reptile people
or other just absolutely bonkers stuff.
He had a crazy personal experience with it,
and he's one of the top sort of preeminent social scientists,
behavioral economists of our day.
So we had a really great conversation about that.
I just love episodes where we can really dig into a topic deeply like that.
I think we had a great week here,
and I know that you'll enjoy those if you haven't heard those episodes yet.
On Fridays, though, we share stories, we take listener letters, we offer advice, we play
obnoxious sound bites, and usually we mercilessly roast Gabe for being a walking L.A.
cliche.
Although you did kind of already do that by saying congratulations on your film.
So.
True.
I am no less a cliche this week.
It was one foot in, one foot out.
Speaking to which, Gabe, I was thinking about how you made fun of me the other week
for always getting into trouble in foreign countries for, like, peeing in the wrong place.
Always.
You're always peeing in the wrong places.
I do have a small bladder.
That's part of the problem.
but not one, but two other urine-related stories came to mind as a result.
Great. Let's hear them. What happened?
A long time ago, I rented what would now be an Airbnb, but back then was just renting a place
online in Croatia. And I was going up, hiking into these ruins and stuff. There's all these
cool structures. And I was like, there's nobody up here. This is really cool. And we came back down,
and the host was like, what did you do today? It was like a cop. But I got a feeling he was also like
an organized crime guy, because I remember the police would always wave. And he's like, I am the
police. And I was like, but you're not really a cop because you don't work anywhere and you're like
this old fat out of shape guy. But maybe you are. What do I know? But he kept joking that he was the
police. So 2020 hindsight, I think maybe he was organized crime or a retired cop. I'm not really
entirely sure. Great Airbnb host. Yeah. I told him what I did that day. And he's like,
oh, don't go up there. It's really dangerous up there. And I was like, oh, it's fine. You know,
I thought he meant because the mountain was steep and it really was. And those ruins were old. And it's like,
you're out over these old stone bridges and stuff.
And I'm like, you could definitely fall off this thing and die.
So I was like, oh, whatever, I'm young and invincible and I'll be careful.
And then I went up the next day and he's like, what do you do?
And I was like, yeah, I know you told me not to go up there on the ruins, but I wanted to go check out and hike up that mountain and then I hike back down.
And he's like, no, no, I told you not to go up there.
I was like, no, no, I stayed off the ruins this time.
He's like, no, the ruins, those are fine.
That's the safest part of the hill.
There's landmines up there.
Great.
And I was like, oh, I was essentially a minefield.
And I was like, well, how do you know there are landmines up there?
Like, this is an urban legend.
Come on, I'm fine.
He goes, no, I put those landmines up there with my squad during the Civil War.
I know where they are.
You're right in the middle of the minefield.
Are you serious?
This guy is going to happen.
He knows exactly where they are.
Yeah, I mean, well, as much as you can remember where you put landmines.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So he's like, no, that's right where I put many landmines.
And we did not take those out.
Don't you hate it when you book an Airbnb with a guy who plays landmines with a walking distance?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it was a lot of it.
ambitious walk. He was probably not expecting anybody to go up there. I feel like he should have a sign in
the kitchen or something, just letting people know. Things to do. And not to do. Here's the cyber
cafe. Here's the minefield. Yeah, I don't know what that has to do with urine other than I did go to
the bathroom on my hike in the minefield. And then when I was in Bosnia, you know, also part of the former
Yugoslavia, I got out of the car and my friends were kind of like sleeping as a long drive.
And I got out and I went to be. Ran out of the car over the
the side of the road,
walked into the field,
and my friends start yelling at me,
and I thought they were just harassing me
because I was peeing on the side of the road
for like the 13th time on a three-hour car ride.
And they're like, hey,
come back, come back, be careful, don't run,
just be careful, walk back.
And I was like, all right, fine.
So I finished going,
and I walked back and I step over the chain,
and they were like, dude,
look at the chain.
And I was like, what?
And on the chain,
there's this rusty,
almost completely illegible sign
because it's an old sign.
and it's swinging sort of like squeakily from this old rusty chain.
And it says,
Danger Mines in Serbian or Bosnian.
Of course.
So I peed in that minefield.
I'm hoping they got rid of those,
but it's like a rural area between villages on the side of the road.
They didn't get rid of that sign.
There's almost no way they got rid of the landmines too.
Right?
They just got rid of the landmines and they left the rusty chain in the sign.
I don't know about that.
That sounds like a very active minefield.
And where was the Airbnb near this one?
Yeah, yeah.
I don't know if we stated a rent.
on this particular trip.
So that was, I mean, look, I don't know if they still have those mines there.
I would assume not because it's been 20 years since that trip.
My bladder has not increased in size for those who are wondering.
Yeah, that's the question everyone's wondering, Jordan.
Yeah.
But, I mean, aren't those landmines still active in Cambodia and Vietnam?
Yeah, they are.
And it's been, what, 40 years since those?
Those things never really expire.
I don't know.
It just seems like these days pulling your wiener out in public, literally or figuratively.
I mean, it's a mine.
I'm right? Thanks a lot, bin Laden.
I thought you don't do politics on this show. Very uncomfortable.
Gabe, what's the first thing out of the mailbag?
Dear Jordan and Gabe, I grew up with an abusive father, the most malicious human I've ever met.
When I became a teenager, my mom left with my sister and me. It's been a long road to heal,
but I feel like I'm on my way. I just graduated high school with multiple awards,
which has allowed me to go to a college that I once only dreamed of. And I've secured an online
job that'll pay for what's left over after scholarships. Wow, amazing. Incredible,
especially growing up with a parent like this, succeeding in spite of that, proud of you.
But my father hasn't left us alone. For example, when some of my mom's relatives moved into town,
he sent flyers to the entire neighborhood to, quote, beware of this man, unquote.
Referring to one of them in an attempt to make everyone's lives miserable. This is just one
example, and I could go on for paragraphs. I've been protected from my father by my mother,
up until now, so I'm starting to get nervous about going out into the world on my own.
I've told my dad that I don't want to speak to him, but he doesn't care. He's always sent
letters, and after the first few, I just ignored them. But recently, he sent someone into the store
I work at to reach out and then came in personally while I was with customers and my coworkers
were around. It left me panic-stricken, and my manager was nice enough to let me have a break while I
recovered. There isn't really a limit to what he'll do if he gets upset, unsolicited visits,
stalking, or something worse. In the past, he even hired private investigators to spy on and track my
family, although admittedly, that one's hard to prove. I want to be able to live my life without having
to look over my shoulder every second or having someone follow me. Restraining orders have long
expired, and I don't know if they could be put in place again. How do I best handle my father if,
slash when something else happens. Signed, developing the chops to deal with this crazy pops.
Oh, man, this is a sad story. I'm very sorry that this was your dad. He sounds like a real piece of work.
I'm so glad your mom got out of there with you guys. That was a great move, but I hear you that he's still
very much a problem, and I'm sure having him pop up in your life again is pretty scary. You know,
you just kind of think maybe he's gone forever. We wanted to run all this by an expert. So we had a
quick chat with George Grant, executive security manager at a major corporation and friend of the show.
George has run personal protection for high net worth families that everyone's heard of kind of people,
so he really knows this stuff when it comes to security.
And George's recommendation when it comes to nonviolent stalkers like your dad is, first of all,
always ignore their unsolicited contact attempts.
Which you're already doing.
That's great.
Just do not engage ever.
Nothing good comes to that usually.
and even if you argue back and tell him to piss off, it just fans the flames.
You want to suck the oxygen out of the equation here.
His second recommendation, take all the legal measures possible.
So if your dad trespasses on your property, report it.
If you can get a new restraining order slash order of protection, get one.
As we've talked about on the show before, you don't need a lawyer for this.
The paperwork is relatively easy.
You might even have enough evidence to prove there's a pattern of threats, stalking,
etc. to get any one of these taken out.
it's usually not a waste of time to do so.
And if your dad continues bothering you in person or harasses you,
threatens you, your family in any way,
report everything he does to the police when it happens.
Don't wait six months and be like,
here's the following 25 things that have happened.
Document it.
Make sure you know what date, time, place, everything,
and report it right away.
Don't say, oh, he's been coming by a bunch.
That doesn't mean squat.
The cops are going to think you're exaggerating.
George's last piece of advice,
take basic personal protection measures.
That means maintaining
your general awareness, keeping the old head on a swivel, stay an alert, make sure you're not
putting yourself in compromising positions. I know you want to be able to live your life without
having to look over your shoulder every second, but unfortunately, there might be a period
where you have to. You can't control your dad. You can control how you take care of yourself.
Also, George recommends checking them with friends when you're running late or even FaceTiming with
somebody while you do things like walk alone in secluded areas at night, which you probably should not
be doing right now anyways or ever. I know these seem like basic tactics, really basic, and people are like,
oh, thanks, look behind me when I'm walking in an alleyway. But George recommends this stuff to people
all the time. This stuff can save you. Right. Super sound advice. So that's the physical safety aspect
of his question. But Jordan, I think the deeper question that he's getting out here is,
how do I stay safe from my dad mentally, emotionally? I mean, look, dude, you're 17 or maybe 18 years old.
you're just starting the first chapter of your life as an adult.
And your dad clearly still has the power to freak you out when he shows up.
And you've been protected by your mom up until now.
Now you're nervous about going out into the world on your own.
And that all makes perfect sense.
You've only dealt with your dad as a child, essentially.
Now you're having to figure out how to handle him as an adult and largely on your own.
So my general advice to you is keep reminding yourself that your dad does not ultimately
have the power to derail your big plans for your life, no matter how hard he tries. I mean,
look at what you've accomplished so far. The college you got into when you didn't think you could,
the job that you've held down despite him showing up and scaring you, we're talking about a very
troubled, desperate, possibly slash probably unhinged guy who cannot understand why you guys would
want distance from him. So his attempts to get your attention really have no bearing on how you should
feel about yourself or your prospects or your ability to keep moving forward despite whatever he's doing.
And I think you already know that, but I just want you to hear that from someone else.
And I say this not to minimize how scary this must be, but just to remind you that you still
have to live your life and pursue your goals as if he were not part of this equation.
You cannot give this guy one more ounce of mental energy than he absolutely requires to deal with.
He has actively worked to make your life harder, so do not let him succeed in that again by fixating
on this guy any more than is necessary.
I completely agree.
He's doing so well, I'd hate for him to be weighed down by this.
Again, so sorry that you're dealing with this nonsense.
Your dad, man, just cannot read the room.
But he clearly has some serious issues.
And sadly, he might wrestle with them forever.
I mean, that just might be his thing that he has to deal with all the time.
So you need to be very disciplined about how you take care of yourself,
how you respond to him or don't respond to him at all.
And most importantly, the space that you allow him, the real estate you allow him to take up in your mind, your psyche, your life.
I do think that'll become easier over time as you realize that you can handle him on your own just fine when you have to.
Slash, he just gives up when he sees that sending you creepy-ass zodiac style letters and cornering you at work is not having the desired effect, which is what I hope happens.
I would also go back and listen to my interview with Gavin DeBecker on the Gift of Fear.
That was episode 329 and 330.
A lot of women have been like,
this is my favorite episode
I've ever heard on your show.
And there's a Joe Navarro episode
on Keeping Safe from Predators.
That was episode 135.
And if memory serves,
one of the biggest bits of info there
was never reply to anything at all ever
from a predator
because they are there
for the fanning of the flames.
And if you don't do that,
they often move on to other targets.
Now, you're his child,
so that might be a little bit
of a different thing for him,
but I would imagine
the psychology still applies.
In the meantime, keep up the incredible work, my dude.
Throw yourself into college.
Work hard.
Keep building a big and exciting life for yourself.
You are doing so well.
We are rooting for you.
And Gabe, man, it's funny.
I'm just picturing him mailing his dad a copy of the new restraining order.
But like, OG ransom note style with all the letters cut out from different magazines.
Here you go, Dad.
Here's a language maybe you can finally understand.
And that's a way to deliver an order of protection with style.
Can you imagine?
I like it.
That's right.
But, you know, even a restraining order signed by a.
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Okay, next up. Hey guys. A few years ago,
a distant friend of a friend
got me a job as a salesman at a painting company.
He's a sales rep alongside me,
and long story short,
he's a single guy who likes to screw every woman
he can get his hands on.
His family is close with the owner of the company,
and they're also friends with the owner's ex-wife,
who, I recently learned,
this colleague of mine slept with.
The owner brags about this guy,
saying he's the greatest salesman
and that he's grown so much since he's been at this company.
Meanwhile, he's raw-dogging this guy's ex.
Oh, God.
It's all BS.
The same guy was also just in an entanglement
with one of our other friends who was also married.
Oh, man.
I am very good at my job.
I'm $200,000 over my sales goal for the year,
but I'm not crazy about the job.
I'm at the point where I'm aggressively looking for other ones,
but I still don't feel like I can check all the boxes for the jobs I want
because I don't have a degree yet.
I actually graduate in 4.4.
four months. I don't want to work at the same company as this guy. I don't want him in my life,
and I don't want to think about what he did every time I walk into the office. Do I stay and keep my
mouth shut? Do I blow the whistle and watch it all blow up, which isn't really an option for me
because I'm not evil? Or do I hunt aggressively for a new job? Signed, a salesman hitting his quota
on all these shenanigans. Right. So you work with a slimy dude who has a flexible moral
shall we say. And you don't like this guy, that's clear. But he also did you this solid by getting
you the job so that puts you in a bit of a tough spot. I get why it's confusing. But honestly,
I'm just not sure that his extracurricular activities are any of your business. Yes, it's shady.
Yes, it's uncomfortable. Yes, this guy probably has STDs. You're not wrong to be skeezed out by this,
but it's not directly impacting your work. It's not taking place in the office. Maybe it doesn't
involve you in any way. This is between this gibron.
the ex-wife and the boss. Now, if you were super close with your boss, which I don't get the sense
that you are, I might say, eh, you might want to consider telling him as his friend, but that's
not the case here. And even if it were, this still isn't really your business. Also, it's his
ex-wife, right? Yeah, it's the boss's ex. So it's still pretty unsavory. I mean, this other
colleague is definitely playing with fire here, but I mean, she is free to carry on with
whomever she wants, right? She's not cheating on her husband at this point. Right. I doubt the
boss would appreciate his favorite employees secretly banging his ex-wife, but you're right. This is a
couple rungs below wildly unethical and despicable, and more in the, it's a little uncomfortable
territory. Right. Again, your relationship with your boss determines a lot, but also, you're not
crazy about this job, like you said, even though you're insanely good at it, 200 grand over your
target, I mean, that's bananas, dude, good for you. That's a lot of paint jobs. And you're graduating
college in four months, at which point you're going to be a much stronger candidate for the jobs
that you actually do want, and you might need a reference from this boss, who you don't need
hating you. So if I were in your shoes, I'd stay, I'd keep your head down, I'd focus on your
career search. All this energy you're expending, worrying about this guy, would be much better spent,
finishing up strong in school, building strong relationships, interviewing for new jobs. Now,
you could tip off your boss, but it sounds like that would make you, you,
the bad guy, even in your own opinion. And frankly, yeah, I think it could invite some blowback for you.
The guy could retaliate. He could poison the well in the office. But whatever you do, yes, you should
be hunting aggressively for a new job because that's your real goal here, no matter how this sorted
little subplot plays out. So do your six-minute networking, use it as fuel to build the relationships
you need, and channel all this anxiety and anger into your degree and into your career. That's my take.
Just forget all this side show drama.
I could not agree more.
I'm just curious to know why this guy gets under his skin so much.
He's not wrong to be worked up.
It's uncomfortable to work in an office
where there's this bomb that could go off at any moment.
But it sounds like there's something about this guy
that uniquely triggers him,
and he has trouble compartmentalizing his feelings about this guy at work.
Part of me, Jordan, wonders if he resents having to work next to a guy
who gets all this praise from his boss
while he's secretly sleeping with the guy's ex,
and also other people's wives, too.
Let's not forget that little fact.
And meanwhile, our friend here is quietly closing customers
and going $200,000 over his sales target
with no additional praise and no additional compensation,
and he's decidedly not sleeping with anybody's wife.
Yeah, he's pissed.
I get it.
He's walking into the office every day going,
really, this guy?
What's wrong with this place?
What's wrong with everybody here?
And to be fair, that is hard to compartmentalize.
Just one more reason for him to focus on the job search.
I mean, find a company with higher standards, better people,
and work that he actually cares about.
Amen, man.
Hopefully you'll be out of there before the news gets out,
which it always kind of has a way of doing.
Although Dark Jordan kind of hopes it happens while you're still there
so you can get the satisfaction of watching this clown crash and burn
and get some comeuppance.
I think it would just be really tasty to see that.
But if your boss does find out while you're there,
I still think you should keep your head down.
Again, it's a side show.
the main show is your performance and your job search.
That situation is radioactive.
Even if you're like boss, I hate telling you this, but da-da-da-da,
you're still going to get radiated being anywhere near this thing.
Just knowing about it, it's bad for you, okay?
So sloppy Casanova over there, he's on his own path toward termination,
I would imagine, and or punch in the face and a mean case of gonorrhea,
whichever comes first.
It sounds like that dude gets around.
It does sound like that.
Hide your kids, hide your wife.
hide your kids, hide your wife.
Good reference there, man.
Maybe just your wife.
There was nothing about him
going after kids in the story,
but I love a good 2009 reference, Gabe.
He's clamming in your windows.
He's snatching your people up
so y'all need to hide your kids,
hide your wife.
Antoine Dodson, would allege.
Oh man, that is a classic.
That one is aging like fine wine, I have to say.
It really is.
Thanks, Antoine.
You can reach us Friday at Jordan Harbinger.com.
Please keep your emails concise.
Use a descriptive subject.
line that makes our job a whole lot easier. If you're finding dead squirrels in your mailbox, you
slept with your friend's partner while they were away, or you just found out your best friends
are swingers, and you don't know how to bring it up. Whatever's got you staying up at night lately.
Hit us up Friday at jordanharbinger.com. We're here to help, and we keep every email anonymous.
Okay, what's next? Dear Jordan and Gabe, one of my close friends recently asked me to be the best
man at his wedding in the Philippines. I kind of feel like I'm his only friend who can even afford to
travel that far for the wedding, and that's probably
a big part of why he chose me as the best man. I threw an extravagant bachelor party at a huge
place with a fishing excursion and divided the cost among all ten of his friends. Three said they couldn't
make it, and I'm well off enough that I decided to just eat the cost. I texted the group a month
before explaining that I needed to reserve spots on boats, and even though everyone was invited,
regardless of whether they could pitch in, only those who pitched in $250 would have a spot on the
bay boats to go fishing. Everyone agreed and asked to reserve a spot. One guy, however, never sent in the
money. He texted me a week before the trip informing me that he couldn't make it. I told him not to worry about it,
but the day before the fishing trip, he texted me saying he would make it. The spot was already
reserved, so I said, what the hell, come fishing with us. When he arrived, tension began to build
because he and two other guests were not helping out with cooking or cleaning. The other two, who
did pay eventually did pitch in. Once dinner was over, I told this guy, hey man, you haven't contributed
to cooking or cleaning yet, so you need to clean up the dinner mess. I'll even help you out. We started
cleaning the kitchen together. Then I went outside to collect my fishing equipment. When I came back in,
he was chilling on the couch messing around on his phone. I was infuriated. I asked him what the
hell he was doing and he said he wasn't going to clean up other people's messes. This guy sounds like a top
tool. What an A-hole. So entitled, so thoughtless. I just, I have a really hard time with people
like this. So I get why you were angry. This is the guy who always makes a big group events go
sideways. It's so frustrating that these people even exist. I reminded him that he owed me
$250. And he was the only person here not to pay or contribute. He said he would pay me the $250
right then, but he was not going to clean. Oh, cool. So he did have the money. He just didn't want to
pay it. He doesn't want to help, even though he almost stiffed this guy completely and came
on the trip anyway. Cool, cool, cool. Yeah, this guy's a real class act. This guy's such a loser.
The nerve. I told him that wasn't an option. His options were to pay the 250 and help me clean,
pay me 350 and I would clean up for him, or get the fuck out of the place we were staying in.
He started grabbing his things to leave. Yeah. This fight is getting intense. So I told him,
fine, grab your shit and get the fuck out of here then, but I don't want to hear from you or see you again.
He left.
We had all been drinking, but I didn't tell him to drive home.
He could have slept in his car.
Still, I feel a little guilty,
especially since I pretty much blew up the end of my buddy's bachelor party.
Afterward, he told me I could have handled it better,
and said the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth.
Did I overstep here?
Was I wrong for kicking this guy out?
Since my buddy feels that I handled it so poorly,
should I resign as his best man?
Signed, a best man finessing this guest,
man, but ruining my friend's plans.
Wow, well, this is awkward just to hear about.
I can't even imagine what it was like to be at this bachelor party.
And I'm sorry this guy created so many problems for you.
It is 100% not cool.
This guy sounds like a total douche.
And like I said, I just don't have any patience for people who aren't decent enough
to pay their bills and pitch in their fair share.
It's not a lot to ask.
I have zero doubt that you were in the right.
It is so immature to be like,
I wonder if I can get away with not pay.
and I'm above cleaning up.
Like, are you a 12-year-old boy?
Only the most emotionally stunted people
try to pull stuff like this.
I do kind of love that you kicked the guy out,
which he's so richly deserved.
But at a bachelor party
where people are staying overnight
and you just want to create a fun weekend for your boy,
I do think there was probably a better way
to handle this guy.
You could have left the room for a few minutes,
calm down, maybe chatted with your friend
about how to respond, and then tried things a different way.
You could have said,
look, man, I can see you don't want to clean.
I know it's a drag.
All of us are pitching in.
It would be awesome if you would too.
And if he still puts up a fight,
you could have said, hey, I'm going to be honest.
I find this behavior really frustrating.
It's unfair to everybody else.
It's not really in the spirit of the weekend
we're trying to have here.
Are you sure this is how you want to act
at our friend's bachelor party?
You know, just kind of gently shame him a little bit,
make him see himself more objectively.
And if he straight up refused to help after that,
then I might have said something like,
okay, I see you're not going to help.
So I'm just going to say the fact that you haven't paid
and you're refusing to pitch in,
it's really uncool.
Not my place to give you a lecture or whatever,
but real talk,
you are acting like an a-hole right now.
And now that I say this, honestly,
I might not have even said that last part
at the Bachelor Party itself.
I might have just kept my mouth shut,
gotten some people to help me pick up the slack,
and then told him that once you guys were heading home,
if ever, just to keep the peace.
But anyway, those are a few ways
you could have communicated your frustration to this guy
without setting him off.
Again, not that he didn't deserve that and more.
In my experience, when somebody says something like that really calmly,
it makes so much more of an impact because then it's not like,
oh yeah, you're mad because it won't clean up your crap.
It's like, no, this is not an emotional reaction.
This is actually what this person thinks about me.
So I better listen.
It says, I'm calmly telling you that you are being a POS and everyone else can see it.
You're not even getting a rise out of me.
I'm just telling you you're a man child.
although now that I'm thinking about it, here's the thing.
People like this, they often have no shame.
Their emotional intelligence is through the floor.
They just have absolutely no self-awareness.
So it was probably always a losing game.
Yeah, good point, Jordan.
But also this was his friend's bachelor party, not his.
So I think ultimately it should have been up to that guy
to decide if somebody should be kicked out.
I agree.
If this was me, I might have gone to the groom and been like,
okay, Greg's being a dick.
He didn't pay.
He stiffed me on that.
Now he's refusing to help watch.
any dishes because he's above helping.
So part of me wants to yell and tell him to pay up or leave.
But, you know, look, your call, I don't want to overreact.
Do you want him gone?
You cool with him staying.
How do we handle this?
And then let your friend tell you what to do because it's his party.
He gets to decide he might not have even noticed that was going on.
I might have also just let this go because to me keeping a good vibe is probably more
important than trying to teach this caveman how to behave in a group setting,
but that's also just me.
I think I'm with you on that, right?
Especially because, like I said, he's not going to be able to teach
this grown-ass man how to act right.
That would have happened decades ago,
depending on how old these guys are.
I also wouldn't have thrown out the whole
pay me $3.50 and I'll clean up for you, think.
I think something about putting a price on the help.
Gabe, I'm going to go and assume a detail that we don't have.
This guy's successful, right?
The writer, I'm going to assume the other guy is a loser
and has nothing because he's acting like a loser
who's not a successful person in any way, shape, or form.
And I'm filling in a lot of blanks here that we don't have any info for.
But I'm going to go throw that out there.
and be like, something about putting a price on the help,
turning it into one of the guy's options
or he has to get the F out,
something about that rubs me the wrong way,
and I think it probably rubbed that guy the wrong way,
and it set his ego up where he had to be like,
fine, I'm leaving.
He left the weekend rather than like wash a dish.
I mean, what a turd.
Well, not quite.
He was kicked out.
The guy said, get the F out,
and he didn't leave on his own accord.
He was pushed out, but...
Yeah, but he could have just watched.
He could have been like, fine, I'll wash the dishes,
but only because you're going to kick me out, you jerk.
You know, he could have thought.
back, but instead he was like, I'm not going to wash a plate. I'm leaving, drunk in my car.
You know what? I'm actually really glad you brought this up because there is a layer to this
story about money. And that can be very sensitive to navigate, especially in a group setting where,
like you said, there are people of all different types who have different associations with this
stuff. I thought it was interesting that at the beginning of his letter, he said something
like, I feel like I'm his only friend who can even afford to travel to the wedding. And that's
probably a big part of why he chose me as the best man. And then when those three other people couldn't
make it, he mentioned that he's well off enough to eat the cost on this very extravagant weekend
that he planned. Now, there is obviously nothing wrong with this guy being successful. He does not
need to apologize for that. I'm happy that he's doing well. And honestly, he sounds very generous with
his money, which is awesome. But I find it interesting that he's so aware of his financial situation
relative to these other friends and that he feels like a big part of the reason he was chosen as best
man in the first place was that he could afford to fly out, which, look, maybe that's true. Maybe that
isn't. I have no idea. But it sounds like he's defining his role more in terms of the money,
the financial stuff, than his relationship with the groom. Yeah, I found that interesting too.
I can't really get a good read on whether it's actually the case or if that's just how he's
looking at things and maybe in the letter. It would be interesting for him to ask himself that,
but what I do have a strong feeling about is that the money thing could have easily played a role
in this conflict with the guy who didn't pitch into your point. Again, I might be assuming things now,
but let's just consider the facts.
This is the one guy who initially said he couldn't make it,
and then he decided to come at the last moment, but he never paid.
And now he's being told by the best man
who's clearly doing pretty well in life to clean up,
and when he refuses, the best man puts a price tag on pitching in,
which might have come across as, yeah, a little insulting,
a little demeaning, at least not the way he intended.
Our friend here said that the tension was building
from the moment these guys were not pitching in,
but it might have been building even before that
if this guy had some feelings about him from the very beginning.
So I just think that's something for him to keep in mind.
He's done nothing wrong by helping pay for the party and trying to corral everybody.
But he might want to be a little more thoughtful about how his financial position
might make certain people feel or, you know, how it might color and otherwise perfectly
legitimate request for everybody to help out.
I might even go a step further and say, I wonder if his financial position did actually
play a role in the way he behaved.
There was maybe a part of him thinking, look, I'm the one who at the way it's
cost on the weekend. I'm the one who threw down my credit card for the boats. I'm the one flying
all the way to the Philippines. The least you can do is pick up a freaking plate, Greg, and he's not wrong.
But his financial situation might have given him a subtle sense of superiority or power that made
him feel like he had license to rip this guy to shreds and tell him to get the hell out,
which is a pretty intense thing to say to somebody in your friend group, even if you are for Moscow
Mules Deep. So I'm going to let him decide if that even fits. Maybe I'm the one overstepping now,
but this bachelor party is a great opportunity for him to consider what ideas or attitudes he brought to that conflict.
And I think that's really important.
Could not agree more.
So should you resign as best man?
I don't know if that's necessary, but I would definitely talk to your friend about all of this, see how he feels.
If an apology is an order, which I think it might be, then say I'm sorry and maybe consider apologizing to this other guy, too.
Greg, I mean, that might sound crazy, but it might be appropriate if you could have handled that moment a little bit better.
And then I would ask your boy if he still wants you as his best man.
I'm sure he's going to say yes.
But if you continue on, then I would only make decisions that serve him.
Because again, it's his wedding.
And that's really the whole point.
That's exactly right.
And in the future, maybe just don't get into it with somebody when you're worked up,
maybe a little tipsy.
It's always a good policy.
I know that's when a fight is actually the most fun,
but it rarely ends well.
Have fun at the wedding, you rich bastard.
I'm sure you're flying economy and you're not going to cause a scene on the airplane.
That's a great move right there.
You know who else needs to get the fuck out with these incredible deals, the amazing sponsors that support this show.
We'll be right back.
Now, back to Feedback Friday.
Okay, next up.
Hi, Jordan and Gabe.
My boyfriend and I have been together for almost six years.
He's 34.
I'm 30.
And over the last three years, he's been dealing with family stuff that really challenged our relationship.
His family hasn't accepted me because I'm not Persian.
And his parents guilt him about taking care of them since the family.
they sacrificed everything to immigrate here and didn't plan for retirement. All of this, on top of the
pandemic, which caused him additional stress as he works in health care. I'm happy to say that we've come
out the other side and he set some healthy boundaries with his family. Generally speaking, I'd say we're
happy. We share a lot of the same goals and interests and our personalities complement each other nicely.
I'm ready to take the next step and move in together, but he's not in a rush. He also recently
voiced that he's not interested in ever getting married. Since neither of us want kids, he doesn't see
the point in getting the government involved in our relationship. When he said that, I felt like I got
punched in the gut, because he's the person I want to build a future with. He says he wants me and his,
but I don't know how to reconcile his words and his actions. I don't want to keep living separate lives
five to six days of the week and only hang out twice a week like we've been doing. I don't feel like I should
have to beg my partner to progress, and I don't want to give him an ultimatum. But when I approach
the topic, he shuts down and says he can't handle that change at the moment. Is it time for me to
cut my losses here? How should I approach this conversation with him? Signed, stuck on the bit,
where my dude won't commit. Oh, man, I'm sorry you're going through this. I can hear how hard this is
for you, and I get it. It does suck to really love somebody and you want to be closer, and to know they
probably feel the same, but then they can't or won't take the next step. It's a really tough
place to be. So this is tricky, because we can't know what your boyfriend thinks or feels. Maybe he
feels the exact same way that you do, but just doesn't put as much stock in marriage and living
together, although that kind of begs the question why? Because to your point, putting aside the whole
piece of paper, either you guys are together or you're not. Either you're merging lives in the way you
want to or you're not. And if he's not willing to do that, then you might be on different pages.
But the thing that's really standing out to me here is the family element. And I'm not super
familiar with Persian culture, but I lived in L.A. for a while. I got to know a few Persian folks,
and my impression was that they are extremely family-oriented. And the community can be,
not for everyone, not always, but generally, the community can be very insular, like many ethnic
communities, I suppose. So part of me wonders if his family is playing a big role.
here. They haven't accepted you because you're not Persian. Obviously, that's an issue. His parents also
guilt him about taking care of them, so they clearly raised him to prioritize them. And even if he resents that,
even if he disagrees, he might be punting on committing to you because he doesn't want to press the
issue with his family, because it's just too daunting. And depending on the family dynamic,
this level of pressure, it could be terrifying. Again, I have no idea what he's thinking, but that seems like
the obvious explanation. Well,
That and his general skepticism about marriage as an institution, right?
The whole getting the government involved in our relationship thing.
Honestly, Gabe, I don't know how much I buy that at all.
Because I'm guessing, coming from this background, he would be pretty keen on marriage.
Or at least feel the pressure to get married even if he's not a fan of the institution.
Look, the guy's 34.
He's basically an unmarried grandpa in the eyes of Persian society, especially first-generation immigrants.
Right, yeah.
He's basically Torshide.
What is, what is Torshide?
It's this word I just learned in Farsi.
I think it literally means pickled or it means like leftovers.
So it's like a single person who's kind of past their prime and you kind of feel bad for them.
That's Torshide.
Wow.
Yeah.
So her boyfriend is definitely straight up Torshide at this point.
Not really.
Obviously, I don't think that.
But his family must be going, hey, dude, when are you going to settle down with a Persian girl or whatever?
With a little asterisk because they wanted to be with a Persian girl.
Yes.
Who's part of their culture.
Exactly.
Exactly.
The little dagger starred next to it, whatever.
I mean, sure, he could be a black sheep, just not.
interested in getting married at all, but, okay, I could also see that being a very convenient reason
to not take the next step with her. Because that's harder to argue with, then, well, I'm afraid
to tell my mom and dad I'm going to marry a white girl who doesn't speak Farsi or can't cook
gorma subs. Right. Dude, that stuff is so good, though. Side note. She did say, though, that he set
some healthy boundaries with his family, but that doesn't mean that he's completely rejected their
values or their expectations for him, right? He could resist his parents' demands and still in the
back of his mind be very worried about disappointing them.
Which is why I'm a little concerned for our friend here.
I'm trying to tread lightly because, again, we just don't know what's in her boyfriend's
head.
Sure.
But neither is she.
All she has to go on is his actions.
And at the end of the day, they kind of speak for themselves.
I hear you, but I'm just not sure that this is as simple as you love him more than he
loves you and he just doesn't want to commit to you.
There might be a world where he loves her and he does want a future with her, but he's
genuinely caught between her and his family.
and instead of making a choice one way or the other,
he's just slow rolling their relationship
and kicking this can down the road
because he knows that it's going to be a huge nightmare.
Yeah, but I think what she's saying is,
hey, what's the difference?
Either way, he's choosing his family or himself over her.
And meanwhile, they're only hanging out twice a week,
which isn't nothing, but it's not a ton
when you're in a serious relationship for six freaking years.
Okay, so the parent stuff aside,
you're wondering if he's really as pumped about her
as she is about him.
Kind of?
I mean, I know it sucks to,
to hear that. I'm not trying to twist the knife, obviously, but I think she's at a point where
she's willing to look at this relationship very honestly. So it is at least something to consider.
Well, especially because she really does want to be closer and move in together and build
their life together. And that's literally not happening after six years. So it's a, yeah, it's a fair
point. But the thing that concerns me the most here is that when she brings this up, he completely
shuts down. That to me is, in a way, the ultimate factor. Yeah, for sure. This is too big of
an issue to be like, oh, I just don't want to talk about it. I'm playing Xbox. If they can't even
talk, even if she's not getting the answers that she wants, then what hope do they have for a really
good relationship? Not just for this, but for any issue that comes up when they're together.
Also, he says, oh, I can't handle this change at the moment. COVID's been hard on me. Okay, fine.
But at what point does it stop being a moment? It's been six years. Three of those years were
reasonably like, hey, maybe we should get married or take the next step. This could go on for another
three or four years, suddenly she spent a decade with a guy who just wants somebody to watch
Netflix and he take out Gorma Sobsy twice a week with, you know, and that's it.
It's a very fair point. So I think you do need to talk about this with your boyfriend,
but the agenda should be less, you know, when are you going to commit to me and more
help me understand what you really want and how you see our future. And in that conversation,
you have to make it okay for him to be very honest with you about any reservations he might
have, whether it's about his family and what they think of him or you or his values or his
feelings about marriage or about you or anything else that comes up, because you need to get clear
on how much of this is just a difference in beliefs about the traditional markers of a relationship
like moving in together, getting engaged, spending a certain amount of time together every
week, or whether he's avoiding something by keeping your relationship where it is. And while you do that,
I would also get clear with yourself about how much these things truly matter to you. And why?
These are all perfectly legitimate wants.
Don't get me wrong,
but it might be worth asking
what moving in together
or getting engaged to this guy
would give you
if you're not consistently feeling
the same commitment from him
because yes, he could cave
and move in with you
or pop the question,
but if he's fundamentally ambivalent
about the relationship,
none of those things are going to fix that.
If anything,
they're just going to make it worse.
For sure.
She needs to know what's really going on
in this guy's mind
and in his heart, full stop.
And I don't know.
I mean, if she can get him to honestly come to grips with the question of whether he would pull the trigger if she were Persian, you know, just start crying and ask him that question while he can't escape.
Block the door.
And if that doesn't work, get pregnant.
No, I'm kidding.
Do not do any of those things.
But she needs to know what's really on this guy's mind and heart.
And I hope that he can be totally honest with her because he really does owe her that at the very least.
And then she'll have all the information she needs to decide if this guy is the right person for her.
And if he is, that at some point, he's got to tell his family, look, guys, I know she's not the person
you pictured me with, but she's the one I want. You guys have to accept it. I mean, it's hard to
imagine her staying on the fringes of his life forever if they're going to have any sort of real future
together. To go find out if you're on the same page there, and then you'll know what to do. And we're rooting
for you. Man, it's a tough situation to be in. We only have a little small subset of facts,
right, Gay, but I just can't help but think if she were Persian, mom would be like,
like, when are you getting married?
I'm taking her dress shopping right now.
You know, we don't know the whole thing,
but man, if that's the hang up,
how do you get past that?
The parents have to either come to terms
with the fact that that's not necessary
or you need to do something else.
You know, he needs to set a hard boundary.
And if he's only going to try to stay in the middle
and sit on the fence, that's only going to work out poorly for you.
And I hope his parents and him, for that matter,
come around.
I really do.
All right, before we wrap up here,
I wanted to talk about something that happens.
I would say a decent and increasing amount around here,
especially lately as the show has grown a bunch.
And that is, people writing in and getting angry about some of our guests
and our advice or whatever.
So look, first of all, we welcome all responses to our show.
Favorable, unfavorable, neutral.
Gabe and I genuinely love hearing how the show lands with different people.
And when we discuss the comments we get, sometimes we'll go,
oh, yeah, we totally miss that.
or, oh, I could see why somebody took what we said that way.
Or sometimes we'll even go, wow, we completely got that one wrong.
Good to know.
Let's do better in the future.
So when I say I welcome feedback, I really do mean that.
We take it seriously.
But what happens more often, I'd say, is that someone hears something on the show,
and it's usually just one thing in a 15-minute segment.
They're not even responding to the segment or the show as a whole,
and they get triggered or they twist our words.
and then they go full keyboard warrior
and send me and Gabe an angry email
talking about why we're monsters
and they're unsubscribing
and fine unsubscribe.
The impulse to outrage though,
I've been thinking about it a lot lately
and I just wanted to talk about that
with you guys for just a moment here.
So quick story.
A few months ago,
we took a question from a person
who worked in healthcare
and a number of her colleagues
were by their own admission,
not exercising,
eating poorly,
openly complaining about their,
appearance specifically about how they needed to lose weight. And our take was basically, look,
it's their choice how they want to live their lives. But if you're close with some of them,
then you could respectfully tell them that you are concerned and help them see that they can
make better choices and support them in that. And that was our advice in a nutshell. Not an especially
controversial opinion, in my view. And not a crazy thing for a doctor to say to another
doctor who is openly acknowledging that they are not taking care of themselves. But sure enough,
I got a DM from a listener saying she used to listen to the show, but she doesn't listen anymore,
because, and I quote, you recently advised a man who wrote in to express an opinion at his new job
about a co-worker's eating habits, which, first of all, I found that very interesting because
the doctor who wrote into us wasn't a man. She was a woman, but this listener assumed that it was
a man. And I can't help but feel that that was because if it fit a certain narrative she had in her
head about how some chauvinistic blowhard telling a woman in his office that she's overweight,
and that supported her grievance better. But anyway, that's a footnote. That's a detail.
More importantly, when I responded to this listener's DM, I said,
so just to be clear, you disagreed with a piece of advice, so you ditched and unsubscribed from
the whole show? And her response was, and I'm quoting her again, when you're shaming an entire
sector of a population, yes. People listen to you and you come across as fat shaming. You told a man,
which again, not a man, but whatever, you told a man whose advice was not sought to give advice to
somebody based on your belief that overweight people need to be fixed. And I just find that response
very puzzling, everybody, okay? Because we never shamed an entire sector of the population.
If anything, Gabe and I encouraged this listener to be very thoughtful and very compassionate about the way
she approached her colleagues, knowing that it would be a difficult topic. Also, these colleagues
themselves were complaining about their weight, they were eating poorly in the office, and then openly
cracking jokes about how they refused to exercise. It wasn't like Gabe and I heard the story and
went, oh, you work with a bunch of fat people, it's up to you to tell them to put down the egg
mcmuffin and hit the treadmill, L.O.L. Look, if we were fat shaming by agreeing these are not
healthy choices, which is frankly a matter of nutritional science, not culture, then it must also
be true that these colleagues were fat-shaming themselves, right? Which I'm pretty sure that's not a thing.
But more relevantly, are we now saying that encouraging people to eat better and stay active is
fat-shaming? Are we now at a place in our culture where a doctor can't tell another doctor,
hey, if you don't feel good, I support you in improving your lifestyle.
I mean, if we can't even acknowledge to one another that there's such a thing as healthy
and unhealthy, productive and unproductive, if that's a reason to get so outraged,
especially at a couple podcasters who are just helping someone decide how to deliver a piece
of news that they want to share, then something is seriously wrong with our society.
And I just don't understand how we are monsters for saying that.
I get it. Appearance, weight, lifestyle, these are sensitive topics. But that doesn't mean we can't
even talk about them or that we should close ourselves off from hearing something difficult on a
podcast that we've been listening to for years, especially when it comes from a place of genuine
concern. So what I'm getting at here is just because something hurts your feelings or makes you
angry or makes you uncomfortable, that doesn't mean that it's automatically wrong or bad or ill
intention. In fact, those reactions are usually a signal that there's some kernel of truth to what
you are hearing. Otherwise, it probably wouldn't bother you so much. And I say that from personal
experience, when I am the most riled up by feedback, it's usually because it hit a nerve that I
haven't acknowledged yet. So all that to say, I will read every angry email or a deal.
you want to send my way. My inbox is always open. But having read literally hundreds of these messages
over the years, usually 99.9% good, I've noticed that nine times out of 10, the people who get
angry with us, or better yet, the people who get offended on behalf of other people, which, as you
know, that is one of my favorites, they usually need to look at their own vulnerabilities and their
own biases because their outrage, it's usually a smoke signal to something in them that is being
activated. In fact, it was interesting. Adam Grant had a tweet this week where he talked about this
exact thing and he said, and I'm quoting him here, a sign of emotional intelligence is moving
from, quote, you made me feel to, quote, this is how I reacted. Our emotions are not caused by
other people's actions. They are shaped by our interpretations.
blaming others gives them power over our feelings.
Taking responsibility empowers us.
I love that tweet.
Adam's a sharp duty,
has been on the show several times for that reason.
In general, I think it's a great practice to ask yourself,
okay, even if I'm right about this,
why am I so angry?
How is this person or this idea
finding a tender spot in me?
And obviously, I'm not talking about getting worked up
about things like violence or hate or racism
or genocide.
I'm not saying we can't be angry
when people say or do
objectively horrible things.
But if you're doing mental gymnastics
to literally redefine
healthy standards as fat-shaming
or self-neglect
as body positivity
or our decision not to have
pseudoscientific conspiracy theorists
on the show as censorship
or a fear of ideas,
just to name a few examples
of criticism we've gotten
in the inbox lately,
then I would really
encourage you to look at that and ask yourself, what precisely are you protecting? And just to be
clear, I understand there are people with metabolic disease. I get it. That's real. I understand there are
people with different builds. I understand that our culture has set impossibly high standards of beauty
for people, especially for women. This is not about aesthetics. I'm not defending anyone's right to be
judgmental or cruel. I'm advocating for our collective ability to engage with the
truth about what is scientifically healthy.
So we're not going to hold back on sharing these ideas just because they might
ruffle a few people's feathers.
Sometimes those feathers need to be a little ruffled, you know?
And just because you are pissed off, it doesn't mean you're right.
But the only reason I feel comfortable saying that is that Gabe and I are also committed
to reconsidering our position if we ever realize that we got something wrong, which is
holding ourselves to the same standard.
Hope you all enjoyed that.
I want to thank everybody who wrote in this week
and everybody who listened.
Thank you so much for that.
Go back and check out Anna Lemke and Ben McIntyre
if you haven't done so yet.
And if you disagree with anything in this episode,
you should unsubscribe and then take a screenshot
and then send it to me with an all caps rant
about why you will never take in any further information
from us ever again.
That's the part that I don't understand, Gabe.
It's like you disagree,
so you cut off the whole source, right?
That's the part that's really weird.
You're making that echo chamber smaller and smaller whenever you do that.
My other favorite thing is when 18 months later they sent us another angry email about something
else that pissed them off.
And it's like, wait, didn't you say you unsubscribed?
And they're like, well, I had to listen to find out if you guys were going to do this again.
I was like, oh, cool.
So you just couldn't give up the opportunity to be outraged all over again.
Well, thank you for sticking with the show.
I'm happy you're still with us.
Truth is, I think that they're waiting for our response so they can get into a fight with us.
And when we just delete that ish or reply in a very sensible way.
and we're not totally flinging and flailing.
I think that's very disappointing to people like this,
because I think what they want is attention and validation,
and we're just kind of like, yeah, we disagree.
Thanks for listening, and they're like,
I don't listen anymore.
How's that?
I'm hurting you wherever I can by unsubscribing,
and it's like, cool,
there's not literally hundreds of thousands of other more reasonable people
who are still listening next week.
I don't know.
I hate to lose a listener,
but at some point, it's like,
I'm only going to bend over backwards so far before I break,
and I know what that point is.
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Dig the well before you're Thursday, folks. Build relationships before you need them.
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the advice we gave here today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live
what you learn. And we'll see you next time. You're about to hear a preview of the Jordan Harbinger
show with an undercover FBI agent posing as an Islamic terrorist. I live with and grew up with
the religion of Islam. After 9-11, and knowing full well that this was not the religion that was being
portrayed, it kind of broke me a little bit inside. I was in law enforcement. I spoke Arabic. I'm a
Muslim. And my knee-jerk reaction was to simply help working undercover. It definitely is an adrenaline
rush, unlike anything I could describe, putting your arm around someone, telling them that you're
their best friend, getting them to believe you. But what attracted me a great deal to this case,
or what blew my mind about this case, was the fact that he was arguably one of the smartest, most
brilliant men I've ever been in front of. This guy was on the precipice of curing infectious diseases.
The shit that he talked about in his work was science fiction to him. How could someone so smart,
so brilliant, such a gift to humanity turn into a fucking killer, an absolute disgusting piece of
garbage overnight? He was the epitome of evil. So we're going up to his apartment and it was
right next to Ground Zero.
And he put his arm around me and looked up to where the towers were.
And he said, Tamer, this town needs another 9-11.
And we're going to give it to him.
I've heard him say so much horrible things for so long that you think at that moment in time,
I could have just accepted it and gone up and did my job.
But I couldn't.
I imagined killing him right there and then.
I imagine stabbing him in the eye with a pen I had in my pocket.
and leaving him for dead.
To hear more from Tomor El Nuri
about what drew him to the exciting and dangerous life
of undercover law enforcement work,
check out episode 572 of the Jordan Harbinger Show.
This episode is sponsored in part by Something You Should Know podcast.
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