TrueLife - Held at Gunpoint: Beauty, Madness & the American Circus

Episode Date: July 13, 2020

One on One Video Call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_US🚨🚨Curious about the future of psychedelics? Imagine if Alan Watts started a secret society with Ram Dass and Hunter S. Thompson… now open the door. Use Promocode TRUELIFE for Get 25% off monthly or 30% off the annual plan For the first yearhttps://www.district216.com/Transcript:https://app.podscribe.ai/episode/47259791https://open.spotify.com/user/31umib2vbp3dny7n36qdqw5ujxny?si=zljmd-spT1WZzTbL_-uuLQhttps://feeds.transistor.fm/truelifehttps://apple.co/2Qn9SELhttps://www.facebook.com/TrueLifefactz/https://www.facebook.com/[e-mail] 0 (0s): What's up. How's everybody feeling out there, guys. Enjoy your weekend. Did you have a, do anything special? Hanging out with the family, have a couple drinks, maybe have too many drinks on Friday, too many drinks on Saturday. You get up and go to church on Sunday. What'd you guys do anything fun? Oh, I'm just checking in on you guys. You know what I love you. You know, I haven't seen you for a couple of days and wanting to start this week off the right way. Give you guys something, hopefully to laugh about something, to think about so much tragedy going on right now. So much chaos. It kind of got me thinking it got me thinking about how in times of chaos in times of absolute uncertainty, you can find, I think you can find some pretty good humor. You can find that little golden nugget of comedy. And I want to give you an example of something that happened to me back when I was a young buck, I was probably, I don't know, let's say 17, 17 year old George Monte working at a pizza place. And it was up it's called ProQuest pizza, man. Some of you guys know upper crust pizza. They make a phenomenal pizza. This Italian guy, Frank DeStefano runs it. It was like a happening spot man. And like Frank would hire a bunch of kids. And when I say kids, I mean, you know, everywhere between 15 to like 26 and it was, it was, it was popping there, man. And it was all the, it kind of reminded me of you guys from that show happy days. And they, they would all go to like Al's diner, wasn't Al's diner, you know, were Fonzie would hit the jukebox and you'd be like, Hey, the music would come on. But all the kids would go there is what I'm trying to say. It was like, it was the happening hangout. And especially Fridays and Saturdays, like Fridays and Saturdays, it would just be packed in there, like standing room only. And just so, because everybody's listening to this, I'm going to try to give you some dimensions. So you would walk, you, you would drive up and then you would walk in the glass doors and you would tell the glass, you would go in the double glass doors on your right hand side would be a takeout window with a cash register. And then straight ahead of you would be the dine-in register about 10 feet from the door. And then you would follow all the way down the corridor. And there would be a bar where you would get your drinks, you know, be it soda or beer or wine or, or whatever. And then it opened up and like a really big dining room that probably had an occupancy of maybe 230 people. So it was a relatively large place, had a big screen TV and just think of your local pizza joint, man. Everybody's got a pizza joint in their, in their town or at least they did when I was growing up and this pizza place, it wasn't in a really bad area, but it wasn't in like a, a great area. It was kind of an older part of town. And it just so happened that that place got robbed a couple of times. And it just so happened that I was there two times it got robbed. And I don't know if anybody has ever been held at gunpoint before, but it can be kind of traumatic. It can also be kind of humorous. I know what you're thinking. It doesn't sound very funny. And it wasn't funny at the time, but looking back at it, there was some funny things that happened. So the first time, the first time was like on a Wednesday night and there was a three man closing crew. It was me, my friend ward and the manager, Frank de Stefano, and anybody who's ever worked in like a restaurant business knows that like right before, you're about to close. We were closing at 10 o'clock and like we were wiping down the counters and we're putting stuff away and doing the dishes. And, you know, there was only three people there. And so it turned out that Frank, he was in the very back part of like the, a, he was actually working on dishes back there. We had the industrial dish cleaner and that kind of stuff. And he took it upon himself just to be the dish guy for that night. I was wiping down like the counters and cleaning up all the dough and you know, putting stuff away and ward, he was out mopping the floor. So he was out in the game room. And the game room I forgot to mention is right. When you walk into double doors, instead of turning to the right to the cash register, you would take a left and you'd walk down about 20 feet. And there would be a game room that had like, I don't know, maybe 10 arcade games in there. And so about nine 50, nobody in the building, nobody there I'm wiping down. I'm ready to close. Get out of there. And ward comes back with the mop and the bucket and he says, George, we're going to get robbed right now. People are gonna kill us. And ward was kind of a jokester, but you could tell by the look on his face, he wasn't joking. So I'm like, dude, what are you talking about? That's what do you mean? And he's like, man, I was mopping the game room and I seen two guys outside the game room window with a gun man. And they were talking, Speaker 1 (5m 59s): I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? He goes, yeah, dude. He's like, I'm pretty sure they're gonna come in here and Rob us. And I was, you know, in that moment, that's one of those moments where time kind of slows down and you're like, Whoa, I'm trying to process this information from this guide. Obviously I don't want to get robbed or shot or anything like that, but I want to take him seriously. So he comes, he comes into the kitchen area and we're talking and he goes, man, I'm telling you, dude, shit's about to go down. And as he says that, I look up, like, I hear the door. You know, when the door opens, it has like a little bell, like ding, ding, ding, ding. And so as soon as we're talking, all of a sudden you hear that ding, ding, like someone came in through the front door. And so we get kind of quiet and we look up to the dining registered and there's two guys just staring at us at the dining register, like waiting to order. And ward looks at me and I look at him and he's because he doesn't say anything with his words, but his eyes tell me, Hey, these are the guys. And so the guys, the registers, they don't say anything. They're just, so now I'm I am a good processing. Wh...

Darkness struck, a gut-punched theft, Sun ripped away, her health bereft. I roar at the void. This ain't just fate, a cosmic scam I spit my hate. The games rigged tight, shadows deal, blood on their hands, I'll never kneel. Yet in the rage, a crack ignites, occulted sparks cut through the nights. The scars my key, hermetic and stark. To see, to rise, I hunt in the dark, fumbling, fear. through ruins maze, lights my war cry, born from the blaze.

The poem is Angels with Rifles. The track, I Am Sorrow, I Am Lust by Kodex Seraphini. Check out the entire song at the end of the cast. What's up? How's everybody feeling out there? Guys enjoy your weekend. Did you have a, do anything special, hang out with the family, have a couple of you?

Have a couple drinks. Maybe have too many drinks on Friday. Too many drinks on Saturday. You get up and go to church on Sunday. What'd you guys do? Anything fun? Oh, I'm just checking in on you guys. You know I love you.

You know I haven't seen you for a couple days and wanted to start this week off the right way. Give you guys something hopefully to laugh about, something to think about. So much tragedy going on right now. So much chaos. It kind of got me thinking. It got me thinking about how in times of chaos,

in times of absolute uncertainty, you can find, I think you can find some pretty good humor. You can find that little golden nugget of comedy. I want to give you an example of something that happened to me back when I was a young buck. I was probably, I don't know. Let's say 17. 17-year-old George Monty working at a pizza place.

And it's called Upper Crest Pizza, man. Some of you guys know Upper Crest Pizza. They make a phenomenal pizza. This Italian guy, Frank DeStefano runs it. It was like a happening spot, man. Then like Frank would hire a bunch of kids. And when I say kids, I mean, you know, everywhere between 15 to like 20s.

and it was it was pop in there, man it was all the, it kind of reminded me of, do you guys remember the show Happy Days and they,

they would all go to like Al's Diner? Was it Al's Diner? You know where Fonzie would hit the jukebox and you'd be like, hey, the music would come on. But all the kids would go there

is what I'm trying to see. It was like, it was the happening hangout. And, especially Fridays and Saturdays. Like Fridays and Saturdays, would just be packed in there like standing room only and just so because everybody's listening to this i want to try to give you some dimensions so you would walk you would you would drive up and then you would walk in the glass doors and you would to the glass you would go in the double glass doors on

your right hand side would be a takeout window with a cash register and then straight ahead of you would be the dine in register about 10 feet from the door and then you would follow all the way down the corridor and there would be a bar where you would get your drinks you know be a it's soda or beer, wine, or whatever. And then it opened up and did like a really big dining room that probably had an occupancy of maybe 230 people. So it was a relatively large place. Had a big screen TV.

And just think of your local pizza joint, man. Everybody's got a pizza joint in their town or at least they did when I was growing up. And this pizza place, it wasn't in a really bad area, but it was. it wasn't in like a great area. It was kind of an older part of town. And it just so happened that that place got robbed a couple times. And it just so happened that I was there two times it got robbed. And I don't know if anybody has ever been held at gunpoint before, but it can be kind of

traumatic. It can also be kind of humorous. I know what you're thinking. It doesn't sound very funny. And it wasn't funny at the time. But looking back at it, there was some funny things that happened. So the first time, the first time was like on a Wednesday night. And there was a three-man closing crew.

It was me, my friend Ward, and the manager, Frank DiStefano. And anybody who's ever worked in like a restaurant business knows that like right before you're about to close. We were closing at 10 o'clock. and like we were wiping down the counters and we're putting stuff away and doing the dishes and you know there was only three people there and so it turned out that Frank

he was in the very back part of like the dude he was actually working on dishes back there we had the industrial dish cleaner and that kind of stuff and he took it upon himself just to be the dish guy for that night I was wiping down like the counters

and cleaning up all the dough and you know putting stuff away and Ward, he was out mopping the floor. So he was out in the game room. And the game room, I forgot to mention, is right when you walk into double doors, instead of turning to the right to the cash register, you would take a left and you'd walk down about 20 feet

and there would be a game room that had like, I don't know, maybe 10 arcade games in there. And so about 950, nobody in the building, nobody there. I'm wiping down. I'm ready to close. Get out of there. And Ward comes back with the mop and the bucket. And he says, George, we're going to get robbed right now.

People are going to kill us. And Ward was kind of a jokester, but you could tell why the look on his face. He wasn't joking. So I'm like, dude, what are you talking about? That's, what do you mean? And he's like, man, I was mopping the game room. And I seen two guys outside the game room window with a gun, man. And they were talking.

Like, what? What the hell are you talking about? He goes, yeah, dude. He's like, I'm pretty sure they're going to come in here and rob us. And I was, you know, in that moment, that's one of those moments where time kind of slows down and you're like, whoa. And I'm trying to process this information from this guy. Obviously, I don't want to get robbed or shot or anything like that. But I want to take him seriously.

So he comes into the kitchen area and we're talking. And he goes, man, I'm telling you, dude, shit's about to go down. And as he says that, like I look up, like I hear the door, you know, when the door opens, it has like a little bell like ding ding ding, ding. And so as soon as we're talking, all of a sudden you hear like ding ding, like someone came into the front door. And so we get kind of quiet and we look up to the Dine Inn register. And there's two guys just.

just staring at us at the dining register, like waiting to order. And Ward looks at me and I look at him and he doesn't say anything with his words, but his eyes tell me, hey, these are the guys. And so the guys, the registers, they don't say anything. They're just staring at us. So now I am again processing what Ward said. So I call up Frank, the manager from the back. Hey Frank, can you get the Dining Register?

And, you know, Frank was in her. He wanted to get out of there. So Frank comes up from the back, and he looks at us just standing there. And then he looks at the guys at the Dining Register, and he looks back at me and Ward, and he's like, dude, what the hell is wrong with you guys? And Ward reaches out to grab on Frank's shirt, but Frank kind of shrugs him off.

and so Frank walks up to the dining register and he goes what can I get for you the guy pulls out a gun and aims it at Frank and he's like all your money one guy comes around and he points a gun at me in war tells us to get on the ground it was kind of it was pretty traumatic I mean looking back on it I don't think I was in any real danger but it was it was traumatic what I found really interesting was that you know after they robbed us or whatever where nobody got hurt, we called the cops. And the cops came down and they took our statements.

And what I thought was really interesting was that, okay, the cops, they separate you and then you give your statements individually. So we did that. And then after the cops left, we were sit around talking and I asked Ward, hey, what did the guy ask you? Did he ask you the same questions he asked me? And it turned out the cops asked all three of us

the exact same questions. However, all three of us had a different description of the perpetrators. I had them wearing a blue hat, Ward had I'm wearing a red hat. I had them like at 5, 6th, Ward had them like at 6.1. You know, and it kind of, well, not really humorous, it's interesting to think about how your perception of reality changes in times of crisis. It's interesting to think about how your perception of reality changes when you're threatened. And it lends credence to the idea that your sight is not for accuracy. Your sight is for survival.

So fast forward about another six months. This is on a Friday night. And this is where I found this one has a little bit more humor to it. Fast forward Friday night, it was grad night for Vista High School. And there was inside, we have a lot. had everybody working. We probably had 25 employees working. We were like a hive of bees. There's people walking in and out of the kitchen into the dining area. There's a line of people at the bar for drinks. There is a you know, pizzas in the oven, people making pizzas, people delivering pizzas.

And the dining room is at like full capacity. And so we're moving right along, you know, and everybody's working, having a good time, and the people are eating, and all of a sudden, you hear this, everybody, get the fuck on the ground right now. We're going to kill you. And then an eruption,

an eruption of chaos. Women's screaming, kids screaming. You know, and I remember looking out into the dining room and people are under their tables, it was again it was one of those moments where it's like a flashbulb memory where

I can recall it and it seems like it's still pretty fresh and so as I gave you the description before there was three guys one guy came in the double doors and one guy went to the right and he covered the takeout register the other guy came in

straight and covered the dine-in register and the third guy he came all the way towards the bar register where there's a little opening where the servers would go in and out to deliver pizzas to the tables and you could go out and bust tables

through that little hallway. The third guy came running in through there and then he came into the kitchen and he was pointing in his gun and again was just screaming at all the bus to get on the ground and making some threats. I happened to be

right by the bar register where the guy walked in. He could see his gun. I had a buddy of mine, my buddy Kevin. Kevin was older than me and Kevin was a big guy. He was probably six, say six two, maybe two-thirty. Think about like a college football lineman. And that's what this guy looked like.

He was a big guy, really funny, super cool guy. And he was working the bar register. And so there's a lot of things that happen, but I'll give you the play-by-play. first off starting with how I saw it in my conversation with Kevin because when the guy came through the hallway of course he yells to get down on the ground

and so Kevin he is on the ground with his head facing the inter-exit where you would walk in and out between the kitchen and the dining room and I am facing my head is facing his head so we kind of form like an L both of our faces are on the on the floor you know we're kind of starfished out and the perpetrator

had walked had penetrated the hallway past me and is kind of standing behind me on the inside and he's making his way towards the registers and so here's where it gets kind of funny my friend kevin okay now we're laying on the ground like cheeks on the cold freaking concrete right and he's like George

I go yeah what's up he says when the guy comes back I'm going to grab his leg I go what what did you say he says when the guy comes back

when he runs through I'm going to grab his leg and I'm thinking you know I'm thinking like that's a that's a fucking horrible idea so I'm thinking So I go I don't say that I just I just tell Kevin like

Why? Why are you going to grab his leg And Kevin pauses and he's like What the fuck you're talking about? He's robbing us And I'm like man I think it's a bad idea Like you don't got any leverage man like You think you're just gonna You think you're just gonna reach up and pull him down Like you can't do that man

Why don't you just pull on his pant leg And like let him know you're here The guy has a gun man That's a stupid idea He's like, what? I'm like, why don't you just reach up and like tickle his leg a little bit? And then Kevin gets quiet

and he's like, what the fuck are you talking about? Why would I tickle the guy's leg? He's like, that's stupid. And I'm like, yeah, so was your idea. So as we're bickering, the guy with the guns like, hey, you two, shut the fuck up. Knock it off over there, motherfuckers.

So I tell my friend Kevin, like I take my hand and I do like the little jazz fingers. I'm like, giddy, giddy, giddy, giddy, giddy, he starts laughing and I start laughing. It's pretty funny. You know, and that's one of those moments of crisis where, you know, it's... Even now thinking about it, I start laughing. But it was pretty traumatic.

It's pretty traumatic. But you can find those little nuggets of humor when crazy things happen like that. Another time, this one is not as violent of a story, but it's more of a story of being kind of quick-witted and having the ability to recover when you find yourself in a position of a position of ridicule. Let me explain to you what happened in this one. So this is in my younger days.

I was probably 26, 27, and we had shot out to Vegas, me and my buddy. Actually, a lot of us had shot up to Vegas. And it was me and my buddy Mario. A couple girls were with us. I think maybe Chance, Mike Ray, maybe Bernie. And we went to this big festival, and it was awesome. Had a great time tearing it up.

Had a bunch of booze. Did some gambling. And this party was a, it was like a theme party. So we were all kind of dressed up. I think it was like a pimping-ho party or something. And so we tore up the whole event, had a great time. and you know 2.30 or 3 o'clock it shut down and we were going to we ended up hooking up with some people that were going to go to this after hours party so we're walking to uh i didn't even know

the people who's after our party it was but ended up being like at the not the penthouse but you know pretty high up pretty high up it might have been at the the four seasons out there and as we were walking like i ran into an old first thing friend I hadn't seen in a while like we kind of crossed paths and I was like you know you know how like you're walking and you see a friend but you're still with your group so you don't want to stop too long so I see this guy this guy Ricky and he's like dude what up George oh Vegas man you having fun I'm like oh yeah we're hitting up this after hours party he goes oh yeah yeah and he takes he's like hey man put out your hand I go all right and he puts these two pills in my hand he's like eat those

so I eat them and like He stops, like I eat him, and then he just goes quiet and he goes, wait a minute, don't eat those. You know, so I'm like, oh man, what? No, I'm kind of freaking out a little bit. I'm like, do I already ate him? He starts laughing, he starts laughing. He goes, ah, no worries. I got some more of those.

Those are my last two. My friend has more. And I'm like, well, what were they? And he's like, oh, those were, those were two hits of ecstasy. I was like, what? So, long story longer. I keep walking. I'm like, all right, well, hey, you know.

know what, I might as well enjoy it. So I don't trip out. It takes about, we gotta catch a cab and then we walk around a little bit. And by the time we get to the hotel we're going, to the four seasons, you know, by the time we get out there and get situated, it's like an hour and a half. And like, dude, there's some like minor celebrities there. And, you know, the view is breathtaking, man. I remember just looking out like this huge window and being like, oh my God.

What? Dude, is that Dennis Rodman over there? Kind of tripping out and like, but all of a sudden, like the pill start hitting me. You got, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know if anybody's, if you've never taken ecstasy before, but, you know, about an hour and a half in, two hours in, all of a sudden you're like, you know, you're taking some pretty deep breaths. Everything's kind of breathing. Your mouth is dry. You're kind of chewing the inside of your mouth. And, uh, I thought it was a pretty deep breath.

pretty good time to take a seat and kind of kick back for a minute. So I'm sitting at the table. There's like a little dining room area and I'm sitting at this table and kind of close my eyes for a little bit because that's how I was feeling. I was enjoying it. Sipping some water. And, you know, I didn't think I had my eyes closed for that long. But I kept, I kept feeling like that pins and needles.

You know what I mean by that? like you kind of feel like the little pins and needles like if your arm falls asleep or your leg feels asleep and then when it when you wake back up it kind of get you like that little shocky that little pins and needles feeling i was feeling that all over my body but then like i kept kind of feeling it like on my cheek but it was a little bit harder like it didn't really it felt like more like a little like a little tapping or something and i kept feeling like every a few seconds. And so, I'm like, what the heck is that?

And so I kind of open my eyes and I'm, you know, I probably look like I was just out of control. I mean, I was out of control. Who am I kidding? And so I feel it on my cheek again and I open my eyes and I look around and I see these two girls in the kitchen that were like, oh man, they were beautiful. Like think of, they were vagus beautiful. You know what I mean by that?

They were Vegas beautiful. Like they were all wearing some kind of designer dress, but like they just looked really attracted, really sexy. And their hair was all done. They looked really pretty. And I looked at them and I looked around and they were just talking to themselves. Plus I'm out of it, man.

All my two pills deep. So I don't really know what's going on. And so I kind of, I just looked out at the ground. There's like these little ball, like it looks like little, little, little balls on the ground. I'm trying to put this together. I'm like, dude, what the hell?

And as I'm doing that, pink, like a spitwad, hits me on the cheek. And then, like, I come to the realization. Oh, these fucking girls. These girls are shooting spitwads at me. Right? So, like, as I'm thinking that,

like, I hear them chuckling. And I'm like, ah, these girls. And I'm thinking to myself, dude, how do I, how do I tackle this? situation. I got two hot girls spitting spit wads at me. How do I turn this thing around? So I, uh, I raise up my head and I look over there and I catch up like, girl had the straw in her mouth. And I'm like, ha ha, you know, I look at him and I smile and I'm like, hey, are you

girls, are you girls shooting spitwads in me? And they both start laughing and they were like, yeah yeah we definitely were we had a bet to see how many we could hit you with before you realized it and uh i kind of started laughing and i'm like well who won the bet and they're like well no one yet and so they're like well we were just kind of worried about you too like you were like kind of mumbling and like you were bobbing your head all crazy are you all right and i'm like you know what ladies you have no idea what happened to me on the way out here. It's the craziest story that has ever happened in my life. And I don't, I just, I'm trying to process it.

I don't know if anybody can make any sense of it. And so now I piqued their interest. And they're like, really? I'm like, yeah, it's crazy. I don't, you want to hear it? And they were like, yeah, absolutely. So in this, in this room, there's probably like 50 people. And as I tell that to the girls, I'm going to tell you the story,

they kind of come over and they sit down and they're like, well, hey, who are you here with? And I'm like, oh, see that guy over there? That's my buddy Mario. He's playing some dominoes or something over there. And they're like, oh, you're with that guy? And I'm like, yeah, see those girls over there? The twins over there, I'm with them. And they're like, what?

You're not with those girls. I'm like, yeah, you're right. I'm not with them. I mean, they're all with me. You know, got to flip it on them a little bit. So they start laughing. And they didn't believe me. They're like, those are not your friends.

And I'm like, those are totally my friends. So I say, hey, Mario, what up? Hey, I'm going to tell him that story about the ride out here. Kind of give him the heads up. Like, I'm going to tell the story. And then I tell the girls like, hey, ladies, I'm going to tell this girl the story. Do you care? And they're like, oh, George, you're going to tell him that story?

I'm well, yeah. And so as I do that, I, uh, you know, more people are beginning to to hear me talking. So those two girls that were in the kitchen come when they sit down next to me. And as I call for my friend Mario and then the girls, they hear me about to tell the story. So they kind of walk over this way a little bit and they bring the people they were talking to. So as I begin the story, there's started off with two people and then four and then 10 and then, you know, everybody in that room was kind of jacked up. So as the story progressed, I pretty much got.

everybody's attention. And I'll tell you the story like I told it to them. So here's what transpired. So those girls come and sit down next to me. Let me get a drink of water. So those girls come and sit down next to me. And they're like, okay, tell me what happened. I go, all right.

I go, well, me and my buddy Mario and these two beautiful ladies right here, We were on our way to Vegas And You know We were driving my I had a 76 Cadillac I was badass And

We're driving And me and my buddy Mario Super cool cat Sometimes we would You know we're too We're too like that We were two young Swinging dicks

And we would always Kind of compete with each other A little bit And you know how guys are Man Especially young guys Just talking a lot of shit and so we get out to like a little bit past barstow which for us was a little bit past halfway

and there's a you know there's nothing out there and i don't know if it was i don't think it was zizzix it was it was some obscure off ramp but there was like a a guy out there that was like dude he's like a bum you know what i mean had like a long like trench coat on scraggly hair had all this belongings and like a plastic shopping bag and so we're cruising and my uh my buddy maria goes hey george i dare you to pick that guy up you know and i'm like dude that that guy up there and i'm like i'll fucking do it because he's trying to get you know what i mean he's trying to make me look like a punk he's like i'll make you look dumb in front of these girls but me with my ego i'm like all right i'll do it and so as i slow down the Cadillac like i pull over a little bit

And do the guy is, ah, he was a real gym. You know what I mean by like that? He was, he just looked like the wrong guy to pick up. So of course I pick him up. And it gets even crazier because. So in the Cadillac, there was, there was, I'm driving, my buddy goes sitting shotgun, and then the two girls are in the back. So the hitchhiker, he jumps in the back,

and he gets in next to the girls. Now already I know what you're thinking like this is a horrible idea George and that's exactly what I was thinking And so in my mind I'm like okay well we'll just drive for a little bit and then we'll kick this guy out or something And it was it was a really awkward silence so the guy gets in and I start driving a little bit and now all of us are like Okay, what are we doing? This is dumb and Like he kind of scoot over close to the girls like the girls are sitting next to each other on the left side now he's right next to him on the right hand side and And, you know, to make, to make some conversation, people are trying to ask him questions. Like, one of the girls asked him, oh, hey, what's your name?

And, like, he just, he's just dead silent. He doesn't say anything. And then, you know, she tries again, like, oh, where are you headed to? And, like, he just doesn't say anything. He just has, like, his just eyes are, like, stone, just staring forward. And so my buddy Mario turns around and he's like, what's up, man? He's like, hey, what you got in your bag there? and the guy's like

fuck you none of your goddamn business what's in my bag like he didn't say anything but when you talked about his bag he started flipping my buddy Mario is a pretty big guy so

like I could see him kind of change my buddy Mario is like okay I'm gonna have to knock this clown out and so we're driving a little bit you know and I'm looking there's no real pull-off so I can't really pull off

but I'm thinking like okay I'm at the next little turnout I'm gonna pull off and fucking kick this guy out of here. And so I'm trying to make time looking for a spot. So I turn around and I'm like, do listen, man, we're cool enough to give you a ride if you got a gun or you got some drugs in there. Because now I'm thinking, do maybe the guy's got a gun in there.

Maybe he's got something in there that like, you know, could kill us. Or maybe he's got something in there that's like contravan or, you know, why would he get all butt hurt when you ask about his bag? And so I turn, I am driving. Look, man, if you go. got like some drugs you got a gun in there just tell us you know and look we're going to drop you off but i want to know what's in there so that you know if we get pulled over or something i'm not responsible for it and he's like fuck you none of your goddamn business what's in my bag fuck all you guys man

you all want my fucking bag none of your goddamn business what's in my bag so at this point in time there's nowhere to turn over so i i just pull off kind of by the side of the road and we get out and the guy gets like open the door my front my front my front my front my friend my buddy Mario jumps out like the girls are super scared so but Mario jumps out the side grabs this guy pulls him out I get out the the driver's side and I come around and like there's some shoving that goes on and like dude my buddy Mario just wow like shoves this guy super hard he falls to the ground he gets back up and then he kind of gets in our face and he's cussing and he's like yeah motherfucker you just being a belligerent you know what I mean just being a belligerent he's like you want

you just want to fucking steal my bag none of your business what's in my bag and so look like that's it we pushed him we didn't hit him or run him over like that we just pushed him and then he got up and started walking away so imagine that so far imagine that process now I'm telling this story in front of this whole room of people some of whom I know and some of whom I don't know and the whole room is now listening to my whole story like just hanging on the edge like 50 people at this party, you know? Especially the two girls that were shooting spitwads at me. It's important.

And so, back to the story. After we pushed the guy he runs out, we jumped back in the Cadillac and we're driving. And the girls, they just let me and my buddy Mario, they're like, you guys are so dumb. Like,

why would you do that? First off, that guy sat back here with us. We were in danger. You guys were fucking egomaniacs. That was so dumb. You put us in danger and you know like that could have been a real issue and so obviously they're right they're right and so there's another uncomfortable silence for like 10 minutes like we're all just kind of processing what happened like yeah that was that was really dumb we shouldn't have done that and so then one of the girls says guys and we're like yeah she goes that fucking guy left his

bag in here and we were all like what no way she goes yeah he fucking left it right here in the middle of the seat it was crazy like all that all that smack talking all that shit about none of your business what's in the bag and the fucking guy left it right in the seat i know what you're thinking because everybody at the party was thinking the same thing right when i said that right when i said to the whole party. I said, listen, then the guy left his fucking bag in the car. You know what everybody in unison said at the party? In one voice, but the two girls next to me that were shooting spit wads, what was in the bag? What was in the bag? And then you know what I said? None of your fucking business. Oh! And the crowd goes wild. And the crowd goes wild. And the crowd goes wild.

George Monty swinging for the fences. And that, my friends, is how I turned that particular situation around, which was not easy considering the state that I was in, which just goes to prove, if you can take a few minutes to think about your strategy, the nine out of ten times you can come up with an idea that'll win. And a lot of times the idea that will win will be the idea that makes people laugh. I took these, it was, it was phenomenal.

It was phenomenal. These girls were looking at me like I was some sort of a wounded dog. I could see it in their eyes shooting spitwads at me. Fifteen minutes later, they're looking at me like, oh my God, look at this guy. Which brings up another point. He who learns to speak in front of crowds well will never have to dine or sleep alone. So that's what we got today. Finding humor and adversity, having the ability to think under pressure,

and coming up with ideas that make people laugh. If you can harness those little tidbits, I think you can find more meaning in your life and understand that when something crazy happens, to you, it doesn't have to be a tragic event. It can be an opportunity. I love you guys. And I will talk to you soon. Have a great Monday. Aloha.