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Craig jumps in and chats with us about Theme parks, Insurance, Orlando, and more!

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Transcript

Opening: Stuart's Nap and Aging Jokes

00:00:04
Speaker
Shail day, do-vil day, leel day, do-vil day Shail day, do-vil day
00:00:30
Speaker
stressful for you i'm like craig i feel so bad i'm wasting your time blah blah and i'm like this dude needs to wake the fuck up i'm i'm when you said i'm coming i was about to tell craig like i'll dude i'll reschedule i apologize you're fucking at the year it's all good all good don't let him off the hook i also like to sleep wherever i can so i understand the struggles
00:00:55
Speaker
Oh my gosh. It's not that I like to do it wherever I can. It just fucking happens. Yeah. as We're old, dude.
00:01:05
Speaker
I try to watch movies sometimes and I just fall asleep even when I'm interested in it. It's great. Fucking great. I hate getting old. All right. Are we ready, gents? Yeah.
00:01:16
Speaker
Yeah. All right.

Defining Masculinity

00:01:18
Speaker
Hey, kids. Welcome to Toxic Masculinity with Ian and Stuart. This week we have my friend Craig with us. How we doing, fellas? How's everybody doing today? Doing good, doing good.
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, I'm good, yeah. Stuart's waking up because he's a he's an asshole. I decided to sleep on a nap. Craig and I are waiting for him. But I feel ah ah feel good, chair yeah. You just had a nap. You should feel good.
00:01:43
Speaker
um Yeah, I feel like someone has just woke me up and put a microphone in front me. That's pretty much what happened. had to follow you in two different ways and you still didn't wake up, so... Yeah, it's a bit mad.
00:01:56
Speaker
Yeah, you fucking asshole. All right, Craig, we start every show by asking our guest, what does masculinity mean to you?
00:02:06
Speaker
Huh. So, I would say... it's more of a ah comfort in knowing who you are. And I think that's the best, that's the easiest way to explain it. Some people feel like it's about strength and just like, what's the word? Like machismo or whatever it might be, but no, it's just like being comfortable in yourself and your own skin and not being, what's the word?
00:02:37
Speaker
Not and just that not, just not being self-confessed, self-confessed, Conscious. once just Yeah. I do that too. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. It's got the same. That's pretty much in my definition. So I'm somebody finally agrees almost exactly with me.
00:02:51
Speaker
What do you think brought you to that conclusion? Like what kind of influences and stuff maybe? I feel like i i've had ah it see I've had a decent life.
00:03:03
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I played sports as a kid. i was in extracurriculars and all these things. and I've always was raised to be like, don't ever let anyone...
00:03:16
Speaker
think other than like you're, you think, you think how you, you are of what you think you are. yeah Um, and don't let anyone change that about you. And I've seen guys who I think are like the most macho, macho men get torn down by just a word.
00:03:32
Speaker
ah someone saying that, that their, their biceps are too small, then they're, they're, they're, they're torn apart. And someone says that to me, I'm like, okay, like I'm good with that. Whatever. I'm happy. Um, so,
00:03:45
Speaker
it so I think I had a very nice life and nice childhood that just helped me. My parents were like, just be confident, don't worry about anyone else, and you'll be fine in life.
00:03:57
Speaker
And now that's how I came to that conclusion about masculinity. I mean, that seems like the best answer we've had ever. be it Oh!
00:04:11
Speaker
I think we're done here, folks. That great. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for having me. That was an excellent 47 episodes. Thank you.
00:04:19
Speaker
Once you get the right answer, that's it. Yeah. No, that's it. It's a, your, your parents are pretty good one. That's a, they did a, they, the, yeah. yeah they they tried They tried their best. is Stuart's a parent. So, you know, Lord help us all. No, just kidding.
00:04:39
Speaker
Stuart, what you been up to, man?

Amsterdam Adventure

00:04:41
Speaker
and What have I been up to? Yeah. Um, What have I been working? All of the working, lots of the working.
00:04:51
Speaker
um Last weekend I was in Amsterdam. ye For like two days, not like 30, 36 hours or something like that. It was, we went for a concert.
00:05:06
Speaker
It was, um it was fun. It was everything you would expect from 36 hours in Amsterdam. It was intense. and and So it was. um We drank for 24 hours straight.
00:05:21
Speaker
Sounds about right. wow Pretty much. um It was good. It was good. It was good. We popped out of the room for one beer at the bar in the hotel and drank two cases of beer. Oopsies. And the guy came out and went...
00:05:36
Speaker
What the hell? He was looking at the tables covered in bottles. And he went, what's happening here? he goes, where you from? we went, Ireland. He went, oh, that makes sense. He was like, all right, all right. But it's not our fault. If they were selling three but they were selling three bottles of beer for like nine euros, and we were like, oh, Jesus.
00:05:56
Speaker
You know what mean? If you're going to sell odd numbers, that's not our fault that we had to keep buying them because there was always one left over. And we have that we had a really good time. It was fun. We went and seen orbital playing on Friday night.
00:06:11
Speaker
Oh, that's pretty cool. It was, it was awesome. So that was nice. Kind of nice felt like it was there for a long time. was very, very tired by the time I got home.
00:06:22
Speaker
No shit. You just drank all that stuff and stayed awake. It was crazy. But if you've, if you've never, if you've never been to Amsterdam, it's great. It's a great, it's a great city.
00:06:33
Speaker
um i was I went to meet the guys on Saturday afternoon. i had a lie in, they didn't. I was like, fuck you guys, I'm not getting up. So um I went to meet them at the bar. They were in a bar.
00:06:46
Speaker
and was was walking through Amsterdam. There's a very big square in the middle of Amsterdam. And I walked in there and there must have been... four or 5,000 people standing in square. Nice. and Protesting.
00:07:03
Speaker
Yep. As is the human way at the moment. and Protesting fascism. As is the way in the moment. As is the way at the moment. um They had various signs, which I'm sure you can understand. and and So I i so seized the opportunity to take some photographs and there was lots of free Palestine and um fuck Trump, fuck fascism, fuck racism, shocking lots of that going on in the middle of Amsterdam.
00:07:42
Speaker
And it was like, this is pretty cool. that's pretty And and they were under they basically walked up and down for like four hours. It was...
00:07:55
Speaker
It was pretty awesome. That's pretty cool. it was.

The Melanin Meetup: Origins and Impact

00:07:59
Speaker
I know Craig through Jalen, who you met, Stuart. Oh, yeah. And I know Craig because he's the one that does the melanin events that I am somehow able to get into with a severe lack of melanin.
00:08:11
Speaker
I say you know a black person and you bring that black person, you're more than welcome to join. Right, okay. what ah What made you start doing those meetups, man? yeah.
00:08:22
Speaker
A couple of things. um But I feel like it started like right a little bit right before COVID. Yeah. i Back before TikTok was a thing, Instagram was like the main spot where people like interacted.
00:08:36
Speaker
Yeah. And I just met like a lot of like Black people that liked Disney. Mm-hmm. a lot of them were on the west coast so we needed someone on the east coast to to do things and i was i had i have a a niece and i always went to the park with her so people just called me uncle craig around the park so then i just said well if i'm the uncle i might as well start hosting things and i've done movie events i've done brunch things we've done we did like the philanthropy thing one time at top golf which is like we raised money for um
00:09:12
Speaker
local schools in in the area. So, uh, it's just something that also my, I was taught on, like, if you don't help the community, then how else it like, like, cause you're also going need help at some point. So to help as much as you can for sure. So, yeah, that's how I got to that.
00:09:29
Speaker
That's pretty cool. Yeah. I mean, I did the movie thing. i did a, I think it was a brunch that you had last night. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have another one coming up or one that just passed? Cause I have one on this Saturday, actually. That's right.
00:09:42
Speaker
I was trying to make, make time for it because this Saturday I'm slammed the next two weekends. i'm just getting ready for a work trip. so I can't really do much, which said was just really sad. Um, how long you been doing that for, man?
00:09:55
Speaker
So let's see, I guess now be what the brunch thing. ah This would be my fourth one. yeah Well, fifth, I think I did one in California last year, but fourth annual in Orlando.
00:10:09
Speaker
um And then I've been doing these community events since COVID. So yeah five years now. That's pretty cool, man. yeah It's really cool. You get stuff out of it to yourself from doing it.

Disney Traditions and Family

00:10:20
Speaker
um Just the joy. of course. I'm not asking about money. that Yeah, people think I make money off these events. I don't. I know you don't make money. I you don't make money. I break even half the time. Yeah. Um, so yeah, especially like when do like the movie screens, I have like giveaways I give to people and it's literally out of the kindness of my heart. I'm just like going to the store, buying stuff just to, just as a thank you for coming to my event. Um, and if you win, you win.
00:10:49
Speaker
Um, so yeah. yeah they're Yeah, they're fun and great, man. It's really cool to meet a lot of the people, too, because they're there are other influencers. For those that may not know, I am a steward as well.
00:11:00
Speaker
Circulate in theme park people areas. So it was cool to meet other like other influencers and the ones I already knew. yeah I am not an influencer. Stewart is not my job. I am i am a i am a ah i am a hype man at best and and an egg McMahon at worst.
00:11:21
Speaker
That is my job on that other podcast. Are you a journalist? Would you count yourself as a journalist? No, I don't do any of that shit. That's Alicia. I just show up and run my mouth. That's pretty much it. does He just sits around and looks pretty.
00:11:36
Speaker
I don't even look pretty. You didn't bring that to the table. um What got you into the parks, man? Speaking of like masculinity and things that people don't think is very adult, let alone masculine. I'm a Florida native. I lived in Miami i hope not my whole life. thought I was raised in Miami. and yll right okay so Disney was a hop,

Theme Parks and Friendships

00:11:57
Speaker
skipping away. we went to Disney every like Thanksgiving time or Christmas with family.
00:12:04
Speaker
And ah my mom, my whole family breakup is, my mom's Jamaican and my dad's from America. And my mom came to America with the whole like vision of like what an American family does. And ideally, that's Disney.
00:12:21
Speaker
So we watched Disney movies since we had. Our lives were Disney, pretty much. So when I got old enough to have my own money, i was like, I'm buying myself a Disney pass and have been spending money at Disney ever since.
00:12:38
Speaker
Um, they have, they have my life at this point, but yeah, I haven't stopped. And now that I live up here, I want my niece and my nephews to have the similar things that I had like since they live here. It's, it's not as important as like a Thanksgiving trip.
00:12:56
Speaker
So I bought right now my niece to pass. She's had a passport. six years now yeah and i was just like giving her like the all right we're gonna go to disney this is a big thing everyone gets to do this we're gonna the rides we're experience everything and now my nephew who just turned six is like when am i getting my pass and i'm like i don't have money When are you getting a job? Yeah. I was like, ask your sister to get a job so she can pay for your pass. So I'm like, I'm not paying for three annual passes at Disney. Yeah, no. So, but yeah, he's like, and whenever I i take her to the park, he's like, I want to go. I'm like, all right, let me find a ticket for you. Yeah, that's a, that's a, that's a tough one.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's easier for, for that than coming all the way across the ocean. So, But ah yeah, Stuart and I bonded over like similar people in Universal, and then COVID brought us together even more.
00:13:57
Speaker
And he's like one of my best friends. so And it's all because of theme parks. And it's weird because i think people have a misconception. like There's so many reasons to like theme parks. It's not just rides and stuff. like I actually but find the technology and the designing the most interesting parts for me. so It's cool to do the rides. It's super fun to see what technology can do nowadays.
00:14:17
Speaker
The stuff that's coming up at Epic is some of it's going to blow people's minds away. I've been lucky enough to go. I think Craig was saying he went too. Stuart has to deal with just going to Amsterdam. But you're going to be like, if yeah you you'll make it. You'll make it over here. will at some point. but i my by by i don't know when.

Stuart's Flying Fiascos

00:14:39
Speaker
like He was just here last year. They were coming. You guys came the last two years, right, Stuart? Yeah. and Yeah, I've been fair amount over the past while. and then And the plan was that I would be there this year for Halloween Hornets again. Mm-hmm.
00:14:59
Speaker
a
00:15:02
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. You know, geopolitical situation as it is, ah I'm not entirely convinced that's going to happen now. Yeah. but Like a lot of people. Yeah.
00:15:14
Speaker
There's just too much going on in the world. There's lot. Yeah.
00:15:18
Speaker
On top of that, planes are just falling out of the sky over here. so Well, that but there's this am I am not. I am the world's most unnervous flyer. Yeah. and because we're all Flying into Belfast on Saturday night.
00:15:34
Speaker
um
00:15:37
Speaker
so
00:15:40
Speaker
i am Good story. So in Amsterdam, there's a lot of there's a lot of things that are legal, right? Yeah, for sure. In Amsterdam. And I'll be honest, airports are a fun experience when you're... Coming back from Amsterdam? Having an altered experience.
00:15:59
Speaker
and ah So anyway, we were coming into land in Belfast and it was very windy out. Yeah. And i was looking across the road at all my friends, and I was like, ooh, that's a pretty intense bank on this plane that we're doing. I'm looking at the ground. Oh, man. I said to him, this is a pretty intense bank. And my mate was holding on to the seat.
00:16:26
Speaker
He's like, that's fucking, what the fuck? I was like, that's pretty intense. He goes, is the plane bending? Yeah.
00:16:37
Speaker
It be. No, no, it's fine. It's okay. There's been a bit of flex in her. You're all right. Oh, man. But it was a pretty... it was pretty the The pilot did well to get her down the way he did. it was It was one of those landings that i am people that and aren't great flyers...
00:16:56
Speaker
uh, our time with, um, used underwear. It was pretty intense. Um, but fuck, it made me laugh. But, uh, how did we get onto that subject?
00:17:09
Speaker
Let's talk about you flying over here. Yeah. Oh yeah. Um, I'm not an I'm so I had a great time in that and I'm not a nervous flyer at all.
00:17:20
Speaker
But the amount of things that have been good on with your air traffic control and safety record. They're like one offs. One-offs. Well, there's been more in the first couple weeks that it happened than it went in 16 years or something like that. Yeah, there was like one-offs. Like eight one-offs. One every five days in a very short space of time. But they haven't happened since, so it's all good now.
00:17:53
Speaker
Okay. Okay. I like your, uh, I like your confidence. I'll be on a plane in a couple

Craig's Career Shift: Theme Parks to Insurance

00:18:00
Speaker
of weeks. I'm fine. Yeah, I know. And I'll probably, I know once I know, i absolutely, I'm fully aware at the very moment they announce all those fucking houses for Halloween Horror Nights, I'll be like, I guess I am going to risk it You know, it's the classic Eddie Azar line, cake or death?
00:18:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:23
Speaker
no and I'll have to, I'll have to, I'll probably have to, I'll probably end up over there at some point this year and then try and get in into Epic because i am overly excited about that.
00:18:37
Speaker
In fact, Cora's seen a video of it and was like, o we mean we we We need to go there. I says, are you going to go on the ride? She went, no. no I says, then you ain't going.
00:18:52
Speaker
So unless you're going on rides, you're not buying your ticket. um um So she's going to have to think about that. But that yeah, yeah, it is a weird one.
00:19:05
Speaker
Dude, you're flown in. I think, Craig, you probably have. you've been to California. You've flown into John Wayne Airport before? Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Dude, that's an experience, Stuart. You're coming down the side of the Rockies, so it's really steep. You come in really steep, and you take off really steep. It's great. Yeah. I think I've heard about that. I stopped flying into John Wayne. All right.
00:19:26
Speaker
It's intense, it' little intense. It's little intense for me now. Yeah. I love things like that. I mean, I, I, I do love flying. I don't have any problems with it at all, but for just, for some reason, the thought at the moment i was just made me nervous.
00:19:46
Speaker
Yeah, that makes sense. Flying over there, which is a bit weird. We saw noise, it makes me sad. We have so many friends in the States. I'm doing all small airports, so I'm not worried about it. I'm flying out of a small airport, and I'm landing in a really small airport.
00:20:01
Speaker
Not the smallest airport I've landed in, but pretty small. So we'll see how that goes. But all right. You'll have a wee whistle. And going to have a few we link you have a few we drinks and just get drunk for the landing. I'm not worried about it. Yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
Work can pay for it. Oh, man. So, Craig, what have you been up to, you man? how What are you doing for work and stuff now? Uh, so I'm in the fun world of insurance.
00:20:30
Speaker
Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, it's great. It's great. Uh, what kind of insurance are you doing? Uh, auto insurance in Florida, in Florida. Oh my God. it It's fun. It's fun.
00:20:42
Speaker
Um, but yeah, it's fun because I use majority of my, my, my career has been theme parks. I worked for the parks for like 15 years and then COVID changed all that. then I had to pivot.
00:20:57
Speaker
And I went into law, which I never thought I would get into law. yeah And I worked in for a law firm for like three years. That's quite pivot. Yeah, it's quite. But it's a fun law firm. I mean, is it fucking Disney?
00:21:14
Speaker
It's. Is it a law firm with ears? It's a law firm that is very medicinal-based. friendly. Oh, that's a fun law firm. All right. Okay.
00:21:28
Speaker
yeah i Yeah. The owner has coined himself as pot daddy. Oh, there you go. That doesn't sound too bad. If you know, you know.
00:21:38
Speaker
That doesn't sound bad at all. So yeah, that was a good time. a fun time indeed. And then I wanted to grow. So I heard about working for the current company I'm at on auto insurance. So I moved over there.
00:21:53
Speaker
What's that been like down here? What's that been like down here? The insurance being insane down here. People don't know what insurance is. And that's the best part of the role is just being like, no, just because this is a no fault state doesn't mean you could just crash into anyone you want to. That's not that means. Yeah.
00:22:15
Speaker
And people like, what? The officer? No, the officer doesn't know what he's saying. What the fuck is a no fault state? um ah The easiest way to explain it is if you get hurt in an auto accident, ah huh no matter whose fault it is, your insurance also your insurance and the other person's insurance has to help pay the medical bills.
00:22:38
Speaker
Oh, right. So everybody pays. Everyone pays for injuries only. So that must make your insurance absolutely mental. Well, yes. among others among among Among other reasons, among other reasons in the state of Florida where things happen that have to do with weather.
00:22:55
Speaker
the Yeah, well, yeah, obviously. But yeah, but no, i' right. Well, I mean, i guess because here it's a case of if because if I'm if if like if you rear end someone, it's automatically your fault and your insurance pays for everything.

US vs UK Insurance Systems

00:23:17
Speaker
Their insurance doesn't pay for anything at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. And that's kind of how that works here. That's not how it works here. But I guess that seems more fair.
00:23:31
Speaker
You would think, actually, that having it your way would make people drive safer? Because regardless, they would be more a aware because someone else's stupidity is going to cost stupidity iss going to cost you money and sir yeah You would think they would be safer, but having been to Florida?
00:23:51
Speaker
i was going to say, but you're forgetting this is the Florida man state. so That is not how you people drive. Well, the other thing that's weird is too, so I registered a motorcycle recently. I took my bike and actually made it fully legal.
00:24:02
Speaker
and i brought all the paperwork i was supposed to bring with me and the first thing she said was because it was at the top she goes oh i'm happy you have insurance but you don't need that get it out of my face i was like okay yeah you don't need insurance for motorcycles yeah you don't need insurance for a motorcycle so i still have it yeah you don't have to have insurance on a motorcycle i still have it because i'm not an idiot but you don't have to have insurance on your motorcycle okay here's a question this is I knew if I was something I would break his brain. guess it's one of those, I choose to kill myself, I choose to kill myself situations.
00:24:38
Speaker
and But does if you end up in an accident and you have to go to hospital, a is it your medical insurance that covers it or your bike insurance?
00:24:52
Speaker
If you were in the accident because ah you're on your bike? Yeah. Yeah. Your auto insurance, if you have medical included in your auto, would help cover.
00:25:04
Speaker
Because like our auto insurance is... Here's the twist to talk to that question. I'm glad he gets to talk to someone on insurance. are okay and Because that's what winds me up. right so i If you're f Ian it was a standard issue Florida man with no insurance on his motorbike and was tootling around and got hit by some nutter in a truck let's call it a cyber truck hit in the side got knocked off ah grind down half his arm had ended up in hospital yeah Jesus would his could his medical insurance go oh that was a bike accident we're not paying for that
00:25:54
Speaker
You should have bike insurance to cover that? So the Cybertruck's insurance is going to... covered some of it have to cover some of it.
00:26:05
Speaker
Uh, so pretty much there's, there's bodily injury. So if you hurt someone else, you have to pay for that. That money goes to that, uh, PIP insurance, personal injury. That's if you hurt yourself in an accident or you get hurt in that that person, hit you, that covers that.
00:26:22
Speaker
Um, so technically since he's on a motorcycle, he doesn't have PIP. Uh, he'll just have it. So, the bodily injury will have to take majority of the fall. Now, if that person has bodily injury, then he's good.
00:26:35
Speaker
if they don't, because it's expensive in Florida, he's out of luck. That's probably the reason my homeowner's insurance costs so much, because I have a decent chunk on ah unlike liability stuff, too.
00:26:49
Speaker
People like to pull that shit here, too. And that's why we have attorneys that... Isn't that like crazy? Fuck loads of money. um that that that That is why the world over you're known is as a people who just sue each other left and right

Challenges in Florida's Insurance Market

00:27:02
Speaker
and it.
00:27:02
Speaker
Well, also the insurance companies now are like, I think they're better protected from things like for the homeowners and insurance stuff, like the roofers that were scamming the insurance companies. They have like help now, like legally. Like I think if you take them and lose, you got to pay for their legal fees too, no matter what.
00:27:18
Speaker
um but Yeah. Yeah. So they're trying to dissuade people from doing the illegal insurance fraud shit with your roof and stuff. I had a roofer come over here once to my house. He's like, we'll replace your fence. If you were here a little longer, we could get your fence written off too. I was like, what?
00:27:33
Speaker
He's like, yep. i I don't think I've ever. i'm tempted I don't want to commit fraud. don't think I've ever made a claim ever. I'm going to knock on wood again. You're just throwing that all time.
00:27:44
Speaker
Yeah, do that. I've had my share of accidents. I know my way around. Well, I mean, their insurance over there and they have like the fucking prepaid healthcare care stuff, the social medicine. So yeah,
00:27:58
Speaker
um they I've asked Stuart before, like, well, actually haven't asked this before. What's your insurance on your car, Stuart, for a year? a It went up last year because of the whole Brexit, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. yeah how much How much is your insurance?
00:28:15
Speaker
I think last year from my car, it was 500 pounds. You're a fucking cunt. For the year like six months? For the year. For the year. Oh, Oh, wow. That's fully comprehensive, including business mileage and everything.
00:28:35
Speaker
Well, okay. For you, fully comprehensive. What does that mean? um You get a completely replaced car.
00:28:46
Speaker
Okay. I keep, I keep learning more and more. I should move to Europe. My house insurance. I think I've told you in this before. My house insurance.
00:28:57
Speaker
he told our friend wait He told our friend Brian this. Our friend Brian literally took the headphones off, put them down, and walked away for a few minutes. My house insurance. So in the event of something happening and completely rebuilding the house up to 2 million or 3 million pounds, which is a stupid amount of money, and all the contents of my house up to...
00:29:23
Speaker
a million pounds or whatever it is that i don't have that fucking bigger house uh 270 pounds a year
00:29:39
Speaker
math does not make any sense so what do you mean i don't know what do you mean
00:29:45
Speaker
i just don't get them people don't think that's a month in my house and no it probably is a month but it's just so strange that yours is a ms to a m told me what his house insurance is and i'm like that is fucking mental dude my car insurance is more than half of your yearly right now for my so my mid-sized truck for mid middle middle grade fucking insurance and i hear it might go out of Yeah, it's been creeping up every six months slowly, like a little bit. Yeah, ours is going up here too. but
00:30:16
Speaker
Yeah, it went up so far, dude. I feel so bad for you.
00:30:21
Speaker
it's It's all ah it's all um so perspective, baby. Do you know what mean? my perspective is fuck off. if you might when my my My insurance used to be like pre-COVID, my insurance was £160 a year And it was like, okay.
00:30:43
Speaker
and And now it's three times that. And that's that's kind of as's a bitter pill to swallow. From that perspective, it is a lot. It is a lot, but I mean, it's not a lot from what we pay in our perspective and our income and everything else. so But at the same time, yous are fucking mental.
00:31:02
Speaker
ah Yeah, I am aware. The more I talk to... Craig, the more friends I have in Europe and overseas, the more I talk to these folks, the more I realize i like we're even more fucked up than I thought. So... That's all I've learned about the way our money You have no regulation on any of that shit? How are we getting less and less of that fucking shit? And it's like the the the insurance companies just get away with fucking murder, quite literally. Yeah, in Florida, correct correct me if i're wrong, but it's probably worse here with some of the companies leaving, right? So they just like... Yeah, a lot of companies have left the state, um and now there's only the big three, honestly. That's what's happening in Northern Ireland because of Brexit.
00:31:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. um So that's why everyone's insurance is going. me Yep. That's what happened. This year's. I know our governor is trying to get it lowered, um the premiums, but... i'm sure I'm sure he's trying really hard. Yeah. I have all the faith in the world. He's not really trying for you. He's trying really hard so he gets a fucking nice backhander in his next election room.
00:32:05
Speaker
And that is the most fucked up thing about... He can't get elected to governor again, though. Oh, can he not? Oh, really? He's fucking done. yeah We have time limits on that, thankfully. but Well, I mean... it's the question, where is he going next? Trump's planning to run the next election, 28.
00:32:20
Speaker
So, mean, if he can do it... so i mean if he can do it did That's going to be a rough thing for him to overcome, though. That's going to have be a constitutional change.
00:32:34
Speaker
and our Which is a lot more than... most about that Yeah, there's a lot... like It's more than just Congress. It takes all 60% of the states or something like and have to agree to it, too, which is probably not going to happen right now. a fas cur I mean, true, but at the same time, it's probably, he's probably not gonna be able to pull that yet. He is trying to pull some voting stuff. over side I don't understand how he's going to be able to do it. He's not getting any younger.
00:33:00
Speaker
And he eats nothing them but cheeseburgers. Motherfucker's been glitching out a little bit lately, too. i don't know if you've seen some of that. so All that shit about Biden's now the dude that got elected is glitching out. like Yeah. jesus go They forgot they all ate.
00:33:15
Speaker
So you used to work for the parks, did you? Yes, I worked at all three parks ah in Orlando at a point in my life. And then there was four parks.
00:33:28
Speaker
Well, four. You mean three companies? All three

Craig's Experiences in Orlando's Theme Parks

00:33:31
Speaker
companies. Yeah. Oh, okay. Nice. Started at SeaWorld and I left right after the incident. um um And then... The incident?
00:33:43
Speaker
Blackfish. blackish yeah Oh, do you mean that film coming out? ah Yeah, I was there while it came out. I i was off that day. like I worked like next to the stadium and everything. We all knew the world. They were all super nice.
00:33:56
Speaker
And i got I was getting my hair cut, and my boss texts me. He's like, hey, shit's going down. Don't watch the news if you're going to get upset easily. I'm like, okay.
00:34:11
Speaker
And then turned on the news, and I was like, oh, damn, shit. and um Came the next day, helicopters all over the park. It was just a mess. and I don't have any time for that film at all.
00:34:23
Speaker
if The film is terror is's not a good The film is like European SeaWorld. There's nothing really to do with this the domestic parks. So all this stuff is like not regulated.
00:34:35
Speaker
um so I feel like the film... People don't really understand what editing is. yeah it's Yeah. I knew i knew somebody who did... I think she did security at SeaWorld for a while. and She said a lot of the trainers were really pissed off in that when that Blackfish came out. Yeah.
00:34:51
Speaker
It was very upsetting. So yeah, did that. Went to Disney after that soon after. i Worked in Animal Kingdom for a good chunk of my life. and I worked in Dinoland in merch. I did the photos at Dinosaur. I worked the carnival games and then a few random things here and there.
00:35:14
Speaker
um And I was very sad that My beautiful land is being demolished for some casita, but whatever. um don only ah And then I then went to Universal where I had the longest tenure at any company.
00:35:35
Speaker
I was at Universal for eight years. Where's your favorite place to work of the three companies? That was my question. Damn. honest Honestly, it would be universal just because that's the one part I felt, are the one company I felt I could do anything I wanted to.
00:35:50
Speaker
like There was no barriers of like yeah growth. um and like They seemed to really care. feel like they still do care for their employees. It's just now money is a big thing and they're trying keep as much as can.
00:36:07
Speaker
trying to as much as they can But yeah i would gladly go back to the Universal if that was the right job for me. A friend of mine went from Disney to Universal, and they were like instantly, like within a few days, they were just like, I feel so much more respected and heard in like a matter of days. They were like, it's insane how different it is. Yeah, it's wild. like Even like because I was there...
00:36:33
Speaker
I was there during the whole pulse situation. Like that was a part of my tenure there as well. And yeah yeah ah just to see how much like my like I came into work that, that, that morning and my boss like pulled me aside and she was like, are you okay?
00:36:47
Speaker
Do you need anything? And I'm like, no, I'm good. I'm fine. She's like, all right, well, anyone this number to call the hotline. We have grief counts. We have all these people. Like, if you don't even, like, they just knew if you were anywhere attached to the gay life of, you know, gay people, they're like, we want you to feel safe here. And they did this whole, like, ceremony, like, like a ceremony type of thing in the park.
00:37:14
Speaker
It was beautiful. like It was done so well. and i haven't Disney didn't do anything like that. SeaWorld didn't anything like that. and Some of the people worked at but at all the parks. so Yeah, of course. um You mean there's LGBTQ people in theme parks? That's fucking weird. sorry Who would have guessed that?
00:37:34
Speaker
Who would have guessed? It doesn't surprise me that Universal would do that type of thing. It surprises me that Disney parks didn't to do something along those lines.
00:37:48
Speaker
They didn't want, yeah, they didn't want, because like Universal closed the park early one night just to do the ceremony. And Disney didn't want to do that as far as what I was told. And they didn't know the best way to do it respectfully. It's really not that hard to be respectful. Yeah.
00:38:07
Speaker
It's really not that hard. I mean, and Universal has the window still so to remoralize those people, which is fucking awesome. oh Yeah, that was so nice. Did you know anybody? Not to like pull open scars. um scars Did you lose anybody in that? No one directly...
00:38:25
Speaker
um but yeah that club was like my first gay club i've ever went to so like i it was just like it was awkward like i would go there um like every birthday um so just not having that place anymore and like seeing those like familiar faces is always is always weird yeah that kind of sucks too just to lose the community of that place too seemed like a lot of people really liked going there yeah and now in orlando we only have
00:38:53
Speaker
two places, kind of. We used to have like six gay places that we can go to and now they're just dwindling. It's getting upsetting. Is it dwindling... Do you think it's dwindling because post-COVID, or do you think it's dwindling because people don't feel safe?
00:39:13
Speaker
It stuendled before that, honestly. like We used to have a well we used said this one place called Parliament House, which was the gay mecca of Orlando. It had like hotel attached to it.
00:39:29
Speaker
I'm absolutely sure all of the Muslims that are love that term. a
00:39:37
Speaker
ah it was it was It was really, it they it was a nice place, ah but they couldn't afford the land during COVID, so they had sell it.
00:39:48
Speaker
yeah um But now it's just been, it's like a flat land now. It's been demolished. um where There's another place called Mr. Sisters that was open for like three months.
00:39:59
Speaker
And They promised a big icon to come perform at a concert. And that icon pulled out last minute. And they spent all this money on this project. So then they went under. They lost like a lot of it's a lot of its money, unfortunately. Yeah, yeah, yeah. um as One place was called Stonewall.
00:40:21
Speaker
There was like a bar next to one of our like our big stadiums. And they got caught embezzling them. Um, so they're out. So it's just like, well, that's a dumb thing to do. It's like, come on, you guys, just, just be decent. Just be decent.
00:40:38
Speaker
Just, yeah, no kidding. Don't, don't be a douche. Yeah. ah Yeah. That's crazy, man. I know that like, what what do you, do you think Orlando is pretty friendly to the community? ah like in general, I feel like Orlando in general is very, very friendly to us.

Orlando's LGBTQ+ Scene

00:40:54
Speaker
Um, I mean, I wouldn't know directly, but from what I've seen, it feels like it is. You know what i mean? Yeah. Like our pride parade is always pretty decent. um And if people ever do try to protest it, the people are like, get away. like this ah like Not for you. Go away. Fuck off.
00:41:13
Speaker
ah so Yeah. And they light up the city buildings and stuff. Yeah. Which we can't do that anymore. So. Yeah, I know. Why? Yeah. Our governor said if you put any lights on any buildings, they must be red, white, and blue.
00:41:28
Speaker
What about Christmas? It must be red, white, and blue. Can't be having those rainbow colors, man. Jesus.
00:41:38
Speaker
That's... So it could be red. You could put red lights on it. Well, you know, you could do you could do red, white, and blue and start to get a rainbow if the colors cross. It's not your fault.
00:41:49
Speaker
Get a couple colors of the rainbow. Like two or three extras. You said it's indoctrinating the kids to see a rainbow. And on all the red, white, and blue isn't. Yeah. I can do better than that. Dude, and I can't get to the highway without passing four or five churches in my neighborhood, and I don't even live that far from the highway. so not even It's not even... I mean, the the churches are the least of your worries. Yeah, but I'm just saying, like if you're talking about lights once one month... Coming from a country that loves a flag... Flag.
00:42:16
Speaker
We say flag. and Coming from a country that loves a flag, and we use flags to denote our religious areas across our country... Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:42:29
Speaker
you people love a flag. Oh yeah. um It's, it's kind of insane, but that saying, no, you can't, you can, you can only light things up in, does that mean they didn't light anything up in green for St. Patrick's day?
00:42:45
Speaker
No, didn't see any green. I don't think I saw like any green. on what I mean, this is, this is, I'm pretty sure there was like green, like spotlights, but not like on buildings.
00:42:55
Speaker
Yeah. That's mad. Sir, this isn't Boston. That's where all the Irish people think they live.
00:43:03
Speaker
I mean, i don't know, dude. It's just the dumbest stuff. People are worried about like the dumbest stuff. Yeah. yeah But don't tell me that. These are the mouth-breathing pricks that believe you can catch

Florida's Political Climate

00:43:15
Speaker
gay.
00:43:15
Speaker
you know what I mean? Well, I mean, the frogs are turning gray from the water spray at one point, so, you know. listen Listen, folks, I hang out with a lot LGBTQ folks. I'm still straight and boring as fuck, so i don't know what to tell you. anybody was going to get it by now, it would be me.
00:43:33
Speaker
and If but anybody was, I mean, between drag queens and lesbians and trans people and gay people, like if anybody was going to catch it, it would be me. But I ain't caught it shit, so. Mm-hmm.
00:43:47
Speaker
It is what it is, man. It's fucking fun is what it is, man. I don't understand, dude. like Pride is so fun. Yeah. like You don't have to go to... like If you're worried about your kids seeing some scantily clapped people go to a different event, they're fucking fun. Yeah.
00:44:04
Speaker
Everybody's having... like it's a it's It's the funnest... It's the most fun riot I've ever been in. it It's ridiculous. like Even like... I can't remember. One year...
00:44:16
Speaker
we I think it was COVID where like they couldn't actually have the parade because we couldn't congregate. um So they had Pride drive around Orlando pretty much. yeah Nice.
00:44:28
Speaker
That was hilarious to watch people like in foot like on like on the highway trying to celebrate on their floats and stuff. It was a good time. Gotta do what you gotta do, man.
00:44:40
Speaker
And Orlando does... And they do the ah they do a second parade that's not in Pride Month, like the coming out thing, right? They do another celebration for that. Yeah, so our Pride parade is in October because it's too hot in June.
00:44:54
Speaker
um So we don't do it during Pride Month, and it's called coming out with Pride, yeah. Right, okay. A friend of mine participated with her company last year, and her kate one of her sons walked with her, which was really cool.
00:45:05
Speaker
Yeah, it's been it's been good. I got to be in it twice. um for like a hotel and we got to see i got to meet um maxwell frost oh that's cool man yeah he's really fun i got to see aoc one time um so like it's like surprise like people come to our our our pride parade and like celebrate i remember one year we thought hillary was going to show up um but did oh Like, this is the year we're going to get Hillary. No, she's like, I'm a little too busy for that. Sorry, guys. She's like, it's a small city. AOC was amazing.
00:45:45
Speaker
Yeah, i i think I think people have a misconception about like they just blanket Florida, but there's actually pocket pretty big pockets of things that are a little more acceptable. You just got to find them.
00:45:57
Speaker
Yeah. Orlando, I think Tampa, Miami is like another like big place to. Miami's nowadays. Yeah, it used to be. i know Tampa's pretty, pretty good. It's wherever there's a big university, that's where you'll find the most liberal people.
00:46:13
Speaker
For sure. That's a reason how that works, isn't it? We got UCF not too far from here. no so why that's Why do you think they're banning books? yeah a Oh, here he goes.
00:46:23
Speaker
um I am holding back. I know, you're doing a good job. I'm holding back. Um, yeah, I do. It's fucking weird. This stuff that people are so focused on right now with the culture war stuff. Like people are like losing jobs and potentially home soon. And we're just like, well, you can't put these color lights up. Like, fuck off.
00:46:46
Speaker
My insurance is killing me. Can you help me with that? Like, it's my neighbor needs help with that, too. Can you help like the majority of the people and stop focusing on small groups of people like. I just don't understand, man. Priorities are fucked up.
00:46:59
Speaker
doing Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, it's not it's it's not just it's not just where you are. It's everywhere. I know. It seems to be spreading everywhere. But at least it seems to be that Canada learned their lesson and changed their shit real quick. so <unk>s like I remember this last election. We all thought we were going to get...
00:47:20
Speaker
um but like recreational marijuana. yeah it was like It was a sure win. Everyone's like, everyone's going to vote for it. or at least We just needed 60% of for Florida to vote for it. and We were like 58 or something.
00:47:37
Speaker
i was like, idiots. I was like, you don't have to smoke it. Just vote for it. You know what's funny about that law, Craig? When they passed the 60% law, it did not pass with 60% of the vote. I remember. I remember.
00:47:52
Speaker
That shit cracks me up every time. I'm like, the fucking law itself didn't even pass with 60%. Like, what the fuck? and That's not an uncommon law. I know. It's fucking stupid. Referendum type stuff. But, and yeah, I don't get, I mean, looking at the other states that have ah legalized it, don't know.
00:48:14
Speaker
I mean, it's ah it's it's ah it's ah it's a tax goldmine. Well, the issue was, i remember... Back in the day, um I was listening to a like what like what one of my talk radio people, and they were explaining why we don't have one, casinos in Orlando, and why we don't have marijuana in the state.

Orlando's Diverse Activities

00:48:36
Speaker
And a very, very prominent hotel year. but Hotel year? Yeah, hotel year. Yeah. He is very adamant that if we bring casinos to Orlando, if we bring the the Green Devil to the state of Florida...
00:48:52
Speaker
no one is going to want to visit us anymore. the great devil, the devil's devil. So he's been very adamant about being anti all of that. So we still don't have casinos. and we The closest casinos is Tampa.
00:49:06
Speaker
um And that's not even, ah I don't even count that a real casino. ah No. yeah I don't mind the casinos thing. Casinos can go fuck themselves. Well, we get we have ah we have what? The Hard Rock the hard rock Hotel that's on the so on one of the reservations, right? They have a casino.
00:49:23
Speaker
That's the one you're talking about? Yeah, they have two in the state. They have one in Miami and then one in Tampa. The one in Tampa is actually on like reserved land. Yeah, that's is that the Seminole tribe? i can't remember Yeah, the Seminole tribe. here and Yeah, that's what I thought.
00:49:38
Speaker
Yeah, so they have a they have a pretty big hard rock, which ironically, the Seminole tribe owns hard rock. yeah They own all the hard rock restaurants. They own all that stuff. Oh, right.
00:49:48
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Yeah. It's pretty cool, right? Yeah. Good for them. Yeah. mean I remember going to the, remember going to the reserve as a kid when I lived out in St. Pete and and going to see like the gator wrestling and stuff there. It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool to go there. Yeah. So do you think they'll ever go back and vote, do that vote again?
00:50:04
Speaker
Probably. It'll probably keep coming up until it passes. Until it passes. Until we get a democratic governor. It's probably never going to pass. When was the last time you had a Democratic governor?
00:50:15
Speaker
I don't remember. Wait, was Chris? No. we Well, DeSantis almost lost his first run. He got pretty close. yeah Yeah. The state was fairly purple for a while, but it's been flipped to red. But i think i think the grasp on the I think the red-sided grasp is kind of slipping a little right now because people are getting fucked.
00:50:37
Speaker
like it like is happening all over the country. so Yeah. I mean, you already have that those tourist dollars coming in. Add the weed-smoking tourist dollars. God.
00:50:53
Speaker
Yeah, dude. Well... It's funny, too, because I try to explain to people. I'm like, listen, I know everybody knows Orlando because Disney and Universal, but I'm not lying to you when I tell you that this is Vegas without casinos.
00:51:05
Speaker
Like, there's so much to do downtown. There's so much to do. Yeah. You can go fire fully automatic weapons at a firing range if you want. you honestly i've never i've never I've never done that.
00:51:18
Speaker
Dude, you can drive a tank if you want. You can go spend time in a tank and crush some cars and stuff if you want. You can do all kinds of crazy shit down here. Yeah, I know. There's all kinds of shit to do here. People have no idea. They just think of the parks. And I'm like...
00:51:31
Speaker
You can get a $40 helicopter ride. That doesn't sound unsafe whatsoever. I think you can get the $25 tours too, right off of my four. That seems... in Well, you know, $25 per person.
00:51:45
Speaker
You're fine. What's gas cost for those things? Yeah. It's fine, right? It's fine. It's fine. They wouldn't let you do if it wasn't safe. Maybe you'll end up in a helicopter with bio. it be fine. Yeah.
00:52:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's there's literally so much to do. I mean, I talked about i think I've talked about on here, but there's ah there's I told Stuart about it. There's there's a beer spa in Orlando. so i mean Have you done that yet?
00:52:11
Speaker
I've done that. Was it good? It's great. Get a private room. did did you Did you beer them beer? It's not actually beer, but there is hops in the bath. It actually feels nice on your skin. and there Dude, it's great. They take it super serious. So you get to the lobby. They let you try some beer. Then they may have the taps in the spa. You get a private room. There's a TV. There's music. There's a there's lights that tell you like basically when you're getting short on time, it changes to yellow. And when you're done, it changes to red. You got to get the fuck out.
00:52:40
Speaker
Yeah. But they are like, they take you back there. they're like, we recommend you sit in the sauna and then cool off it and then sit in this and then cool off in the hay bed. Like if you would like, there's a full bathroom. You can take a shower, but we suggest you leave the hops on your skin. Like they give you a whole fucking serious rundown. Wow. And they left, uh, there was a snack in there. I think we had pretzel bread and then like all the beer you could fucking drink. And it had, um, it has um like a glass wash too. So you just fucking spray that shit, rinse it out get the next beer. Shit's fucking great.
00:53:09
Speaker
I love that shit. It does sound like a fondé. I think it was like when we did it, it was like $2.25 for two one tub for an hour. It's not bad. So, I mean, just drink like $225 in beer and you're fucking fine. I mean, you can start drinking in the lobby, so just get there a little early start chugging.
00:53:26
Speaker
Yeah. They have sangria and wine on tap, too. So, I think have like three or four beers and then a sangria and a wine, if I remember right. and did, too. Yeah. I did hear

Safety and Weapon Training

00:53:35
Speaker
about that. And I just like, I'm not a beer big, big person to start off with. So I was like, I don't see the urge to.
00:53:42
Speaker
Well, now you got the urge. There's wine and sangria, bro. But I won't lie. i did. leave We didn't, we didn't shower. We didn't use the the full, they have a full bathroom. Hmm. We left the hops on it. It was a little weird looking because it's kind of like powdery on your skin. Yeah.
00:53:56
Speaker
It felt kind of nice, though. I'm not going to lie. it did It did feel kind of good. But it's just oils and hops and something else in the in the tub. It's not actual beer. But it looks like beer. Yeah. And you walk around smelling like a beer for the rest of the day. Okay, dude. We're right down the street. is ah like Like a mile from there is that Ford's Garage. So that's where we went to eat afterwards.
00:54:15
Speaker
So, you know, i just keep drinking beer. Just continue the day. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there's lots of stuff to do here. It is. i think people get a little lost and hung up on the theme parks. like We have ridiculous amounts of like speakeasy kind of bars and hidden bars and all kinds of crazy cool restaurants. We have Turkish places that are great.
00:54:38
Speaker
But I kind of don't want the tourists to go to those places. I want them to stay. and Stay out of my space.
00:54:47
Speaker
But to be fair, 90% of all the tourists are going to stay. They spend so much money making the pilgrimage. ah who Do you know? Do the big shiny lights. They're really not going anywhere else.
00:55:02
Speaker
you know it's but it'd be the rare ones that do leave and the ones that do leave maybe deserve to so
00:55:11
Speaker
other stuff. Yeah, i definitely. Whenever I have friends come in, I'm like, spen give me a night that I can take you away from the bubble and then we'll do something. alright there's Yeah, there's and there's, ah what is it?
00:55:24
Speaker
What's the downtown street they bought? is that's it's like that I can't the name of the street. I've only been down there once, but they block off a street downtown where it's like all bars at night. Oh, they don't do that anymore. They don't?
00:55:35
Speaker
No. When they stopped doing that? they i was there last year, I think. Last Halloween. because they used to block off the street because there were so many people drunken walking around. and There's so many bars on that street. Also, on that note, downtown is changing. Yeah, apparently. It's changing to be more family-friendly.
00:55:56
Speaker
um Bars have to stop serving at midnight now. And then if they serve past midnight, they get a fine. So now they charge you more for drinks um so they can serve later.
00:56:09
Speaker
um And like the road used to be blocked off, so like that chunk of space was free-roaming. But because of people are idiots and don't know how to handle their emotions and don't know how to put their gun in their car and leave it there, we're no longer allowed yeah to the fact do that.
00:56:27
Speaker
That's not where I thought that was going. but yeah Halloween last year, we had some idiot kid who's not even old enough to get into the clubs. Got upset.
00:56:39
Speaker
and
00:56:41
Speaker
It's always Halloween. People to ruin stuff. It's stupid. That's crazy. ah yeah. Nascolinity, man. Be more aware of yourself. be of speak complicated I mean, speaking on that real quick before Stuart does the question, we were in, I go to Sanford a because it's not far from me. And there's a lot of fun bars down there.
00:57:04
Speaker
And some kid got tossed from the bar. we were sitting in an outdoor space. Some kid got tossed. He lost his shoe and he rolled. Dude pushed him out. was like, no. Kid got up. And you want to see a bunch of dudes freeze real quick. He threw his shirt up and put his hand on his waistband in front.
00:57:22
Speaker
Everybody stopped and watched. He pulled out like a skull can or something like that. Then continued to argue with the security guy who's twice his size, keeps going. And then eventually it gets shoved again. He's not taking the hint that he's got to fuck off.
00:57:36
Speaker
Like, you know what? Number one, like you're already embarrassing yourself. Just walk away, man. But then he throws his shirt up a second time and goes behind his back, like in the small of his back. I shit you not.
00:57:48
Speaker
I grabbed the side of the table like I was going to jump up, but I saw his hand was empty. My buddy threw his girlfriend against the brick wall and behind him so he could stand in front of her. yeah Half the bar stood up. I was like, Jesus Christ, man, this dude's a fucking moron. I'm sitting with like all kinds of like crazy people that are like around this stuff. We're all just like, what?
00:58:08
Speaker
like If you're going to carry, be fucking responsible and don't be drunk. Pretty much. I mean, it's bad enough you feel like you've got to carry all the time like that. but Why would you need to... that that's Having to carry a gun on the time is some serious small deck energy.
00:58:26
Speaker
The problem is, too, it becomes a downward spiral because you know there's people out there that are dangerous that are carrying, so then some people carry to protect the people they're with, and it just becomes a spiral.
00:58:39
Speaker
Yeah, it's that's... It's just crazy, man. The realities of that are not... No. Well, we know the realities of that because we live in this country. But, I mean, even... I'm assuming this kid didn't have anything on him. He had nothing, but he... So he was pretending to have something. He could have ended up dead. No, I don't even know what he was doing.
00:58:58
Speaker
But I tell you, he had the attention of and of a bunch of dudes in a bar because a bunch of people stood up or, like, actually... And easily in the state, someone could have shot him and they would have been fine because yup he was a threat.
00:59:09
Speaker
yeah he was He put his hand on his pants. um yeah He looked like he had a gun. He was going to pull a gun from the small of his back. Yeah. Fuck me. yeah That's um scary.
00:59:24
Speaker
it was It was a fun night. After that, we sat for a minute. Things calmed down. and were like, yep, that's enough fun. We're out of here. yeah Time to go. No more of that energy, thanks. Yeah, although that amount of adrenaline does tend to sober up pretty quickly, so that's also, you know. i mean, yeah, but it also comes down probably quickly if you don't see anything, like, dangerous.
00:59:45
Speaker
But, you know, hey, kids, if you're going to drink, don't bring your peace, and if you're going to drink and you get thrown out, fucking just take it on the chin and walk away. You're not getting back in, so shut the fuck up. You're just going to piss off a bunch of people, and instead of having one person shoving you, you're going to have like a bar full of people beating your ass and throwing you out. so Just fucking walk away. Just man up, take your shit, and go.
01:00:06
Speaker
that Does that stuff happen a lot? Not my experience. I don't see a lot where we go. Thankfully, I've never been around that. um I know people who do carry often, and I'm just like...
01:00:22
Speaker
so over there. Do something. Don't be around me. um Yeah. See, I couldn't. i I couldn't. I'm not sure I could deal with any of my friends who were like, what the fuck? What are you fucking doing?
01:00:33
Speaker
they think They think they're going to protect someone. And I think it's not needed. like if nos No, it's not. If it's their time, it's their time. Don't. Don't be a savior. we don't need it.
01:00:45
Speaker
um So yeah. But yeah, thankfully I'm very happy. i have not had to deal with anything like that. It doesn't happen very often where I go either. That was the, and that was just a scare. Like nothing actually happened, but it was just a scare. So
01:01:02
Speaker
No, I do know that a lot of a lot of the bars where we were in that area You're not allowed to carry even a knife when you go inside But they don't they don't like check you but there's just the rules like if they catch you with something if they see a clip or something on your belt buckle or like a Sticking out of your like a knife buck like clip sticking out of your pocket They tell you to take it out and put it in the car.
01:01:21
Speaker
I mean, that's just common sense. Yeah So it drunk people or stupid people. Yeah. I mean, I ride a motorcycle, so I'm used to carrying a pocket knife. So sometimes I forget that part of my, in my, in my jeans to drop it in the bike or in the car, but it's just something I'm used to having.
01:01:38
Speaker
I don't think about it for, like, I don't grab it when I know I'm going to theme parks, but if I'm just going out sometimes, you know, knives are like utility tools. users There's a lot you could do with them to fight inside stab people. So yeah I'm used to carrying one on a bike. So that's something I i forget sometimes is in my pocket.
01:01:55
Speaker
has to that Having that fear all the time that somebody could do something stupid like that has to really mess with your mental health.

Wrap-up: Reflecting on Masculinity

01:02:04
Speaker
Yeah, I 100% agree with that.
01:02:07
Speaker
ah From a masculinity point of view, it has to kind of wreck your head as well and make you, because you know it is going having that fear is going to make some people feel less of a man, whatever the fuck that means.
01:02:23
Speaker
And that probably is what causes people to carry weapons when they really don't need it because they think that's the manly thing to do. Well, the other thing too, is people carry things and they're not actually like, you can go to a, you can go to a shooting range, for example, but that doesn't actually train you to do anything.
01:02:42
Speaker
Like, great. when When there's no pressure on you, your life isn't on the line, you can stand very still and hit bullseyes. Like, that's not reality. That doesn't teach you to do anything. So, I mean, it's a good thing to do, but it's not actually training.
01:02:54
Speaker
So, like, i did I did Filipino martial arts, and you trained with weapons. So, you know, you you're not you train with them. So it's not the same as me just like, I got a knife. Look, I can't open it. It's like the same thing.
01:03:08
Speaker
You got to like, if you're going to carry a weapon, you need to train it. And the other part is, if you're going to carry a weapon, you don't train with it, it can be used against you. could be taken from you. It's more dangerous to carry something that you don't actually train with than to not.
01:03:22
Speaker
So that's another little tip for me anyway, my my personal experience and advice. I'm very pleased it's not something where I have to think about. Yeah, I know you don't. must That must be nice.
01:03:35
Speaker
Yeah. It's a reality here, so. On that note, Stuart, you want to do your part? Yeah. I had a lovely conversation, Craig. It was lovely speaking to you and lovely meeting you. Appreciate it and I hope sometime when I am back stateside...
01:03:53
Speaker
We can share a fine beverage. You don't have a beer, so I said fine beverage. Whatever is your choice. I'd like to do a cider if need be. We got you. Nice.
01:04:04
Speaker
We got you. We'll find something for you. Don't worry. So the second question in our in our podcast format is what is the manliest thing you've done this week?
01:04:18
Speaker
Oh...
01:04:22
Speaker
I feel like this is a reference to a movie that I really like. um But um he says, I'm going to go home and sleep with my wife. um But it's going to be more, I'm going to go home and fuck some random guy on the street.
01:04:35
Speaker
um So that's my answer. Nice. Yes, I'll take that shit. Awesome.
01:04:46
Speaker
Awesome. Very good. Very good. I love that. All right, man. right, everybody. We're to take off. Craig, thanks for hanging out with us, man. was fun to talk to you. It's good to see you again, too. Thank you very much, Craig. Everyone have a great week, and we'll see you next time.
01:05:02
Speaker
Bye. Bye.