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Passive Income, Pyramids, and British Teachers in Saudi
34 Plays27 days ago
I’m not saying passive income is a scam — I’m saying if someone tells you they make money in their sleep, they’re probably lying or married rich. Plus: a nostalgic spiral into the mystery of British teachers in Saudi in the ’80s and ’90s. Who were they? Why were they there? And why did they all look like they’d just escaped a Cold War spy movie? Also: fake gurus, real rent, and how I still don’t know what an ETF does, but I have one anyway.
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Transcript
Fond Memories of Mr. Price
00:00:00
Speaker
Good morning, sunshine babies. um That's how my ah seventh grade class teacher would greet us. he He was teaching us ah English and this British dude, right? Mr. Price.
00:00:15
Speaker
That was his name, Mr. Price. He'd walk in and he'd greet us with a loud, booming, good morning, sunshine babies. And...
00:00:27
Speaker
I would just remember going, I'm not a i'm not a sunshine baby. I'm a half-grown big boy. um I was always like the shortest guy in my class. Not the shortest. Actually, I wasn't the shortest.
00:00:41
Speaker
Surprisingly, there were a few people shorter than me. Thank God for that. I was kind of like lower mid. mid Yeah, lower mid. That's where I
Speculations on Mr. Price's Heritage
00:00:49
Speaker
stood. um stood ha um But yeah, he'd he'd walk in and it was always good morning, sunshine babies.
00:00:57
Speaker
And he he was from the UK. don't know if he was Scottish or Welsh or whatever. ah ah To me, they were all when I look back now, I got kind of go, oh, yeah, they probably were from different parts.
00:01:08
Speaker
I just assumed they were all English. I think he was English, Mr. Price, because he hes everything about him seemed English. He's kind of like this portly-looking dude, old, you know?
00:01:22
Speaker
He was very old. He had those glasses that were like the thick frame ones, you know, where you're like, this guy's blind um even with the glasses on. And I...
00:01:33
Speaker
And I just, I liked him, but I i didn't like him. i didn't ah There was no love or hate. He was so vanilla from all the teachers I've had.
Comparing Teaching Styles
00:01:43
Speaker
He was just an old dude, you know?
00:01:46
Speaker
When I say old, I kind of look back at it now and think, he might have been my age, the age I am right now. And i oh man. Oh, God. um Maybe a bit older.
00:01:58
Speaker
but yeah, he was ah portly looking, and he had these glasses. He always had this short ah buzz cut, and um ah always these white shirts.
00:02:09
Speaker
I think they were always half-sleeved. You know, what's it? Half-sleeved shirts. ah I still have a problem. I got some. I wear them, and I always feel like I'm an idiot. ha, ha.
00:02:21
Speaker
And then I see some people really carry off half-sleeved shirts. um And I'm always jealous of that. So well done, you people who can bear arms in and make it look stylish. I i think it's not for me.
00:02:38
Speaker
um But I still carry some. ah ah Yeah, I probably just need to make sure I'm not getting photographed in that. And... And yeah, so Mr. Price, he'd come in and you know, what was interesting about him was ah English was my favorite subject. And when I look back at it now, I kind of think he was the only one who made it boring.
00:03:01
Speaker
I don't know if it it was a combination of him and the book we were doing, you know, the couple of books we went through with him in English literature. um They were just like boring ass stuff.
00:03:14
Speaker
I can't even remember what books. you know The other teachers I remember clearly, they brought these books to life. I think it was unfortunate that. I remember this other teacher, mr Mark, in grade 8. eight The next year or 9, in grade 9. And there was this book we were doing and we're all and he's like, you guys aren't interested in this, are you?
00:03:32
Speaker
And we were all like, yeah, it's kind of boring. And it was about this boy and a cheetah. I can't. can't remember the name, but I knew I didn't i didn't like it. like It was not fun. And so he changed it for us. And that was always like ah a memory I have. like He was cool enough to just go, cool, ah this isn't of
Challenges of an All-Boys School
00:03:50
Speaker
interest. And I think we took up Animal Farm then.
00:03:52
Speaker
ah And yeah, that was mind-blowing for me. So he kind of skipped that book or went through it quickly. ah But Mr. Price, he was just at the end of his life. life or something no he wasn't that old but he had the old kind of old british vibe to him and and and it was a combo of possibly the books we did which i can't remember for the life of me or ah like you know he had um He also like mumbled through stuff. have Half the time, I couldn't understand what he was saying. And i think it was like everybody was just like, what's he what did he just say? And we it was the original, i would just laugh along because he laughed and I thought, okay, it's a joke kind of thing. That's when it...
00:04:36
Speaker
That's when it kind of finally hit me. You know, it it was the first it was the original fake laugh I ever did in my life because I didn't really understand or hear the joke.
00:04:48
Speaker
And then it was a slippery slope ever since um in my life. And he was just. um So he'd mumble and which is weird because he'd come in and the only two times ah when I'd actually understand him was when he, you know, he'd either come in with the happy good morning sunshine babies or he would declare when we were like goofing around, right? Like we were an all boys um school.
00:05:17
Speaker
That sucked, man. Like, how do you... I'm so against it, right? Like, if you have kids, I don't care where you live, you got to send them to a co-ed, much to the damage that might happen to girls having to, you know...
00:05:32
Speaker
go through boy stuff and uh just have to kind of take our imbecileness uh is that a word um because boys on their own man we just we had no way to develop our social skills we just talked to each other that's like apes you know like teenage boys going oh It was terrible.
00:05:55
Speaker
When I watched Inbetweeners, I was like, yeah, that's accurate. I was laughing, but I'm like, this is like just true. None of this feels exaggerated, unfortunately. Boys, man.
00:06:07
Speaker
So we were in a boys club, and and so he'd walk in, and he'd boom, 70, right? and And that was like freeze and get back to your tables and chairs and stuff. We didn't really respect him enough to do it, but his intention was nice about it. And... ah
00:06:24
Speaker
Poor guy there's so It's amazing how much bullying an all-boys school does. And we were expat kids who were probably on our best behavior.
00:06:35
Speaker
and And there we were. And my my section, so our every grade was divided into A, B, C. My section was had the smartest kids as well.
00:06:46
Speaker
you know And so it was ah it was funny that we had so much shit going on. But he had a remarkable knack for making things boring. Like he literally, I remember this other teacher i had, I think it was our class teacher and English teacher in in third grade or fourth grade. I think it was fourth grade and his name was Mr. Lambert.
00:07:07
Speaker
One of my friends would sing this song behind his back. of like Lambert the sheepish lion. It was a cartoon that was going around that time. We never dared to do it with him kind of like a around because dude was a he was the complete opposite of Mr. Price. He was a tyrant, man.
00:07:25
Speaker
he looked drunk all the time and i don't know how he managed that because we were in saudi in the 80s and ninety s right like uh i'm sure there were ways but mr lambert was like the complete opposite of mr price he was he was this leathery kind of skin you know possibly just getting a lot of tans uh probably when i think about it probably the same age but much more weather beaten like rough maybe he was in the army or looked like he had been in the army and he would do this. He was, I hated him because he had this thing of like, if he caught you doing something, he poke you with his finger on your head like that or, or on
British Teachers in Saudi Arabia
00:08:03
Speaker
your back, you know? And it was, it's like, you can't call it, um, like hitting, but it was just painful enough and annoying enough to kind of make you go, you know? Uh, and he, he do that a lot. I don't,
00:08:19
Speaker
I was in a terrible kid, so I don't think I had it happen to me a lot of times, but I think a lot of my... ah But I saw it happen, and it was just traumatic. You know, when Facebook came out, and people would do the poke. I'd be like, ah!
00:08:32
Speaker
ah Mr. Lambert's back. um And he, despite me not liking him and being afraid of him, he he still managed to make English fun. Like, i none of my other teachers made English boring for me. And I had a...
00:08:48
Speaker
Interested. I did actually enjoy the subject. So um but Mr. Price. Yeah, the price ain't right with him. ah I do wonder. i look I think back about all these English teachers, these teachers from the UK, you know, they all probably forty s and 50s
Cultural and Social Reflections
00:09:05
Speaker
and.
00:09:06
Speaker
and don't know if their families came this is this is again this is the 80s late 90s in Saudi and I look into their I've never had this thought cross my mind but when I think about it now it's like what what happened to their lives that they ended up in in Saudi Arabia you know what made them go well it can't get worse than this I'm sure maybe the pay was really good tax-free and blah blah but Oh, man, to give up your life.
00:09:38
Speaker
i get it now. Like people want to move to the Middle East and it's much easier and blah. If you don't know what it was like in the 80s and 90s, everything was hard over there. Like money was the only good thing and it was cheap.
00:09:51
Speaker
That's about it. And good food maybe. But ah but everything else, you know, ah it was just like really controlled and controlled. And I don't think they were getting paid like a huge sum. maybe Maybe better than the UK. I don't know.
00:10:07
Speaker
I think... I really think it's... When I think about it now, it's like kind of sad. What caused them to move? What would make me go... What's the equivalent? I can't even...
00:10:18
Speaker
Think of and North Korea, Iran maybe at this point right now. I've lived in Iran. I like it. like It's been a a nice place, ah beautiful people and stuff. So I don't have North Korea just because I don't know it.
00:10:31
Speaker
And I go, if someone made me, what would happen in my life? What would be so terrible that I go, well, ah screw it. I'll take that job in North Korea. I i can't imagine. like anything terrible enough to cause me to do that.
00:10:47
Speaker
And yet there was like this army of English, British, yeah UK teachers in my school. And yeah, I wish I could talk to them and ask them, hey, what was your trauma? ah what What were you doing there? um Overall, you know i always i always mention that i I ended up having a good time, good friends. and When you're a boy, yeah, there are certain limitations, certain things you kind of get
Friendships and Scams
00:11:13
Speaker
annoyed about. But overall, I just wanted to play sports, hang out with my friends, and most of the time I managed to do that.
00:11:19
Speaker
I don't know what kind of effect it had on me for my whole life and stuff. I do think about that, about growing up in this weird experimental um environment. ah But I'm glad for the friends. I had some of those guys I'm still in touch with. and i And always when when I hear from them or I get to hang out with them, which is rare, they're all in different places in the world. um I always kind of feel at home with them and and feels good, you know.
00:11:47
Speaker
um This bond. Maybe it's like this war bond. We went through this together, brothers. And maybe it's that. I don't know. But that's ah that's some history. huh And I ah I actually started this episode thinking I'll talk about this other incident.
00:12:08
Speaker
Because I've been thinking about this memory of mine. This happened a couple of years ago, speaking about friends. Like he, he called me out of the blue. I hadn't really been hanging out with him much. And he was just, he's like, hey, let's meet up and stuff.
00:12:22
Speaker
And quite recently, he had lost a loved one. This Indian friend of mine, like he, ah younger than me and full of life, usually.
00:12:34
Speaker
And he just had a couple of kids. He had a He had one kid at that time, ah really nice, ah happy married life and stuff. And I i meet him for lunch.
00:12:45
Speaker
And he talks about, he kicks it off by going, he's talking about like, he's doing some new stuff, new business and everything. I'm like, good. He always wanted to get into some. Because he was a medical profession by ah by career up until then.
00:12:59
Speaker
And he we sit down he talks about selling his car and not being attached to material stuff. And i in the back of my mind, I'm like, yeah, I get it. You know, he's um losing loved ones can really make you reflect and reevaluate things in your life.
00:13:13
Speaker
And we're we're having a decent time. and And then he slips in, then he talks about, brings up his business. And he goes, it's a marketing thing. And like, oh, that's this great. I was thinking maybe content creation or whatever it was.
00:13:27
Speaker
This is post-COVID. So a couple of years into COVID, after COVID. um And then he just goes, oh yeah, yeah. He starts telling me the details. And i had, and it was word, here's the crazy thing. It was word for word.
00:13:43
Speaker
to what another guy, and that wasn't even a friend, he was an acquaintance from the theater scene, had called me over to hang out once and I was like, ah, he's very cool, he was like an elderly, he was known for being a good director and stuff, and I was like, hey, I'll learn, it's so nice of him to wanna hang out with me, I'm just starting out, ah so it was that long ago.
00:14:01
Speaker
And it was word for word, the same pitch. And like 30 seconds into it, was like, no, no, no, please don't go there. Do not do this, dude.
00:14:13
Speaker
Do not know. And he did. and he's talking about a pyramid scheme.
00:14:20
Speaker
And, you know, the same. But that's the crazy thing. 10, 15 years apart, the same script. And he had fallen for it. And he was like, you know, doing the wholesale. And I'd already gone through it with the other guy.
00:14:32
Speaker
And I was much younger and dumber back then. I was lucky. I don't know how i did not end up ah doing that because i'm not i'm I'm not a genius and the smartest of people fall for scams of all kinds.
00:14:46
Speaker
So I don't think people should feel guilty about falling for scams. I really don't because honestly, emotionally and stuff, you don't realize it while it's happening in the moment. So i considering how dumb and young and stupid I was, I don't know how I managed to escape that one.
00:15:00
Speaker
But now I'm like older and stuff and I'm like looking at him going, are you really going to pitch me a pyramid scheme but i let him talk i let him finish i was like maybe it'll be good be good practice for him to get off the script a bit or something and i and it's always it's always is that office episode they draw it they draw it on a piece of paper and they go duta duta du this is how it it will work and blah blah blah and as as they're doing it i'm like look at the pyramid that you have just drawn and they they don't get it and it's there and it's in the office episode which is genius but the best comedy is real stuff right and and he pitched it and i just i felt bad for him i walked away thinking i've lost a friend
00:15:51
Speaker
like I didn't get into his life has been weird since I unfortunately and not that I'm ah most people can go through loads of things and shifts and everything. I hope the best for him.
00:16:03
Speaker
ah i I didn't I didn't I didn't lose him completely. But, you know, we had kind of drifted away. I should have known when he reached out. When he had kind of.
00:16:15
Speaker
when yeah had kind of when he had kind of reached out after a long time anyway. But I thought, nah, you know, he he treats me like an older brother and stuff. He probably wants to catch up. I felt good about it until I paid for the lunch and dropped him to the Metro and had to endure his and had to endure his awful pitch, which was which was quite unpolished as well, unfortunately.
Debunking Passive Income Myths
00:16:40
Speaker
and so i So I went through that and I go, okay, um ah those that was another moment that stood out for me. And it makes me think about all the kinds of stuff people fall for. And this is the reason I'm saying it's not because people are stupid or anything. I've fallen in for stuff.
00:16:56
Speaker
I tried dropshipping right after COVID. Oh, I'm admitting this on my podcast, man. I tried dropshipping right around the COVID time and everyone's doing it. I got into trading Bitcoins and stuff, not in a good investment way.
00:17:10
Speaker
I'm not an investment advisor, of course, but ah I do know enough now. And I knew it back then, too. don't get into the trading game. I don't have the time or the intelligence to do it.
00:17:22
Speaker
But you get like desperate and people sometimes I think people just there are too many people who hate their jobs. And life has become so expensive that everyone's kind of looking for the easy way out.
00:17:37
Speaker
And so there's a lot of stuff that goes viral on TikTok and whatnot. And people just keep falling for this passive income thing. That's the real scam that's happening now, I think, because because passive income is like there's hardly anything that really qualifies as passive income.
Building Wealth Through Reliable Methods
00:17:58
Speaker
The passiveness of it is so misleading because I kind of look at and I go, No, man. ah if yeah The only way it works is you've got huge investments that are doing well and you've got, i don't know, amazing amount of dividends coming from it or something or interest that you earn from the bank account.
00:18:16
Speaker
That would require you to have like millions, all right? Again, not a math or finance genius, but enough to know that's a lot of money you'd have to have parked in there. And and even and i'm talking a lot for it to be just what you live off on or if it's passive income, blah, blah, blah.
00:18:33
Speaker
Most of the time, they're pitching these businesses, like dropshipping or whatever, that I fell for as well, that you think about it and you're like, this isn't um this isn't like a great kind of, this isn't like I'm just sitting around.
00:18:48
Speaker
I'll have to be doing a lot of work and it's very competitive. And most of time you realize whatever, everyone is kind of going make money quick from this. it's already spread too far and enough people at the top again like a pyramid scale have made the money and now we're all the dumb idiots coming into the bottom hoping we'll also cash in and most of the time the majority of the people end up the majority of the people end up burning their cash right that's unfortunately that's what it is and uh
00:19:21
Speaker
and and so i kind of try to tell people around me like um the the stuff that will actually work for you is not unfortunate i've learned this through life is not the stuff that um that you'll have like uh that that you'll do um with with the sexy stuff all right uh put this online e-commerce and blah blah and i'll just sit back and earn money It doesn't work like that.
00:19:47
Speaker
The non-sexy stuff are the ETFs. You don't see viral videos about that stuff. um It's bonds, it's dividends, it's rental income, it's a big and inheritance or something like that. You know, that's the kind of stuff that builds money, real stuff over.
00:20:05
Speaker
And it's always over time. That's the biggest gimmick. So, you know, people are... So much in a rush that you're you're easy to become desperate and gullible. And that's the kind of things these YouTubers and TikTok guys keep preying on and selling you courses and making you watch their videos and how to be successful.
00:20:28
Speaker
And then, you know, it's just, it doesn't work that way. You got to buckle down and make the money. You got to, you might hate your job and you want freedom, but it's really just your boss or something. And you got to deal with that. Like, um learn.
00:20:45
Speaker
Sometimes it's actually a good lesson. ah You learn more from the bad things that happen. And I'm not preaching this, but it's just the truth. ah You end up learning more. I've learned a lot more from,
00:20:58
Speaker
terrible people because you learn to handle them. You learn to go, this is my weak point. And I'm not going to go seek it. ah I don't like to go seek it. I'm a non-confrontational guy, but I kind of just go, I need to avoid this stuff. um Or I know how to handle it better now.
00:21:14
Speaker
Next time this stuff happens to me, I'll go, I'll make sure that I'm ah i'm not, I'm more ready for it, you know, mentally. and And it toughens you up. So you got a bad boss, you got a bad job you don't like,
00:21:26
Speaker
That's just the truth of life. As long as you're earning enough income and you want to grow and invest in yourself, just take take some ownership, you know, grow, do the hard work.
00:21:37
Speaker
It takes time to build wealth and careers and stuff. and And this whole like ah version of social media pushing it, pushing the speed down our throats is what gets to me. And ah and that's why I'm like, you know, you got to you got to you got to just be honest with yourself and go.
Concluding Thoughts on Financial Success
00:21:59
Speaker
It's my ah this is how it's actually going to happen.
00:22:02
Speaker
Some people get lucky occasionally. ah You might have a stock, you put some money and goes, the stock market is doing well. So you might go, hey, I made this much money and I'm awesome.
00:22:14
Speaker
But most of the time, you know, you got to buckle down. So, yeah. I'm not going to go further into it. I don't mean to lecture people. I was just talking about from my own my own experiences. and And I feel like um how many more of us need to get scammed before we realize this is not revolutionary stuff?
00:22:32
Speaker
Because you got to remember all these people are making money from teaching you how to make money when they haven't. You know, there too many people out there who don't have any proof of having done it themselves.
00:22:43
Speaker
So be honest. You're not building an empire. just trying to You're trying to quit your job without telling your boss. And if there's one last piece of advice, i give you don't want to keep pushing this.
00:22:54
Speaker
Make money while you sleep. Make money while you're sleeping. Make money while you're sleeping. And keep pushing this again. And I just go, you know, just try sleeping while you're sleeping. um And that might actually make your life better.
00:23:07
Speaker
All right? ah I'll catch you guys in the next episode.