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#48: It's Not Fair!
36 Plays1 month ago
#48: It’s Not Fair!
Francis started his day with a bike ride but then it completely upset his morning coffee ritual. Meanwhile, Jessica automates her cup of morning joe. They meander through volleyball, the disappearance of Greek life on campus, sun tan oil, and eventually land on “fairness”.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Grocery Stick Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
From a makeshift recording studio in Brooklyn, welcome to The Grocery Stick with Jessica and Francis. Shut the front door. That is not what we agreed upon. Francis and Jessica. Meh, ignore that.
00:00:13
Speaker
We're Brooklynites and friends. We're here to talk, laugh, commiserate, and argue about all things travel sports-related, kid-related, and plain old life-related. It's Francis and Jessica, or I quit.
00:00:23
Speaker
Shh. Three, two, one. Hello. Hi. Episode 48. Welcome.
Episode 48 Beginnings: Age and Unpreparedness
00:00:30
Speaker
welcome almost my age. We still have no idea what we're doing unprepared, but we are going. We're trying. and like the frenetic nature of unprepared sometimes.
Francis's Morning Adventure in New York
00:00:42
Speaker
yeah You know what happened to me this morning? i went out for a bike ride. It's warmer.
00:00:46
Speaker
i went out for a bike ride. As you know, it's a win in New York if you go out for a bike ride and only almost get killed once on a 35-minute. That's an interesting way to look at this. Five and a miles, whatever, 35 minutes. But I went out this morning because you were a little bit delayed. And I said, going to go for a bike ride, get some exercise in, and then I'll buy my coffee and we'll get recording.
00:01:12
Speaker
And in my infinite wisdom, I went bike riding. Once again, only almost got killed once. Fantastic. Got home, started making breakfast and realized, fuck, I forgot to get my coffee. And that's like, does that mean I don't miss my coffee? Because some people really can't start their day without.
00:01:32
Speaker
I am one of those people. Are you? I am. I'm very much. You one of those cool machines, right? like It's waiting for you in the morning. Yeah. I set it up the night before. So it brews. Yes. It brews at like 545 in the morning, six o'clock in the morning, depending. Whole like house smells like warm coffee. Yep.
00:01:50
Speaker
And I get up and I take my mug and I walk right over and
Coffee Routines and Preferences
00:01:54
Speaker
I. Good for And I do my coffee. Yeah. I thought about that. in okay it really makes my morning way better does it really yeah because it's part of my early morning routine i like my routine okay in the depths of our new york winter this year though which was really bad brutal brutal even though that's what normal winter was 20 years ago but for us it was like holy shit it is so cold yeah i came this close
00:02:22
Speaker
To buying a coffee machine. i was like, oh, this is so freaking painful to go out and get coffee. Yeah. I'm actually really surprised that you don't have one. Considering you drink it every day. it's Well, it's only, okay. So one, it's only me.
00:02:35
Speaker
I only drink one a day. It's okay. And really, i was like, had my finger on the buy button on Amazon for a machine.
00:02:46
Speaker
and I didn't do it because I realized that. I'm already stuck at home m for work, right? With the advising the firefighting thing and advising the other network software thing.
00:03:02
Speaker
was like, if I don't go out for coffee every morning, I will never leave this freaking apartment. yeah which is not healthy. No, it is not. And so i was like, okay, as much as it pains me, it won't be cold forever.
00:03:15
Speaker
It will eventually warm up. Yeah. It is a great way for me. like I normally go down and talk to the doorman I stand the door for 10 minutes and say hi to neighbors. Hey, how are you? See the kids go to school buth blah bla bla and be a friendly face and then get my coffee. So it's like a good 30, 40 minute ritual. I'm like, I can't lose that. If I lose that,
00:03:36
Speaker
It's your morning routine. I become a hermit. Yeah, I mean, it's your morning routine. I can see i can see why you wouldn't want to change it. Although I would also argue that you could get a machine and just use it on the coldest of days when it's completely unpalatable to go out for the coffee. It might be worth it in and of itself. Like an espresso machine, for instance. I know. I think, not that I have it, but whatever, ah for lack of a better term, the OCD in me Cannot stand buying a piece of machinery and watching it sit there and rot and only be used like once a month, once a week. It's like, if I'm buying it, it needs to be used. Yeah. I can just let it sit there. no i Right. Because then, you know, the coffee thing is like, you you're buying the because then, okay, my brother, he loves this Nespresso machine.
00:04:27
Speaker
Yeah. I can't do that. Like if I'm going to buy a coffee machine, then going to buy the beans and then have to buy the grinder And then it's got to be fresh. And it's a whole thing, right? and i'm right And that's why I go to a coffee shop. And even though I drink black drip coffee, I still want to see that it was ground up from beans and put into a filter and into a machine and then out it comes.
00:04:52
Speaker
and And so there, and therefore, I can't even buy a machine that would take a shortcut from a capsule. Yeah. So there you go. i hear you. I got to go out.
00:05:04
Speaker
Can you imagine old machines, the grinder, the this, that? I have all of them. Do you? Yeah. wait so every night you're going to grind the beans and put it in the machine and then set the timer and then go to bed? i don't grind the beans for that. I grind the beans for my Chemex, which I use when I want it. Like I don't, I have, I have several modalities for coffee. Mm-hmm.
00:05:31
Speaker
right So I have a Bialetti, a stovetop Bialetti, which is you know Italian, like is super Italian coffee, yeah yeah yeah yeah which I love using. it's But it's a little bit like ah you know if if you need your coffee before you're functioning, it's a little hard to function. It's a lot a lot of work to manage. yeah um I feel similarly about the Chemex, which is you know the pour over.
00:05:56
Speaker
um But the coffee and the Chemex are... I find is a smoother, superior experience to the others.
00:06:07
Speaker
ah But again, it's a pain in the ass. i like us You're buying the beans or they're giving you the beans? with Oh, no, I'm going out and selecting my own beans. as matter of fact, there's a place on Bleecker Street... That I've like wandered into a couple times and bought beans there. oh And it's been a transcendent morning coffee experience. Oh, shit. Transcendent. Transcendent. Yeah. Like to the point where, you know, like when I set it up, I'll make an entire pot of coffee. Like I'll make nine cups of coffee because I'll have it. Eric will have it. Sometimes, you know, but someone else is, you know, interloping and they'll have a cup of coffee or whatever.
00:06:43
Speaker
um But the Chemex is really limited because it makes two cups of coffee. o It only makes two cups of coffee. And they're and they're kind of tight on and on the work. perfect for me. Cup might be a little loose. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:06:58
Speaker
um Okay. But yeah, so it like switch it's a lot. and it's But it's good. I mean, it's you know it's a little bit of maintenance. But I feel like it takes less effort than the Bialetti, actually.
00:07:12
Speaker
You can see how people go down the rabbit hole of coffee making now. Totally. But if i if someone bought me an espresso tomorrow, I'd be like, okay, an espresso every day. I'd be like, pause, city.
00:07:23
Speaker
Yeah. My problem is just that I drink coffee black, nothing else. Same. Me too. and and when i And when I go to the store, it's, you know, the drip, I'm not paying for an Americano or some other other shit. So seems like a lot of effort just for...
00:07:41
Speaker
coffee that i i mean i'll drink mcdonald's coffee i don't care so uh yeah interesting anyway so uh i was just laughing at myself because i went for a bike ride came home started scrambling some eggs made some toast butter on the toast ham and then wait no oatmeal not today who that's for lunch so gross yeah i can't oatmeal for lunch i'm gonna eat it there's something fundamentally terrible about that cycle but it's just not for breakfast i think you should bake the oatmeal into a cookie no no No, no, no. Listen, have that after your ham, egg, and cheese situation.
00:08:15
Speaker
Swallow it as fast as I can and move on with the day. But, But then I was like, fuck, even though I don't need the coffee start my day, as I was eating my scrambled eggs and toast, I was like, I'm missing a hot drink. I'm old. I'm missing a hot drink. and I was like, fucking coffee.
00:08:32
Speaker
So I had to run down and run to get coffee and then reheat my half-eaten breakfast. Oh, see, I could never do that. I can't reheat eggs.
00:08:42
Speaker
ah Listen. That is so not something I'll do. is. I thought it i thought i spent five minutes thinking long and hard about, okay, like you said, i don't want to reheat my breakfast, so I should just eat it and then go get coffee. But the coffee really goes well with eggs and toast, and so I really need the coffee.
00:09:04
Speaker
And I always undercook my eggs. like They're really, really soft scrambled anyway, so I'm like, okay, I can get away with a 10-second warm-up, and it won't be stale. Was it as enjoyable on the reheat as it was originally? Of course not, but possible.
00:09:20
Speaker
and And then kicking myself for not buying the coffee in the first place. I think we've lost our only listener. Probably by now. But, you know, this just reinforces the point of having some kind of apparatus to make coffee in the apartment. spent nine minutes talking about eggs and fucking coffee. Okay. Yeah, but this just further it makes my point salient about having some kind of apparatus in the apartment so that you don't have to go running down the stairs. You're right.
00:09:42
Speaker
You're right about that. I should have. And i almost I almost defaulted to a green tea just to save myself from going out. Not the same. It's not the same. Not the same. It's not the same. You're right. No. Okay. That's like getting a matcha instead of a coffee first thing in the morning instead of having it as your second drink for the day. i That's true.
00:09:59
Speaker
How's my man Caesar?
Jessica's Dog Caesar: Prozac and Health Issues
00:10:02
Speaker
Caesar's good. Yeah. He's good. he um How did you spoil him this week? ah How did I spoil him this week? I really didn't. i started him on Prozac this week. Oh, you did?
00:10:14
Speaker
so i don't know if you want to drink and people the gra cheese last of the episode In Hidden in the cream cheese. Yeah. No problem. He doesn't... know like he doesn't There's no pause. Like, hey, wait a second. This cream cheese is soft. and then there's a hard thing. what what I'm just going to eat it.
00:10:28
Speaker
There's no none. No, they just swallow. don't chew it. They just kind of swallow it. Yeah, it's kind of mushy, right? So they kind of like yeah swallow it, I guess. I don't know. Yeah, he did bite into one once, but it wasn't Prozac. It was a probiotic. Okay. And he got powder all over the floor. And so then I started mixing the probiotic in with some food instead. but Right. But this, he it's like it's a small enough capsule where it just goes. So I started him on that this week. Okay. But it takes a while for it to really kick in. takes about a month. Yeah. You know, I was warned about lost appetite.
00:11:04
Speaker
Yeah. um Are you seeing that yet? Blood checks. You know, it's funny. i i wouldn't say lost appetite i would say eating less yeah but it's only been since friday yeah okay so it could be anything might not be yeah it could be anything yeah you know he has a bum shoulder of course he does that's you know injured re-injured re-injured re-injured i don't know but that's like ah he's like a eli he's like a 60 year old quarterback Yeah, you know, I just don't, yeah again, you know, attribute it to not really understanding his previous yeah life, right? Yeah, course. Yeah, yeah. um yeah So i yesterday I took him for a walk and he I sat down on a park bench in the sun and he kind of wanted to come up. So I picked up as his fat ass, I guess, because I think that he's pretty heavy. He's a solid man.
00:11:57
Speaker
So, you know, he was heavier than I thought he was going to be. I picked him up and put him on the bench and then he changed his mind and he jumped off the bench and re-injured the shoulder. So yesterday was a hundred milligram day of Carprofen at three o'clock in the afternoon because he was literally like in completely unstable. Like he kept on.
00:12:15
Speaker
This is what we aspire to be in about 30 years. Oh, I hope not. I don't want to be that unstable. objections Yeah, no, no, no, no. Calling our kids. a Hey, can you come over and give give me this? Can you pick me up off the floor? I've fallen and I can't get up Exactly. my biggest nightmare. um Okay. One of them anyway.
00:12:35
Speaker
So good to see he's in good spirits. ah um I saw a dog yesterday in our building. And because I have no experience with, it didn't look like a baby.
00:12:48
Speaker
I'm sure it was a puppy. But I i only realized through you not too long ago that when you get a dog, They don't really know how to walk on a leash. You got to train them. Yes.
00:13:00
Speaker
Okay. So I get that part because you see these frantic dogs and they have no idea what's going on. And then the owner's tugging them. ah You got to train them to walk on a leash. Yes. Understood. So I saw a dog yesterday in the elevator who was so scared. I believe it.
00:13:18
Speaker
That he or she.
Dog Training and Fear
00:13:20
Speaker
basically like was hiding in the corner of his elevator and the owner was being very gentle and trying to lure out the dog with some snacks.
00:13:31
Speaker
Treats. Okay. Yeah. Miraculous food. And still wasn't working. So I'm holding the elevator door, trying to be a nice neighbor. I wasn't in a hurry. It's like, Hey, take your time. But like, i was like, this door is not going to stay open forever. And when it starts to close in an emergency fashion, We're both in trouble. like We're not holding this door open. So you got about two minutes to get this dog out of here.
00:13:54
Speaker
And she was like, with the treats and coaxing it. i was like, oh, this thing is totally scared. And then when she finally managed to get it out of the elevator,
00:14:05
Speaker
It basically just hugged the wall of our love. It's sad. oh I'm out of here. See you later. Is that normal? It's really sad. Yeah, it can be Really? Yeah, it can be normal. I mean. always think of dogs, and especially puppy dogs, as just so hyper that it's the antithesis of that. It's like they're just so hyper and bouncing off the walls and trying to get out.
00:14:30
Speaker
You never think they're scared of the world. No, most um a lot of dogs are scared of the world. It's really it's very, very common, actually. yeah like Caesar's whole thing is he's fearful.
00:14:43
Speaker
you know His whole entire... you know like He's fearful of strange people, loud noises. Yep, strange people, loud noises, sudden movements. He's not afraid to go out.
00:14:54
Speaker
No, he's not afraid to go out. That's like the one thing. Although I have to say that if we lived in an elevator building, yeah he might be afraid to go in the elevator.
00:15:05
Speaker
i could see that being thing. shit. Yeah. Even with you going in the elevator? Yeah. Oh. Definitely. Yeah, I could see that being a thing. Okay.
00:15:15
Speaker
um Yeah, i think I guess I take it for granted that like dogs are born ready for cities, but clearly they're not because they have to adjust all the noise and the thing and everything. And you know what? Different personalities, different dispositions. I mean, they're just like everything else that's born into the world, right? Yeah.
00:15:30
Speaker
You know, they're not cookie cutter. They're not the same. They're all really different. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. Okay. But I feel bad for a dog that fears the world, especially at an elevator. Yeah. Because if it's the, you know, meant modality in which you're in and out of your apartment and in and out of your building. Yeah. Then you have to consider how often that fear is taking hold during the day.
00:15:54
Speaker
Yeah. It's a lot. Right. You know, trainers can help with that, but people people think they can manage. often see do So I thought, oh, that's interesting. I didn't really realize that. Okay. ah And then I read this article.
00:16:08
Speaker
i think that might be near, well, half near and dear to your heart.
Boys' Volleyball in Colleges: Opportunities and Challenges
00:16:12
Speaker
So there was an article about high school volleyball. Yeah. and your daughter's deep into it. Yes. But then I did the research, and um so there are like 500,000 or 600,000 girls volleyball players, high school.
00:16:30
Speaker
Okay. And this is in relation to like college recruiting, and right? Right. But only 95,000 boys yeah registered. yeah And so this article was really more focused on, on hey, um some of the obscure colleges that are about to go bankrupt.
00:16:48
Speaker
are you, I mean, and we and you and I talked about this before, that yeah sports recruiting is really a way to save a college. Right. But there were a couple of things he in this, that were interesting in this article. One is like, okay, boys volleyball heavily undersubscribe.
00:17:01
Speaker
Yes. So, if you are not fussed about where you want to go to school, I guess volley boys volleyball is the new fencing. like you You can play volleyball and be half decent and you will get calls from colleges. Now, may not be the colleges you want to attend, but you can get a D1 scholarship.
00:17:22
Speaker
Right. I think it's like if there's 60 D1 hockey schools, I think there's like two or three hundred D1 volleyball schools. Which is insane. Insane, right? Yeah. Okay, so you so so we already know from there, you know, schools you've never, ever heard of. Right. Okay, so there was that. was First it was that. the Oh, interesting, volleyball. never thought about that because obviously I think volleyball is hyper popular. Yeah. clearly girls more than boys. Yeah.
00:17:48
Speaker
Okay. And then it was going on to talk about the colleges and shutting down and some obscure liberal arts colleges are starting to grab onto volleyball and they can get students to come in. And it was saying that the studies have shown, i don't know what studies, they quoted some studies that 44% forty four percent of your student body as recruited athletes is the limit before the university or college becomes dysfunctional in the sense that once you break 44% of your student body as recruited athletes, it becomes very transient and dysfunctional. So that gets, cause you know, as you and I know, kids go in the transfer portal.
00:18:29
Speaker
They're just, they're the kids who play sports aren't really participating in everyday campus life because they're always training. Right. Yeah. Et cetera, et cetera. And then you're also giving scholarships out and it starts to turn what we call NARPs, the non-athletic regular people.
00:18:46
Speaker
Right. Away from your college, which you need because they pay tuition, full tuition. Right. In some senses, right? and And they make the rest of the social aspect of the college run.
00:19:00
Speaker
Exactly. um And it's weird because when I look at some of the colleges now, especially the private ones, you know, Greek life is gone.
00:19:11
Speaker
i you know what? I just... It's gone. was just talking about this the other day because ah my son went up to Middlebury this past weekend. Right. And there's no Greek life there. there's no... At this at the NESCAC schools, there's no Greek life. I think at the even the bigger private universities, like Duke, there's no Greek life, my daughter, i think...
00:19:33
Speaker
And, and so it's still, it's still, so now it's at the state schools, they still have it clearly because they're very big places.
Pressure on Students for Early Internships
00:19:40
Speaker
um But at the smaller private colleges, it's gone, but it's given way to these.
00:19:46
Speaker
I just feel like I feel bad for the kids. They're so stressed out about, it used to be get your junior summer internship and then turn it into a job. And then it turned into secure a sophomore internship.
00:19:59
Speaker
which rolls hopefully into a junior internship yeah to get a job. And then and then it's rolled in, now it's rolled into get a sophomore ah internship, sophomore summer internship, line up a different junior summer internship a year in advance, which then hopefully turns into a job.
00:20:22
Speaker
And now we're on the cusp of freshmen panicking, and trying to secure a sophomore summer internship a year in advance.
00:20:35
Speaker
and And so these clubs, finance club, consulting club, women in business, club whatever business or professional club you're joining has now taken over the the Greek life because the hazing and the interviews yeah that you need to go through to join these clubs. Yeah.
00:20:56
Speaker
It's yeah well the same level as the as the frats. I think it needed a facelift because of all the bad press. Right. So you go instead of having, you know, Sigma Alpha Mu. Yeah. Take hypothetically who has had a ton of bad press over the years. Right. Yeah. ah You take that and you give it the face of ah Wall Street Club. Yeah.
00:21:18
Speaker
Right. Right. And so now what you have is you have this legitimate educational experience, experience, throwing air quotes instead of Sammy. Yeah. You know, right. alpha you Right. yeah yeah yeah It's basically a facelift, I think. and i And I think it is because of.
00:21:35
Speaker
you know, the fundamental awful behavior that tons of fraternities and sororities have um inflicted yeah pa recruits.
00:21:49
Speaker
Right? Yeah, i mean, and when we toured... Last year when we toured Williams... They were showing us, oh, this house used to be whatever frat house. This house used to be whatever sorority. And they've now been turned into housing.
00:22:06
Speaker
Yeah. On-campus housing for a special affinity group or whatever else, blah, blah, blah, because we have no more Greek life, just like Middlebury. Yeah. I was like, oh, interesting. Yeah. That's kind of crazy.
00:22:18
Speaker
um Yeah. It's definitely a weird cultural shift. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that it's bad or good. Yeah. You know, I think if you're just trying to mitigate bad press, then it doesn't matter because you're still this fundamentally the same.
00:22:34
Speaker
Exactly. Well, okay. So now my daughter tells me when she wants to go to parties at Duke, the frats and sororities, which exist well off campus, they're now like throwing buses. They're sending buses into campus yeah housing to pick people up, driving them out 45 minutes to an hour to some whatever house party. Um,
00:22:52
Speaker
Which is bananas. Which is kind of weird. But then and then you she's like, I see these Ubers at like 1 a.m. going back to campus. I'm like, okay, but like, I guess that's life now. ah Yeah. i mean but You don't want liabilities either. Right. Of those of those frat houses having parties.
00:23:09
Speaker
Right. ah one one of my One of my friends whose daughter is at Stanford said that at Stanford, They let you drink because there's no, again, no Greek life. Yeah. And they don't want liability.
00:23:21
Speaker
They're letting you drink in your dorm room. Oh, shit. Really? Which is not, bless you. Thank you. Which sounds good conceptually.
00:23:32
Speaker
it doesn't. But now they're carting you out because no one can go into your joins private space. No one can keep track of you. And now they're carting out people, like freshmen especially, every week to the hospital for over drinking. Yeah, alcohol poisoning. Yeah, in your room.
00:23:47
Speaker
Yeah, that's terrible. Yeah, I don't think there's any really good solution. i mean, yeah you know, the truth of the matter is, is you know, all the kids, yeah and I, again, you know, all as an absolute, but it's not absolute,
Non-Alcoholic Drinks in the Restaurant Industry
00:24:00
Speaker
right? There are always exceptions, but all the kids of our kids' ages, yeah including my younger one, yeah they're all drinking and vaping and yeah smoking weed and doing all this shit that, yeah you know, you would imagine kids are doing, and it doesn't matter where they are. They're just all engaging in it.
00:24:16
Speaker
Although kids don't drink these days anymore. Oh my God. Alcohol companies and they're dying. They're suffering that they're not drinking. And you go to the restaurants, you can see that the sort of mocktail list.
00:24:27
Speaker
It is growing. Yeah. Well, because any beers, like all kind of stuff, right? People are The Department of Health starts to declare things class one carcinogen. People are going to start to back away from it, you know? it's interesting.
00:24:39
Speaker
Yeah, it is interesting. i mean, I don't know that they're suffering that badly because, I mean, every restaurant bar that I go into. yeah They're still selling plenty of alcohol, which is you know, in terms of revenue for them, they're really high mark price point items, meaning the the margin. They're making may they're be making way, as a person doesn't drink, I know, they're making way more money they are selling non-alcoholic drinks.
00:25:06
Speaker
For sure. Those are highest margin drinks. Yeah. I don't know Really? Because a glass of wine versus a bottle of wine, the price in a restaurant versus going to an actual wine store, it's it's there's a a huge difference in that. OK, so let me tell you a simple I'll give you a simple math calculation. Right. So sure, bottle of wine marked up three times typically, right? from And they get a wholesale price and get whatever else it is. So let's just say, let's say, you know, they're marking it up even four or five times, right? Okay.
00:25:41
Speaker
Something as basic as a glass of Coke, which is filled with ice. And I've seen them, right? Like one can of Coke, one bottle of Coke can serve like six or seven people.
00:25:55
Speaker
and they mean a leader You mean a liter bottle? No, I'm talking about a standard 355 milliliter can or bottle, which you get off the grocery store shelves.
00:26:06
Speaker
And when they fill that cup of ice, and even if it's from and found it, when they fill that glass of ice and they put that level of Coke in there to fill it up. Yeah, they don't use a lot of Coke. it's it's it's it's under 20% of that can, yeah for example. And that's $12, $15 at the restaurant or bar versus your $20, $22 alcohol drink. I can't even imagine paying $12 for a glass of Coke. I mean, if you got to go out, you got to go out and you got order it.
00:26:31
Speaker
Ginger ale, whatever, same thing. So anyways, I think the margin is definitely better. Although, sure, the volume of what you're selling, alcohol, because like if if I drink five Cokes, I don't crave more.
00:26:42
Speaker
Right. If I get drunk on five whiskeys, typically that drunk person more. Right. More. More. Right. Yeah. I think. um But and maybe just our age, I just know and the more and more out people and I see more and more and more people asking for like any beers and that kind of stuff. Yeah. I like the any beers. I don't really drink that much. Do they taste the same?
00:27:03
Speaker
To me, they do. Oh, interesting. To me, they do. So even though the alcoholics still taste the same? Yeah, to me, they do. There are a couple of brands that are extremely good. Yeah.
00:27:15
Speaker
You know, I've had the Heineken Zero. Yeah. That was pretty good. i saw something about Athletic Brewing Company. Athletic Brewing Company does really, really well with their non-alcoholic brew. Yeah.
00:27:26
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, i've had I've had a bunch of them. I've had, ah so I think, Sapporo or Asahi. Yeah. Japanese. yeah yeah. No alcohol. Those are pretty good. um Okay. Okay.
00:27:40
Speaker
Yeah, the beer is good. The wine is not. The non-alcoholic wine is not good. Oh, I can see that because that that that really changes the taste. Yeah, it's not good. And I've tried to i've tried a handful of them. yeah Because for me, it's not about the alcohol. I just really like wine. like i like I like the taste of like a dark, jammy Cabernet specifically or a Sauvignon Blanc, like a light, airy in the summer.
00:28:05
Speaker
Nothing that I've tried with you know non-alcoholic is compared to that. same quality. It's just not a good, it's not the same quality. Right.
00:28:15
Speaker
I guess it's the same concept as i mean, it's impossible. Gluten free. Well, it no, it's impossible to do, but like a non-alcoholic Whiskey. Yeah, which they have. they bought They what? Yeah, they have zero. Yeah, like zero proof, quote, tequila. Like, I don't think you can call it tequila. You can't call it tequila at that point. Right. But I've had Fermented and alcohol. I've had these. And there's there's a ton of zero proof.
00:28:40
Speaker
Really? Aperitif, alcohol-y type things. Then just sugar. A sweet drink, right? It's just like sugar and water because the point is... You put it in with other things. I mean, you don't drink it plain. You're mixing it, right? You mix it. It's a mixable thing. It's back to being a mocktail. So it gives you like the underlying almost sense that you have a similar... yeah, yeah. flavor profile, guess. Essentially, it's impossible. you said, you can't call it tequila tequila if there's no alcohol in it. Right. And the chances that it's coming from the same plants and whatever are probably not realistic.
00:29:13
Speaker
Yeah. um But yeah, the beer thing is is acceptable to me. Anything else so far has fallen kind of short. Yeah. Funny how we've gotten into alcohol, not alcohol, but we started with men's volleyball.
00:29:26
Speaker
I know. and Oh, well, we got there because of fraternities and sororities. i know. Parties. Like a natural progression. People can see how our minds meander. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's some real insight right there. Come have lunch with us. You've got to keep It'll three-hour lunch and you have no idea what we talked about. You've got to keep up. Where we started, where we ended. um Okay.
00:29:48
Speaker
Yeah. I don't miss drinking, though, when I don't drink. Yeah? Yeah. I mean, I know you don't drink. I've never you to drink. so much But yeah, I don't miss it. yeah I mean, I go out sometimes and have like, you know, birthday or whatever.
00:30:00
Speaker
But aside from that, yeah I really don't imbibe any longer and I don't, yeah I'm not sad about it. Good. Yeah, guess it's fine. It's healthier for you, right? It is.
00:30:12
Speaker
It is. Well, those of us who have a history of cancer don't yeah intentionally do a lot of class one carcinogens anymore. Right. That's a very good PSA. Yeah, isn't it?
00:30:22
Speaker
That and I had my skin check today, my annual skin check for skin cancer with my dermatologist. For pale skin people. I'm not that pale. And you are cancer free. i am cancer free.
00:30:34
Speaker
You know, some like watchable. You're not Conan O'Brien pale. No, no, I don't fry and turn, you know, tomato red in the sun. No, like she asked me today, she said, have you ever had a blistering sunburn? And I said,
00:30:47
Speaker
Not that I recall. Probably not in a long time. It was like, not that I recall. No, no, not I've never blistered. Like I don't blister. I see. Okay. And so I looked at her and I was like, you know, I don't i don't remember. yeah I would imagine, you know, if I did, it probably would have been when I was a kid, but I would also imagine that I would remember it because it would have been probably super painful. And she was like, oh, if you had a blister sunburn, you would know. okay. You'd remember. And I was like, okay, then in that case, no, I've never had that before. i've never had blisters.
00:31:15
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, but can't even imagine what that must be like. Yeah. When we were kids. Gross. When we were kids in the 70s and the 80s, people put oil their skin. Oh, know. Do you remember that? I do. I vaguely recall that. i By the time we were old enough in college, sunscreen was in already, right? But I do recall people putting or selling suntan oil.
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah, they still sell it. They do? Oh, yeah. No shit. Oh, yeah, they do. Wow. They sell it, number one. And number two, all 15, 16, 17-year-old girls, 14, 15, 16, 17-year-old girls that I know, they still use it. They still use No matter what their parents tell them, no matter what we say. Are you serious? It's all about the UV outside. the UV is above 6, they are outside greased up.
00:32:12
Speaker
warsh I did not know. I didn't know that. Yeah. Yep. All of my my kids and her friends and all of that. Yeah. My daughter and I, i I'm going to call this a benefit. We have the benefit of tanning very easily.
00:32:29
Speaker
Very easily. We don't burn. Yeah. Our tans last forever. The other half of the family, son, wife, on the paler end of the spectrum. And they burn.
00:32:41
Speaker
So my daughter and i look like we're tanned all year round. Like, different shades. right And I'll, like, after winter, I'll, whatever, i take my shirt off and and socks off. my And my wife will, like...
00:32:53
Speaker
the fuck you still have your summer tan tan lines yeah i'm playing golf i'm like yeah yeah i can't get rid of them and i don't know i think i'm thinking that's good because we don't burn right and we keep the tan and and that reaction to the sun as opposed to being more on the pale end and burning um But yeah, anyway, so we we stay tanned all year round.
00:33:17
Speaker
It's kind of weird. um ah And so we're always using the sunscreen. Right. I'm shocked. I can't believe you just told me that teenage girls are using oil.
00:33:31
Speaker
Freaking hell. Damn. Oil. Okay. All right. Still out there. Popcorn and for all. Yep, totally. Holy shit. Totally, totally, totally. shit Yeah, it's kind of crazy. We... 33 minutes. Let's segue into fairness.
00:33:50
Speaker
Nothing in life is fair. were talking about it. we Before we started the podcast, we were like, were talking about fairness, DEI, college, school admissions, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah And I wanted to start off with Okay, so we we had talked about it back and forth and we were we were saying, okay, DEI is good, but it got off track. and the wholes and And then I was saying, I've met some Eastern European people, friends who have come here seeking fairness and yeah meritocracy right only to realize that today's America looks like their socialist Eastern Europe, where it's like,
00:34:26
Speaker
No, you could be the smartest guy on the planet and productive, but it's who you know. And that concept of fairness, which is, I guess, the the it's the problem of it is being exacerbated by the far left. Mm-hmm.
00:34:42
Speaker
um and whatever it is they're doing, like higher taxation on billionaires or ah letting a certain sub-segment of people into schools who are not deserving, let's say, from a performance standpoint, et cetera, et cetera, like all that's being driven by the far left and under the DEI guys. Okay, so let me start you with this question.
00:35:06
Speaker
example That is a real life example. It just happened in Singapore where, you know, the rules are of punishment are severe. Yes. Okay. So a single mother was just sentenced to a week in jail in Singapore.
Education System Challenges in Singapore
00:35:22
Speaker
Singapore jails, there's no minimum security, medium, maximum. You just go into jail with everybody together. Okay. She got sentence ah sentenced to a week. A single mother was sentenced to a week of jail for lying about her address to get her child into a element, a quote unquote crime.
00:35:44
Speaker
better elementary school because in Singapore, like I grew in Vancouver, you go to the school in your neighborhood based on your address. Okay.
00:35:55
Speaker
So she had an, ah I guess somehow she has a small apartment in a good area. Again, there are no bad areas in Singapore, by the way. Okay. This is all marginal, right? But she has an an apartment in a, what she thought was a better area that she had rented out to somebody. Right. And then she lived in a lower income area. Right.
00:36:22
Speaker
That she could afford. And we're not gonna get into the whole, how did she get that apartment? Who cares? Doesn't matter. But, and, and so she used that address of the apartment she's renting out to get her kid a spot in a good school, neighborhood school. Okay.
00:36:39
Speaker
Okay. um And then fast forward to her getting busted by it. I think this is after the school year started. they must have sent some mail or something and she didn't get it and blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:36:53
Speaker
Turns out that she
00:36:58
Speaker
they're saying it's premeditated. So, so yes, she knows that she used the wrong address when she tried to correct the address and blah, blah, blah, blah. The school investigated missing mail, blah, blah. And she turns out she had, and she's knowingly doing it to the point where she instructed the people who are renting that apartment.
00:37:19
Speaker
If you ever see somebody from the school district that asks you, if I live here with my daughter, you need to say yes. Okay. So she wanted them to lie as well. ok Okay. Okay.
00:37:32
Speaker
So, so of course her lawyers arguing, Hey, this is stupid that you're sending her to jail for a week for lying about address to get her kid into a better school.
00:37:44
Speaker
And of of course, some people outraged. oh my God, single mom. like Isn't a fine probation? Do you really want to send her to jail and her daughter is now living alone for a week by herself?
00:37:56
Speaker
Is that really sending the right message? Now the judge was like, listen, I understand everything you're saying, but Singapore is based on the rule of law and the meritocracy, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah And if we let her off, as much as I want to let her off, what and I agree that a single mom shouldn't be in jail for this, let me put it to you the other way. Okay, one, if people have no faith in the rules anymore,
00:38:27
Speaker
then like you and I talked about, you have this whole weird DEI bullshit on the, on the left. Right. Who, you know? Yeah. One, he says, that's not good for the overall society. Two,
00:38:42
Speaker
It was not only but just not only a passing lie. This is a lie that's so premeditated and planned. She's actually directed five individuals who live in that apartment and have have contact with whatever said school to lie on her behalf. Yeah, that's okay. Okay. And then third, he was like saying, think about the spot that this child has taken away from another child.
00:39:09
Speaker
Again, I don't know if there's limits. Clearly, it sounds like there are limits, but he was saying this spot that this child occupies in this school actually belongs to another child. And there must be a system of There must be a system of if you, if the neighborhood school is not full, there must be a system of like taking kids, maybe whatever it is. There's a, there's a system and a set of rules where you go to this neighborhood school and if you're not in the neighborhood, there's another system of filling those seats, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah blah And you've circumvented this by perpetuating this lie. Right.
00:39:43
Speaker
Got it. So boom, no appeal. You've got, I'm going to give you a week to get, a relative or so a friend to care for your daughter for the week that you're going to jail. Crazy.
00:39:59
Speaker
So sorry for the long winded setup, no no but based on that, I have to say as a parent, you go to jail. I agree. guys I agree.
00:40:10
Speaker
Right. Yeah. It's totally sucks. And I know as a single mom, you're trying to do whatever you could to give your child a better life or a better head start. The irony is that in Singapore, there's no such thing as a bad school.
00:40:24
Speaker
This is almost like, this is it' kind of a weird, if we had to put it into a New York or or American Canadian, North American concept, it's like, imagine that you're trying to choose an elementary school for your child,
00:40:43
Speaker
within a group of 10 schools in the best neighborhood you'd know in your town. Like you're splitting hairs. But the point for me is that you're splitting hairs. Like there's no, whether you go to school A, B, C, D, E or beyond doesn't actually really matter. But of course, in a parent's mind, you're a parent, I'm a parent. We're trying to do and give our kids the biggest head start in life, right?
00:41:06
Speaker
Of some sort. Yeah. i mean, it would matter to you. it would matter It would matter to me. I mean, you could, you say that from the outside, but I mean, if you, if you were in it you might, you might, if you felt desperate, you might, maybe, maybe she was feeling desperate. You know, I mean, you know, look,
00:41:26
Speaker
I think that this is just an example of ah all the parental competition that I see all the time.
00:41:39
Speaker
Right. Yes. Cool. Everything. Great best team. Yeah. Yeah. Coaches. Best private lessons. Like whatever it is. ok I just think this is another iteration of that. And I think that, you know, people go to great lengths to facilitate what they believe is the best for their people, their families. yeah Specifically, their kids even more specifically. True.
00:42:04
Speaker
And in that comes some compromised ethical stance or morality and also can promote some very poor decision making.
00:42:18
Speaker
I agree. I'm not above it. As a parent, I would tell you like when Varsity Blues came out and people said, oh, that's just stupid. I'm like, listen, if somebody offered me a way to bribe somebody to send my kid to a particular school that I really wanted him or her to go to, I would do it. yeah I mean, but there are tons of stories. There are tons of stories. yeah I mean, like what Felicity Huffman and, you know, like, yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean, and and ah what's the other one? Lori Loughlin.
00:42:45
Speaker
Yes. Right. Correct. And so, for you know, I mean, and these are people who must have felt very entitled Oh. In those moments, right? Well, because it was blatant. was just blatant, like, you're on the rowing team. You've never rowed in your life.
00:43:02
Speaker
Right. like That's a bit too obvious. Again, but I go with, like, desperation and weird, bad decisions. Like, that's just a very strange, poor choice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, yeah you know, like, you'd be better served trying to um facilitate some kind of falsehood on a debate team.
00:43:19
Speaker
It might be easier, right? Like, something... Something a little less highlighted. like an NCAA division one sport. Yeah. Like, I just think that's a yeah example, really good example of a bad decision, poor choice. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but again, like, you know, you see these things like, on I mean, that's like a grand scale, right? I mean, and yeah this person in Singapore really sad and probably completely unnecessary when you really start to peel back the layers and to say the entire situation in Singapore in terms of the department of education. Right. Right.
00:43:55
Speaker
Well, every case so in every case that they prosecute like this is viewed in Singapore as must be made an example of to deter other people. But they do that for everything.
00:44:08
Speaker
but Yes, for everything. For every infraction. everything. they make them And I would just argue, as severe as it looks, the two times that I lived there ah for work,
00:44:22
Speaker
There is a reason why it's the kind of place where even in 2026, if you left your wallet in the taxi, yes you're going to get it back. Yeah. It'll be completely untouched. And the taxi driver will not even charge you for spending three hours of his day to track you down. Yeah. Right. or Or you could send your four year old to preschool.
00:44:45
Speaker
with reasonable comfort that nothing's going to happen to this child. Right. So when you pull back the lens yeah and look at this, yeah it's kind of a utopian society. Yeah. yeah yeah Right. It's a heavy hand. Sure.
00:44:59
Speaker
sure But it kind of it yields the result it's looking for, unlike so many other places, right? Where the rate of recidivism is huge. And I will tell everybody, this only works in a city-state.
00:45:10
Speaker
Right. Because a small. Yes, manageable. you can control everything. Right. so so it only And even though it's like 7 million people, again, it's like, but it is a city-state.
00:45:21
Speaker
Yeah. and So it's very easy to manage those rules within a tight space. Right. Once you go beyond a city-state, it's impossible to manage. right to execute right right that plan. Too much landmass, too many people. yeah just and and too many too Too much governance. You just can't do it. like Even in New York State, can you imagine like trying to govern these rules between New York City and then the suburbs and then upstate? like this't wouldn't work It's just completely different. No, you'd have to make it into three separate, like three entirely separate states, yeah basically. So it works there.
00:45:53
Speaker
Could work in a place like Hong Kong before the Chinese took over when it was British. well Same thing, you could manage that. um And then Japan's it's a big separate thing, like it's a cultural thing, but you know, where four year olds walk across the street and to the grocery store and come back. Yeah, I know. In one piece with money and all the cars stop for them and blah, blah, blah. Right. Yeah. That's just a whole new level. Yeah. yeah um But it was like the fairness of the thing. So I was like, OK, I agree. Like, I think it's just crazy. It's mean, blah, blah, blah, blah. Really jailing.
00:46:22
Speaker
unnecessary But in terms of preserving the fairness of the system and the perception, which is maybe sometimes more important than actual the fairness, the perception of people that the system works, it's solid.
00:46:36
Speaker
I know there are winners and losers, but that everybody plays by the rules. Right. And there's no circumvent. There's no side door. Right. right I think, which drives that quote-unquote fake utopia in Singapore. But still, like and I think that's yeah you know like in New York for us, right? People have just given up.
00:46:58
Speaker
People have given hope in some senses because they're just like the DEI thing, the lefties, and blah, blah, blah, and like oh taxing billionaires.
New York's Pied-à-Terre Tax Debate
00:47:05
Speaker
Like taxing, can you see like ah that Mamdani pied-à-terre tax. Yeah. Which Conceptually, tend to agree with in the sense that if you are an owner and you, and this is again conceptual, if you are an owner of a property and you are using the city's resources, you should be taxed.
00:47:32
Speaker
I would argue that you are already being taxed. in your property tax at the same whatever rate that is for everybody else. Right. And that you're not you're not taxing the police or the fire or the school because you don't live here. Right. I think the the higher tax is because they don't live here.
00:47:53
Speaker
Because they don't live full time in the residence. But but ah typically a tax a tax is used to pay for the resources that you're supposed to be taking advantage of by owning that property. right So now, because it's a vacation property,
00:48:10
Speaker
you are using technically fewer resources because you don't live here. Okay, but you can apply that to empty nesters, people who don't have children. i mean, you can apply that all across the board too. Agreed. To a large degree, right? Because they're also not using all the city resources that taxes cover.
00:48:27
Speaker
I don't necessarily agree with it in the way that it's, has been presented. certainly don't agree with him standing in front of somebody's apartment and pointing and doing it. Well, here's the thing, right? Because you know the rest of the story.
00:48:43
Speaker
That's bananas. The rest of the story he was, his company was going to spend $6 billion on a new building. I do. Here in New York City. yeah In New York City, yeah building and creating 20,000 construction jobs and yeah and the people who work for him who stay here would pay tax. This is socialism. This is actual socialism in work. this is the problem that I have. and In in the end, it's like, okay, the tax itself, not the problem.
00:49:09
Speaker
You can make whatever assumptions on the reason not problem. But like singling him out and making him feel bad. And then you see the comments of all the far lefties. so Yeah. Yeah. like The mob mentality. Like you stupid fucks. hu Even if you're unhappy that he's smart enough or use the system enough or whatever it is to get to become a billionaire. Yeah.
00:49:33
Speaker
right He was about to create 20,000 jobs for people in the city to make money and build the middle class, whatever you want to call it, okay?
00:49:43
Speaker
And now if you've pissed him off, he might just disappear. Or just not, you know what Pay the pied-a-terre tax. don't build the building and give Mamdani or the city the middle finger. So like, again, like stupid headline. First of all, headline, because it hasn't passed. The law hasn't passed. Has passed through city council. Okay, one.
00:50:02
Speaker
So one, that's the first thing. So you announced a rule. Again, great paul political theater. You've announced a rule that hasn't actually been passed yet. So all these people who are jumping on, the yeah, awesome. Like, you're awesome what?
00:50:13
Speaker
It hasn't passed yet. Right, it's the same thing as like free fucking buses. Free buses that don't fucking exist yet. Exactly. Well, they won't exist because they can't exist. The MTA is a huge revenue.
00:50:24
Speaker
It's huge revenue for the state. Like it can't, you cannot give away. i know. So he's chasing revenue and then wants to keep shit away for free. And it's gone up since he took office, by the way, which was already planned, but he couldn't stop that from happening. that's the thing. So as he's like, again, like the in experience of never managing a business or a family budget, I'm like, dude, I, family budget. He's got a billion dollar budget. You have overspent.
00:50:46
Speaker
So cut back on spending and then consider giving stuff up for free. But before you even cut the spending, you're trying to give out more for free and then just charge taxes. Now, yeah back to the Pierre de Terre tax. I'm like, he's saying five minutes above. I'm like, hang on a second.
00:51:02
Speaker
You know, in New York City, It's not hard to find a two or three bedroom apartment in any building that's worth five million or more. Right. And what if you are, like said, what if you are a retiree?
00:51:12
Speaker
What if you're a snowbird? Living in Florida. Yeah, you're a snowbird. You go back and forth. yeah And you're not rich. And you have this apartment from that you bought 20 years ago that's now worth five million. And you're going to be charged a tax...
00:51:25
Speaker
because you're retired, you probably can't afford, versus right hedge fund guy. Right. right act so makingking money passed over So again, I'm like, hang on a second. I mean, fair, quote on fair, if you're really after the hedge fund billionaire, well then, put the tax on him.
00:51:43
Speaker
I don't know, $20 million dollar apartments and above. Why five? Five's a low number. Right. Well, because it's, it's, it's the collective net. Yeah. Yeah. That's what it is. Because in his frame of mind and his constituents frame of mind, $5 million dollars is a lot of money.
00:52:00
Speaker
Yeah. In the real world. It's not in New York. It's not anymore here Five million dollars is not a lot of money here anymore. So, you know, these are all I mean, you know, oftentimes they're younger generations and transplants or retirees who never made enough money.
00:52:15
Speaker
Yeah. I think is what you're seeing. Or also they are people who have been here generationally who are now like, oh, free stuff, bigger taxes, you know. But the truth is, is like this guy came in he promised all these crazy things. Yeah. To get elected. Right. To get elected. And one of the first things that he did was institute the estate tax. Right.
00:52:40
Speaker
Yeah, right. Which now negatively impacts all of these generational families who bought homes here however many years ago that have appreciated this entire time, right? Those homes originally probably weren't worth worth more than $10,000, $20,000. Now they're worth millions of dollars and now they're getting hit.
00:53:00
Speaker
Even though they were like, oh, this guy's going to be great because he's going to come in and he's going to tax all these wealthy people. These people aren't wealthy. Yeah, I know. So it's, again, you know. It's like delusional that these people, these kinds of people are wealthy. They're not wealthy.
00:53:18
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You know, and and whatever whatever their properties are registering as right now in terms of comps, it it literally doesn't mean anything at all. Yeah, yeah.
00:53:30
Speaker
in least Not from my point of view, it doesn't. Yeah, so this whole fantasy concept, anyway, so it's it's it's gone. it's been completely warped by the far left, which is crazy. Lots of people are house rich.
00:53:42
Speaker
Yes, that is true. Lots of people are house rich. Doesn't mean that they have liquid money. They don't have liquid. Everything's wrapped up in their homes. Yeah. So to be taxed on it is kind of like the extra fuck you, really, from my point of view.
00:53:57
Speaker
Yeah. So anyways, so it was a weird, it was just a weird thing to like, you know, he basically doxed somebody, right? He stood in front of the building and said, here's $238 million you paid for this. We're going to charge him a tax. Vote for me. i'm like, what the fuck, dude? Are you stupid? Well, he didn't dox him per se. I mean, he highlighted him and then embarrassed him. building and said, this is his penthouse. he embarrassed him to the extent where, you know, it's like you've put him in a spotlight. He was if he was must have been pretty anonymous before that point, right? Yeah.
00:54:29
Speaker
For the most part, like where he lived, his address. Yes. The whole floor. To the non-finance people for sure. Right. yeah Right. So absolutely so he yeah he basically spotlighted him. And I'm sure he doesn't get embarrassed, but in theory embarrassed him. Right. Like you've made a mockery. Yeah.
00:54:45
Speaker
of my life, you've made a mockery of the fact that I was bringing all of these jobs to the city, bringing all of this. short-sighted. So short-sighted. Yeah. um And you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up and left and went to Texas or Florida. yeah It makes perfect sense.
00:55:00
Speaker
Perfect sense. It's weird because because ultimately, again, ultimately, I think you and I you feel it's like when you talk about taxing the rich yeah you really what you really mean is you want to tax the top 0.1 right 0.1 everyone hear that 0.1 right the the really like the 100 millionaire people and the above right but like that's not sexy no it's not a good slogan so you say top one percent and so in place like new york top one percent all the working professionals you get lumped into that top 1%, you can't actually afford to pay more. You're already being stretched thin with school fees and know medical care, whatever else it is. and And I'm sure we'll have friends who will listen to this old friends Hockey Team. You're stupid friends. I'm like, no, listen, we're all in the same boat. right I don't care if it's top 1%, top 2%. We're the ones that get squeezed. Right.
00:55:53
Speaker
on higher taxes because ultimately, even if you tax that billionaire for the pied-à-terre, he doesn't care. It's a rounding error. He'd make that money back in two days. Right, right. And I'm sure there's a ton of write-off for him. Right, exactly. So he's that's not the issue. The pied-à-terre tax isn't solving any problems. There are other bigger tax loopholes that they need to close be for these billionaires.
00:56:16
Speaker
You know, the big one being how they they don't get income. They get right capital gains. They get capital returns from their stock as opposed to salary that you and I make, for example. Right. right um And Warren Buffett has done plenty to...
00:56:30
Speaker
highlight why he pays less than his secretary, which is just not fair. But that's the rules that the government set up. yeah That's the loophole you got to close. Right. those are those So the tax code in this country is ridiculous.
00:56:43
Speaker
And not ridiculous in a good way. Ridiculous in like, come on, people. like you you want to You want to have DEI discussions and all of that bullshit. I think starting with the tax code would change the trajectory of a lot of these people.
00:56:58
Speaker
Yeah. Right. they just It's just it's easy. It's almost easy. right It's like any money you make is considered income. Right. I don't care if you make it in the stock market. Yeah. i don't care you make it in the company. And then, OK, you can. Yeah. Yeah. Blah, blah, blah, blah. We try to spur investment and i don't care. Yeah. If you make a dollar profit, it's considered salary. Right. Income. Right.
00:57:18
Speaker
pay the tax. Right. Like that would solve a lot of headaches. It would. And and I think, and I think it would solve, I think it would solve a lot of that. um
00:57:28
Speaker
ah The, the internal struggle m that yeah a lot of people feel specifically the younger generations who quote, have so much trouble getting jobs in the
Need for Tax Code Reform and Future Impacts
00:57:38
Speaker
market. yeah I feel like if the tax code was rewritten, it's,
00:57:43
Speaker
yeah To close those loopholes in the way that we're discussing, that these people wouldn't feel so desperate. about money because they would actually have some kind of living wage situation, living salary situation. Right. Like, yeah, there's so much wrong with it. And and I, I, I see it and I agree with it. I just don't subscribe to the methodology behind the way that people handle it.
00:58:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You know, i think that there could be ah so better management on that front. Desperation? What is that? it is desperate I think it's desperation. I think it's envy.
00:58:22
Speaker
yeah i think a lot of it is, oh, woe is me. yeah um Why me? There's a lot of why me? Why can't i Why can't I? And it's just like, well, you know maybe you can't because you're going about it all the wrong way. like Maybe you need to change you know change the way you manage yourself, manage your direction. like There's tons of reasons why stuff could not be going well.
00:58:46
Speaker
for people that. think Michael Lewis wrote about that. The concept of fairness. very He has a little series of bo he has a series of podcasts where he talks about like umpires and blah, blah, blah. Everything he talks about i mean in the real world is is linked back to the concept of fairness. right well That's the same reason that parents are screaming at $25 per teenage referees at hockey games. like Are you people serious? like There is no fair. it is what it is. Yeah.
00:59:16
Speaker
Just sit down and shut up basically is the way that I feel about it at this point. Just sit the fuck down. Like I'm done. I'm done. People in. Okay. Anybody still listening to this podcast, I would give you a hundred dollars to square off against Jessica.
00:59:32
Speaker
In the bleachers of a volleyball or hockey game. Come on. and Who wants it? Put your hand up. And so on like the last legs of this hour, like yeah while I'm saying sit the fuck down, like, do you know that Dan Bilzerian is running for Congress in Florida?
00:59:47
Speaker
That's the crazy guy with the guns and girls. Yeah. And and the one who's like a drug. biting anti-Semite and a total race beater. He's the KKK in like a bodybuilder's body. It's like the worst thing I've ever heard of in my life.
01:00:03
Speaker
The thing that really gets me... one of them. Not the worst. I've heard worse. yeah But that's bad. How come... He's not dead yet because the way he lives. He's got huge following. This fucking guy. no. no But with the drugs and drinking, there's no way his body can survive.
01:00:22
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know what his story is with drugs. I mean, I'm i'm assuming, I'm assuming he's on roids. Maybe that's why he's so like insanely like yeah angry all the time.
01:00:36
Speaker
But you know, people in this okay in this day and age of social media and everything, the only way, it's like why we only have two listeners is because we're not incendiary enough, right? Yeah. If we really wanted to make money off of this podcast and be popular, we would say some of the stupidest, craziest shit just to get to to foster arguing. Right. the that if you've If you're a social media person and you can foster arguing, you will be rich.
01:01:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's probably true. Or if you have some kind of real polarizing point of view. Yeah, yeah I have polarizing point of view, but I'm i'm quiet about it. I'm quiet about it because. Well, that's what it was like in the good old days. Yeah.
01:01:18
Speaker
Until the Internet showed up. Right. Well, that's kind of it, right? You would get into it and at parties, but now it's like every day is a giant party with millions of people accessible to whatever it is you put out there. Yeah.
01:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, but I just, I needed to bring it up because I feel so concerned. What state is he running for? Florida? Florida. Has to be Florida. It is. It's Florida. And I just do, i say florida I feel so concerned about it because he really is a raging anti-Semite. Florida has the second highest concentration of Jewish people in the country behind New York.
01:01:53
Speaker
I know. And isn't that crazy how so many people there, personalities there, are anti-Semitic? It's insane. Even though it's where the second largest Jewish population is? Well, and you have the same thing here. I mean, the anti-Semitism and in New York right now is just out out of it out of its mind. It's just crazy.
01:02:11
Speaker
Just crazy. ah On that not happy On that happy note. Holy shit. On that happy note. I feel like it needs to be in that joke informative.
01:02:24
Speaker
Here we go. Here we go. Let's let's find the levity in a dad joke. Here go. What did the full glass say to the empty glass?
01:02:39
Speaker
What did the full glass say to the empty glass?
01:02:49
Speaker
Hmm. um What did the fault? You're out time. You look drunk. Oh, my God.
01:03:01
Speaker
I would have never. i would have never, ever gotten that one. You don't think so? No. I think if i give if if i mean, time aside, I had given you a few more minutes there, you probably would have eventually going, empty empty glass has been drunk. Oh, grammatically, is it drunk or is it drank? You drank, you drunk the water. don't know. you tried i think see For me, it would be you drank the water, you drank my drink.
01:03:29
Speaker
It wouldn't be you drunk my drink. So I probably wouldn't think about it. Yeah. yeah All right. Next. Okay. Oh, this one you're going to hate even more. Why is it so cheap to throw a party at a haunted house?
01:03:43
Speaker
Oh, my God. Why is it so cheap to throw a party at a haunted house?
01:03:57
Speaker
Oh. going to be mad at me. I am going to be mad at you, aren't I? didn't write these jokes, you're going to mad at me. Why is it so cheap to throw a party at a haunted house? Are any of our friends listening yelling at you right now? I hope so. but While they're driving or doing laundry? Oh.
01:04:15
Speaker
Jessica, come on, Jessica. um Yeah, not today. Because the ghosts bring all the booze. All right, I'm getting off now.
01:04:29
Speaker
Goodbye. i'm out of here. Come on, dude. I'm out of here. The booze. B-O-O-S. The booze. I thought I was going to give you a hint like, oh, think about the frat parties we were talking about earlier, Jessica. It's so funny.
01:04:42
Speaker
I would not have gotten that one either. One more one. we get one more shitty one? more shitty one. All right. Okay. Oh, my God. You're going to be so angry at me.
01:04:54
Speaker
I love it when you say that. It just kind of like. It is so angry at me. Okay. Okay. Ease it for me. What do you call a guy just laying down in front of the door? Matt.
01:05:06
Speaker
Oh. You got it. So you're not mad at me. No. That one you That one you got. That was too obvious. Yeah. At least I got one. All right. Well, okay. So. I didn't even need the music.
01:05:20
Speaker
You didn't need music. It was like this compulsion. was this I had written down JetBlue lawsuit against Price. Price line? I call it Price Discovery.
01:05:31
Speaker
Price line? They call it Price Surveillance. Oh. goes back to my Delta story from way back when. Yeah. the AI. Yeah. Okay. And so we're going to talk about that next episode because this lawsuit's awesome. Oh, I need to read but about it before we do. Yeah. Somebody who ran, so the hint to everybody else listening is that somebody who ran their social media page was responding to a person complaining about the price of a flight.
01:06:01
Speaker
They were attending a funeral, a friend's funeral. And so the person running the social media site, it was Twitter, I believe was, responded, I'm very sorry for your loss.
01:06:14
Speaker
If you try clearing your cookies in your browser, you will probably find a cheaper price for that route. with some The person running it from JetBlue?
01:06:26
Speaker
Yes. It was smoking gun. And then they cock obviously deleted that post really quick, realizing what they just said. yeah And now somebody has started a lawsuit against JetBlue.
01:06:37
Speaker
Which is definitely going to bleed over to Delta and all the other airlines. And Uber and DoorDash and wherever else it is that's doing this thing. They all deserve it. They all deserve We'll back to read about it. Yep, i will. we'll talk about it next week. okay Yep, they all deserve it. I don't feel bad about that at all. We do not feel bad. No. I'm excited. Rock on.
01:06:58
Speaker
Enjoy your week. Peace out. Bye. See ya.
01:07:03
Speaker
Well, well, well, you made it to the end. We can't thank you enough for listening to all of our random thoughts. Don't forget to give us a five-star rating. And you know how to reach us on the gram at TGS pod or send email to hello at the grocery stick.com.