September 11, 2023 • 31 mins
In this episode Reggie and Lora discuss the often misunderstood reality of this condition, unmasking how it's not just about introversion or shyness, but can span from mild discomfort to a full-blown fear of stepping outside.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Georgia, coming to you from the love of city of
Atlanta, georgia, going out tonow Houston, texas, with Laura.
We've been all over the statewith Laura here, and now we are
back in Houston.
How is it going, laura?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Everything's going well.
Yes, I will be all over thestate for the next few years.
Yes, you never know where I'mgoing to pop up in the big state
of Texas.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
It's interesting because I read a statistic that
most people that are it wassomething like in the seven
maybe even 80% of people whowere born in Texas don't leave
Texas, which is interesting.
Right In Georgia it's like inthe 70.
In Georgia it's like 74% maybe,but it's an interesting
statistic that people I guess inTexas, laura, just don't want
(00:47):
to go nowhere else, which isvery interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
That can be even better.
What do you attribute that to?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Is that like the size ?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I think it depends on how you look at it.
That can be good or bad.
If it's complacency or afraidto venture out, then it's not
good.
But if it's such an amazingstate, which I love it.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
That depends on how you look at it, laura.
It depends on what angle you'retaking that perspective from.
I think so, laura.
You touched on one thing therethe size of the state In Texas.
You can go so far away fromwhere you were born and still be
in Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You'll be traveling days.
If you go from the top to thebottom, it could literally take
days.
It's huge.
It's just a huge state.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, that's interesting because I've never
been there.
Maybe I need to come.
I could come visit Houston's,the only place I would really
like would want to come.
I'm not knocking the otherplaces.
I'm not knocking your analysisor your San Antonio's of the
world.
Houston's Houston, that's likean internationally known place.
I would love to come there.
(02:05):
Come hang out at some point.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yes, that would be great.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Today we're going to talk about social anxiety.
You know I love hitting youwith these mental health, all
the mental health questions andall the mental health issues and
stuff like that.
We have another one of thosetoday.
This is interesting because Iwork in a social business and I
had a co-worker who suffers fromthis.
I think with social anxiety, aswith some of the other mental
(02:29):
health issues, it's an issuethat's kind of unseen, you don't
really know somebody has it.
It can be called, I guess,social phobia.
I'm looking at my note heresocial phobia the textbook
definition is everyday socialinteractions that can cause
irrational anxiety, fear,self-consciousness and
embarrassment.
(02:50):
Before you even go further intothat, have you ever met anybody
with social anxiety beforeyourself?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think more people have socialanxiety than we know.
I think sometimes they don'teven know that there's a term
for them being introverted orthem just really not wanting to
go out, I think, and, of course,anything.
It can range from severe tojust kind of like I would rather
(03:21):
not go to, I cannot leave myhouse, right, right, yeah, but I
definitely know people who arelike that.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Does it present itself in different ways?
You were just kind of touchedon a little bit, laura, of it
being on a spectrum.
To a certain degree it's notlike a one-size-fit-all type of
issue.
We have the disorder in the waywhere people basically got to
leave everything outside.
They don't even want to talk topeople that come to deliver
their stuff, they want to justgrab it from outside or they
(03:52):
need somebody.
They got to hire somebody to gooutside for them and do things
on their behalf.
When you've seen it or havedealt with it, what has been the
degree that you've seen ityourself?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I've seen, probably moderate, and so I think it's
important to say that I'm not amental health professional.
I don't have a license, forsure.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So to diagnose or treat anyone.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Can't diagnose you on the show, but there are
definitely people who, forvarious reasons, don't want to
interact with kind of the thingsthat are outside.
I lost my thought there.
(04:46):
There's definitely people who,for whatever reason, just don't
want to interact with otherpeople and that can be because
they look at TV and maybe thereare lots of different things
that are happening, or it couldbe that it really is a diagnosis
(05:08):
that they have from a mentalhealth professional.
But most of the people that Iknow it's not very severe.
I would really say that a lotof people I met someone, I think
, not too long ago and they justreally didn't want to interact
with people, didn't want to go alot of places and come to find
(05:30):
out they had spent a lot of timein prison and it really made
sense to me once they explainedthat, yeah.
Once they explained that, itmade perfect sense to me.
It wasn't just a matter ofbeing introverted, it was really
that they just didn't.
They weren't very comfortablenavigating in the outside world
yet.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
It's interesting because I I would struggle with
if I was, if this was somethingthat I had.
Some people are just shy, right, and this is something that
seven to thirteen of Americansdo have.
So.
But some people just don't wantto be bothered, right, like a.
You know.
Sometimes, you know, it's asituation where you just don't
(06:12):
like social jobs, you want tojust deal with a computer.
I see that with a bunch ofso-called like nerds.
You know, nerd culture at onepoint Was that person that would
just rather be by themselves ordeal virtually with other human
beings and not deal with themin Person, like having to talk
to them and having to deal.
I guess maybe they feel likethere's some societal pressures
there.
I don't, I don't know if that'sthat's one of the things that
(06:34):
kind of factors in, but I dothink that there's some people.
What's the difference between,I, I guess, just being just shy
and then having this disorder,you know, and and it's shyness
on the spectrum way down theresomewhere?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't.
I don't know again, I'm not amental health professional, but
I do think that there is.
There are times where peopleare very socially awkward, you
know.
You know just that they're notvery comfortable.
Maybe that comes with a levelof maturity, or it may come with
a level of that.
They just haven't been exposedto a lot of social settings.
(07:11):
And then there are people whoyou know, who really think that
Something horrible is gonnahappen to them if they leave, or
you know people are, you know,maybe it's, you know, they're
germaphobes or Different thingslike that.
So I think there's definitely adifference in like kind of your
(07:32):
level of maturity, or maybe Justkind of an awkwardness where
you don't always feel like youfit in socially or you know,
you're uncomfortable there.
I think that's the key thing.
Like, is it?
Is it just that someone isuncomfortable or is it that they
really are?
Like there's a fear, you know,and so I think probably that's
(07:52):
that's the big difference.
Like, you know, I will, but Idon't want to, as opposed to I,
I just can't.
Like I'm gonna freeze with fear.
You know, I'm frozen with fear.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Now, have you ever had just moments like that in
life, because I feel like we allexperienced in some social
awkwardness, right?
I Definitely have been blessedwith, because I've been in a
social job.
That's made things so mucheasier for me, laura, because I
socialize for a living.
It's making so much easier,like because I get a lot of
practice at it.
You know, I don't have to, ICan beat a lot of real-world
(08:28):
situations.
I get a lot of real-worldPractice which I feel like with
no matter what you're doing,whether it's dating or making
friends and stuff like that Someof that stuff just takes
practice.
Do you think that's?
No, that is people looking athow easy it is for other people
and just thinking like I justcan't be like that.
You know they, they can just goout their social butterflies,
(08:48):
they're mixing it up and I'mscared to even talk to one
person.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, it does take practice and I think there are
people who naturally are verygifted in, you know, being very
sociable and friendly, and theyare social butterflies.
So there's definitely adifference in, like, your
personality or what you do, butit does take practice to get out
there, and I mean there arethousands of books you know,
(09:14):
like, how to not be sociallyAwkward at you know your
Christmas party or you knowthings like that, and so
sometimes it just takes Kind ofgetting out of there and getting
out of your comfort zone and, Ithink, also recognizing if it's
just a matter of you gettingout of your comfort zone or do
you really like you know youstart sweating and you know your
stomach starts hurting or youget.
(09:36):
Those are things where I thinkpeople need to go and speak to
someone, like if they physicallyare getting Very nervous and
it's not just, you know,butterflies like the average
person, because we all, you know, are often in situations that
you know we're not, we're unsureof.
But if it's keeping, I think,one from just Really having a
(09:59):
life because I think it'simportant to be social to some
point, you know then I thinkit's it's best that somebody
sees a professional.
I think that's when you knowit's more than just you know I
really enjoy being by myself.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Right, because there are those people.
I work with those people tooand it can be social, but they
don't like being around people,yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Right and people know I think I Respect someone who
is Not a social person.
You know, telling me I reallyam.
I'm not talkative, don't youknow?
It's not you.
I just am not that person.
So I respect that.
I've seen a lot of like socialanxiety test.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
When I was doing some like research for this episode,
I saw a lot of like socialanxiety test that you could take
online and stuff.
And I'm just wondering forpeople that are mental health
Professionals, like, how is thisto diagnose versus other
Situations?
Because I feel like you haveevery right to just not want to
be bothered if you don't want tobe bothered, right Like you
have every right to not have tosocialize if you don't really
(11:03):
feel like it and thennecessarily mean you're, you're
afflicted with a mental healthissue or it doesn't mean that
you Some things like inherentlywrong with you.
You just might not want to dealwith people you know.
So I wonder how hard it is forthem to deal with that and and I
think that's a good thing todeal with that.
And and I think that you make agood point in the sense of,
like, when things start to maybeget physical for you, maybe it
(11:26):
is a situation where if you areLiterally having stomach aches,
cold sweats and you just don'teven want to, that even the
thought of you're not evencommunicating at even a thought
of Communicating, laura, forsome people, like that's all it
takes To get going and imaginingevery awkward situation in life
that could happen to them.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, and so their anxiety is a real diagnosis,
like it really is, and itphysically Will make people sick
, and so it's.
It's relatively easy for ahealth professional and you
don't have to be a psychiatristto kind of recognize when
somebody is having a Panicattack or they're having anxiety
(12:05):
.
And I think, more and more whatwe see is that you can do
everything from the comfort ofyour home you can shop, yes, and
you can have meetings, and youcan do everything.
And I think at some point whatI'm sure health professionals
(12:26):
and psychiatrists and therapistsare saying is that there has to
be this healthy balance, likeat some point it's if you have
no human interaction, that takesa toll on you as well.
And I know some people say, oh,you know, I'm fine if I never
have to leave the house, and I'msure they, I'm sure they are.
(12:48):
But when you think about, justeven in COVID, how we recognized
the impact of Children notbeing able to socialize because
that's a big part of going toschool you know, yeah, not just
the education, but being able tosocialize.
And being able to, while we'retalking about social anxiety,
being able to Be in a situationwhere there are several people
(13:09):
and maybe you Want to, you knowyou don't want to stand out or
you Don't know who to connectwith and things like that those
situations can help you do thatas a child, so that you don't
grow up and, you know, havethese panic attacks because you
have to, you know, go to themall or Right, at some point,
(13:32):
lord, they're gonna get a good.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
They gotta leave the crib at some point.
Right, like you For something,right for for like something.
And you're gonna be woefullyunprepared for for these
interactions.
And I do think that you'reright in a sense of like the.
You learn a lot of that growingup, right, when you're our
force, the force interaction.
I call it like a few schoolingor you know, even when you get,
(13:54):
you gotta get jobs and stufflike that.
These things are kind offorcing you to interact with
others.
Now I'm wondering Cuz Kobe youknow I was reading social Social
anxiety post around the timethat Kobe and how a lot of those
posts were like this is justnormal life for us, like now
that now the world feels likehow we feel all the time, type
situation and this is justanother day for us, type thing.
(14:15):
And I wonder if Kobe did IWanted that it hurt or help them
like people that might havealready been Dealing with this,
because you know the world iskind of coming to you at that
point because you are Already inthe house and now everybody had
to be into in the house for acertain period of time.
I wonder if that made it Betteror worse for them in that sense
(14:37):
, you know, and not just thatdoes did the things that were
left over from COVID.
For as far as the work fromhome situation, which you know,
some offices are trying to clawthem back, claw them back into
the office.
You do see that happening, butthe work and end of deliveries
and stuff like that, you don'treally have to leave, you can
get your groceries delivered,you can get everything delivered
(14:58):
now and Amazon and stuff likethat.
Do you think that stuff makesit better or worse for people
that have these Anxiety type ofissues because they're not
really getting any practice?
They don't really have to right.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
They don't, we're not like you know.
You said Many of them weresaying now you get to see how we
feel.
Yeah but when you are a socialperson like that was not, that
was hell having to be wastorture, so it just depends on.
You know if you already werethis, you know Rick loose, or
(15:30):
you know very Private person, oryou know it didn't go out
non-social, it didn't feel likeanything, it was, it was your
normal.
But for people who are veryaccustomed to interacting with
other people or who they needthat human interaction, or you
know that was Not good at allfor them.
(15:53):
So you know it.
I'm sure COVID hurt a lot ofpeople a lot in ways, and even
the people who are social, whoreally loved working remotely.
I do think you know that insome kind of way they've got to
get some human interaction, evenif it's not at work like I
think they probably still arewanting to work remotely but
(16:16):
they've got to have that humaninteraction.
It has to come in some kind ofsome other form.
You know Whether it's we'regonna meet in person for lunch
or we're gonna, you know, somegood life.
Just just talking to other beingin general right.
Yeah, yeah, I think we all needthat and I, you know it's.
(16:38):
It's it's unhealthy to neverhave Human interaction.
It's it's not unhealthy to toreally be okay by yourself or
you know, but it is.
It is very unhealthy to neverhave any human interaction.
It really is.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And I think that people are social creatures.
Right like that, that's right.
Here I hear you mean beingswere social creatures and it
would seem to me that that, thatit would be beneficial to
everybody.
But I know that life oftentimes, Laura, is not a
one-size-fits-all type situation.
You know I was.
It was driving me crazy.
I know I felt pretty good thatfirst month or so.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
After that first month I'm like I gotta get out
of my house and I gotta find away to talk to somebody.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Now, what's interesting about this and I
would say probably one of themore important things that I've
been doing is Probably one ofthe more unfortunate things is
that this is a it's a chronicmental health disorder.
That means that that'ssomething that they're gonna be
dealing with most of their livesright.
It's.
It's something they're gonnahave to constantly deal with.
Another thing about thisparticular mental health
(17:41):
disorder is how many things ittouches in your life, how many
aspects of your life it touches.
So it'll touch your friendships, your family relationships,
your actual Relationships from,like, a romantic standpoint,
your job situation.
You know it touches on allthese different things.
I wonder how people who aredealing with these type of
issues are actually Getting jobsat all.
(18:04):
Like, is it just maybe becauseyou're forced?
You're like well, I gotta eat.
So the power to eat is is more,it's stronger than the, the.
So the anxiety portion, youknow, I wonder how that.
I wonder how that is and howthey're dealing with that
portion of things.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I mean, therapy helps a lot.
I don't know if there are anymedications.
I know that there aremedications for people who are
anxious, who have differentdisorders.
There is medication, but Ithink you have to also first
feel like it's at that pointMany times when people are going
(18:39):
through various mental healthconditions, either because they
don't think they need it, orthey'll take meds and then be
okay and then say, well, I'mokay, so I don't take any meds
anymore.
But also, therapy helps a lotwhen you have someone who's
(19:03):
trained, who's licensed and whocan talk you through situations,
depending on the severity.
It's scary out there.
You look at the news and thereare terrible things happening.
There are mass shootings, sothat could play a big part in it
as well.
I don't like to go out and thisfurther confirms that I need to
(19:29):
stay at home because of all ofthese things happening.
So I think therapy is reallygood.
Some therapeutic sessions thattake place?
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I agree with that, because even talking to the
therapist is talking to anotherhuman being.
It's at least a start.
You know what I mean.
It's a start.
I'm not saying that there's anyexpectation that anybody that
does have social anxiety wouldjust jump out and then be social
butterfly overnight and nowthey're talking to everybody.
I feel like that will causemore anxiety.
(20:06):
It's interesting because Ithink that if you're talking to
a therapist, you're at leasttalking and that's where it
starts.
It starts with you talking andseeing that things maybe aren't
as bad as they are in your head.
A lot of times we all think ofthe worst case scenario.
That's something that really Ithink afflicts all of us.
I don't know if anybody is justsuper confident all the time.
(20:31):
I mean, I want some of that, ifsomebody just super confident
all the time that everything'sjust always going to work out.
Please give me some of whatyou're having.
But from a medicationstandpoint, that was a very
interesting point you bring up,because I know that there's
antidepressants, I know thatthere's stuff like medicine for
bipolar and stuff like that andwith these type of issues you
(20:54):
can tell when somebody's offtheir meds, so to speak.
Their behavior changesdramatically If they're not
taking their meds.
It's something that you can.
They can have manic episodesand stuff like that Stuff.
That's very easy for you to see.
But if a person's just shy andthen they're on some meds,
they're talkative and thenthey're just back shy again, how
do you know if it's just not abad day?
(21:14):
Because we all have those dayswhere we just don't feel like it
.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, I, you know, I think when you talk about
somebody who's has, who has achronic illness, these are
things that they've beenbattling with like all of their
lives.
And there are people who areshy.
There are definitely people whoare shy and and Sometimes it's
very difficult to distinguishthe two and sometimes it's very
easy, and that's why it'simportant for people to go to
(21:39):
somebody who's trained to knowthe difference, because there's
Reggie, you'd be you'd beshocked at how many disorders
and behaviors, diagnoses thatare out there and just as many
of those, how many Prescriptionmedicines there are to treat
(22:02):
really disorders.
Yeah, you know, you'd beshocked.
I mean there's, and Because I'mnot immensely, I'm not a
trained professional, I I wouldknow and I'm gonna be honest and
my hat is off to every trainedprofessional because it you know
, just to be like a licensed, atherapist or psychiatrist, like
(22:24):
there are Hundreds of hours ontop of your schooling that you
have to practice.
So, like you know, they, they'veseen all of these things in
these case studies and thesepeople, but I think even they
have a hard time sometimesdiagnosing Different disorders.
You know, is it, yeah, bipolaror is it schizophrenia?
(22:47):
Because they're very differentbut they have overlapping Signs
and yeah.
Right, a lot of these have thesame.
You know a Word that people arepretty afraid of, but that
really is common If you read thesymptoms and the
characteristics is a sociopath,not a psychopath but a.
(23:12):
And there are so many people who, like, if you were to read that
, what a sociopath was.
I guarantee you and everybodyelse looking at this would say,
huh, I know a sociopath Becausethey would check off probably
nine of the ten boxes of youknow, because it could also be.
That's a sociopath, is like the, the very far extreme.
(23:35):
But when you go on the otherend of it, it's it's just a
narcissist, like you know, orsomebody who just kind of lies
to be lying, you know, orsomething like that.
I know someone like that, right.
So that's why it's important,when these symptoms pop up, that
somebody who's trained to say,okay, this is not just somebody
who's shy, like this is a realPhobia that they have.
(23:56):
Like they really feel somethingis going to happen if they, if
they don't do this, or they Willgo into a panic attack if they
are forced to go into a socialsituation, it's, it's something
that's beyond being shy.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah, I 100% agree with that, because I think that
a lot of times it's one thing tohave a Thought pattern in your
head of like and I'm just gonnause this as an example of like,
I'm not gonna get the job, butyou still go to the interview
and you still go through themotions, and then to say I'm not
gonna get the job, so I don'teven apply, like, I don't even
leave the house, I don't eventurn in application, I'm not
(24:30):
even gonna think about it,because if I get the job, this
could happen, this could happen,this could happen.
Then you're thinking of all therange and which is crazy, lord,
because there's a massive rangeof things that can happen in
any situation, right, and in anysituation.
So I would imagine having thatgoing haywire in your head all
the time must be prettydebilitating For people.
You know, and just try to thinkabout one or two of those
(24:54):
things when all those things aregoing on, right.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, there's definitely people who have
chemical imbalances.
They really cannot controlthese massive thoughts that are
constantly running through theirhead.
You know, like the averageperson, yeah, you're gonna say
what if this happens, or.
But for somebody who that it'sa they're diagnosed like, it
(25:17):
goes beyond what you and I couldimagine In their head.
In their head, you know, andthat's the thing I say all the
time about mental illness.
It's not like if you break yourarm or your leg and people see
it, you know, and they say, oh,I'm so sorry, or if you can't or
you're going through chemo.
When it's a mental illness, andespecially if it's somewhat
(25:39):
controlled and you, you know, oryou're on medication, you can't
see that mental illness, but itstill is very, very much so an
illness and has to be treated assuch.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So a hundred percent agreed.
And that's why like havingthese type of conversations,
because I feel like, from from amental health standpoint, it's
so hard.
You know people just like youknow, just get over it.
Right, I got that's, that'sgonna be what it is right, pick
yourself up.
What are you doing?
I get?
Get over it, don't.
Don't let like oh, you're overthinking to stop it exactly
Exactly because in, I think, ina normal person they could stop
those thoughts and then pivot tosomething else, versus a person
(26:14):
who those thoughts are kind oflike overrunning them to a
certain degree and as we kind ofclose or come down the show.
Here I, I would definitely.
I'm not a doctor by any shape,form or fashion, and my bank
account says that as well.
It's not just me who says that,it's my entire life that says
that I'm not, but it's kind oflike a situation where I have I
(26:35):
I do know that there are tipsfrom being in a social business,
from having to socialize Allthe time.
I have them forced to bestrangers around, tons of
strangers every week.
And I will tell you, first andforemost, it's practice,
practice, practice, practice,practice.
You shouldn't look at otherpeople like they just have it
all figured out, because no onehas it all figured out.
(26:55):
You know you, you're alwaysgonna meet new people and you're
always gonna meet new peoplethat you have to communicate
with them in a different way.
You can't.
There's no one size fits all,so there's no perfect solution
and the therapy situation isgreat, if you can find, because
I think that just startingSomewhere, laura, it doesn't
even have to be in person, itcan be virtual FaceTime just
start.
Just start somewhere.
(27:16):
You know, and in practice,practice, I had friends who were
really struggled with this.
They were very I think that'sjust due to, maybe, like size.
You know there's a Bigger guy,didn't really?
So you know, bigger people theystick out.
You me, I'm like five nine guy,I blend in everywhere.
It doesn't matter where I'm atpeople, you know, I'm just
blending in.
But if your guy just like alittle bit larger and stuff like
(27:36):
that, you're already stickingout from like a physical
standpoint, right, so that'sexacerbating any kind of mental
issue that you may have.
So that was one of the thingsissues that he had and it took
him just just starting to goahead and push himself out the
door, so to speak, and then juststart going out and now he's
way more of a social butterfly.
And it took years I couldn't,it wasn't overnight.
(27:57):
Yeah, it was years to do it.
But I think that just starting,starting, helps there.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Laura, this has always been a pleasure.
It's always a pleasure havingyou on here, no matter what city
you are in, laura, sometimes weare in San Antonio, sometimes I
was.
So what happened?
Austin, or is Austin out of themix?
Are we not there?
Are we never gonna be an Austinagain?
Speaker 2 (28:22):
I'll be an Austin next month, not to live, but I
will be traveling.
I'll be an Austin next month,yes, and as large as the state
is, I am determined to, just youknow, continue to go to all the
different cities and In and outof Texas.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, how long are you spending in these places
when you go?
Like, are you spending?
Because what?
There's many places as you go,laura, some like you're there
for like an hour and a half.
You get a cup of coffee, thenyou gotta move on to other city.
You can't let any city hold youdown.
You got to get on to the nextcity.
Like, how long are you spendingwhen you go to places?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
most of the time, Well, with my new job it'll be a
few days at a time because I'mgoing to like training and
things like that.
But I mean, if I go, sanAntonio is an hour, you know,
it's 78 miles from Austin.
That's, that's a nice littledrive.
You know it's 50 miles fromHouston.
Why not drive like peoplecommute 50, 60 miles to a job so
(29:18):
To be able to go to a wholeanother city?
You know, I think it's amazing,yeah, and every chance I get
even Houston to Austin, dallasis probably the farthest.
You know San Antonio.
San Antonio is more south butDallas is north Texas, so it's
the farthest.
It takes it takes a bit longerto get there by car, but you
(29:41):
know, yeah, by car you can go tothese cities and it's, I mean,
you know, it's a nice littletrip to To go what's your
favorite?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Laura, you're a Texas expert, so so give us your,
your favorite.
Now I know that what fromHouston I know has significant
cultural diversity is one of theplaces why, that's one of the
reasons why I wanted to go toHouston, like why that's like my
first.
I love culturally diverseplaces, so what is your fave?
Oh, so that's and that's mejust talking out of my behind,
by the way, cuz I've never beenthere.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
You won't dare give me to say my favorite.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Is it like choosing between your kids, laura?
Do you feel like or do youfight?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
they all offer something so different that they
all offer something so verydifferent that, which is also
wonderful.
You know, when you have a large, just like California, northern
California is very differentthan southern California and so,
yeah, texas is the same way.
You've got, you know, hillCountry, where you've got it's,
(30:41):
it's scenic, you've got.
I Mean it's so big thatLiterally anything that you want
to do, anything that you want,you know, any place else that
you want to mimic, you can dothat in Texas.
Yeah, but Houston by far is themost diverse, you know, larger,
more populated City.
(31:04):
So it's, I guess it's myfavorite if I have to choose a
favorite.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Well, I definitely appreciate you taking some time
out here and and jumping outhere for that, houston being
your, your maybe favorite.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Would I'm gonna put.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I'm gonna hold you that.
Laura.
I'm gonna say your maybefavorite is Houston and
hopefully I get by there one day, thanks, thanks a lot for
taking some time with us here.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So, reginald atl, check us out, stitcher.
I heart radio, google podcast,apple podcast, spotify, wherever
you find your podcast.
See you next time.
All right, laura, what do yougot going to rest of your day
here?
I'm gonna do.
Georgia, coming to you from the love of city of
Atlanta, georgia, going out tonow Houston, texas, with Laura.
We've been all over the statewith Laura here, and now we are
back in Houston.
How is it going, laura?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Everything's going well.
Yes, I will be all over thestate for the next few years.
Yes, you never know where I'mgoing to pop up in the big state
of Texas.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
It's interesting because I read a statistic that
most people that are it wassomething like in the seven
maybe even 80% of people whowere born in Texas don't leave
Texas, which is interesting.
Right In Georgia it's like inthe 70.
In Georgia it's like 74% maybe,but it's an interesting
statistic that people I guess inTexas, laura, just don't want
(00:47):
to go nowhere else, which isvery interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
That can be even better.
What do you attribute that to?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Is that like the size ?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I think it depends on how you look at it.
That can be good or bad.
If it's complacency or afraidto venture out, then it's not
good.
But if it's such an amazingstate, which I love it.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
That depends on how you look at it, laura.
It depends on what angle you'retaking that perspective from.
I think so, laura.
You touched on one thing therethe size of the state In Texas.
You can go so far away fromwhere you were born and still be
in Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You'll be traveling days.
If you go from the top to thebottom, it could literally take
days.
It's huge.
It's just a huge state.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, that's interesting because I've never
been there.
Maybe I need to come.
I could come visit Houston's,the only place I would really
like would want to come.
I'm not knocking the otherplaces.
I'm not knocking your analysisor your San Antonio's of the
world.
Houston's Houston, that's likean internationally known place.
I would love to come there.
(02:05):
Come hang out at some point.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yes, that would be great.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Today we're going to talk about social anxiety.
You know I love hitting youwith these mental health, all
the mental health questions andall the mental health issues and
stuff like that.
We have another one of thosetoday.
This is interesting because Iwork in a social business and I
had a co-worker who suffers fromthis.
I think with social anxiety, aswith some of the other mental
(02:29):
health issues, it's an issuethat's kind of unseen, you don't
really know somebody has it.
It can be called, I guess,social phobia.
I'm looking at my note heresocial phobia the textbook
definition is everyday socialinteractions that can cause
irrational anxiety, fear,self-consciousness and
embarrassment.
(02:50):
Before you even go further intothat, have you ever met anybody
with social anxiety beforeyourself?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think more people have socialanxiety than we know.
I think sometimes they don'teven know that there's a term
for them being introverted orthem just really not wanting to
go out, I think, and, of course,anything.
It can range from severe tojust kind of like I would rather
(03:21):
not go to, I cannot leave myhouse, right, right, yeah, but I
definitely know people who arelike that.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Does it present itself in different ways?
You were just kind of touchedon a little bit, laura, of it
being on a spectrum.
To a certain degree it's notlike a one-size-fit-all type of
issue.
We have the disorder in the waywhere people basically got to
leave everything outside.
They don't even want to talk topeople that come to deliver
their stuff, they want to justgrab it from outside or they
(03:52):
need somebody.
They got to hire somebody to gooutside for them and do things
on their behalf.
When you've seen it or havedealt with it, what has been the
degree that you've seen ityourself?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I've seen, probably moderate, and so I think it's
important to say that I'm not amental health professional.
I don't have a license, forsure.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So to diagnose or treat anyone.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Can't diagnose you on the show, but there are
definitely people who, forvarious reasons, don't want to
interact with kind of the thingsthat are outside.
I lost my thought there.
(04:46):
There's definitely people who,for whatever reason, just don't
want to interact with otherpeople and that can be because
they look at TV and maybe thereare lots of different things
that are happening, or it couldbe that it really is a diagnosis
(05:08):
that they have from a mentalhealth professional.
But most of the people that Iknow it's not very severe.
I would really say that a lotof people I met someone, I think
, not too long ago and they justreally didn't want to interact
with people, didn't want to go alot of places and come to find
(05:30):
out they had spent a lot of timein prison and it really made
sense to me once they explainedthat, yeah.
Once they explained that, itmade perfect sense to me.
It wasn't just a matter ofbeing introverted, it was really
that they just didn't.
They weren't very comfortablenavigating in the outside world
yet.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
It's interesting because I I would struggle with
if I was, if this was somethingthat I had.
Some people are just shy, right, and this is something that
seven to thirteen of Americansdo have.
So.
But some people just don't wantto be bothered, right, like a.
You know.
Sometimes, you know, it's asituation where you just don't
(06:12):
like social jobs, you want tojust deal with a computer.
I see that with a bunch ofso-called like nerds.
You know, nerd culture at onepoint Was that person that would
just rather be by themselves ordeal virtually with other human
beings and not deal with themin Person, like having to talk
to them and having to deal.
I guess maybe they feel likethere's some societal pressures
there.
I don't, I don't know if that'sthat's one of the things that
(06:34):
kind of factors in, but I dothink that there's some people.
What's the difference between,I, I guess, just being just shy
and then having this disorder,you know, and and it's shyness
on the spectrum way down theresomewhere?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't.
I don't know again, I'm not amental health professional, but
I do think that there is.
There are times where peopleare very socially awkward, you
know.
You know just that they're notvery comfortable.
Maybe that comes with a levelof maturity, or it may come with
a level of that.
They just haven't been exposedto a lot of social settings.
(07:11):
And then there are people whoyou know, who really think that
Something horrible is gonnahappen to them if they leave, or
you know people are, you know,maybe it's, you know, they're
germaphobes or Different thingslike that.
So I think there's definitely adifference in like kind of your
(07:32):
level of maturity, or maybe Justkind of an awkwardness where
you don't always feel like youfit in socially or you know,
you're uncomfortable there.
I think that's the key thing.
Like, is it?
Is it just that someone isuncomfortable or is it that they
really are?
Like there's a fear, you know,and so I think probably that's
(07:52):
that's the big difference.
Like, you know, I will, but Idon't want to, as opposed to I,
I just can't.
Like I'm gonna freeze with fear.
You know, I'm frozen with fear.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Now, have you ever had just moments like that in
life, because I feel like we allexperienced in some social
awkwardness, right?
I Definitely have been blessedwith, because I've been in a
social job.
That's made things so mucheasier for me, laura, because I
socialize for a living.
It's making so much easier,like because I get a lot of
practice at it.
You know, I don't have to, ICan beat a lot of real-world
(08:28):
situations.
I get a lot of real-worldPractice which I feel like with
no matter what you're doing,whether it's dating or making
friends and stuff like that Someof that stuff just takes
practice.
Do you think that's?
No, that is people looking athow easy it is for other people
and just thinking like I justcan't be like that.
You know they, they can just goout their social butterflies,
(08:48):
they're mixing it up and I'mscared to even talk to one
person.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, it does take practice and I think there are
people who naturally are verygifted in, you know, being very
sociable and friendly, and theyare social butterflies.
So there's definitely adifference in, like, your
personality or what you do, butit does take practice to get out
there, and I mean there arethousands of books you know,
(09:14):
like, how to not be sociallyAwkward at you know your
Christmas party or you knowthings like that, and so
sometimes it just takes Kind ofgetting out of there and getting
out of your comfort zone and, Ithink, also recognizing if it's
just a matter of you gettingout of your comfort zone or do
you really like you know youstart sweating and you know your
stomach starts hurting or youget.
(09:36):
Those are things where I thinkpeople need to go and speak to
someone, like if they physicallyare getting Very nervous and
it's not just, you know,butterflies like the average
person, because we all, you know, are often in situations that
you know we're not, we're unsureof.
But if it's keeping, I think,one from just Really having a
(09:59):
life because I think it'simportant to be social to some
point, you know then I thinkit's it's best that somebody
sees a professional.
I think that's when you knowit's more than just you know I
really enjoy being by myself.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Right, because there are those people.
I work with those people tooand it can be social, but they
don't like being around people,yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Right and people know I think I Respect someone who
is Not a social person.
You know, telling me I reallyam.
I'm not talkative, don't youknow?
It's not you.
I just am not that person.
So I respect that.
I've seen a lot of like socialanxiety test.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
When I was doing some like research for this episode,
I saw a lot of like socialanxiety test that you could take
online and stuff.
And I'm just wondering forpeople that are mental health
Professionals, like, how is thisto diagnose versus other
Situations?
Because I feel like you haveevery right to just not want to
be bothered if you don't want tobe bothered, right Like you
have every right to not have tosocialize if you don't really
(11:03):
feel like it and thennecessarily mean you're, you're
afflicted with a mental healthissue or it doesn't mean that
you Some things like inherentlywrong with you.
You just might not want to dealwith people you know.
So I wonder how hard it is forthem to deal with that and and I
think that's a good thing todeal with that.
And and I think that you make agood point in the sense of,
like, when things start to maybeget physical for you, maybe it
(11:26):
is a situation where if you areLiterally having stomach aches,
cold sweats and you just don'teven want to, that even the
thought of you're not evencommunicating at even a thought
of Communicating, laura, forsome people, like that's all it
takes To get going and imaginingevery awkward situation in life
that could happen to them.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, and so their anxiety is a real diagnosis,
like it really is, and itphysically Will make people sick
, and so it's.
It's relatively easy for ahealth professional and you
don't have to be a psychiatristto kind of recognize when
somebody is having a Panicattack or they're having anxiety
(12:05):
.
And I think, more and more whatwe see is that you can do
everything from the comfort ofyour home you can shop, yes, and
you can have meetings, and youcan do everything.
And I think at some point whatI'm sure health professionals
(12:26):
and psychiatrists and therapistsare saying is that there has to
be this healthy balance, likeat some point it's if you have
no human interaction, that takesa toll on you as well.
And I know some people say, oh,you know, I'm fine if I never
have to leave the house, and I'msure they, I'm sure they are.
(12:48):
But when you think about, justeven in COVID, how we recognized
the impact of Children notbeing able to socialize because
that's a big part of going toschool you know, yeah, not just
the education, but being able tosocialize.
And being able to, while we'retalking about social anxiety,
being able to Be in a situationwhere there are several people
(13:09):
and maybe you Want to, you knowyou don't want to stand out or
you Don't know who to connectwith and things like that those
situations can help you do thatas a child, so that you don't
grow up and, you know, havethese panic attacks because you
have to, you know, go to themall or Right, at some point,
(13:32):
lord, they're gonna get a good.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
They gotta leave the crib at some point.
Right, like you For something,right for for like something.
And you're gonna be woefullyunprepared for for these
interactions.
And I do think that you'reright in a sense of like the.
You learn a lot of that growingup, right, when you're our
force, the force interaction.
I call it like a few schoolingor you know, even when you get,
(13:54):
you gotta get jobs and stufflike that.
These things are kind offorcing you to interact with
others.
Now I'm wondering Cuz Kobe youknow I was reading social Social
anxiety post around the timethat Kobe and how a lot of those
posts were like this is justnormal life for us, like now
that now the world feels likehow we feel all the time, type
situation and this is justanother day for us, type thing.
(14:15):
And I wonder if Kobe did IWanted that it hurt or help them
like people that might havealready been Dealing with this,
because you know the world iskind of coming to you at that
point because you are Already inthe house and now everybody had
to be into in the house for acertain period of time.
I wonder if that made it Betteror worse for them in that sense
(14:37):
, you know, and not just thatdoes did the things that were
left over from COVID.
For as far as the work fromhome situation, which you know,
some offices are trying to clawthem back, claw them back into
the office.
You do see that happening, butthe work and end of deliveries
and stuff like that, you don'treally have to leave, you can
get your groceries delivered,you can get everything delivered
(14:58):
now and Amazon and stuff likethat.
Do you think that stuff makesit better or worse for people
that have these Anxiety type ofissues because they're not
really getting any practice?
They don't really have to right.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
They don't, we're not like you know.
You said Many of them weresaying now you get to see how we
feel.
Yeah but when you are a socialperson like that was not, that
was hell having to be wastorture, so it just depends on.
You know if you already werethis, you know Rick loose, or
(15:30):
you know very Private person, oryou know it didn't go out
non-social, it didn't feel likeanything, it was, it was your
normal.
But for people who are veryaccustomed to interacting with
other people or who they needthat human interaction, or you
know that was Not good at allfor them.
(15:53):
So you know it.
I'm sure COVID hurt a lot ofpeople a lot in ways, and even
the people who are social, whoreally loved working remotely.
I do think you know that insome kind of way they've got to
get some human interaction, evenif it's not at work like I
think they probably still arewanting to work remotely but
(16:16):
they've got to have that humaninteraction.
It has to come in some kind ofsome other form.
You know Whether it's we'regonna meet in person for lunch
or we're gonna, you know, somegood life.
Just just talking to other beingin general right.
Yeah, yeah, I think we all needthat and I, you know it's.
(16:38):
It's it's unhealthy to neverhave Human interaction.
It's it's not unhealthy to toreally be okay by yourself or
you know, but it is.
It is very unhealthy to neverhave any human interaction.
It really is.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And I think that people are social creatures.
Right like that, that's right.
Here I hear you mean beingswere social creatures and it
would seem to me that that, thatit would be beneficial to
everybody.
But I know that life oftentimes, Laura, is not a
one-size-fits-all type situation.
You know I was.
It was driving me crazy.
I know I felt pretty good thatfirst month or so.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
After that first month I'm like I gotta get out
of my house and I gotta find away to talk to somebody.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Now, what's interesting about this and I
would say probably one of themore important things that I've
been doing is Probably one ofthe more unfortunate things is
that this is a it's a chronicmental health disorder.
That means that that'ssomething that they're gonna be
dealing with most of their livesright.
It's.
It's something they're gonnahave to constantly deal with.
Another thing about thisparticular mental health
(17:41):
disorder is how many things ittouches in your life, how many
aspects of your life it touches.
So it'll touch your friendships, your family relationships,
your actual Relationships from,like, a romantic standpoint,
your job situation.
You know it touches on allthese different things.
I wonder how people who aredealing with these type of
issues are actually Getting jobsat all.
(18:04):
Like, is it just maybe becauseyou're forced?
You're like well, I gotta eat.
So the power to eat is is more,it's stronger than the, the.
So the anxiety portion, youknow, I wonder how that.
I wonder how that is and howthey're dealing with that
portion of things.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I mean, therapy helps a lot.
I don't know if there are anymedications.
I know that there aremedications for people who are
anxious, who have differentdisorders.
There is medication, but Ithink you have to also first
feel like it's at that pointMany times when people are going
(18:39):
through various mental healthconditions, either because they
don't think they need it, orthey'll take meds and then be
okay and then say, well, I'mokay, so I don't take any meds
anymore.
But also, therapy helps a lotwhen you have someone who's
(19:03):
trained, who's licensed and whocan talk you through situations,
depending on the severity.
It's scary out there.
You look at the news and thereare terrible things happening.
There are mass shootings, sothat could play a big part in it
as well.
I don't like to go out and thisfurther confirms that I need to
(19:29):
stay at home because of all ofthese things happening.
So I think therapy is reallygood.
Some therapeutic sessions thattake place?
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I agree with that, because even talking to the
therapist is talking to anotherhuman being.
It's at least a start.
You know what I mean.
It's a start.
I'm not saying that there's anyexpectation that anybody that
does have social anxiety wouldjust jump out and then be social
butterfly overnight and nowthey're talking to everybody.
I feel like that will causemore anxiety.
(20:06):
It's interesting because Ithink that if you're talking to
a therapist, you're at leasttalking and that's where it
starts.
It starts with you talking andseeing that things maybe aren't
as bad as they are in your head.
A lot of times we all think ofthe worst case scenario.
That's something that really Ithink afflicts all of us.
I don't know if anybody is justsuper confident all the time.
(20:31):
I mean, I want some of that, ifsomebody just super confident
all the time that everything'sjust always going to work out.
Please give me some of whatyou're having.
But from a medicationstandpoint, that was a very
interesting point you bring up,because I know that there's
antidepressants, I know thatthere's stuff like medicine for
bipolar and stuff like that andwith these type of issues you
(20:54):
can tell when somebody's offtheir meds, so to speak.
Their behavior changesdramatically If they're not
taking their meds.
It's something that you can.
They can have manic episodesand stuff like that Stuff.
That's very easy for you to see.
But if a person's just shy andthen they're on some meds,
they're talkative and thenthey're just back shy again, how
do you know if it's just not abad day?
(21:14):
Because we all have those dayswhere we just don't feel like it
.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, I, you know, I think when you talk about
somebody who's has, who has achronic illness, these are
things that they've beenbattling with like all of their
lives.
And there are people who areshy.
There are definitely people whoare shy and and Sometimes it's
very difficult to distinguishthe two and sometimes it's very
easy, and that's why it'simportant for people to go to
(21:39):
somebody who's trained to knowthe difference, because there's
Reggie, you'd be you'd beshocked at how many disorders
and behaviors, diagnoses thatare out there and just as many
of those, how many Prescriptionmedicines there are to treat
(22:02):
really disorders.
Yeah, you know, you'd beshocked.
I mean there's, and Because I'mnot immensely, I'm not a
trained professional, I I wouldknow and I'm gonna be honest and
my hat is off to every trainedprofessional because it you know
, just to be like a licensed, atherapist or psychiatrist, like
(22:24):
there are Hundreds of hours ontop of your schooling that you
have to practice.
So, like you know, they, they'veseen all of these things in
these case studies and thesepeople, but I think even they
have a hard time sometimesdiagnosing Different disorders.
You know, is it, yeah, bipolaror is it schizophrenia?
(22:47):
Because they're very differentbut they have overlapping Signs
and yeah.
Right, a lot of these have thesame.
You know a Word that people arepretty afraid of, but that
really is common If you read thesymptoms and the
characteristics is a sociopath,not a psychopath but a.
(23:12):
And there are so many people who, like, if you were to read that
, what a sociopath was.
I guarantee you and everybodyelse looking at this would say,
huh, I know a sociopath Becausethey would check off probably
nine of the ten boxes of youknow, because it could also be.
That's a sociopath, is like the, the very far extreme.
(23:35):
But when you go on the otherend of it, it's it's just a
narcissist, like you know, orsomebody who just kind of lies
to be lying, you know, orsomething like that.
I know someone like that, right.
So that's why it's important,when these symptoms pop up, that
somebody who's trained to say,okay, this is not just somebody
who's shy, like this is a realPhobia that they have.
(23:56):
Like they really feel somethingis going to happen if they, if
they don't do this, or they Willgo into a panic attack if they
are forced to go into a socialsituation, it's, it's something
that's beyond being shy.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah, I 100% agree with that, because I think that
a lot of times it's one thing tohave a Thought pattern in your
head of like and I'm just gonnause this as an example of like,
I'm not gonna get the job, butyou still go to the interview
and you still go through themotions, and then to say I'm not
gonna get the job, so I don'teven apply, like, I don't even
leave the house, I don't eventurn in application, I'm not
(24:30):
even gonna think about it,because if I get the job, this
could happen, this could happen,this could happen.
Then you're thinking of all therange and which is crazy, lord,
because there's a massive rangeof things that can happen in
any situation, right, and in anysituation.
So I would imagine having thatgoing haywire in your head all
the time must be prettydebilitating For people.
You know, and just try to thinkabout one or two of those
(24:54):
things when all those things aregoing on, right.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, there's definitely people who have
chemical imbalances.
They really cannot controlthese massive thoughts that are
constantly running through theirhead.
You know, like the averageperson, yeah, you're gonna say
what if this happens, or.
But for somebody who that it'sa they're diagnosed like, it
(25:17):
goes beyond what you and I couldimagine In their head.
In their head, you know, andthat's the thing I say all the
time about mental illness.
It's not like if you break yourarm or your leg and people see
it, you know, and they say, oh,I'm so sorry, or if you can't or
you're going through chemo.
When it's a mental illness, andespecially if it's somewhat
(25:39):
controlled and you, you know, oryou're on medication, you can't
see that mental illness, but itstill is very, very much so an
illness and has to be treated assuch.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
So a hundred percent agreed.
And that's why like havingthese type of conversations,
because I feel like, from from amental health standpoint, it's
so hard.
You know people just like youknow, just get over it.
Right, I got that's, that'sgonna be what it is right, pick
yourself up.
What are you doing?
I get?
Get over it, don't.
Don't let like oh, you're overthinking to stop it exactly
Exactly because in, I think, ina normal person they could stop
those thoughts and then pivot tosomething else, versus a person
(26:14):
who those thoughts are kind oflike overrunning them to a
certain degree and as we kind ofclose or come down the show.
Here I, I would definitely.
I'm not a doctor by any shape,form or fashion, and my bank
account says that as well.
It's not just me who says that,it's my entire life that says
that I'm not, but it's kind oflike a situation where I have I
(26:35):
I do know that there are tipsfrom being in a social business,
from having to socialize Allthe time.
I have them forced to bestrangers around, tons of
strangers every week.
And I will tell you, first andforemost, it's practice,
practice, practice, practice,practice.
You shouldn't look at otherpeople like they just have it
all figured out, because no onehas it all figured out.
(26:55):
You know you, you're alwaysgonna meet new people and you're
always gonna meet new peoplethat you have to communicate
with them in a different way.
You can't.
There's no one size fits all,so there's no perfect solution
and the therapy situation isgreat, if you can find, because
I think that just startingSomewhere, laura, it doesn't
even have to be in person, itcan be virtual FaceTime just
start.
Just start somewhere.
(27:16):
You know, and in practice,practice, I had friends who were
really struggled with this.
They were very I think that'sjust due to, maybe, like size.
You know there's a Bigger guy,didn't really?
So you know, bigger people theystick out.
You me, I'm like five nine guy,I blend in everywhere.
It doesn't matter where I'm atpeople, you know, I'm just
blending in.
But if your guy just like alittle bit larger and stuff like
(27:36):
that, you're already stickingout from like a physical
standpoint, right, so that'sexacerbating any kind of mental
issue that you may have.
So that was one of the thingsissues that he had and it took
him just just starting to goahead and push himself out the
door, so to speak, and then juststart going out and now he's
way more of a social butterfly.
And it took years I couldn't,it wasn't overnight.
(27:57):
Yeah, it was years to do it.
But I think that just starting,starting, helps there.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Laura, this has always been a pleasure.
It's always a pleasure havingyou on here, no matter what city
you are in, laura, sometimes weare in San Antonio, sometimes I
was.
So what happened?
Austin, or is Austin out of themix?
Are we not there?
Are we never gonna be an Austinagain?
Speaker 2 (28:22):
I'll be an Austin next month, not to live, but I
will be traveling.
I'll be an Austin next month,yes, and as large as the state
is, I am determined to, just youknow, continue to go to all the
different cities and In and outof Texas.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, how long are you spending in these places
when you go?
Like, are you spending?
Because what?
There's many places as you go,laura, some like you're there
for like an hour and a half.
You get a cup of coffee, thenyou gotta move on to other city.
You can't let any city hold youdown.
You got to get on to the nextcity.
Like, how long are you spendingwhen you go to places?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
most of the time, Well, with my new job it'll be a
few days at a time because I'mgoing to like training and
things like that.
But I mean, if I go, sanAntonio is an hour, you know,
it's 78 miles from Austin.
That's, that's a nice littledrive.
You know it's 50 miles fromHouston.
Why not drive like peoplecommute 50, 60 miles to a job so
(29:18):
To be able to go to a wholeanother city?
You know, I think it's amazing,yeah, and every chance I get
even Houston to Austin, dallasis probably the farthest.
You know San Antonio.
San Antonio is more south butDallas is north Texas, so it's
the farthest.
It takes it takes a bit longerto get there by car, but you
(29:41):
know, yeah, by car you can go tothese cities and it's, I mean,
you know, it's a nice littletrip to To go what's your
favorite?
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Laura, you're a Texas expert, so so give us your,
your favorite.
Now I know that what fromHouston I know has significant
cultural diversity is one of theplaces why, that's one of the
reasons why I wanted to go toHouston, like why that's like my
first.
I love culturally diverseplaces, so what is your fave?
Oh, so that's and that's mejust talking out of my behind,
by the way, cuz I've never beenthere.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
You won't dare give me to say my favorite.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Is it like choosing between your kids, laura?
Do you feel like or do youfight?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
they all offer something so different that they
all offer something so verydifferent that, which is also
wonderful.
You know, when you have a large, just like California, northern
California is very differentthan southern California and so,
yeah, texas is the same way.
You've got, you know, hillCountry, where you've got it's,
(30:41):
it's scenic, you've got.
I Mean it's so big thatLiterally anything that you want
to do, anything that you want,you know, any place else that
you want to mimic, you can dothat in Texas.
Yeah, but Houston by far is themost diverse, you know, larger,
more populated City.
(31:04):
So it's, I guess it's myfavorite if I have to choose a
favorite.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Well, I definitely appreciate you taking some time
out here and and jumping outhere for that, houston being
your, your maybe favorite.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Would I'm gonna put.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I'm gonna hold you that.
Laura.
I'm gonna say your maybefavorite is Houston and
hopefully I get by there one day, thanks, thanks a lot for
taking some time with us here.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So, reginald atl, check us out, stitcher.
I heart radio, google podcast,apple podcast, spotify, wherever
you find your podcast.
See you next time.
All right, laura, what do yougot going to rest of your day
here?
I'm gonna do.
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