Behind Closed Doors for 8/20/25

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Have you ever wondered where parental responsibility ends and overreach begins? In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore Gloucester Township's controversial new law that can send parents to jail for their children's misbehavior. While designed to encourage parental oversight, we question whether punishing parents with up to three months of incarceration actually solves anything or simply creates new family crises.

The boundaries between personal and professional lives come under scrutiny as we delve into the viral saga of a woman who documented her one-sided love for her psychiatrist in a 25-part TikTok series. Despite maintaining proper professional boundaries, the psychiatrist found himself publicly identified online—raising questions about mental health, ethics, and our responsibility toward one another in the digital age.

From Spirit Airlines' potential shutdown despite its stellar safety record to the nostalgic end of AOL's dial-up service, we examine how institutions that once defined parts of our lives fade away. We also tackle the double standards surrounding domestic disputes when track star Sha'Carri Richardson was arrested for allegedly pushing her boyfriend, sparking conversation about how society views aggression differently based on gender.

The conversation takes uplifting turns with stories of a 29-year-old finally achieving his MLB dream with the Arizona Diamondbacks and a 10-year-old chess prodigy defeating a grandmaster, proving you're never too old or too young to achieve remarkable things. We round out with the growing threat of AI-generated job applicants created by scammers and Taylor Swift's appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce's podcast, complete with speculation about potential Super Bowl performances.

Whether you're concerned about parental rights, fascinated by viral internet drama, or just want thoughtful discussion about the week's most compelling stories, this episode delivers fresh perspectives on where personal responsibility meets societal expectations. Join us for an hour of engaging conversation that might just change how you see the boundaries in your own life.

Check out Meryl's horror nerd show at the Yellow Door in San Diego this Friday. Follow her on Instagram @MerylKlemow for upcoming shows.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

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Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."

Please help support our show by following us and telling others about our show. New podcasts weekly.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Topics.
I'm Lawrence Elrod.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
And I'm Meryl Clemo.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
How are you doing today, Meryl?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
I am so good, how about yourself?

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Doing fantastic, had a great weekend, watched Sinners
for the first time.
I'm very fun, so it was a niceweekend.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, what did you think about Sinners?

Speaker 1 (00:37):
You know, I really did not know it was a vampire
element to it until I watchedthe movie, but I felt that it
was well-written.
I thought the acting wasactually really good.
I really did yeah.
And it's really interestingbecause you don't see it coming.
Now, there was one part thatkind of threw me for a loop is

(01:00):
when they were doing like whenhe was playing his guitar and
they were going back and forthbetween the past and the future.
Yeah, to me they're tying inanything, but maybe it's just me
.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, I feel like we should do a whole other side
podcast on it because I havesome thoughts.
The short answer is I watchedafter we got done with it at the
theaters.
We went home and watched likeall these YouTube videos about
the making of it and just prettymuch what they were trying to
say, and it's definitely worth.
If anyone's like stillinterested, it's worth watching

(01:36):
those.
I think there was one that wasalmost like half the length of
the movie.
It was like 45 minutes long butit was really cool because it
talks about that scene and justthe like the talking about
ancestors and you know music andall that stuff.
So it's worth it to like watchthe youtube videos um about it
as well, I think yeah, that'strue, that's true, and I agree
with you.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I think this is something that everyone should
watch.
It's definitely good, a goodshow.
Totally start watching it.
It does.
It is a little slow for thefirst couple minutes, but give
it a don't go away from it.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
You'll like it looks good oh, I was just about to say
a spoiler too, but but I'll allsay is that um?
At the end I was so excitedthat they show I don't think a
lot of the younger generationpeople know, but like they show
the guitarist buddy guy.
You know, that's not, that'snot a secret.
People know that it's funnyguys, it's not too bad.
We don't know how they showthem, but just know that he's in
there and to me, like um, whenI used to work in a music venue

(02:29):
in san diego, he's a legendaryblues guitarist and he would
come in and he's like for peoplethat don't know him, he
definitely is.
Like it was like having a forreal, like a legend in the movie
.
So I know everyone talks aboutmichael b jordan, everything,
but I was screaming like that'sreally Buddy Guy.
No one seemed to care but Icared.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
That's true, and you know.
The other thing too is MichaelB Jordan did an excellent job,
because you know it's got to bedifficult playing two different
parts in a single movie.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Absolutely.
I bet he's going to win someawards for that movie.
I hope so.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Because I think he did an excellent job.
I bet he's going to win someawards for that movie.
I hope so, because I think hedid an excellent job.
I really do.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, and I forget the name now of the director,
but I just love his stuff.
He's so interesting and sosmart, so yeah, Definitely Cool,
Interesting.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, I don't know if anyone ever heard of this
township before, but it's, and Ihope I don't butcher the name
too bad.
Goucester Township in NewJersey punishes parents for kids
misbehavior.
So basically they just came outwith a new law where, let's say

(03:42):
, if your child is out late,they're causing all kinds of
chaos, you know, breaking thelaw, whatever.
Well, they can come and arrestthe parents.
Now, as a parent, I understandboth sides of this coin.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
My fear is this being abused.
Because here's the thing Ifyour son or daughter sneaks out
and you don't know they're goneand they do something, why
should the parent be on the hook?
Now, there are parents wheretheir child is out both times a
night, every single night.
Okay, I could see thatsituation, but that's the only

(04:19):
thing is, I think that it's alittle bit too broad and they
need to kind of narrow it down alittle bit, because I can see
that being abusive and maybe I'mwrong, but that's that's,
that's what I think.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
I think you're right.
I think the general intentionof it of like having parents be
more responsible for theirchildren in society is like a
good thing.
You know that's a good idea.
But then you're exactly right,I think where it can get out of
control.
If a kid, like you know I thinkabout all the time that I was
running around doing pranks oryou know, and if, like my dad,
had to go to jail for any of mystupidity, I would have felt so

(04:52):
bad, and so I feel like itshould be left alone where, like
, if kids are doing somethingstupid, hopefully you're hoping
that the parents are punishingthem on their own, that they're
learning lessons from withintheir family um, and then having
it turn into like actual prisonsentences or you know, or just
any type of like getting introuble by the government or
whatever that's that takes it tolike the next level yeah, I

(05:15):
agree, and you know the thing is, if you're, if the parent is
convicted of this, um, basically, what they said is they can
spend up to three months in jail.
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
And get hit with a heavy fine.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, and how's that going to help a family too?
Because I feel like if a kid isalready acting out, having a
parent gone, like financiallyisn't going to help, attention
wise isn't going to help, andthat's kind of terrifying too,
you know, because like what ifthat parent is in jail with some
dangerous people?
And like they asked them whatthey're in help, and that's kind
of terrifying too.
Because what if that parent isin jail with some dangerous
people and they ask them whatthey're in for?
And it's like, oh, my kid wasacting bratty inside a Target.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
And the crazy thing about a mural is they can spend
up to three months in jail.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
And.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
I agree with you.
What do they accomplish at thatpoint?

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
So I think it's just nuts personally, because again I
see so many ways this could beabused.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
I know me too.
If my parents are watching,they could probably count on
their hands like the times thatthey would have had to do a jail
stint for me, whether it waslike you know fibbing the truth
or looking at some of myclassmates answers for tests or
you know cheating on that kindof stuff.
But but yeah, it's definitelynot good.
And then it's also, you'reright, who's?
Then you have to go throughlike a whole court case which I
feel like ties up kind of thelegal system.

(06:34):
I feel like we already havetrouble getting cases like that.
Actually need help pushed outand that.
To me that seems like a kind ofwaste of time of a judge or a
jury.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, and you know the other thing about it too,
Meryl, is, when you say crimes,what are we talking about?
Are we talking serious crimes,or are we talking about okay,
they cut school?
Are we talking about you know,doing something silly like you
know, stealing a piece of candy?
I?
Mean you know, what I mean it'sa little bit too vague.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Exactly Because if it's, I mean that's interesting,
because if it is something likevandalism or graffiti or
something, I still think that ifthe kid is less than 18 years
of age like they can still go toa juvie or I don't know showing
them some punishment sometimesis good because they get to
learn repercussions and itshouldn't be like the mom

(07:27):
sitting in jail because the kidis spray painting like someone's
business or something.
It should be based on the kids.
I don't think that's going tohelp anything.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, I agree, I agree, and you know what I do
feel for them becauseunfortunately, for whatever
reason, a lot of youngsters areout of control right now.
So I guess they have to dosomething.
I don't know if throwing theparents in jail is going to fix
anything.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
I know the one thing I do get.
I am not a parent so I can'timagine what it's like.
But bullies, the kids ofbullies.
I felt like if I was a parentand I found out my kid was a
bully to someone else, I wouldsend them to jail.
I'd be so mad at my own child.
But it's like how do you knowwhat?
If your kid is a disaster atschool and you're a good parent

(08:13):
and you do everything you can,you don't really know.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, that's true.
I've experienced it with my ownson A lot of times and I don't
understand this.
But a lot of times the schoolwaits till the problem is out of
control before they sayanything.
And my kid's always been a goodkid, you know.
I mean the most he's ever hadissues with was talking too much
in class.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Aw.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
And you know, I know it was brought up to us when we
did a parent-teacher and she waslike, oh, it's not a big deal.
I said, well, it is a big dealif you're telling us.
But my bigger issue is, why didyou wait until we met, If there
was a problem?

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
You don't wait until we meet.
I mean, thank goodness you knowit didn't go out of hand or
anything, but you have to.
You know you complain that youwant the parents involved.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
You have to give them the opportunity to get involved
.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah, you know, give us a heads up when something's
about to happen.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
Exactly, or you start seeing signs.
Don't wait until it's hell onwheels at that point, I know, or
it's like a shock to you guys,or it's embarrassing that you're
learning about this, like infront of other parents or in
front of other teachers, or youknow.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Oh yeah, especially if they go.
Oh, he's been doing this formonths, so again, this is the
first time that we're hearingabout this.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah, and maybe you're like me, but, like
growing up I was definitely thatperson that got in trouble for
talking too much and now I'm ona podcast.
So, if anything, it's just thebeginning of his career
blossoming.
I know he does music and to me,when kids are young and they
just have a lot to say, that'snot necessarily a thing that
should be punished for, that's athing that should be shaped,

(09:59):
and maybe they can weave thatinto some other creative things.
I think that's just theirlittle spark coming through.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
That's true, that's true.
And this kind of brings me towell, steve Harvey made this
point and it's kind of funny,but it's true.
He used to get in troublebecause he was a class clown and
you know, they always basicallytold him you're not going to
mount anything, what is theskill going to do with you being
a class?

Speaker 2 (10:21):
clown Look at that.
Just saying Exactly, I thinkabout that a lot, where my
teacher, mrs Ware, had truly mydesk was up next to her and then
my 30 classmates were behind meand so she could have just
helped me shape my material backthen, but instead I just got in
trouble every five minutes.
But yeah, I think that'sinteresting.

(10:44):
I think I also think too, whenit comes to like alcohol or
drugs or anything, that is justa slippery slope to have parents
go to jail for that, ratherthan having kids learn their
lessons or like deal with itdirectly.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, I mean I'm hoping that they look at this on
a case by case basis anddoesn't try and make it an
all-or-nothing situation.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
I know, yeah, yep, yep, well, someone that has kind
of broken the internet lately,now before.
Did you know anything aboutthis story?
This is about the woman whofell in love with her
psychiatrist, or am I going tobe telling you?
Is this kind of new to you?

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Oh, this is going to be new to me.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
It's new to you.
Okay, isn't it so funny how,like, we can all live in
different corners of theinternet where, all of last week
, like this story was my entirelife and my entire for you page,
and then, like, my boyfriendhasn't heard of it either,
because I think this is all likethe dodgers and the padres and
stuff.
So, um, basically the veryshort cliff notes version.
I mean mean it's crazy is thata woman named Kendra Hilty,

(11:47):
who's a 36 year old ADHD coachfrom Arizona, made this like a.
At this point, I think it'slike a 25 part series on TikTok
which is all about how she fellin love with her psychiatrist
and at first, like the firstvideo or two we're all listening
, thinking, oh okay, maybe yourpsychiatrist did something wrong
or maybe he was likeunprofessional or you know,

(12:10):
leading you on, and then by likevideo three, it was kind of a
little bit apparent to most ofthe internet that maybe Kendra
might have, you know, eithersome mental issues like
allegedly you know, or or sheher version of version of
reality, like it might be trueto her, but it might not
actually be what's true to likereality, or the therapist itself

(12:31):
, um, and so in this 25 partseries.
It's like there's so, so, somuch.
But basically she alleges thatshe fell in love with her
psychiatrist and at one pointshe even told but he was, he
still kept her on and was veryprofessional.
And she even says herself henever crossed any boundaries.
He never, they never didanything physical, but he did

(12:52):
keep her as a client.
And I think she was reflectingon it, saying like he should
have let me go.
And then a bunch of the other,like internet therapists and
psychiatrists weighed in andsaid we can't always let you go
as clients because then a lot ofpeople will feel abandonment.
Or you know, there's a lot ofmedical training that goes in to
determine whether we should orshouldn't.

(13:13):
And then also she was onmedication that he wanted to
like see it through and see howit goes.
Anyway, this got sounbelievably viral and like
there's side characters like sheshe has, she named her ai henry
and like she's in, like henry'sher other boyfriend, it's just
like.
And now people, of course, justlike the internet, now people

(13:33):
are paying ten dollars a monthto like do yoga with her.
It's just she somehow sputteredinto like a membership.
So now this brings us topresent day, which is now.
This has made its way fromTikTok to People magazine and
it's she's saying that she hasreceived violent threats which,
like, obviously that's not good.
Oh, the last piece of thispuzzle is she has said his name

(13:56):
online, publicly, so she likedoxxed him and said his name, so
people were able to find outwho the psychiatrist was, and of
course, that's not good orhealthy or safe for him either.
Um, and she's very like youknow she's not mad at him, she
would basically just want tocome on and share her things,
but it does sound a littledelusional and I think I I do

(14:16):
feel bad because people were, sowere threatening her, saying
like you're in a manic episode,or you know you're in a manic
episode, or you know you're likecrazy or you have schizophrenia
, and so I guess like to me likeshe may be going through these
things, but people being meanisn't going to help her.
I feel like we need to showcompassion.
But then, on the flip side, shedid this whole big thing about

(14:39):
a psychiatrist and if he didnothing wrong, then you're
basically like smearingsomeone's name and your version
in quotes of is like you can'tjust do that and just like ruin
someone's career.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
That's true.
I mean, I think there's a lotof deep things going on.
I mean and again I'm reachingcause, I don't know, obviously,
but you know, maybe he remindsher of someone that she, you
know she was really affectionatewith, or that she adored.
It could be a situation where,you know, she sees something in
him that she never had forherself in any of the previous

(15:14):
relationships.
But I agree with you, there'ssomething else going on there
that that you know she's notsaying.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, and she even it was so funny At one point she
she said um, I think sheconfessed her love to him and
that he'd said nothing.
Like he just kind of nodded andit was like okay, and she
called it weaponized neutrality.
Like she said that the factthat he had he had she's like he
had two good of boundaries andhe wouldn't respond to my emails
and at one point she asked ifshe could come in person instead

(15:44):
of over Zoom and he said no,and everyone's like it sounds
like he's doing exactly what heshould be doing as a
psychiatrist.
And then, but then it leads tothe question like why were they
even talking about this?
Because usually a psychiatristis just someone that like asks
you how your medication is goingand there's no talk about
anything personal.
So like he can't say anythingbecause of HIPAA laws.

(16:06):
But it'll be interesting to seeif he gets a cease and desist
or if he has a lawsuit againsther.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yeah, I mean, the one thing that I'm a little bit
surprised at is and I get itthere's probably a number of
reasons, but I don't know.
But I could kind of see, basedon our conversation why didn't
he say hey, you know I know.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
Yeah, at least tell a colleague Maybe he did, we
don't know about it Maybe liketwo or three of his colleagues,
maybe he did discuss it and theysaid it's actually better if
you stick with her, and if itstarts to get weird, then maybe
it's actually better if youstick with her and if it starts
to get weird, then maybe.
Oh, the other piece, the lastpiece, truly last piece of this
puzzle is that she was sayingthat she taught at a yoga studio
and then, while all this washappening, the yoga studio fired

(16:53):
her.
So she like lost her jobbecause I guess she was teaching
yoga and during the session shewas like making the yoga people
feel uncomfortable.
So my other thought is she waslike, I think she to me she
seems like a very otherwise thanthis.
She seems like a very sweetperson and I do feel like, if
this is, if she really is goingthrough some type of manic

(17:16):
episode or mental illness, likethat's really sad and I hope it
does seem like she has goodfriends and family.
So but, like you know, at firstI'm like, oh, it's fun to kind
of hate on this, like creepy ishperson.
But then, like, the more Iwatched her content.
I'm like oh, this is like abeautiful youngish woman who,
like you know, she she does seemsweet and you never want to be

(17:36):
mean if someone is having amental issue yeah, that's true.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
But you know, the thing is, I I don't know, but it
sounds like they've never metin person.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
It's always been over zoom um, they only had, like I
think they had a few sessions inperson.
I think they only had they havefour sessions, and on the last
one she said, like I'm in lovewith you or something.
And he didn't.
He didn't really say anythingand even she used examples like
she loved.
She came in wearing tortoiseshell glasses and he can't even
say I like your glasses.

(18:06):
He just said, like you'rewearing tortoiseshell glasses,
and then it turns out that hewears tortoiseshell glasses and
so she just got them because,like that's what he likes to
wear.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
Well, you know the thing is too.
You know, unfortunately, youknow, America is a very Sue,
happy society, so I canunderstand him not commenting on
those glasses, or even if shewore something revealing or
whatever, he's not going tocomment on it because he's going
to protect his business, his,his name and everything like
that too.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
Right, exactly, and she has transcripts and
everything that she'll read in.
And it's like she's almostdoing him a favor by saying what
happened, because it makes him,it shows that he has
professional boundaries, butshe's saying that like by having
those boundaries he's playing ahead game with her.
You know, it does sound alittle bit like someone that's
like obsessed with a celebrityand is like, oh, like Billie

(18:58):
Eilish is teasing me with theselyrics and you know, thinking
that it's like all for you.
It's not, yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
Well, I tell you one thing, I guess you made it when
you become a star and you have astalker, I mean, you made it.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Exactly this poor psychiatrist and his pictures
are floating around, and thenwhat doesn't help is that people
were making AI-generated videosof them, the two of them like
getting married, and then so shewas on her TikTok Live watching
them, like crying, and justlike I had to stop watching it
because I feel like I'm watchinglike a train wreck, basically.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Well, as long as she doesn't hit the news yet, we're
okay.

Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yeah, exactly, Except for People magazine.
But that's it.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
Well, talking about hitting thenews, have you ever flown
Spirit Airlines?

Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yes, admittedly, yes.
A few times it feels like theFlintstones, where your legs are
like running the plane.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
I flew one time and, like I said, I know a lot of
people love Spirit.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
I'm not so sure I'm one of them, but when I sat
there and you know I'm kind of atall guy, yeah, sure, I'm one
of them, but when I sat thereand you know I'm kind of a tall
guy and my legs are long, mylegs were literally at the back
of the seat for the whole flight.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Really.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
And this is with the seat up.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
Oh my gosh, I could imagine, and it's very like old
seats and the seat belt evenprobably didn't like go all the
way.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
And then on top of that, you know they literally
charge you for everything onthat plane.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yeah, that was my first and only time on Spirit.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
I know.

Speaker 1 (20:48):
But for those of us.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
for those of you out there that love Spirit,
unfortunately, spirit Airlineshas recently said that it may be
going out of business next yearbecause of rising costs and not
being profitable.
Interesting Now, like which isalso sad because I think they
have a really good safety model.
Like I don't think they've.
They haven't crashed oranything, since that was the
joke where it's like OK, youdon't want to fly it, but yet
with all these other airlineskind of having disasters left
and right, like spirit is goingstrong.

Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, that's true.
I mean, you know, they canactually make a commercial about
it.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
Think about it, and I know this sounds sick, but some
people could you know theycould easily say hey look, are
we the most luxurious plane?
No, we're not.
Are we the most comfortable?
No, and yes, we will charge youfor breathing air on our plane.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
But we haven't been in a news.
Frightening incidents Come on.
Exactly that's cause it's tooembarrassing to be on like a
fatality on a plane, on a spirit.
I'd be so embarrassed.
I told my friends, if that everhappens, they're supposed to
just change the news so that itsays I was on like Delta or
something.
But yeah, maybe instead ofgoing out of business in general
, you would think maybe theywould like adapt to what
Southwest is doing, which is,you know, doing away with like

(21:50):
the A, b and C seats and goingmore into like kind of just a
normal type of plane where youlike book a ticket ahead and
it's not such like a budgetexperience.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
That's true.
And you know the other thingtoo, because I thought it was
kind of weird that they wouldsay that they may be going out
of business next year, a yearahead of time.
It's almost like they're tryingto put themselves out there for
someone to say, hey, yeahthat's true.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
That's true, and and why wouldn't they just be like
okay, now we're a normal airlinewith like better, we're going
to redo better seats.
We're still going to besomewhat cheap, but like, but
you're going to get like anormal airline experience
instead of feeling like you'reriding like a bad bus.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, because you know the crazy thing about it is
for people who really don'tlike Spirit.
Let's face it Spirit isprobably the cheapest airline
you can fly out there.

Speaker 2 (22:41):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
What that's telling you is that people will pay a
little bit more for comfort.
So why not go ahead and make itmore comfortable?
Maybe you take out some seats,maybe you put in normal size
seats, not these little toddlerseats, little bit more for
comfort.
So, yeah, why not go ahead andmake make it more comfortable?
Maybe you take out some seats,maybe you put in normal size
seats and I do little toddlerseats and you know, maybe not
charge for every little singlething that yeah at least let you
bring a carry-on bag.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
At least you know yeah, oh my gosh, I I rode one
from miami to new york and Ireally think the total price was
like 26 but.
But it was like I felt like Iwas at a Walmart with people
getting into fights and it waslike people were in like fishnet
stockings and I'm like who isthis?
Like what type of situation amI in?

(23:21):
But I mean to get down therefor the less of the cost of gas
and it was like I mean I gotthere perfectly safe, like the
plane sounded weird the wholetime and I was horrified.
But to get from Miami to NewYork for $26 is pretty unheard
of.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
That was a hell of a deal, yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:40):
I just had my backpack.
I don't even think I drankwater.
I just sat there.
I had no extra needs.
Besides just sitting there, theclientele was also very like.
It was not a luxuriousexperience.
Remember too, a few months agowe did a story on like spirit
had to tell their customers tojust like wear clothes in
general that covered your body.
Yeah, I remember that, yes soI'm like that's, that's what

(24:03):
they're dealing with.
So I hope.
I hope they're able to, like,merge with a different airline
or get creative, because I justthink it would be such a
travesty to have an airline likethat with such a good safety
record, and just close it downor not have it anymore.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
Yeah, and you know, the other thing too, meryl, is
that there is a market for thatairlines, so it would be a shame
for them to go out of businessand frankly, I'm pretty shocked
that they're, that they may begoing out of business.
You know again, if they reallyare maybe going out of business
or maybe just pitching it towhere they have some, some other

(24:40):
airlines come up and say, hey,we'd like to buy you out, or
something like that.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Yeah, I can see JetBlue being like the expensive
brother that swoops it up andis like come with me.

Speaker 1 (24:50):
That's true, that's true, but we'll see, though,
since they put it out there soearly.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
I know, I really hope .
I hope that someone buys itMaybe not Tesla, though Not Elon
, please.
I don't want like a Cybertruckplane.
I don't want that Like aself-driving plane or something.
I don't want that Like a selfdriving plane or something.
I don't need that.
Um, oh well, something elseshutting down that I'm very,
very emotional about, as someonein their early 40s, is AOL,

(25:19):
which is, like you know some ofthe younger people may not
remember, but I know we do soAOL is shutting down the dial up
service that introduced homesacross the US to the internet On
the firm's dialS to theinternet.
The firm's dial-up offeringconnects to the internet via
phone line and currently onlyexists in the US and Canada.
Launched more than 30 years ago, aol dial-up was known for its

(25:40):
little chirpy sound, but it'slong since been replaced,
obviously, by just the internetin general and just you know,
all the technology that we havetoday.
Now, this was so sad to mebecause I feel like most of us,
if we could, we would go back tothat and like have to sit and
wait right, like those werereally the good old days of the
internet, um, and I justremember signing on and having

(26:01):
putting up my away messages andlike having the all my friends
on instant messenger and like Ijust felt like the internet
peaked in that moment oh yeah, I, I remember the sound too.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
Once you heard that sound, you know you're about to
get on the internet and you'relike, hey, this is cool.
You know this is, this is nice,and you know it's it's, it's
better, better said.
I'm actually shocked that thatyou know the dial-up service is
still around.
I didn't even know it was stillout there.
I thought they got rid of it along time ago.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
I know, me too.
I wish I could go back and justthat feeling, when you're
logging on, of seeing if you'vegotten messages or not from
people.
I just remember putting up anaway message and then seeing if
my crush had written to me.
I could see his little windowand I'm like, oh my god, he's
there.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
Oh, yeah, that iconic .
You got mail.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, yeah, I feel like I really, really feel like
most people would be happiest ifgoing back to it because what
we have now is just likeeveryone that I know like
Instagram and just social mediamakes so many people just feel
anxious and kind of unsettled.
And I feel like there wassomething just so nice and we

(27:14):
were able to access the internet, but you had to work a little
bit or have like some shred ofpatience, so, and I'm just so
bummed that we can't log on LikeI can't log on to my old AOL,
like get my old messages oranything.

Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yeah, that's true, that's true, I miss it.

Speaker 2 (27:30):
I would also also.
I used to like write passiveaggressive like I'm like going
to college if anyone cares, orlike like I feel like I would.
I would say like my whole lifein my away messages, and then
people would write like I care,you know, oh yeah those are
definitely good days, though Iknow, I know, and if I like
someone I would have their like.
if the boy that I like sign on,I would have it like a cash

(27:51):
register sound when he cameonline, or like a mooing cow
sound and stuff and so.
But yeah, so I didn't know thistoo, that AOL and Yahoo are
owned by the same group and Ialways forgot that it was also
for like 30 years.
It seems pretty crazy too thatit's been going.
I mean, time really does fly,but yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
That's true.
You don't really hear muchabout AOL anymore.
Period, I know.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
I know, but I really feel like that was the peak.
I don't know why, but I feel soemotional and nostalgic towards
it.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yeah, it's amazing how things change over the years
.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
I know Well talk about changes.

Speaker 1 (28:36):
This is an interesting situation Now, do
you know who Shakira Richardsonis?

Speaker 2 (28:43):
No.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Okay, I'm sorry.
Shakiri Richardson, she's aworld speed runner.
Sha'carri Richardson, she's aworld speed runner.
She was in the Olympics One ofthe fastest people on Earth.
To be honest with you, oh, cool, Very intelligent, smart.
Well, she was going through anairport and I want to say it was

(29:05):
in Washington, and I guess herand her boyfriend was having a
little bit of an argument orwhatever.
But when they were walkingthrough he was pulling a little
cart that had the bags on it orwhatever, and she kept pushing
him and just like constantlyhitting and pushing on him.

(29:25):
Well, the police came out andthey told her you're under
arrest for domestic abuse.
So she goes ballistic.
She's like Washington saidballistic.
She gets really angry, sayingwhat are you talking about?
We just got done having anargument and she was constantly
telling her boyfriends would youtell them?
And then, before he can evensay anything, the cop goes ma'am

(29:50):
, you're in washington state, itdoesn't matter what he says
what on tape.
And there's a lot ofjurisdictions like that where if
they yeah, and some of it.
They don't need the other personto file a complaint or press
charges, they can do itthemselves.
So she was telling her thatbecause we have it on tape, we,
he, he has no say so in this.

Speaker 2 (30:11):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
So they placed her under arrest and she's like oh
my God, I can't believe youarrested me or whatever.
And you know she did get onlineand do an apology.
But a lot of people were alittle angry, feeling that you
know she didn't really take itseriously because she was
smiling, you know, kind of likeyou know whatever.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
It didn't seem sincere to a lot of people, and
I guess my thoughts is.
There's a few things within thesituation that I want to talk
about.
Like the first thing I'm goingto get through is there was a
few people that made a greatpoint.
There was a few people thatmade a great point.
Yes, even though she wasarrested.
But now the gentleman, herboyfriend, he's also a famous

(30:55):
track star as well but a lot ofpeople made the point of if he
had done that, it would havebeen an outrage.
Oh my God, you should kick himout.
He should never play the sportagain.
We should.
Yeah, you know, you know.
Somebody made a good point islike why are there double
standards when it comes to whena woman puts their hands on a

(31:16):
man?

Speaker 2 (31:16):
versus when a man puts their hands on a woman, and
I want to get your take on that, meryl, what you think, yeah, I
mean to me like if, if in arelationship, of course, if
you're like joking with eachother, like playfully doing it,
that's the only time that Ithink it's okay to like you know
, jokingly, play, fight withyour partner.
But I feel like if you'rearguing and actually like hands
either way are on each other,that's already just such like a

(31:37):
doomed, toxic relationship.
I just feel like, foreveryone's sake, to me like
that's a sign that therelationship just like needs a
break in general.
I just can't imagine that I'venever, luckily, like knock on
everything.
I've never been in a situationlike that, I never would be.
It's just to me like, if that'shappening, that's just such a
sign that like the relationshipis either over or it needs like
major therapy and for people notto talk to each other for like

(32:00):
a while.
So I think it's never okay ifit's like a man or a woman or
two men or two women or whatever, just to like hurt your partner
or trying to push them um.
But yeah, I mean I I think it'slike either way, especially in
public.
I mean, I guess if you're goingto do something in private, you
should be able to do it inpublic too, but I just think
that's that's bad and I couldunderstand why they're like.

(32:22):
We have this on tape.
We at least need to separateyou guys and have get everyone's
story straight, just to makesure that like no one's being
harmed, um, because also they'reprobably gonna.
It's kind of where one wherethere's smoke, there's fire kind
of thing, you know where it'slike.
Okay, if that's happening outin public, then we don't know
what's happening in private andyou know you make a good point,

(32:42):
meryl.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
It's like and again, we don't know what happens
behind the scenes.
But yeah, if you, being that,you're a well-known figure.
So if you're into running andstuff, you know who she is.
You know who he is because he'sa runner as well.
And the thing is, if you dothis out in public, what's going
on behind the scenes that youdon't see, yeah, because a lot

(33:04):
of times in public you arerestrained a lot more than you
would be in your private home.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah, and I definitely think, too, that's
interesting with the states,because I've heard of that too,
where, if you like, if there's adomestic altercation and
someone even just calls and says, you know, come to the house,
they'll take someone right away,without even hearing the story,
you know.
They just are basically like,okay, well, a call happened
right away, without even hearingthe story.
They just are basically likeokay, well, a call happened.
So the person that it wasaccused of has to go with them

(33:34):
and talk to the police, which Idon't think is a bad thing,
because if someone is beingabused, sometimes they don't
have the courage to speak up orthey feel intimidated if their
partner's right there.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Yeah, and you know, I tell you I'm not mad at this
law, because a lot of times whena person is being abused, a lot
of times say and in shakari,richard's case, richardson's

(34:10):
case is that we have a video ofyou hitting him yeah, seeing him
.
So you know the video will saymore than anything he can ever
say, because what all boils downto it?

Speaker 2 (34:23):
there's no reason for anybody put their hands on each
other no, no, and if no, andeven in that moment, if she
found out that he was cheatingon her or something, then that's
when you leave, or you takeyour stuff and go, and I don't
think hitting or pushing someoneis going to be, even if they
did you really wrong.
I don't know, though, except Ido feel like I can see why

(34:45):
people would ruin someone's Xbox.
I'm not for hurting the person,but I feel like if you, if they
did find out that you didsomething like really, really
bad, I could see someone just belike I'm destroying this
painting that you love so muchin the heat of the moment, but I
think it's always a best thingjust to move on and, like not
physically hurt anyone.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, I agree, and you know, the other thing too
that's disappointing is, youknow she is a world known track
star, so when you're in thelimelight you have to be extra
careful what you do and say onpublic.
Yeah, exactly, exactly BecauseI'm surprised, even with them

(35:32):
not catching it on tape, likejust thinking that they have
fans watching them and you knowit'll be interesting.
I said, uh, I mean, what's yourtake on on a lot of people that
are kind of angry about hergiving the apology and kind of,
you know, smiling through it,you know yeah, I mean mine's not
taking it seriously right.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
That almost shows me that maybe their relationship is
more toxic than we think andlike that's not as big of a deal
, where she's kind of like thisis just a normal Friday for us
or like who cares?
You know I was pushing him, butthis is maybe just like regular
life for us.

Speaker 1 (35:56):
And I think she should definitely take it
seriously and feel bad andreflect on it yeah, and you know
the other thing too, meryl isthere's some women out there
that have this warped idea thatit's okay that I hit my husband
and my boyfriend.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
That's so weird, that's so weird.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
And I want to sit back and ask these women well,
how would you feel if he put hishands on you the same way?
Yeah, his butt rested, his asswould be locked up, and it's
like what's wrong with thatpicture?

Speaker 2 (36:25):
Exactly wrong with that picture.
Exactly, and to me, if, if it'sat the point where I'm hitting
someone which would probably belike if they're cheating on me
or if they did something reallybad then I shouldn't be with
them.
Like in that minute I shouldend the relationship, like
there's no sense in being withsomeone if they're doing
something like that warrants mewanting to hit them yeah, I
agree.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
Um, I mean, like I said, I know most likely my
opinion.
She's probably going to takesome type of plea just to kill
the story or whatever, butwhoever her PR person is, she
needs to fire them.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
When she did that apology, she didn't do no favors
.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, I do pretend to fight my boyfriend because he's
like 6'3" and I'm always likeyeah, yeah, and he's like you
can know I can end you in likefour seconds.
I'm like no, but that's alwayspretend.
But yeah, if I, if I ever wasso mad at someone for like
wanting to physically hurt them,then that would just be a sign
that like we need a total breakfrom each other.

(37:25):
You know, all together.

Speaker 1 (37:28):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
I'm not gonna lie, there's been times I've wanted
to, but, um, yeah, any, any longrelationship, not to hurt them
forever.
But just to you know, I don'tknow, put them in a stun gun or
something, but yeah anyway.
Well, if I, if I was mad atsomeone, I would, um, take their
labubu collection for sure andthis ties into the next article,
where $30,000 worth of stolenLabubus were just recovered by

(37:54):
police in California.
Now I really had a goal thissummer to not ever know what a
Labubu looked like and sadlythat only lasted about three
minutes and then now I'm coveredin Labubus.
So 14 boxes of the highly soughtafter collectible dolls were
found in a home in uplandcalifornia which is like san
bernardino.
Uh, they took boxes of thefurries.

(38:17):
Chino police said that theydidn't clarify like who it, why
it was there or, you know, likethey were investigating it,
which is so ridiculous if you'rea police officer and your job
for the week is investigatingstolen Labubus.
But obviously this is badbecause it's stolen property and
it was taken from the owners,whoever owned it.

(38:37):
So, yeah, it's 14 boxes.
And now they're seeing, becauseof how popular Labubus are,
people are trying to steal themand break into stores in the
middle of the night.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Yeah, that's true, and you know the crazy thing
about it is, it reminds me backin the day, the Cabbage Patch
dolls, where everybody was theseugly dolls.
Yes, exactly so you know thething is.
The sad thing is that when youhave collectibles something real

(39:12):
hot there's always going to besomeone that's going to try and
take advantage of the situationby stealing them, reselling them
and stuff like that.
But I would love to know whosnitched.
I mean how they find out.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
Exactly Like where are the Labubu tellers?
That's true, that's very true,because they don't give off an
odor or there's nothing thatwould show someone that there's
boxes of labubus there.
That's funny.
I feel like people should startputting air tags in their
labubus.

Speaker 1 (39:42):
That's true, that's true.
But then again, what probablyhappened?
Like in most cases?
See, everyone is like realtough.
I'm not a snitch, I ain'tsaying nothing.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
Until they get in trouble.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
And it's like he did it.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
Yeah, I'm not going to if I had a friend that stole
the boo-boos.
I'm not going to jail for that,like I'm a snitch, so you're
looking at about 30 years.
Hey, hold on, let me holler atyou for a minute, you know, yeah
, yeah.
And also they said that labubusare like a recession indicator
because the same thing as thecabbage patch things, where it's
like people are going crazy forthese, kind of like no offense,

(40:20):
so sorry to hurt anyone'sfeeling, but like kind of like a
garbagey looking type thing.
You know, we're just like avery sorry for the labubu Boo
community and I think packs ofsix it says six Loo Boo Boos can
sometimes go for up to over$150.
Wow, do you own any?

Speaker 1 (40:39):
I need to invent something that people want.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
I know.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Caroline's built up the Pet Rock.
Remember that years ago.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
And it's so funny how somethings catch on and some don't.
But I mean, could you imaginegoing to jail and then, when
they ask what you're in for,it's like oh, I stole a boo-boo
and someone else is in formurder.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
If you're smart, you would make up a different reason
.
Yeah, the guy would be like,see, so I kill five people.
Are you here for what?

Speaker 2 (41:11):
exactly.
But yeah, I think to me likeit's one of those things that it
definitely is like sheeplementality where it's like you're
just stealing these things.
I mean to them they're probablyobviously.
I don't think it's about thelabubus themselves.
I have a feeling these peoplejust want the money for them and
you know they're basically justlike property, they're not
really it's about the labubusthemselves.
I have a feeling these peoplejust want the money for them and
you know they're basically justlike property.

(41:31):
They're not really.
It's not about the labubu.

Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, I agree.
I agree, but a good feel-goodstory that I wanted to go over.

Speaker 2 (41:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:44):
And this gentleman is a Barrington Illinois native.
His name is Daniel Kubiak.
He reaches the MLB and, forthose of you who are not into
sports, it's Major LeagueBaseball.

Speaker 2 (41:56):
How did you know that , yep?

Speaker 1 (41:58):
And at age 29.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
Aw.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
And he's with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The reason this is a huge bigdeal at 29, for any type of
professional sports, it's prettymuch out of the question.
So for him to come up, nevergive up on his dreams and
finally make it.
I think this is a testament tosay hey, if you have something
in your heart you want to do,you feel good about it, cause

(42:24):
you know, sometimes people tellyou, well, you too old for that.
My philosophy is if you stillhave breath in your body, you
have time period.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
Yep, yep.
That's so interesting to methat, like the careers are, I
could see with football justbecause you take so many knocks
and everything, but I feel likewith baseball to me it seems
like you should be able to playlike into your mid to late 30s.
Pretty okay, like that's reallysurprising to me.
I mean late 30s, pretty far,pretty okay, like that's really
surprising to me.
I mean, I know like yourmuscles or your ligaments or
whatever, but it seems like 35should be like almost when

(42:53):
people hit their peak oh, Iwould imagine so too, and you
know, again, like you said, it'snot like football.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
Football is a very, very contact sport.
I mean, it's a violent sport,no matter what you do.
So with baseball, I was alittle surprised too, at 29,
being unheard of for someone tomake it in the league that late.
I would think, like you said,they're in their prime at that
point, around 30 years old, youknow.

Speaker 2 (43:18):
Yep, I think that's so cute, though I think that's
wonderful, but I wonder if he'sjust going to get to be like.
These are the best two years ofmy life.

Speaker 1 (43:30):
Like is his contract for like four months or
something, but that's true.
Well, you know, the thing is,is that, hey, he did something
that most people would yeah so Ithink that's so good.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
I always, like I'm definitely a believer that
especially I mean maybe not foractual sports, but for, like,
most things that it really isnever too late.
Like I see so many women, um,like in their late 60s, starting
to do stand-up comedy, and likeI'm definitely surrounded by
people that like get startedwith a lot of things late at
life and in fact I feel likeit's almost better sometimes if

(44:00):
you have a career and kids andthen you're able to, like in
your 50s or 60s, kind of like dowhat you want to do and like I
don't think you're too late atall.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
That's true.
I mean, if you think about it,at that age you no longer have
the normal distractions oftrying to build a family, of
trying to do this, trying to dothat, it's like, hey, it's my
time.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's cool, but yeah, but
baseball, definitely that's socool.
I think that's great and he'splaying for the Diamondbacks.
You said.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
Yes, he is.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
Okay, well, I'll have to keep an eye out for him.
He'll be the one with like agray beard or like a gray.
They're gonna act like he'slike so old, well, actually,
well, that's so funny.
This is, this is the exactopposite of this, where it's
also never you're never tooyoung to do a really good job,
because my story is about anever.
You're never too young to do areally good job, because my

(44:51):
story is about a 10 year oldchess prodigy who just became
the youngest female player todefeat the grandmaster.
Um a 10 year old british girlI'm gonna definitely butcher the
name, but bodohana sivanandanfrom north northwest london
defeated 60 year old grandmasterpete wells in the final round
of the 2025 BritishChampionships this past weekend.
So I think that's so cool.

(45:12):
So she's 10 years old.
Imagine like she just must be asavant completely.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
That is awesome.
I mean very, very awesome.
Like you said, you're never tooyoung.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
I know.

Speaker 1 (45:26):
Especially to be someone that's been doing this
for I don't know how many yearshe's been doing it.
I know Especially to be someonethat's been doing this For I
don't know how many years he'sbeen doing it.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
So I know and I love this.
Her dad told the BBC In 2024that nobody at all In their
family had previously excelledat chess and, like I love stuff
like this when I used to reallylove MasterChef Junior and I
love watching the kids that theparents Are like we don't know
how to cook.
We don't Understand how we havethis like Savant chef in the
family.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
Yes, that is definitely great, definitely
great.
Kudos to her.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Yeah, but she said she picked up chess during the
pandemic when she was five.
I still don't understand chess,so good for her.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
You know, I've never learned how to play chess and
probably never had desire to.

Speaker 2 (46:15):
No, I almost feel like when you're an adult it
almost gets harder becauseyou're like, it's just harder to
learn.

Speaker 1 (46:21):
Yeah, because I just picture them just sitting there
thinking about I'm quite surethere's conversations going on
or whatever, and you know, justfiguring out this move, that
move, because from what I see,they go up, they go down, they
go side.
It's like well, how the hell doyou figure this out?
Yeah, yeah, I see they go up,they go down they go side.

Speaker 2 (46:37):
It's like, well, how the hell do you figure this out?
Yeah, yeah, and I can'tremember.
I've learned a few times, but Ican't remember the bishop and
the rook and all these things.
I'm like, yeah, I forget it soquickly.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
I like chess better.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah, yeah me too.

Speaker 1 (46:52):
Oh, that's right Checkers.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Checkers is way easier, ExceptI can barely win like
tic-tac-toe so it's okay.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
Well, don't mean to be a downer, but there's a new
issue that employers are dealingwith now.
Well, the threat of AIgenerated job applicants For a
lot of people who weren't awareof this, and I wasn't aware of
this either until it came acrossme, across my desk here, that

(47:25):
they are people that arecreating AI-generated applicants
that you know apply for jobsand all this and I guess, even
do interviews, because mostpeople do interviews over Zoom
and all this guests even dointerviews, because most people
do interviews over zoom, and allthis.
And it's like when I first readI'm like why the hell would
anybody put this kind of timeand effort into doing this?
Yeah, here is that there's alot of scammers and organized

(47:47):
crime that does this.
So basically they're trying toget into the systems of
businesses to steal data,information, maybe even steal
money, embezzlement, or do thethe high-tech thing where it's
like, okay, give us a milliondollars and we'll release all
your computers that we have forransom.
Now you know.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
Oh my gosh, but couldn't they do that without
having to like apply for a joband like, so the interview would
even be a fake person.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
It would be a fake person.
Yeah, that's so weird.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
It just seems like if you're gonna go through all
that and try to hack the system,you could just do that, like by
pretending that you're fixingsomething in the building, or by
being like the it person orsomething yeah, and what's
interesting in the article theywere saying that companies are
now to combat this.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
They're they're having the person in the
interview do something weird,like you know, touch your nose
or touch your head.
You're a real person and it'slike you know if you really got
to do all that, just meet inperson.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
Exactly, yeah, and I think like there's a lot of AI,
people or things now that wouldbe able to just be like okay,
I'm a robot touching my nose,like you know, they're going to
be able to figure that out.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
Because if you haven't heard this story and
you're in the middle of theinterview, you know everything's
everyone.
So, laurence, um sure, noproblem, can you take your
finger?

Speaker 2 (49:06):
touch your nose, what yeah?

Speaker 1 (49:07):
because once you ask, me that and I don't know about
this story.
I'm thinking.
I don't think I want to workfor you guys anymore right.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
And then the fact that if you're interviewing
someone, you can't tell they'reAI or not, that I feel like we
all have different problemsright now.
You know, like I'm just askingthem a question or anything.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
Yeah, I mean, I would think that because in an
interview, especially if you'reinterviewing with a hiring
manager, those questions can bescripted, because if you're
experienced like, for example, Igot a lot of sales experience
in transportation there aregoing to be very
industry-specific questions thatI ask and the way they answer
it is going to dictate you knowhow I react to it and what I ask

(49:46):
.
And I would think that I don'tthink no, ai is that smart and I
could be wrong.
I could be totally wrong.
But I don't think AI is thatsmart.
What do you think?

Speaker 2 (49:57):
I think so too.
I think I totally get whatyou're saying about being
specific.
I almost feel like on the otherend of things.
One time when I wasinterviewing, they asked me
about a mistake in the past thatI'd made and what I'd learned
from it, and I feel like my AIrobot would not know I had to
dig from one of my past mistakes.
They wouldn't know that withoutme feeding it to them.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
That is an excellent question.
I mean excellent response.
There You're right.
Ai would not know that.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
Right, yeah.
So it's like, yeah, how wouldwe know?
And then also, okay, then youget the job, but then you're
onboarding with, like a humanresource.
Like I just can't understandhow you're making.
Now you're signing up, likeyou're having AI sign up for
taxes, and aren't you going toneed like a social security
number?
Like I feel like for any jobI've ever started, you have to
sign a W-2 or W-9 or whatever.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
And so it's like yeah , and you know, I think a lot of
companies are starting to get alittle bit lazy when it comes
to the hiring process.

Speaker 2 (50:49):
Yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
Because you know a lot of them has this.
I think it's called a stylisttest or whatever.
You know has this I think it'scalled a stylist test or
whatever.
Basically, it's like okay, ifyou saw someone stealing, what
would you do If this happened?
What would you do To me again?
I apologize to all people in HRthat's going to be seeing this.
I think it's a stupid fuckingquestionnaire because unless

(51:11):
you're some kind of moron,you're going to know how to
answer those questions.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
Exactly what is someone going to say?
I'm going to join them.
I'm going to cheat on my testtoo.
Everyone is lying to make agood impression anyway.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
Exactly.
I've said it before in aprevious episode and I'll say it
again I tip my hat off to the.
What are they called Gen Zers?
Are they Gen Zers or Gen Y?
I get them all mixed up.
To the, to the, to the.
Uh, what do they call it gen z?
No, that gen zers.
Are they gen z is a gen y I.
I get them all mixed up theyget people younger yeah yeah,
yeah, the gen z years.

(51:46):
The one thing I reallyappreciate is that back when I
started working years ago andyou know, you did, you know when
you started working it normallytakes three to six months to
find out whether it's reallywhat you thought or if they just
lied through their teeth to getyou on board yeah we lied
through their teeth.
You know like okay, I'm gonnawork this out, I'm gonna try and
make this work, whatever.
Well, the younger generationain't doing that no more.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
Once they figured out you lied to them, they're gone
that's true, you're right, yep,and I even think it's with like
I'll see jobs and it's like overa hundred applicants and I just
don't even feel like HR peopleare even looking at.
I mean, they just start lookingat like all of it and I think
people are just like making upstuff on their resume and then,
yeah, it's a whole big thing.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Oh yeah and you know, I know it was one big push a
while ago that you know when youyou interview, the company
should pay you, because you knowthere's a lot of fake jobs out
there yeah, work at at a companythat literally would put fake
jobs out there, knowing they'rehiring somebody within the
company but because of hr rulesor whatever they have to look

(52:51):
like they're getting people toapply oh my gosh so you're lying
and everybody's in on the biglie.
So why?
Why are you doing in the firstplace?

Speaker 2 (52:58):
Yeah, yeah.
And especially jobs.
I feel like we should all justtake a stand against, also, jobs
that like require us to do thejobs where it's like write an
article of how you would do this, or like, for example, for like
podcasting.
I've had some people, somefriends, say that they're like
okay, well, can you edit thisepisode and show us how you'd
edit it?
It's like I'm not hired for thejob yet, and I think that's why

(53:19):
freelancers it's like we have aportfolio of examples of what
we can do we're not about to dothe job, and I just think these
people that have six interviewsand expect so much it's just
people just need to be like okay, I'll do that, but for $100.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
I agree with you, and you know.
The other thing too, meryl isyou know I've seen situations
where the interview process wasyou interview with HR, which to
me is a joke.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, they don't know yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
And then after that, then you finally get to the
hiring manager.
The hiring manager, even ifthey like you, they'll have
their boss say, well, thisperson is a good fit, you can't
hire.
It's like it's stupid.
You know it's a.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
It's a big game is what it is yes, I had to do one
where we had to circle, likelike my friends would describe
me as, and we had to like circlethings and it's like I would
describe me and of course, noone's gonna be like I would
describe me as.
And we had to circle things andI'd be like I would describe me
and of course, no one's goingto be like I would describe me
as anxious, disorganized,mistrustful.
Everyone's just going to pickgood things about each other.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
The only thing you're really doing is ironing out
someone who's pretty kind ofstupid, yeah yeah, yeah.
You know you're not going toput put down if you're a person
that is unorganized, as lateknowledge, you're not if you're
smart, you're not gonna put thatdown exactly that's when
companies are like we're lookingfor a rock star for whatever it
takes.

(54:49):
That's not me at all now, youknow, years ago, when I was a
manager and I was hiring tobring on some sales people, I
actually interviewed a man, andthis is this was something I'll
never forget.
You know, we went through theprocess.
Everything was going good, andI asked him and said so tell me,
why should I hire you?
His answer was well, I don'tknow why would you hire me.

(55:12):
Thank you, oh my God.
Now, of course, I can't say this, but in my mind you've got to
be the stupidest effing idiotever and it's like you've taken
it this far.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
Why not just finish the answer and, like, say
anything about yourself or howyou could benefit the company?

Speaker 1 (55:30):
when he said that, merrill, I literally did not
know how to respond.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
Wow wow, I'm like I literally had nothing to say did
not know how to respond.
Wow, okay, wow.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
I'm like I mean, I was just.
I literally had nothing to say.
I was like, wow.
So if you don't believe inyourself, then I don't think I'm
going to believe you yeah, thenI'm not going to do it Exactly.

Speaker 2 (55:52):
See, an AI person would never say that.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
That is true, that is true.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
And same thing.
I know people use a lot of AIfor their interviews and stuff.
I just wouldn't do that.
I don't want to just completelyoffload everything to my brain,
where it's still fun tointerview with an actual person
and I think AI is good if youwanted to have it, help you
practice for questions orsummarize your job and stuff,
but I wouldn't use it if I'mlike having a real conversation

(56:19):
with someone yeah, to me ai is atool, nothing more.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
To me it cannot replace a person.
It can help you, it can get toanswers faster.
But you know we talked aboutbefore how, like if you have ai
do something you don't know,kind of look at what they're
doing, you know it could make upstuff.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
One of my clients went bye-bye because I did that.
So, yeah, totally, wow, that'sinteresting, and that was that
your last one.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
That was my last one.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
Oh my gosh, okay, my last one.
I'm so excited for this one.
I'm not a Swifty, but I thinkmore and more I'm beginning to,
like you know, become I'm slowlymorphing into like a mini
Swifty light, as they say,because I realize, I know, I
know, yeah, I'm dipping my toeinto the Swifty waters Just
because, like I was talking tosomeone, I'm like I'm not a

(57:12):
Swifty at all, but I do likeabout 30 of Taylor's songs.
I love watching videos of herand they're like I hate to break
it to you, but you're kind ofbecoming a Swifty.
So recently she broke theinternet, you know, again when
she appeared on her boyfriendTravis Kelsey's podcast, new
Heights on August 13.
And people were, just like youknow, going crazy for her and

(57:33):
for Travis and this wasdefinitely the long form that we
got to see of them as a coupleand just like how they
interacted together.
Um, they talked a lot about howthey met and just how they fell
in love and like their storywas kind of cute, about how
Travis really hunted her downand just wanted to date her and
made it clear, um, and then, ofcourse, like Taylor is known for
giving a lot of easter eggs inher music videos.

(57:54):
So a lot of people think thatshe was hinting, that maybe
she's either going to do ahalftime show.
She announced her latest album,the Life of a Showgirl, so that
was pretty much why she was onthere in the first place, and so
they thought she was hintingabout a Super Bowl performance
or maybe like a Vegas residency,or maybe, you know, everyone is

(58:15):
just reading too much into it,but did you see it?

Speaker 1 (58:19):
you know what I did?
See clips of it.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
Yes yeah, it's a long interview.
I didn't see all of it, but Ithink it's so cute.
What do you?
What do you think?

Speaker 1 (58:28):
well, I'm not okay if you don't think they're cute
because obviously she's gonnasupport a boyfriend, so that's
that's not a surprise yeah um,not a surprise about her
dropping the new, the new songagain.
Taylor swift does that all thetime exactly, exactly but um,
the little bit I did saw shekind of let her hair down a
little bit.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
You know.
I know this was the most likehuman I feel like I've ever seen
her.
But the the other side of it isthat, like I, she is very
calculated, like you know.
So I just think with with her,especially like nothing's as it
seems, and I think, like youknow, she's like one of the most
famous people, she's abillionaire, so like, even in
her kind of fake humble momentsthere's still something like a

(59:11):
different layer, like she iscalculated and she is kind of
scheming.
So love her or hate her, youknow she definitely has a lot of
stuff going on in her mind.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
Oh, yeah, that's definitely true.
The one thing that really kindof had me kind of chuckling was
Swifties are really diehard.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
Oh yeah, I wouldn't be that kind of Swiftie.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
And you got.
You know this one woman.
She was in a bad cry.
Oh my God.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
Oh my gosh.
And it she was in a bed crying,oh my god, oh my gosh.
And it's like, wow, yeah, they.
It's like taylor is just anormal human.
She's not like a messiah orsomething in like some people
are like.
She said this on like the ninthday and she said it four times.
So there's, 13 is her favoritenumber and it's just like I.
I don't want to go into a wholenumerology thing, I just want

(59:55):
to like, like her songs, youknow.
But um, and I know there's beena lot of speculation too about
this relationship being just forPR or not true, but I have to
imagine, even though TravisKelsey does seem pretty genuine
in the brothers that would be alot to go through this whole
made-up relationship.
That just seems kind ofunnecessary.
But I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:00:16):
I agree, I agree, I mean, I think the relationship
is real relationship.
You know that just seems likekind of unnecessary, but I don't
know.
I agree, I agree, I mean, Ithink the relationship is real.
Um, but you know the one thingthat I that I do like about
taylor swift she does have areally good heart.
She has, um, you know thethings she's done for people
over the years, uh, for her fans, stuff like that.
And you know, the thing is isthat, whether you like it or not

(01:00:37):
, when you're that big of a star, you have to put on that smiley
face, because I'm quite sureshe's had bad days too, but when
you're that big of a star, youhave to put on that smile, no
matter what.

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
And like and I love her music,but like I can't even tell if
she has a really good heart orif it's just all for show, but
either way, she's still donatingto food banks and giving people
big tips and so it's like,whether or not that comes
completely from being sincere,she's still doing like the right
things oh, I agree, I agree.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
So what do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
you think that, uh, that chelsea's gonna be popping
the question soon I hope, yeah,I definitely think so, I
definitely don so and I do.
I think she was giving weirdhints about like sourdough and
the 60th stuff that's going tolead to the Super Bowl.
So, like, I think she's goingto be doing the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
You think so?

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
Yeah, I think she was giving enough.
I saw a TikTok that did make methink, where I feel like she's
going to be doing the Super Bowl.
And then there's, I think shemight bring out Christina
Aguilera, Cause there was somehints about that.
And there was some hints aboutlike she said something about
like orange marmalade and thenit was like kind of like the
lady marmalade ChristinaAguilera thing.
So I feel like that was oneconspiracy theory that I

(01:01:51):
believed.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
But if her and Travis , like if that is really real,
like I just think that is socute, and they really are.
I think that they're a very,very cute couple Like I.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:09):
I just hope it's real , but I also have learned to
like not trust anything,unfortunately, that is true
Right Especially when it comesto Hollywood romances, I know.

Speaker 2 (01:02:13):
But I mean, I think she looks beautiful and I think
I do also think too, like, eventhough just the way she dresses
and carries herself andeverything, I do think she is a
good goodish role model for likeall types of girls, because she
does seem to respect herselfand she's really smart, I just
think it's cool.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
Oh yeah, definitely.
I mean, I know a lot of peoplewere talking about the outfit
she's been wearing to promote.
You know the new album or songthat came out and you know the
semi-revealing outfit yeah, yep.
But what people got tounderstand too is yes, a lot of
young kids love her and stufflike this, but don't forget, she

(01:02:54):
is a 37-year-old woman too.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
I know, yeah, exactly like this.
But don't forget she is a 30some year old woman too.
I know, yeah, exactly which.
Sometimes they do people dotreat taylor swift like a baby.
You know like they definitelyinfantilize her.
I'm like she is like, yeah,she's like 38 or 39.
I always forget that right.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
So it's like don't forget, she's an adult doing
this, she's not exactly, but atthe end of the day I really do.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
I think she has so many good songs and she is a
good songwriter and stuff.
So I feel like because of thatI'm interested in her at least,
and I feel like the her andTravis thing.
It seems very unlikely, butthen the fact that they match up
seems very cute.

Speaker 1 (01:03:31):
Uh-oh, meryl, you're turning to a Swiftie, I know, I
know, I know, I know, I knowit's really funny.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
I'm like, okay, I kind of want to go to a concert.
I love her music, but I'm notlike a crying.
I wouldn't be falling to myknees crying if I saw it.
I'm like a Swiftie, adjacentmaybe, so you wouldn't cry and
boo-hoo and you know.
No, and I'm not about to dothis weird heart thing that
everyone does.

(01:03:56):
I feel like I'm from thebleachers type of Swifty Little
closet, swifty, exactly, yeah,and I think she's beyond in the
Illuminati, so I'm not going tolet her harvest my energy.
There you go.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
Talk about energy, Meryl.
What do you have coming up?

Speaker 2 (01:04:22):
Yay, talk about energy, meryl.
What do you have coming up?
Yay, um, well, I have the.
The last week, the horror nerdshow that I did went so fun.
It was so good that now I'mtaking it down to san diego.
So I'll be um at a reallyawesome club called the yellow
door this friday in san diego.
Um, last week at the improv, Italked about this scare.
Sleepaway camp was the Improv Italked about.
This.
Sleepaway Camp was the moviefrom 1983 I talked about.
It was just a really weirdslasher film.

(01:04:42):
So who knows what I'll be doingon Friday, because I literally
don't know, but we'll see.

Speaker 1 (01:04:47):
Nice, nice.
Now where is that again?

Speaker 2 (01:04:50):
It's in San Diego, in downtown San Diego, in the
Gaslamp Quarter, and it's at avenue called the Yellow Door.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Cool.
Well, if you're in the area,please go out and support Meryl.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Yes, and I have so many shows that I now finally
got myself organized and Ilisted some of my upcoming shows
on my Instagram.

Speaker 1 (01:05:10):
Cool, you know what I know?
We don't do it a lot, but tellpeople how to follow you on your
socials.

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
Oh yeah, thank you.
My tell people how to followyou on your social.
Oh yeah, thank you.
My Instagram is just my name,so it's at Meryl Clemo M-E-R-Y-L
, k-l-e-m-o-w nice, lookingforward to it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
I gotta get down to one of your shows too yeah, I
would love that you're also.

Speaker 2 (01:05:29):
I feel like you're a very good Instagram friend where
, like people I feel like a lotof people don't comment and like
on people's stuff anymore.
I feel like you're verysupportive and hopefully I'm
that way for you too thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:05:40):
I appreciate that I believe in supporting people who
support me, so I know it's socool yes, definitely, definitely
.
Wow.
It's hard to believe it's beenan hour already I know that flew
by yes when you're a swifty yes, it does, and you know the
crazy thing it there was so muchgoing on.
I literally had another five toeight other topics.

Speaker 2 (01:06:02):
Really.

Speaker 1 (01:06:04):
So it's been so much stuff and you know the crazy
thing, especially going on rightnow, is there's always
something to talk about.

Speaker 2 (01:06:12):
I know, and look at this we didn't even mention the
president once too.

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
That's a good one.
We may have to mention thatnext week.

Speaker 2 (01:06:19):
Yeah, next week Exactly.
Who knows, it's always likethere's always a new episode
waiting for us.

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
That's true.
That's true.
Well, everyone, thank you forsupporting us.
We really appreciate you guyswatching us or listening to us.
If you listen to the podcastagain, Thirsty Topics is on all
the major podcast stations andwe're also on a streaming
channel called LRotTVNetworkcom,which I heard is a pretty good

(01:06:44):
channel.

Speaker 2 (01:06:45):
I love it.
It's pretty good.

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
Well, everyone, thank you for watching us.
Please continue to support usand bring as many people as you
can over to watch us and listento us.
I'm Lawrence L Rott.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
And I'm Meryl Clemo.

Speaker 1 (01:07:02):
Have a great day everyone.