November 6, 2025 • 31 mins
A neighborhood cat, a driverless car, and a city that suddenly feels colder—our hour starts with the story everyone can’t shake and the question no one can dodge: who’s responsible when machines make human-sized mistakes? We sit with the grief and pull the thread into accountability, street safety, and the real-world limits of autonomous tech when life moves in messy ways no model fully predicts.
From there we swing into the emotional physics of the holidays. Candy canes in early November, Thanksgiving squeezed on the calendar, and a house that feels better with warm lights flicked on—can both be true? We talk about joy that lasts, the stress of shopping cues, and how to savor the season without letting the mall set the rules. Along the way, we detour into language whiplash as “six seven” somehow becomes word of the year, and ask what happens when virality outruns meaning.
Money gets tactile when coins go missing. With penny shortages pushing exact change and rounding policies, we unpack the nostalgia of loose change, the ick of handling cash, and why a mostly cashless generation still collides with checkout counters. Then we exhale with a World Series that went deep—Dodgers edging the Blue Jays after a marathon stretch that even non-fans felt in their bones. We close on heart-forward news: restaurants like Manny’s Deli stepping up with free meals for SNAP families during a government shutdown, proving that community action fills gaps policy leaves behind.
If you care about tech accountability, holiday sanity, language that means something, and neighbors feeding neighbors, this one’s for you. Hit follow, share with a friend who loves spirited debate and good news with teeth, and leave a review to help more curious listeners find the show.
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.
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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:15):
Hello everyone.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Thirsty Topics.
I'm Lauren Selrat.
SPEAKER_00 (00:22):
And I am Meryl Klimo.
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
Hi, Meryl.
How are you today?
SPEAKER_00 (00:26):
I'm really good.
Good for a Monday.
SPEAKER_02 (00:29):
There you go.
How was your uh your Halloweenweekend?
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Oh my gosh, my Halloween weekend was awesome.
I um we dressed as the bad guysfrom home alone, and I was the
short one that looks like JoePesci, of course.
And then it was I have to I haveto say we ordered it off of
Amazon, like the whole thingwhere they just have you pay$22
and you get the hat and thefeathers and the cap and
everything.
And we were happily like uh itwas great.
(00:54):
We we need we got everything weneeded for$22, so it was great.
SPEAKER_02 (00:58):
Nice.
Did everybody dress up?
SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
Um well it was just my boyfriend and I.
So yeah, everyone dressed up andthen we went out
trick-or-treating, and then wekind of got like uh very
overstimulated at how manychildren were out there.
And then the next day he camehome with Reese's peanut butter
cups because I was complainingthat I didn't get any of the
candy.
That sounds like a greatweekend.
It was very cool.
(01:22):
How about you?
SPEAKER_02 (01:23):
Uh let's see.
Actually, we sat back andenjoyed the trick-or-treaters.
Um, I know last weekend we hadour Halloween party for the in
the neighborhood.
So this weekend um did that andthen went to go see a premiere
of a new movie coming out, uh,which basically uh talks about
uh toxic family, toxiccommunity, and dealing with um
(01:46):
abuse uh within the thehousehold.
So um it was a story, eventhough it's based around the
Indian culture, uh South Asianculture, it's actually something
that pretty much anyone canrelate to.
SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
Yeah, that's great too.
And it's a good resource forpeople, I think, to know that
they're not alone and to havethat modeled.
I feel like more and more,especially with the internet and
everything, now people that aregoing through abusive situations
can like very easily connectwith other people and hear about
stories and you know find help.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Oh, absolutely.
And you know, the nice thing isthat there's so many resources
out there today that didn'texist years ago um to help
people that are in thesesituations.
So um, I'm excited about thismovie.
I can't wait till it comes out.
SPEAKER_00 (02:32):
Me too.
Wait, now very importantly, whatdid you give out for Halloween?
What kind of candy?
SPEAKER_02 (02:37):
You know what?
I gave out like the sweethearts,Tootsie Rolls, um let's see.
I think nerds is what I gaveout.
I try to give out pretty decentcandy.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
Okay, good.
Sweethearts, I feel like, are ahidden favorite.
I feel like I never they're aforgotten art.
SPEAKER_02 (02:56):
And then of course you gotta throw in the classics
like Reese's pieces and stufflike that.
SPEAKER_00 (03:00):
So yeah, oh yeah, okay, good.
SPEAKER_02 (03:03):
Yeah, so yep, so I don't have to worry about my my
house being egged this yearbecause I gave out crap candy.
SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
And you didn't give out any of the THC laced candy
that we read about last week.
No, no, didn't have enough to goaround, so no, see, I I'm
paranoid too, where we gotlollipops handed out from like
different houses, and and Idon't I haven't eaten them.
Like, I think I'm gonna eitherthrow them away or something
because I I don't know why, butI don't trust like lollipops
(03:29):
because I'm like, okay, what ifthey were open before or like
who knows what they're madewith?
SPEAKER_02 (03:34):
You know what?
I say go with your gut.
If you don't trust it, go aheadand toss it.
SPEAKER_00 (03:38):
I know some some some true clowns gave it to us.
There's a nice clown house thatI feel like is very, very
trustworthy, and I have noreason to be paranoid, but I
don't know about thoselollipops.
SPEAKER_02 (03:52):
Well, talking about interesting stories here, uh,
let's see.
I think we'll let you go first,Merle.
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
Okay, I'll start out on a sad note.
I'm sorry, everyone, but mineonly get better.
So if you're bummed out by thisone, don't worry, it only gets
better.
Um San Francisco is mourning uha cat, a sweet cat.
Um, oh, just closed on me.
Okay, San Francisco mourns a catkilled by a Waymo self-driving
car.
(04:19):
Um, I don't know if you've heardabout this already, but uh there
was this beloved bodega cat inSan Francisco's Mission
District.
Kit Kat, a nine-year-old tabby,affectionately known as the
mayor of 16th Street, um, wassadly run over last week outside
of Randa's Market, theconvenience store right next to
uh the feeder where he lived.
(04:41):
And so pretty much I had I readabout this, and what happened
was I guess Waymo like picked upsomeone and then made a um like
a quick turn or like a you knowa quick gesture, and the cat was
like near under the car, and itjust wasn't expecting it.
And this is a cat that's likeoutside all the time and used to
a lot of traffic, pedestriantraffic, you know, cars, bikes,
(05:02):
everything.
But I think the Waymo just was,you know, not suited for it.
And um, it sadly ran Kit Katover, and I guess lots of people
were screaming.
It was during the daytime, andsadly the cat didn't make it,
and now there's like a lot of umpeople are paying homage to the
cat outside with a lot of signs,and the owner is devastated.
And it definitely like I saw acomment that I think sums it up
(05:26):
where it said it's even morelike anger-inducing the fact
that something without like asoul or any conscience hit this
like beloved cat, you know,because usually, okay, maybe
someone can get out and feel bador like some accidents do
happen, but if it's just like aself-driving car, that really is
so like um just new to uh youknow, dystopian, I think.
SPEAKER_02 (05:49):
I agree, and you know, the interesting thing
about that story is that couldhave easily been a little child.
What if you're in a littleneighborhood?
And again, that's why I'm not areally big fan of the
self-driving cars uh withoutsomeone in that driver's seat
because there's so manydifferent scenarios that can
happen that you have to reallythink on your feet, and yeah,
(06:11):
there's so many scenarios thatthe computerized car may not
have encountered, so which meansthey don't know how to react to
them.
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
I know, and I think too, like I feel like any way
for a pet to go is so sad, butthere is something like
heartless about having a cat,your your beloved pet or your
neighborhood mascot, like diethat way because you're just
calling Waymo, and it's kind oflike as much as we think the CEO
or whoever cares, they kind ofdon't, and you know, I think
(06:38):
there was even some statementlike, well, this is bound to
happen at some point, and soit's kind of like you're just
calling a car company that likeis pretty much an AI technology
company that doesn't really carethat much.
So I feel like that's that'svery sad.
SPEAKER_02 (06:52):
Yeah, it is sad, and you know, it goes back to the
situation again is who do you goafter?
Who do you, you know, after theowner of car, the company,
people who design the software,you know, when a person has
something, it's prettystraightforward who's at fault.
But when it's technology, again,who do you go after at that
(07:16):
point?
SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
I know, I know.
It and it's so sad thinking toothat this this is a cat, it's
not just like an animal that gotloose and it was like,
whoopsies, I'm running allaround.
I thought this was a cat thatseemed to know what it was
doing, and and like so manypeople had videos and photos of
it just hanging out by the storeall the time, and so it's just
like not fair for it too,because it probably wasn't like
acting erratic or wasn't being abad cat, it just was like you
(07:40):
know, just happened to twothings collided at once.
SPEAKER_02 (07:44):
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
Well, we'll definitely sendprayers out.
And like I said, when you see anautonomous car, keep it keep
your uh your pets inside.
SPEAKER_00 (07:55):
Yeah, for sure.
I I see videos all the time oflike ones trying to make a left
turn and like cross over sixdifferent ones, you know.
Like I just think they weren'tready yet.
Um, we're not ready to have itbe in charge of lives and these
like huge decisions.
Oh, and but the other thing isthat you know, I've I felt bad
before when the Waymo's weredestroyed and burnt, but now I
(08:18):
did see a video of peoplewearing like a cat mask and like
drawing on a Waymo, and itwasn't that particular car, but
they were like lighting one onfire.
And I have to admit that likenow I was finally like, okay,
yeah, burn that Waymo.
I I always felt bad for itbefore, but then now I've
there's like a sense ofretribution that I'm like, okay,
get it.
SPEAKER_02 (08:38):
Oh yeah, I definitely understand.
I definitely understand.
Well, this story is either gonnamake you happy or it's gonna
make you mad.
We'll see what time of the fenceyou're on.
But I have a question that Iwant to pose out there.
Now that you know we're pastHalloween by you know two or
(08:58):
three days, are we celebratingChristmas too soon?
It is amazing how many Christmasstuff, Christmas commercials are
starting to pop up and stufflike this.
We haven't even gotten toThanksgiving yet.
Yeah, that's true.
(09:19):
And um, I don't know whetherChristmas is being celebrated
too soon is a matter of opinion,with valid arguments on both
sides.
Many people believe thatcelebrating early can make the
holidays feel less special,while others feel that the joy
and positivity of the season arebeneficially uh and should be
embraced as soon as possible.
(09:41):
Ultimately, there's no singlecorrect answer, and personal
preference is a major factor.
Merle, what do you think?
Do you think that we'recelebrating too early?
SPEAKER_00 (09:50):
That's really interesting because I feel like
it's it brings up two things.
It's like in terms of matter ofthe heart and spirit, you know,
like mentally and physicallygetting prepared for the
holidays, which like I love, andI am definitely a holiday girl.
Like I love Halloween, I lovethis whole stretch of November.
Like, I feel like it all goestoo fast, and three months for
it to be like Halloween,Thanksgiving, Christmas slash
(10:13):
Hanukkah, slash whatever you'recelebrating is like too soon for
me.
It's like you know, it's like asprint and then it's over, and
then January comes and we're alldepressed.
Um, but I feel likecommercially, yes, it does seem
like I I just was at the grocerystore and I saw candy canes out,
and my first feeling was like Iliterally thought, like, I'm
tired.
(10:35):
And usually I get very excited,but I do feel like, especially
with this year, just having tobuy things.
I mean, no one's telling us youhave to buy things, but just
already seeing like candy canesand having to think about that.
I did my first response wasfatigue.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
I totally understand.
I totally understand.
Now, me personally, if I had myweight, I'd have my Christmas
tree up all year long.
But you know, the wife won't letme.
SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
Me too, and I really wish like I love Halloween so
much that I could use two monthsfor that, and then like a month
and a half for Thanksgiving, andthen three months for Christmas.
And so, you know, like like it'shard to just mentally switch
into.
I mean, some people don't thinkabout it at all, but I
definitely feel like I I give alot of like thought and
attention to holiday activities,and so it it is quick to go like
(11:23):
immediately from Halloween toChristmas.
SPEAKER_02 (11:26):
Oh, yeah.
Now, two popular opinions.
One for argument um to wait tocelebrate would be it
overshadows the holidays.
A focus on Christmas in Novembercan overshadow Thanksgiving,
which is a distinct holiday withits own traditions.
On the opposite side of that,um, the arguments for
(11:49):
celebrating Christmas early isthat extends happiness, uh, joy,
and positivity.
Early celebration is seen bysome as a way to spread more
happiness and positivity,especially in a world that can
feel very negative.
I can kind of agree with thatstatement.
What do you think?
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
Yeah, I like that.
And I like what you said earliertoo, where I think it's not too
early at all to start likedecorating your house and making
it feel cozy in whatever way youwant, like for Christmas.
It's so funny too, because I'mJewish, so like I really don't I
shouldn't be celebratingChristmas, but I'm I'm so I
celebrate anything, you know.
But uh same thing is whateverholiday you like, I feel like
(12:29):
it's never too early to like getthat feeling inside of your
house or with your loved ones.
But I do feel like at CVS andWalmart and Target, it does feel
a little crazy to likeimmediately switch it all over.
SPEAKER_02 (12:42):
Yeah, that's true.
I'm just surprised that over theyears, how it just seems like we
go from summer to Christmaslately.
Where I know.
I mean, yeah, I mean Halloween,even though they tried, they
can't over overshadow thatbecause too many people like
Halloween, but it seems likeThanksgiving, it's like they
(13:02):
just bulldoze right over that.
SPEAKER_01 (13:04):
Um I agree.
SPEAKER_02 (13:08):
I think it's more of a commercial uh thing versus the
true nature of what Christmas isbecause a lot of people, in my
opinion, feel they look atChristmas in the wrong light.
Christmas is about beingthankful, it's about the birth
of Jesus Christ, it's aboutspreading happiness and joy.
It's not about how many peopleyou can buy a gift for, how
(13:31):
expensive the gift is.
That's not what Christmas isabout.
And it's not about going in adebt either.
SPEAKER_00 (13:37):
No, except my Christmas is about going to New
York, getting hot chocolate.
I don't have kids, so that's soI can treat myself to a Times
Square moment.
But but yeah, I agree.
And I'm like, can you imagine ifwe had leaders on all on both
parties that like reallyinstalled that type of way of
thinking rather than just makingit all about monetary stuff and
(14:00):
Black Friday spending and youknow Sephora and all that kind
of stuff?
So um, but I agree, I swear, Ireally think July 4th, once July
5th happened, I I think theystarted putting up Christmas
things in the stores.
SPEAKER_02 (14:14):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And like I said, I think that Ipersonally like Christmas
because again, with theexception of going to the mall,
it's a beautiful, happyoccasion.
Um, for whatever reasons, likewhen you go to mall, people like
lose their FMI around Christmastime, want to fight you for
parking spaces and stuff.
So that's that's the exceptionto the rule, but generally it's
(14:35):
not it's a happy occasion.
SPEAKER_00 (14:37):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Well, um, something that kind ofbaffled me this year that I
thought was really funny is thatdictionary.com named their 2025
Word of the Year, and it's notreally a word, it's more of a
number, depending on who youask, is six seven.
Now, uh I would say this is thefirst internet thing that I
(15:00):
continue to not understand.
I feel like usually I am verylike with the times, right?
At least I'm on TikTok a lot.
I love to like see what the whatthe young kids are doing, and I
usually am like kind of in onthe bit, at least like what I
think it is.
Um, but the term six seven firststarted circulating in 2024, and
I continue to still not reallyunderstand it, which like I
(15:22):
believe that's also part of thebit is that it kind of like
there's really nothing tounderstand.
Um, for Halloween, I saw so manypeople dressed as six seven that
like and I thought it washilarious, but there's also
grandmas that I saw that werelike there was a grandma that
had a six and a grandpa that wasa seven, and we were saying, We
love your costumes, and thegrandma was like, Thanks, I
(15:43):
don't understand what it meanseither, but I and I thought that
was so cute.
So, I mean, I think this is alittle ridiculous that it's the
word of the year.
I think like whose word uh tome, it's a very like small
population of young people, andit's funny and it's on TikTok,
but I haven't really heard likethe everyday in real life person
(16:04):
referring to it.
SPEAKER_02 (16:05):
Uh I tell you, I am so glad my son is in college
now, and I don't have to dealwith that six seven nonsense.
And the crazy thing is when youask the kids doing this, none of
them have no idea what it standsfor.
They they just do it.
SPEAKER_00 (16:21):
I know, yeah.
Some people say it can betreated like an exclamation if
you're excited about something,or that it can be closer to like
meh or whatever.
But I to me, it's like I thinkthat's part of it, where
whenever I ask like younger,like my kids, my my parents'
kids, they're like, Yeah,there's nothing to understand.
I'm like, okay, that's so weird.
SPEAKER_02 (16:42):
Yeah, I mean, can you imagine if you had either
kids or maybe some siblings orwhoever around you, and all you
kept hearing for like 15 minutesstraight, six seven, six seven,
six, seven.
I think for me, after a coupleminutes, like, all right, shut
up, shut up.
SPEAKER_00 (16:59):
Exactly.
Exactly.
I always want like I love sillythings, and I love that when
kids have silly things.
And I also think too, like, umthere's these.
Have you ever heard of like oraura farming?
Like that's really funny.
That's a really funny sayingthat I've heard young kids use,
like aura, you know, there'slike an aura value, and aura
farming is like when you dosomething cool, or when you like
(17:22):
draw an aura from something andyou you're like gaining points,
and you know, like there's otherterms that I'm like, okay,
that's that's salient.
I could see myself using that ifI was in high school or
something, but six, seven justseems like such like a
13-year-old boy thing, doesn'tit?
SPEAKER_02 (17:39):
It it does, and what's so crazy is that it's
amazing that something so sosimple that has zero meaning to
it whatsoever is so popular.
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
I know.
SPEAKER_02 (17:50):
This almost reminds me of the of the pet rock.
SPEAKER_00 (17:53):
Yeah, I'm just surprised they put it at
dictionary.com put it as theword of the year, because I
think like in a silly way, theycould have named, they could
have said like runner up sixseven and done a silly thing,
but I think it's kind of likeeroding our brain a little bit,
you know.
Like, I think that they couldhave chosen like a real actual
word, like oligarchy orsomething.
SPEAKER_02 (18:13):
Yeah, I totally agree with you on that.
Talk about interesting things.
Well, there is a new pennypolicy at stores and businesses
around the country due to severepenny shortages, stores are
implementing new policiesprimarily by asking for exact
(18:33):
change, and some are starting toround cash transactions to the
nearest nickel.
However, state and local lawsagainst routing create a
compliance issue for retailers,leading to industry costs
federal legislation that willallow for a standardization
rounding system for cashpayments.
What do you think, Merrill?
Do you think that uh we're gonnasee the end of the penny soon?
SPEAKER_00 (18:57):
Oh, I don't know.
I hope, or I don't know if Ihope so or not.
Like heart-wise and nostalgicwise, I just love pennies.
Even I don't know why that'slike a bad Jewish thing, but
anyway, I'm going but that'sanyway.
We can edit that word out if wewant to, but but anyway, um I do
love pennies, but because I dothink they like go back to just
(19:18):
uh they don't know, they make mefeel like we're kind of back in
like the nice days.
Um and I think like you know, Iknow people that collect pennies
and and dimes and everything,and I think that's so cute.
But yes, I understand they'rekind of dirty when you think
about, you know, they collect somuch dirt and grime on them, and
I do think there's not really aneed for them anymore.
So um, yeah, I I I think it'stime for them to go, but like I
(19:42):
just love coins and it it it'slike books and Kindles.
Like, I think just holdingthings are is so much better a
lot of times and like thattactile feeling.
SPEAKER_02 (19:51):
Oh yeah, and and you know, a lot of people still
believe cash is king, and yeah,I'm actually surprised that this
is even an issue because mostpeople don't even use cash
anymore.
In fact, a lot of the theyounger generations don't even
believe in carrying cashanymore, they just believe in
using their debit or creditcards now.
So it's rare to see a youngperson pay anything with cash
(20:14):
anymore.
So I'm a little confused as towhy it would be a shortage.
You know, maybe there'ssomething out there we don't
know.
SPEAKER_00 (20:21):
That's true, but don't you feel too?
I even feel that way with dollarbills, like thinking about them
just circulating and thinkingabout like ew, whose hands were
these in before?
And like, what if they didn'twash their hands?
Like it is kind of disgustingwhen you think about it.
SPEAKER_02 (20:35):
Yeah, that's why when I handle cash, as crazy as
this sounds, I kind of eitherwash my hands or if I'm not near
a bathroom or whatever, I'll getmy antibacteria, clean my hands
off.
Because you're right, you don'tknow what's on that bill.
SPEAKER_00 (20:48):
I know, yeah, yeah, it's weird.
SPEAKER_01 (20:51):
Yeah, incredible.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
I'm still using it.
Yeah, I know.
And I still I still feel goodabout like coins, but I
understand they have to go.
But I love um seeing like oldtime, especially if we go to a
diner or restaurant and theyhave a menu from like 50 years
ago or something, like you know,an ice cream is like 13 cents or
something or something, like asoda is seven cents.
Like I I miss those days eventhough I wasn't even part of it.
SPEAKER_02 (21:16):
Yeah, I hear you.
I hear you on that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
Well, someone that's getting a lot of pennies in the
world this year.
Um, the Dodgers won the WorldSeries.
Uh now I'm forced to care aboutthis for a few different
reasons.
I live I live in Los Angeles,and so of course I was going, I
was out to eat with some friendsand I heard everyone cheering
and clapping.
And I'm like, oh yeah, okay, theWorld Series, perfect.
(21:40):
Um, and also I live with adiehard Padres fan, so I've been
there at least watching theplayoffs and everything.
Now, um, so they they pulled offa comeback and it was amazing
like games.
I don't know if you happened tosee any of them, but they were
playing the Toronto Blue Jays,and even as like a non-baseball
person, both teams really playedamazingly well.
(22:01):
There was one game that I thinkwent into like the 18th inning.
Is that right?
Yeah.
And then um this game seven wasjust I thought everyone was
playing their heart out of bothteams.
And I I feel like it was a tome, it was a really good
matchup.
Um, I thought the Blue Jays werejust like unbelievable, and I've
been secretly rooting for them,even though I live here.
(22:22):
Um, but yeah, the Dodgers,Dodgers won, just like a lot of
people predicted.
SPEAKER_02 (22:27):
It was a great game, it was actually a great series,
and you know, to me, it's it'sreally good when you see games
like this fought because theseare truly two great
organizations that played theirheart out.
And basically, you know, both ofthem had incredible talent on
both sides.
It basically boiled down to whowanted it more.
That's really what it boileddown to.
SPEAKER_00 (22:49):
I know, I know.
Um, there was one guy on theBlue Jays, was that no, I'll
have to find who he was, but Idon't know.
I thought there was one BlueJays player that was like
absolutely amazing.
That I'm like, I think I feellike even though they lost, I'm
like, I hope he still is reallyproud of himself because he did
he did like a I mean all of themdid, but there was one in
(23:09):
particular that I thought waslike so impressive.
Um and yeah, of course,everyone's obsessed with Shohei
Otani.
I feel like that's just like thefact that he's on the team, of
course, is just makes sense.
Um, but yeah.
Uh now is this something thatyou like, did you kind of have a
feeling that the Dodgers weregonna win, or did you not not
(23:30):
pay that much mind to it before?
SPEAKER_02 (23:33):
You know what?
Um I mean, I'm not really a big,big baseball fan.
Um so you know, I watched alittle bit of it because
obviously it was the WorldSeries or whatever, but um
really it could have gone eitherway based on the way they were
both playing, both teams wereplaying, it could have easily
went both ways.
Um, and I think we saw thatduring that 18-inning marathon
(23:56):
that probably 90 cent 90% ofpeople had to turn away from
because it's like okay, this isgetting late now.
I'll just see tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00 (24:03):
Exactly.
You know, if it was the Bears infootball, how would you stay?
SPEAKER_02 (24:08):
Oh, I would definitely stay, but you know,
based on the rules, it wouldn'tbe that long of a game.
SPEAKER_00 (24:13):
Yeah, okay.
But if a game was going justrandomly to like 2 a.m., you
would stay and be cheering thewhole time.
SPEAKER_02 (24:20):
Absolutely, I would.
SPEAKER_00 (24:22):
You're a tree fan.
SPEAKER_02 (24:24):
I'd pay for it the next day, but yeah, I definitely
would.
SPEAKER_00 (24:27):
Yeah, I agree.
I feel like there's a definitelya camaraderie too when you're
just in it that long of a night,too, with another hand.
SPEAKER_02 (24:35):
Shout out to the bears too.
They won.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
Yeah, I saw that too.
SPEAKER_02 (24:39):
Woo-hoo, yeah.
So all you bear bears haters outthere, uh huh.
Take that.
SPEAKER_00 (24:46):
I need to pay more attention to the bears now that
I don't have to watch a lick ofbaseball until I'm like counting
down the months.
I'm like, how many months ofsilence do I have?
SPEAKER_02 (24:59):
Well, I would like to end this on a great note.
Um, there's a story out, andthis is not only here in Chicago
Land Dairy, but also around thecountry where there are
restaurants stepping up to helpsnap recipients during this uh
shutdown issue.
So give you an example (25:16):
an iconic Chicago deli, uh starting
uh today will offer those onceuh with snap cards a free family
meal as the government shutdowncontinues into its 34th day, and
benefits for the nation'sbiggest food aid program are
(25:36):
frozen.
So the the the place here that'sdoing it is called um see what's
the name?
It's Manny's Deli in Chicago.
And the meals include asandwich, potato cake, pickles,
and a soft drink.
Yeah.
(26:01):
Manny's addict uh quantitiescould increase with donations,
with a fundraiser alreadyshowing$37,000 raised for the
initiative.
My hat goes off to Manny's atother restaurants doing this.
I think that's a beautifulthing.
Um, obviously, this can't besustained too long because you
can only help so many people,but for the ones that are
(26:23):
stepping up to help out, kudosto them.
Great.
SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
I agree.
That's I agree.
That's awesome.
And I've seen so many storiesabout people donating to food
banks and seeing what your localfood bank needs, I think is a
good point too, because a lot ofpeople, you know, sometimes they
need like dog food or they'reslow, uh they're low on like
canned vegetables.
So I think that I think that'samazing.
SPEAKER_02 (26:46):
Absolutely, absolutely.
That was a great way to endtoday's segment.
SPEAKER_00 (26:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:52):
Well, Meryl, tell us what you have coming up.
SPEAKER_00 (26:55):
Okay, I won't stop promoting it.
I have a show November 12th atthe La Jolla Comedy Store.
Um, I'm hosting it, and theheadliner is Tom Arnold.
And if you use my name, Meryl,as the code, you get some money
off your ticket.
SPEAKER_02 (27:11):
Nice.
Make sure you come out andsupport Meryl.
And again, for everyone, thankyou for supporting us.
Uh we definitely appreciate youguys watching us or listening to
us.
And also make sure that you umhelp us by spreading the word
and having other people comewatch us and listen to us as
well.
And also, last thing, make surethat you come to all of our
(27:32):
social media sites and you know,comment on some of the shows and
episodes that you watched.
SPEAKER_00 (27:37):
Yay, please do tell your cool friends about us.
Absolutely, or not so cool.
You can tell them too.
I like the geeky friends.
Actually, yeah, tell your likesupportive geeky friends about
us.
There you go.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Well, I'm Lawrence Elrod.
SPEAKER_00 (27:52):
And I'm Merrill Climo.
SPEAKER_02 (27:54):
Have a great day, everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (27:56):
Bye bye! Bye.
Hello everyone.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Thirsty Topics.
I'm Lauren Selrat.
SPEAKER_00 (00:22):
And I am Meryl Klimo.
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
Hi, Meryl.
How are you today?
SPEAKER_00 (00:26):
I'm really good.
Good for a Monday.
SPEAKER_02 (00:29):
There you go.
How was your uh your Halloweenweekend?
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Oh my gosh, my Halloween weekend was awesome.
I um we dressed as the bad guysfrom home alone, and I was the
short one that looks like JoePesci, of course.
And then it was I have to I haveto say we ordered it off of
Amazon, like the whole thingwhere they just have you pay$22
and you get the hat and thefeathers and the cap and
everything.
And we were happily like uh itwas great.
(00:54):
We we need we got everything weneeded for$22, so it was great.
SPEAKER_02 (00:58):
Nice.
Did everybody dress up?
SPEAKER_00 (01:01):
Um well it was just my boyfriend and I.
So yeah, everyone dressed up andthen we went out
trick-or-treating, and then wekind of got like uh very
overstimulated at how manychildren were out there.
And then the next day he camehome with Reese's peanut butter
cups because I was complainingthat I didn't get any of the
candy.
That sounds like a greatweekend.
It was very cool.
(01:22):
How about you?
SPEAKER_02 (01:23):
Uh let's see.
Actually, we sat back andenjoyed the trick-or-treaters.
Um, I know last weekend we hadour Halloween party for the in
the neighborhood.
So this weekend um did that andthen went to go see a premiere
of a new movie coming out, uh,which basically uh talks about
uh toxic family, toxiccommunity, and dealing with um
(01:46):
abuse uh within the thehousehold.
So um it was a story, eventhough it's based around the
Indian culture, uh South Asianculture, it's actually something
that pretty much anyone canrelate to.
SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
Yeah, that's great too.
And it's a good resource forpeople, I think, to know that
they're not alone and to havethat modeled.
I feel like more and more,especially with the internet and
everything, now people that aregoing through abusive situations
can like very easily connectwith other people and hear about
stories and you know find help.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Oh, absolutely.
And you know, the nice thing isthat there's so many resources
out there today that didn'texist years ago um to help
people that are in thesesituations.
So um, I'm excited about thismovie.
I can't wait till it comes out.
SPEAKER_00 (02:32):
Me too.
Wait, now very importantly, whatdid you give out for Halloween?
What kind of candy?
SPEAKER_02 (02:37):
You know what?
I gave out like the sweethearts,Tootsie Rolls, um let's see.
I think nerds is what I gaveout.
I try to give out pretty decentcandy.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
Okay, good.
Sweethearts, I feel like, are ahidden favorite.
I feel like I never they're aforgotten art.
SPEAKER_02 (02:56):
And then of course you gotta throw in the classics
like Reese's pieces and stufflike that.
SPEAKER_00 (03:00):
So yeah, oh yeah, okay, good.
SPEAKER_02 (03:03):
Yeah, so yep, so I don't have to worry about my my
house being egged this yearbecause I gave out crap candy.
SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
And you didn't give out any of the THC laced candy
that we read about last week.
No, no, didn't have enough to goaround, so no, see, I I'm
paranoid too, where we gotlollipops handed out from like
different houses, and and Idon't I haven't eaten them.
Like, I think I'm gonna eitherthrow them away or something
because I I don't know why, butI don't trust like lollipops
(03:29):
because I'm like, okay, what ifthey were open before or like
who knows what they're madewith?
SPEAKER_02 (03:34):
You know what?
I say go with your gut.
If you don't trust it, go aheadand toss it.
SPEAKER_00 (03:38):
I know some some some true clowns gave it to us.
There's a nice clown house thatI feel like is very, very
trustworthy, and I have noreason to be paranoid, but I
don't know about thoselollipops.
SPEAKER_02 (03:52):
Well, talking about interesting stories here, uh,
let's see.
I think we'll let you go first,Merle.
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
Okay, I'll start out on a sad note.
I'm sorry, everyone, but mineonly get better.
So if you're bummed out by thisone, don't worry, it only gets
better.
Um San Francisco is mourning uha cat, a sweet cat.
Um, oh, just closed on me.
Okay, San Francisco mourns a catkilled by a Waymo self-driving
car.
(04:19):
Um, I don't know if you've heardabout this already, but uh there
was this beloved bodega cat inSan Francisco's Mission
District.
Kit Kat, a nine-year-old tabby,affectionately known as the
mayor of 16th Street, um, wassadly run over last week outside
of Randa's Market, theconvenience store right next to
uh the feeder where he lived.
(04:41):
And so pretty much I had I readabout this, and what happened
was I guess Waymo like picked upsomeone and then made a um like
a quick turn or like a you knowa quick gesture, and the cat was
like near under the car, and itjust wasn't expecting it.
And this is a cat that's likeoutside all the time and used to
a lot of traffic, pedestriantraffic, you know, cars, bikes,
(05:02):
everything.
But I think the Waymo just was,you know, not suited for it.
And um, it sadly ran Kit Katover, and I guess lots of people
were screaming.
It was during the daytime, andsadly the cat didn't make it,
and now there's like a lot of umpeople are paying homage to the
cat outside with a lot of signs,and the owner is devastated.
And it definitely like I saw acomment that I think sums it up
(05:26):
where it said it's even morelike anger-inducing the fact
that something without like asoul or any conscience hit this
like beloved cat, you know,because usually, okay, maybe
someone can get out and feel bador like some accidents do
happen, but if it's just like aself-driving car, that really is
so like um just new to uh youknow, dystopian, I think.
SPEAKER_02 (05:49):
I agree, and you know, the interesting thing
about that story is that couldhave easily been a little child.
What if you're in a littleneighborhood?
And again, that's why I'm not areally big fan of the
self-driving cars uh withoutsomeone in that driver's seat
because there's so manydifferent scenarios that can
happen that you have to reallythink on your feet, and yeah,
(06:11):
there's so many scenarios thatthe computerized car may not
have encountered, so which meansthey don't know how to react to
them.
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
I know, and I think too, like I feel like any way
for a pet to go is so sad, butthere is something like
heartless about having a cat,your your beloved pet or your
neighborhood mascot, like diethat way because you're just
calling Waymo, and it's kind oflike as much as we think the CEO
or whoever cares, they kind ofdon't, and you know, I think
(06:38):
there was even some statementlike, well, this is bound to
happen at some point, and soit's kind of like you're just
calling a car company that likeis pretty much an AI technology
company that doesn't really carethat much.
So I feel like that's that'svery sad.
SPEAKER_02 (06:52):
Yeah, it is sad, and you know, it goes back to the
situation again is who do you goafter?
Who do you, you know, after theowner of car, the company,
people who design the software,you know, when a person has
something, it's prettystraightforward who's at fault.
But when it's technology, again,who do you go after at that
(07:16):
point?
SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
I know, I know.
It and it's so sad thinking toothat this this is a cat, it's
not just like an animal that gotloose and it was like,
whoopsies, I'm running allaround.
I thought this was a cat thatseemed to know what it was
doing, and and like so manypeople had videos and photos of
it just hanging out by the storeall the time, and so it's just
like not fair for it too,because it probably wasn't like
acting erratic or wasn't being abad cat, it just was like you
(07:40):
know, just happened to twothings collided at once.
SPEAKER_02 (07:44):
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
Well, we'll definitely sendprayers out.
And like I said, when you see anautonomous car, keep it keep
your uh your pets inside.
SPEAKER_00 (07:55):
Yeah, for sure.
I I see videos all the time oflike ones trying to make a left
turn and like cross over sixdifferent ones, you know.
Like I just think they weren'tready yet.
Um, we're not ready to have itbe in charge of lives and these
like huge decisions.
Oh, and but the other thing isthat you know, I've I felt bad
before when the Waymo's weredestroyed and burnt, but now I
(08:18):
did see a video of peoplewearing like a cat mask and like
drawing on a Waymo, and itwasn't that particular car, but
they were like lighting one onfire.
And I have to admit that likenow I was finally like, okay,
yeah, burn that Waymo.
I I always felt bad for itbefore, but then now I've
there's like a sense ofretribution that I'm like, okay,
get it.
SPEAKER_02 (08:38):
Oh yeah, I definitely understand.
I definitely understand.
Well, this story is either gonnamake you happy or it's gonna
make you mad.
We'll see what time of the fenceyou're on.
But I have a question that Iwant to pose out there.
Now that you know we're pastHalloween by you know two or
(08:58):
three days, are we celebratingChristmas too soon?
It is amazing how many Christmasstuff, Christmas commercials are
starting to pop up and stufflike this.
We haven't even gotten toThanksgiving yet.
Yeah, that's true.
(09:19):
And um, I don't know whetherChristmas is being celebrated
too soon is a matter of opinion,with valid arguments on both
sides.
Many people believe thatcelebrating early can make the
holidays feel less special,while others feel that the joy
and positivity of the season arebeneficially uh and should be
embraced as soon as possible.
(09:41):
Ultimately, there's no singlecorrect answer, and personal
preference is a major factor.
Merle, what do you think?
Do you think that we'recelebrating too early?
SPEAKER_00 (09:50):
That's really interesting because I feel like
it's it brings up two things.
It's like in terms of matter ofthe heart and spirit, you know,
like mentally and physicallygetting prepared for the
holidays, which like I love, andI am definitely a holiday girl.
Like I love Halloween, I lovethis whole stretch of November.
Like, I feel like it all goestoo fast, and three months for
it to be like Halloween,Thanksgiving, Christmas slash
(10:13):
Hanukkah, slash whatever you'recelebrating is like too soon for
me.
It's like you know, it's like asprint and then it's over, and
then January comes and we're alldepressed.
Um, but I feel likecommercially, yes, it does seem
like I I just was at the grocerystore and I saw candy canes out,
and my first feeling was like Iliterally thought, like, I'm
tired.
(10:35):
And usually I get very excited,but I do feel like, especially
with this year, just having tobuy things.
I mean, no one's telling us youhave to buy things, but just
already seeing like candy canesand having to think about that.
I did my first response wasfatigue.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
I totally understand.
I totally understand.
Now, me personally, if I had myweight, I'd have my Christmas
tree up all year long.
But you know, the wife won't letme.
SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
Me too, and I really wish like I love Halloween so
much that I could use two monthsfor that, and then like a month
and a half for Thanksgiving, andthen three months for Christmas.
And so, you know, like like it'shard to just mentally switch
into.
I mean, some people don't thinkabout it at all, but I
definitely feel like I I give alot of like thought and
attention to holiday activities,and so it it is quick to go like
(11:23):
immediately from Halloween toChristmas.
SPEAKER_02 (11:26):
Oh, yeah.
Now, two popular opinions.
One for argument um to wait tocelebrate would be it
overshadows the holidays.
A focus on Christmas in Novembercan overshadow Thanksgiving,
which is a distinct holiday withits own traditions.
On the opposite side of that,um, the arguments for
(11:49):
celebrating Christmas early isthat extends happiness, uh, joy,
and positivity.
Early celebration is seen bysome as a way to spread more
happiness and positivity,especially in a world that can
feel very negative.
I can kind of agree with thatstatement.
What do you think?
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
Yeah, I like that.
And I like what you said earliertoo, where I think it's not too
early at all to start likedecorating your house and making
it feel cozy in whatever way youwant, like for Christmas.
It's so funny too, because I'mJewish, so like I really don't I
shouldn't be celebratingChristmas, but I'm I'm so I
celebrate anything, you know.
But uh same thing is whateverholiday you like, I feel like
(12:29):
it's never too early to like getthat feeling inside of your
house or with your loved ones.
But I do feel like at CVS andWalmart and Target, it does feel
a little crazy to likeimmediately switch it all over.
SPEAKER_02 (12:42):
Yeah, that's true.
I'm just surprised that over theyears, how it just seems like we
go from summer to Christmaslately.
Where I know.
I mean, yeah, I mean Halloween,even though they tried, they
can't over overshadow thatbecause too many people like
Halloween, but it seems likeThanksgiving, it's like they
(13:02):
just bulldoze right over that.
SPEAKER_01 (13:04):
Um I agree.
SPEAKER_02 (13:08):
I think it's more of a commercial uh thing versus the
true nature of what Christmas isbecause a lot of people, in my
opinion, feel they look atChristmas in the wrong light.
Christmas is about beingthankful, it's about the birth
of Jesus Christ, it's aboutspreading happiness and joy.
It's not about how many peopleyou can buy a gift for, how
(13:31):
expensive the gift is.
That's not what Christmas isabout.
And it's not about going in adebt either.
SPEAKER_00 (13:37):
No, except my Christmas is about going to New
York, getting hot chocolate.
I don't have kids, so that's soI can treat myself to a Times
Square moment.
But but yeah, I agree.
And I'm like, can you imagine ifwe had leaders on all on both
parties that like reallyinstalled that type of way of
thinking rather than just makingit all about monetary stuff and
(14:00):
Black Friday spending and youknow Sephora and all that kind
of stuff?
So um, but I agree, I swear, Ireally think July 4th, once July
5th happened, I I think theystarted putting up Christmas
things in the stores.
SPEAKER_02 (14:14):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And like I said, I think that Ipersonally like Christmas
because again, with theexception of going to the mall,
it's a beautiful, happyoccasion.
Um, for whatever reasons, likewhen you go to mall, people like
lose their FMI around Christmastime, want to fight you for
parking spaces and stuff.
So that's that's the exceptionto the rule, but generally it's
(14:35):
not it's a happy occasion.
SPEAKER_00 (14:37):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Well, um, something that kind ofbaffled me this year that I
thought was really funny is thatdictionary.com named their 2025
Word of the Year, and it's notreally a word, it's more of a
number, depending on who youask, is six seven.
Now, uh I would say this is thefirst internet thing that I
(15:00):
continue to not understand.
I feel like usually I am verylike with the times, right?
At least I'm on TikTok a lot.
I love to like see what the whatthe young kids are doing, and I
usually am like kind of in onthe bit, at least like what I
think it is.
Um, but the term six seven firststarted circulating in 2024, and
I continue to still not reallyunderstand it, which like I
(15:22):
believe that's also part of thebit is that it kind of like
there's really nothing tounderstand.
Um, for Halloween, I saw so manypeople dressed as six seven that
like and I thought it washilarious, but there's also
grandmas that I saw that werelike there was a grandma that
had a six and a grandpa that wasa seven, and we were saying, We
love your costumes, and thegrandma was like, Thanks, I
(15:43):
don't understand what it meanseither, but I and I thought that
was so cute.
So, I mean, I think this is alittle ridiculous that it's the
word of the year.
I think like whose word uh tome, it's a very like small
population of young people, andit's funny and it's on TikTok,
but I haven't really heard likethe everyday in real life person
(16:04):
referring to it.
SPEAKER_02 (16:05):
Uh I tell you, I am so glad my son is in college
now, and I don't have to dealwith that six seven nonsense.
And the crazy thing is when youask the kids doing this, none of
them have no idea what it standsfor.
They they just do it.
SPEAKER_00 (16:21):
I know, yeah.
Some people say it can betreated like an exclamation if
you're excited about something,or that it can be closer to like
meh or whatever.
But I to me, it's like I thinkthat's part of it, where
whenever I ask like younger,like my kids, my my parents'
kids, they're like, Yeah,there's nothing to understand.
I'm like, okay, that's so weird.
SPEAKER_02 (16:42):
Yeah, I mean, can you imagine if you had either
kids or maybe some siblings orwhoever around you, and all you
kept hearing for like 15 minutesstraight, six seven, six seven,
six, seven.
I think for me, after a coupleminutes, like, all right, shut
up, shut up.
SPEAKER_00 (16:59):
Exactly.
Exactly.
I always want like I love sillythings, and I love that when
kids have silly things.
And I also think too, like, umthere's these.
Have you ever heard of like oraura farming?
Like that's really funny.
That's a really funny sayingthat I've heard young kids use,
like aura, you know, there'slike an aura value, and aura
farming is like when you dosomething cool, or when you like
(17:22):
draw an aura from something andyou you're like gaining points,
and you know, like there's otherterms that I'm like, okay,
that's that's salient.
I could see myself using that ifI was in high school or
something, but six, seven justseems like such like a
13-year-old boy thing, doesn'tit?
SPEAKER_02 (17:39):
It it does, and what's so crazy is that it's
amazing that something so sosimple that has zero meaning to
it whatsoever is so popular.
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
I know.
SPEAKER_02 (17:50):
This almost reminds me of the of the pet rock.
SPEAKER_00 (17:53):
Yeah, I'm just surprised they put it at
dictionary.com put it as theword of the year, because I
think like in a silly way, theycould have named, they could
have said like runner up sixseven and done a silly thing,
but I think it's kind of likeeroding our brain a little bit,
you know.
Like, I think that they couldhave chosen like a real actual
word, like oligarchy orsomething.
SPEAKER_02 (18:13):
Yeah, I totally agree with you on that.
Talk about interesting things.
Well, there is a new pennypolicy at stores and businesses
around the country due to severepenny shortages, stores are
implementing new policiesprimarily by asking for exact
(18:33):
change, and some are starting toround cash transactions to the
nearest nickel.
However, state and local lawsagainst routing create a
compliance issue for retailers,leading to industry costs
federal legislation that willallow for a standardization
rounding system for cashpayments.
What do you think, Merrill?
Do you think that uh we're gonnasee the end of the penny soon?
SPEAKER_00 (18:57):
Oh, I don't know.
I hope, or I don't know if Ihope so or not.
Like heart-wise and nostalgicwise, I just love pennies.
Even I don't know why that'slike a bad Jewish thing, but
anyway, I'm going but that'sanyway.
We can edit that word out if wewant to, but but anyway, um I do
love pennies, but because I dothink they like go back to just
(19:18):
uh they don't know, they make mefeel like we're kind of back in
like the nice days.
Um and I think like you know, Iknow people that collect pennies
and and dimes and everything,and I think that's so cute.
But yes, I understand they'rekind of dirty when you think
about, you know, they collect somuch dirt and grime on them, and
I do think there's not really aneed for them anymore.
So um, yeah, I I I think it'stime for them to go, but like I
(19:42):
just love coins and it it it'slike books and Kindles.
Like, I think just holdingthings are is so much better a
lot of times and like thattactile feeling.
SPEAKER_02 (19:51):
Oh yeah, and and you know, a lot of people still
believe cash is king, and yeah,I'm actually surprised that this
is even an issue because mostpeople don't even use cash
anymore.
In fact, a lot of the theyounger generations don't even
believe in carrying cashanymore, they just believe in
using their debit or creditcards now.
So it's rare to see a youngperson pay anything with cash
(20:14):
anymore.
So I'm a little confused as towhy it would be a shortage.
You know, maybe there'ssomething out there we don't
know.
SPEAKER_00 (20:21):
That's true, but don't you feel too?
I even feel that way with dollarbills, like thinking about them
just circulating and thinkingabout like ew, whose hands were
these in before?
And like, what if they didn'twash their hands?
Like it is kind of disgustingwhen you think about it.
SPEAKER_02 (20:35):
Yeah, that's why when I handle cash, as crazy as
this sounds, I kind of eitherwash my hands or if I'm not near
a bathroom or whatever, I'll getmy antibacteria, clean my hands
off.
Because you're right, you don'tknow what's on that bill.
SPEAKER_00 (20:48):
I know, yeah, yeah, it's weird.
SPEAKER_01 (20:51):
Yeah, incredible.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
I'm still using it.
Yeah, I know.
And I still I still feel goodabout like coins, but I
understand they have to go.
But I love um seeing like oldtime, especially if we go to a
diner or restaurant and theyhave a menu from like 50 years
ago or something, like you know,an ice cream is like 13 cents or
something or something, like asoda is seven cents.
Like I I miss those days eventhough I wasn't even part of it.
SPEAKER_02 (21:16):
Yeah, I hear you.
I hear you on that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
Well, someone that's getting a lot of pennies in the
world this year.
Um, the Dodgers won the WorldSeries.
Uh now I'm forced to care aboutthis for a few different
reasons.
I live I live in Los Angeles,and so of course I was going, I
was out to eat with some friendsand I heard everyone cheering
and clapping.
And I'm like, oh yeah, okay, theWorld Series, perfect.
(21:40):
Um, and also I live with adiehard Padres fan, so I've been
there at least watching theplayoffs and everything.
Now, um, so they they pulled offa comeback and it was amazing
like games.
I don't know if you happened tosee any of them, but they were
playing the Toronto Blue Jays,and even as like a non-baseball
person, both teams really playedamazingly well.
(22:01):
There was one game that I thinkwent into like the 18th inning.
Is that right?
Yeah.
And then um this game seven wasjust I thought everyone was
playing their heart out of bothteams.
And I I feel like it was a tome, it was a really good
matchup.
Um, I thought the Blue Jays werejust like unbelievable, and I've
been secretly rooting for them,even though I live here.
(22:22):
Um, but yeah, the Dodgers,Dodgers won, just like a lot of
people predicted.
SPEAKER_02 (22:27):
It was a great game, it was actually a great series,
and you know, to me, it's it'sreally good when you see games
like this fought because theseare truly two great
organizations that played theirheart out.
And basically, you know, both ofthem had incredible talent on
both sides.
It basically boiled down to whowanted it more.
That's really what it boileddown to.
SPEAKER_00 (22:49):
I know, I know.
Um, there was one guy on theBlue Jays, was that no, I'll
have to find who he was, but Idon't know.
I thought there was one BlueJays player that was like
absolutely amazing.
That I'm like, I think I feellike even though they lost, I'm
like, I hope he still is reallyproud of himself because he did
he did like a I mean all of themdid, but there was one in
(23:09):
particular that I thought waslike so impressive.
Um and yeah, of course,everyone's obsessed with Shohei
Otani.
I feel like that's just like thefact that he's on the team, of
course, is just makes sense.
Um, but yeah.
Uh now is this something thatyou like, did you kind of have a
feeling that the Dodgers weregonna win, or did you not not
(23:30):
pay that much mind to it before?
SPEAKER_02 (23:33):
You know what?
Um I mean, I'm not really a big,big baseball fan.
Um so you know, I watched alittle bit of it because
obviously it was the WorldSeries or whatever, but um
really it could have gone eitherway based on the way they were
both playing, both teams wereplaying, it could have easily
went both ways.
Um, and I think we saw thatduring that 18-inning marathon
(23:56):
that probably 90 cent 90% ofpeople had to turn away from
because it's like okay, this isgetting late now.
I'll just see tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00 (24:03):
Exactly.
You know, if it was the Bears infootball, how would you stay?
SPEAKER_02 (24:08):
Oh, I would definitely stay, but you know,
based on the rules, it wouldn'tbe that long of a game.
SPEAKER_00 (24:13):
Yeah, okay.
But if a game was going justrandomly to like 2 a.m., you
would stay and be cheering thewhole time.
SPEAKER_02 (24:20):
Absolutely, I would.
SPEAKER_00 (24:22):
You're a tree fan.
SPEAKER_02 (24:24):
I'd pay for it the next day, but yeah, I definitely
would.
SPEAKER_00 (24:27):
Yeah, I agree.
I feel like there's a definitelya camaraderie too when you're
just in it that long of a night,too, with another hand.
SPEAKER_02 (24:35):
Shout out to the bears too.
They won.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
Yeah, I saw that too.
SPEAKER_02 (24:39):
Woo-hoo, yeah.
So all you bear bears haters outthere, uh huh.
Take that.
SPEAKER_00 (24:46):
I need to pay more attention to the bears now that
I don't have to watch a lick ofbaseball until I'm like counting
down the months.
I'm like, how many months ofsilence do I have?
SPEAKER_02 (24:59):
Well, I would like to end this on a great note.
Um, there's a story out, andthis is not only here in Chicago
Land Dairy, but also around thecountry where there are
restaurants stepping up to helpsnap recipients during this uh
shutdown issue.
So give you an example (25:16):
an iconic Chicago deli, uh starting
uh today will offer those onceuh with snap cards a free family
meal as the government shutdowncontinues into its 34th day, and
benefits for the nation'sbiggest food aid program are
(25:36):
frozen.
So the the the place here that'sdoing it is called um see what's
the name?
It's Manny's Deli in Chicago.
And the meals include asandwich, potato cake, pickles,
and a soft drink.
Yeah.
(26:01):
Manny's addict uh quantitiescould increase with donations,
with a fundraiser alreadyshowing$37,000 raised for the
initiative.
My hat goes off to Manny's atother restaurants doing this.
I think that's a beautifulthing.
Um, obviously, this can't besustained too long because you
can only help so many people,but for the ones that are
(26:23):
stepping up to help out, kudosto them.
Great.
SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
I agree.
That's I agree.
That's awesome.
And I've seen so many storiesabout people donating to food
banks and seeing what your localfood bank needs, I think is a
good point too, because a lot ofpeople, you know, sometimes they
need like dog food or they'reslow, uh they're low on like
canned vegetables.
So I think that I think that'samazing.
SPEAKER_02 (26:46):
Absolutely, absolutely.
That was a great way to endtoday's segment.
SPEAKER_00 (26:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:52):
Well, Meryl, tell us what you have coming up.
SPEAKER_00 (26:55):
Okay, I won't stop promoting it.
I have a show November 12th atthe La Jolla Comedy Store.
Um, I'm hosting it, and theheadliner is Tom Arnold.
And if you use my name, Meryl,as the code, you get some money
off your ticket.
SPEAKER_02 (27:11):
Nice.
Make sure you come out andsupport Meryl.
And again, for everyone, thankyou for supporting us.
Uh we definitely appreciate youguys watching us or listening to
us.
And also make sure that you umhelp us by spreading the word
and having other people comewatch us and listen to us as
well.
And also, last thing, make surethat you come to all of our
(27:32):
social media sites and you know,comment on some of the shows and
episodes that you watched.
SPEAKER_00 (27:37):
Yay, please do tell your cool friends about us.
Absolutely, or not so cool.
You can tell them too.
I like the geeky friends.
Actually, yeah, tell your likesupportive geeky friends about
us.
There you go.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Well, I'm Lawrence Elrod.
SPEAKER_00 (27:52):
And I'm Merrill Climo.
SPEAKER_02 (27:54):
Have a great day, everyone.
SPEAKER_00 (27:56):
Bye bye! Bye.
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