December 23, 2025 • 39 mins
Why do we still go to Popeyes? Michael walks in craving spicy chicken and walks out with a bigger question: why do we tolerate broken systems when the payoff is only sometimes worth it? The story starts with missing tea, long waits, and that infamous “we’re out of chicken” at peak time.
From there, the timeline rewinds to a moment that shaped a generation—watching 9/11 unfold on a store TV while holding a new Jay-Z CD. That memory doesn’t just linger; it reframes everything. We talk about drifting through restaurant jobs, stacking small promotions, and realizing momentum isn’t the same as direction. The recruiting office gauntlet brings humor and humility, but the Air Force pitch lands with two demands: quit smoking and start running. What follows is the unglamorous truth of building capacity—walk-run intervals, a competitive training partner who keeps you honest, and the first quiet pride of hitting distances you once hated.
The MEPS sequence strips ego and replaces it with checklists and early mornings. It’s awkward, it’s funny, and it’s clarifying. We cover picking a job path, getting medically cleared, and fighting doubts over a perfect cafeteria burger. Life off-base pushes back too—on-again love, rent due, and a ring pop proposal that adds purpose to the chaos. Then the pivot: a ticket in hand, a plane to San Antonio, the bus rolling through Lackland’s gate, and the shock of Week Zero as the jokes die and the training begins.
If you’ve ever felt stuck between comfort and calling, this story is a blueprint for choosing the harder road with your eyes open. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a push, and leave a review with the moment that made you change course—we’ll read our favorites next time.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
You're listening to the WBYL, the What Do You Mean
podcast?
Hamilton's number one podcast.
Now sit back and relax.
Here's Hamilton Zone, MichaelVilletsky.
SPEAKER_04 (01:12):
I figured it out.
I have figured their grandscheme out.
I thought, I thought it was onpurpose, but then I figured out
it's their grand scheme.
It is their grand scheme.
Ladies and gentlemen, I amtalking about Popeye's, the fast
food restaurant.
Right?
Everybody knows if you just goin there and everything, you're
(01:35):
automatically getting terribleservice.
It's just terrible service.
They cannot avoid the terribleservice.
This is the opposite ofChick-fil-A.
Chick-fil-A, you get greatservice.
You get excellent service.
But Popeye's nah nah.
No sir, no ma'am, no ham, nobacon.
You're not getting good serviceat Popeye's, no matter what you
do.
(01:56):
I've been in the restaurant gamefor the longest time.
You know, restaurant game,culinary game, whatever you want
to call it.
I've been in the game for awhile, right?
So I know, as someone who's beenin this industry for a while,
it's something we call peak.
Peak times.
At Chipotle, we had peak timesevery day, all day.
(02:17):
And we were we were prepared forthose peak times.
Popeyes don't believe in peaktimes.
They don't believe in anythingclose to a peak time.
Um, let me give you a coupleexamples of peak times.
Peak times for certainrestaurants could be lunch.
SPEAKER_03 (02:36):
Right?
SPEAKER_04 (02:37):
Dinner.
You follow me?
Maybe a breakfast.
Maybe like nine o'clock,everybody wakes up, they come
down to eat breakfast.
Peak time.
Even special occasions.
They have, you know, like theafter church rush peak.
Holiday peak time.
(03:00):
Fourth of July.
Maybe, you know, there's a peaktime.
You get what I'm saying?
There's peak times for certainsituations where, hey, we let's
let's overproduce or produce alot a lot of chicken, so
therefore we don't run out ofchicken.
You follow me?
You understand?
Okay, great, good, good.
(03:22):
I went to Popeye's this pastSunday at let's just say 11:30,
right?
So it's that peak time whenpeople are starting to get out
of church, you know,predominantly white church,
because black church, we don'tget out till 4 o'clock in the
afternoon.
That's another story.
But you get what I'm saying,right?
(03:43):
It is 11:30.
You guys open at 10, 10:30, oneof those times.
So therefore, you shouldn't runout of chicken.
I'm sorry.
That's just something that wedon't do.
So I I should have known, Ishould have known that this was
gonna be a half-hour type dealwhen I walked in.
(04:06):
When I walked in, there wasalready two people in line.
So okay, not a big deal.
Maybe they got their thingstogether, so therefore we're not
worrying about chicken.
Two people in front of me, andmy first sign, I should have
been like, uh oh, is that theperson at the register has her
(04:26):
back turned against the peopleon her cell phone.
So I'm like, okay, you know,maybe, you know, benefit of a
doubt time.
Maybe they just get theirschedule and they're looking at
their their phone and all thatstuff.
So that that could be a legitthing.
As I'm investigating, there'sfour people working.
I think one person's working thedrive-thru line, the other
(04:47):
person's frying chicken, themanager, and then the person in
the front.
So I'm looking at, I'm like,okay, so four people, two people
in line.
We're not they're not busy.
So I'm figuring, okay, this isthis is gonna work.
This is gonna be fine, and it'sgonna work.
It's gonna be fine.
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Okay.
unknown (05:07):
Ha!
SPEAKER_04 (05:08):
What was I thinking?
I don't know how many of youguys know, but how many times
have you gone to Popeyes and gotokay service?
Just okay.
Just okay service.
I have never been to a Popeye'sand got excellent service.
Like, ooh, Chick-fil-A,excellent service almost every
time.
(05:28):
I can't I cannot think of a timeI haven't got excellent service
from Chick-fil-A.
Popeye's on the other hand,they're like, nah, we'll screw
that.
So I'm in there, two people infront of me.
They're getting uh mobile order,so they're just you know doing
their little Uber Eats, yeah,Uber Eats, whatever.
DoorDash, those two, those typethings, right?
So those pool people are justgrabbing bags and leaving.
I pull up and I order atwo-piece and a three-piece.
(05:52):
I order a two-piece andthree-piece.
And the first thing he says,well, we got we gonna we're
gonna have to cook some oldchicken.
SPEAKER_03 (05:58):
I say, okay, you know, I'm gonna be, I'm not
gonna be angry.
I'm not gonna be angry.
I'm not.
But I'm like, it's like 11:30.
How are you guys out of chickenalready?
This doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_04 (06:09):
You guys just open open for an hour.
And I'm pretty sure, right?
You have a shelf life forchicken for at least an hour
under a heat lamp.
At least pushing it.
They're out of chicken.
I'm like, man, this is this issomething else.
I'm like, all right, fine.
You know what?
She said it's gonna be a six toeight minute wait for regular,
and I got spice.
(06:29):
He says it's gonna be a wait forspicy.
I'm like, okay.
So I sit back and I'm like, youknow, can you give me my two
cups for my drinks?
And she's like, yeah, sure.
Hands me the cups.
Guess what?
They didn't they didn't want tobrew no tea today.
That's a staple for Popeyes.
Can I get that sweet tea?
That's a normal.
(06:51):
Like, and then the funny thingabout it is that the front
person, the front registerperson, sh looked actually like
surprised, like, what?
We ain't got no tea.
Come on now.
Come on now.
You know you didn't have no tea.
Why are you acting all brandnew?
And I was like, you know, I'mgonna be nice.
Like, no, ma'am, you don't haveno tea out here.
(07:12):
So, okay, I'll get that for you.
And then she goes, you know, tothe little fountain machine in
the back for dry-thru and getsme tea.
And guess what?
It's it's gold peak.
Gold peak is the worst tea in abottle.
Period.
It's terrible, it's nasty.
It don't even taste good.
What is that?
(07:32):
That's not tea, that's brownwater, ladies and gentlemen.
That's not good tea.
I'm sorry.
Anybody can brew tea make itbetter than what Gold Peak does.
Maybe I'm on a maybe I'm on asoapbox today, and I'm
complaining about the experienceI got at Power's.
But the tea was trash.
Tea is absolutely garbage.
(07:53):
So I'm sitting there waiting,and lo and behold, four people
come in after me.
Right.
So my culinary brain is like,okay, what you should do, lady,
is take these people's orders,so therefore, you got them,
right?
They're not gonna ask for moneyback.
You got them.
What does she do?
She's on her cell phone,actually looking at her schedule
(08:16):
and complaining, like, I can'tdo this day, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:20):
And then I look and I'm assuming she was the
manager.
She was on her phone, too.
SPEAKER_04 (08:25):
So I'm like, what is going on?
What is going on?
They are doing this on purpose.
This service is terrible.
Is absolutely terrible.
So I'm sitting there and 10minutes go by, no food.
15 minutes go by, no food.
(08:48):
20 minutes go by, still no food.
I'm like, okay, this is crazy.
So I'm looking at the personwho's next to me.
It's a young lady in a nursingoutfit and everything.
And I'm just looking at her.
She looks upset.
Because obviously she hasn't putan order in.
And she's upset.
Nobody's giving her theattention.
(09:09):
And eventually she walks out.
She's like, you know what?
I'm done with this place.
McDonald's is right down thestreet.
She's probably gonna getMcDonald's.
I'm sitting there, and I'm like,this is I don't understand why I
keep coming here.
This is ridiculous.
There's actually a canes rightacross the way.
Go eat there, right?
Uh no, we want a Popeye's.
I want us some spicy chicken.
(09:30):
I eventually get my chicken.
And lo and behold, everything ishot and delicious, right?
Everything is good.
SPEAKER_03 (09:41):
It's like, hey man, is it worth the wait?
I mean, I'm eating this spicychicken and I'm enjoying life
right now.
This is delicious.
I love Popeye's chicken.
SPEAKER_04 (09:51):
I hate Popeye's service.
It's terrible.
I cannot believe it.
So I'm like, you know what?
I'm gonna do my due diligenceand I'm gonna write the company.
I'm gonna write the company andtell them how bad they are.
So I go in there on theirwebsite, start filling out,
like, hey, everybody's on theircell phone, nobody's giving the
(10:13):
people attention, had to wait Xamount of minutes and all that
stuff.
And it's like it's an automatedAI thing.
Was like, well, can you tell uswhat store you were at?
And this, this, that, this,that, and the other.
So I tell them everything, andyou know, they're they're don't
they don't even ask for like anemail or anything.
He's like, Are you are you amember?
(10:34):
Do you have an account?
I said, No, you know, I'mtelling you how it is.
I finished the survey of how badthe service was.
So, yeah, we'll let we'll letthe uh we'll let the restaurant
know goodbye.
Click, now was it.
There wasn't no, hey, we'llfollow up with you.
Hey, do you want a follow-upnumber?
Hey, do you want a call oranything like that?
No.
So I've concluded that this isall part of their strategy.
(10:56):
Get them, get them to wait.
Let me make it hot and fresh foryou because everything was hot.
The biscuit, the sides, thechicken, everything was hot.
That's what people want.
Hot food.
And it was delicious.
But they make they give youhorrible servers.
And I'm trying to figure out isthis a marketing scheme?
(11:16):
Because how are you gonnacomplain about something and not
ask the the person who'scomplaining, do you want a
follow-up?
Do you, you know, something likethat.
Nothing.
So it's it's part of themarketing scheme.
It has to be.
It freaking has to be because Igot hot food.
I'm not complaining about thefood, I'm complaining about the
service.
And I don't think they're evergonna fix it because hey, this
(11:38):
is what they're notoriouslyknown for.
There's been so many skitsonline, people online
complaining about the serviceyou get at Popeye's chicken.
It's terrible, it's absolutelyterrible.
So, yeah.
Um, I don't even recommend it.
Don't go unless well, shoot.
I can't, man.
I mean, that chicken sandwich ispretty good, but you know, know
(11:59):
what you're getting into if yougo to Popeye's.
Okay?
So the main event for today, itis it's quite simple.
I wanted to talk about mydecision to join the military,
man.
That's that's the bread andbutter of this season.
(12:21):
I'm I'm I'm gonna explain acouple weeks of basic training,
maybe some tech school, maybesome real life incidents and all
that stuff for the next coupleepisodes.
So we gotta go with how it allstarted.
How it all started.
And it started with me onSeptember 10th, right?
(12:45):
Uh during this times, man, I wasfresh out of high school and
everything.
A couple years out, like maybethree years out, working here
and there and everything.
I was working at Bob Evans atthe time, and me and my friend,
we we would sometimes have alittle extracurricular
activities, right?
You'd be surprised, Michael.
You used to smoke?
Yeah, I did.
(13:05):
Okay, get over it.
We all did, right?
Maybe.
I don't know.
So when we would have, you know,after work, a couple friends, we
would just do it, do our thing,and then I would go home, right?
That was it, you know, whatever.
This day I went home and wokeup, and why I remember this is
(13:30):
basically simple.
It was a new Jay-Z album comingout September 11th, right?
September 11th, I think it waswhat?
2001.
God.
2001, Jay-Z's album, I think theBlueprint 3 or something,
Blueprint, whatever.
It was coming out, and I waslike, yo, I gotta get this album
because I've heard you knowsnips of the album.
(13:51):
I was like, yo, this album'sabout to be fire.
If memory serves me correctly, Imight be wrong with the names
and everything, so forgive me onthat.
I went to Galaxy CD on the westside, right?
Because, you know, I want tosupport my local businesses and
stuff like that.
So I go there and grab the CDand they have the TV on.
(14:12):
And that's not normal, right?
I'm like, that's not normal.
Like, why do you have the TV on?
I'm watching it and I've stillgot the haze from last night in
my in my brain.
I'm like, dog, this movie is soreal looking.
Like, dude, what movies is this?
This is the new diehard?
This is this must be a newmovie.
He's like, nah, dog, this ishappening in real life.
(14:33):
I'm like, shut up, man.
That's no way.
And by the time I started payingattention to TV, one tower has
already been hit.
Right?
So I'm like, dude, that's crazy.
And it's like, you know, whenthat happened, it was it was it
was something else, right?
(14:54):
Um, this is what as I was as Iwas buying the CD and
everything, I was just glued tothe TV because this is what was
happening.
SPEAKER_00 (15:02):
This is as close as we can get to the base of the
World Trade Center.
You can see the firemenassembled here, the police
officers, FBI agents, and youcan see the two towers.
A huge explosion now rainingdebris on all of us.
We better get out of the way.
SPEAKER_04 (15:23):
Now imagine.
Imagine that.
Like, there is, you know,there's people that was been
born and everything that hasnever seen something like that.
And me seeing that shaped mylife for the rest of my life.
(15:44):
So that happened and everything.
And you and of course, you beingalive in that in that um era and
everything, it was devastating.
It was so devastating to see thetowers fall, and you know, doing
the follow-up, and as years wentby, you know, documentary after
documentary, seeing what peoplewere doing, trying to escape
(16:05):
that, it was crazy.
It was absolutely crazy.
So, as I'm sitting there cookingat Bob Evans, and this freshly
in my mind, I'm asking myself,like, hey, what am I doing with
my life?
Like, what am I doing gettingbuzzed and you know, not really
(16:28):
having a direction?
You know, I I'm cooking, I'mmaking my way up through Bob
Evans.
Started out as a dishwasher,dishwasher to busing tables,
busing tables to hosting,hosting to serving, serving to
cooking, right?
I've in my time there, I've doneeverything.
And they started doing snippetsof management with me, but I was
like, yeah, I'm not I don't knowabout that part, right?
(16:50):
So I'm looking at my life.
Like, what am I doing with mylife?
Because I cannot, this is notthis is not what I want.
This is not this is not what Iwant.
So I'm like, yo, maybe I shouldjoin the military.
And at this time, my brother,I'm sorry, my brother is in the
(17:13):
military.
Uh he just graduated from OhioState.
He's an officer.
SPEAKER_02 (17:18):
And he thinks real high of himself, Michael.
Don't forget, I'm always betterthan you.
SPEAKER_04 (17:22):
Is what my God.
What he would probably say tome, right?
Because I'm going in.
If I'm going in, I'm going inenlisted.
So um, so I go to my localmilitary station, and the thing
about it is that's so annoyinguh when you go in, is that the
(17:46):
army guy, the army recruitersjust basically what you hear the
you open the door, it goesbing-bong, and they just come
out the door, look, put theirhead out, look.
Oh, we got we got somebody new.
And he was like, hey, you wantto join the army?
I said, Absolutely not, dude.
What are you talking?
I have a mission, right?
I have a mission, and you know,I'm not doing it.
Then you look further down,there's the Marine guy back
then, ding ding.
(18:06):
You want to join you Marines,you be a Marine, d-No, I'm not
joining the Marines, dog.
Uh-uh.
I don't know.
Uh-uh.
Uh-uh.
Nope.
Uh-uh.
And they're off, they're justthrowing, like, you could get
this many stripes going in, andyou could do this, and the Navy
guy said, No, don't you, youmight as well just go back right
back in your office.
There ain't no way I'm being aseaman.
(18:26):
Get out of here.
So I would go see the Air Forceguy, but his door was closed.
I'm like, what's going on?
How is his door closed?
Like, he ain't here.
You see that?
That's the Air Force for you.
They don't do nothing.
SPEAKER_03 (18:38):
I said, Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_04 (18:39):
All right.
So I'll go, I go home and youknow, I grab his little card.
And, you know, I'm I I call,buzz, wait, whatever.
And uh he never answered.
So I'm like, all right, so nowI'm gonna have to scout this
guy.
As I wait for him to finally geta hold of me, I'm still doing
the things that I've been doing,you know, sitting out, chilling,
(19:02):
doing extra activities, eatingpizza, not being in shape, this,
that, and the other.
And I'm waiting on him.
I finally get a hold of thisguy.
I go to the office.
I am in a very higher state oflife right now, if you get what
(19:23):
I'm saying.
I go to him and say, hey, bro, Iwant to join the Air Force.
He says, You want to join theAir Force with a chuckle.
I'm like, Yeah, I want to jointhe Air Force.
He says, You, you looking up anddown, looking me up and down,
like you want to join the AirForce.
Absolutely, I do.
It's okay.
If you're serious, quit smoking.
I said, Done.
(19:44):
So I quit smoking.
Then he looks me up and downagain and says, Hey, you need to
start running.
I said, What?
He says, You need to startrunning.
I said, fine, you know what?
Whatever.
Alright, I got the mission.
So he wants me to quit smoking,he wants me to run.
Because I guess I gotta shave acouple pounds because I'm too
fat.
According to him, he called mefat.
So, alright, cool, whatever.
(20:04):
I'm committed to this.
He says, I'm not gonna let yougo to Columbus, which is the in
processing area, until you knowyou're serious about it.
So I know you're serious aboutit.
I said, alright, say less.
I can't I got this, right?
So I have to start running.
And lo and behold, if you knowthis or not, I don't care.
(20:26):
I hate running.
I absolutely hate running.
I the only time I enjoyedrunning is once I've been
running for a while, it doesn'thurt no more.
But every time I run, it hurts.
It just hurts.
Lungs, back, legs, it justhurts.
So I talked to the one personthat loves to run.
(20:49):
And we set up a time where wemade Up three times a week at
the track at Big Blue when theyused to let people on the track
and we would run.
We would run the straightaways,walk the curves, just to start,
right?
And let me tell you, thisindividual and myself were super
competitive.
(21:10):
Super competitive.
We would we didn't know.
Like if I won, she didn't, if Iwon a race, she didn't like it.
If she won the race, yeah, Isaid she.
She didn't like it, and viceversa.
I didn't like it and this, that,and the other.
I said, look, I need help.
I'm joining the military and Ineed to enjoy running.
She laughs.
Ha ha.
(21:31):
You mean with me?
And I said, yeah, with you.
She said, okay.
Meet me here Monday morning,9.30, and we'll run.
And that's exactly what I did.
We ran three times a weekMonday, Wednesday, Friday.
And we would run like two miles.
And I hated every second of it.
(21:53):
Hated it.
It was terrible.
But the competitiveness of itmade it fun because she would
dog walk me.
She would beat me so bad.
I hated it.
I hated it.
But then on the side, I wouldrun just like around my
neighborhood, this, that, andthe other.
And they thought I was crazy.
Everybody thought, who runs inthe hood?
(22:15):
That's the thing.
If you ain't running from thepolice or something like that,
why are you running in the hood?
I'm just running to get in shapebecause I'm joining the
military.
So eventually I started beatingher and then it would go back
and forth.
Some days she would get me, somedays I would get her.
Lo and behold, a brother's inshape.
I am in shape.
(22:36):
I the legs are rock andeverything, this, that, and the
other.
So he lets me go toin-processing, and um I do my
job.
I can find me a job.
And at the time I signed up tobe a I was qualified enough to
do telephone systems, right?
(22:56):
Don't know exactly what thatentails, but I say, hey, I'll do
telephones.
Telephone systems, whatever.
You know.
So I'm a telephone system guy.
I come back, he's like, yeah,man, congratulations from MEPS.
You got a good score.
You're telephone systems guy.
And um, you know, you're on yourway to becoming an airman.
(23:18):
I was like, great, cool.
You know, that's what I want.
That's what I want.
He said, All right, justmaintain, maintain what you're
doing.
You haven't smoked, right?
So no, I ain't smoked, sir.
You know, I'm on it.
He said, okay, cool.
Keep this up, and we go fromthere.
So I'm basically mentally tryingto be the best version of
(23:40):
myself.
So I'm trained, I'm running, I'mrunning three times a week.
You know, I'm in shape,everything.
I'm living with my girlfriend,and it's like, hey, everything's
good, and all that stuff.
Well, I'll take that back.
I have a girlfriend.
I have a girlfriend.
We're doing good.
(24:00):
I got a job, just stay in shape.
Uh, I got six months.
Six months before I go and getout of here, right?
I've I'm got my job, I'mmaintaining my standards, that
and the other, and all thatstuff.
During this time, like I said, Ihad a girlfriend and everything,
and we would make up the breakupevery now and then, every couple
(24:22):
months, because of outstandingcircumstances, this is that, and
the other.
So at one point, we're brokenup, and allegedly, again, I'm
using that allegedly, like,there's we're not getting back
together, right?
This is this is it, you knowwhat I'm saying?
So I'm like, screw it.
All right, I'm going to endprocess, like to start the the
(24:44):
ball rolling, like actually gettested and all that stuff, all
that good stuff.
I go up there and there's awhole bunch of people, right?
There's a whole bunch of peopletrying to enlist in the
military.
So I'm like, you know, cool.
So I start to see people that I,you know, I don't know nobody.
Nobody for else from fromHamilton are trying to sign up
(25:08):
for the military.
It's just me.
Because I'm the me and therecruiter are the only ones
driving to Columbus.
Like, whatever.
Uh, so we drive up to Columbusand everything, and you know, we
start in processing and allthat.
And I'm like, okay, you know,starting to do my thing and
everything.
And lo and behold, I'mofficially in.
(25:33):
I swore, I think I swore in thatfirst time.
And don't quote me, because it'sprobably changed eight million
times since I went through themilitary.
Uh, I swear in, so basically, II can't, you know, I'm already
get booked a ticket.
I'm I'm leaving.
I'm leaving Hamilton.
I'm I'm on my way to SanAntonio.
(25:53):
And, you know, I was like, I gotnothing for me here.
I'm I'm I'm clean.
I'm in shape.
I'm running like three milesnow, no problem.
Probably two and a half, to behonest with you.
You know what I'm saying?
So, you know, I'm doing mything.
I'm in I'm in tip top shape.
And, you know, right at thecurrent time, I'm not with
anybody.
(26:14):
So it's gonna be a clean break.
Until I come back.
I come back, and my girlfriendat the time, she's like, Oh, how
you doing?
I said, I'm good.
SPEAKER_02 (26:25):
You know, hey, let's go out, let's go, uh, let's go
eat at one of our favoritespots.
SPEAKER_04 (26:30):
We used to go to this place called the Deli Shop.
The Deli Shop was on, I think,second or third street.
We both love that sandwich.
There you get a hot press, psss.
All that good stuff.
It was a really good place.
I don't know why they closed.
Um, so uh we're talking andeverything, and you know, it's
like, hey, you know, I reallymiss you.
It's like I really miss you too.
(26:50):
Um, what's been going on?
I said, yo, I'm I'm I'm leaving.
I was like, I'm joining themilitary.
She's like, really?
I said, yeah.
I said I'm leaving in February,and that's that.
She's like, oh, okay, okay,cool, cool, cool.
And she said, you know, what doyou have you thought about us?
About us.
I'm like, yeah, not really, youknow what I mean?
(27:12):
This is like, you know, our lastbreakup was some be some BS.
But you know, I'm just gonna betaking it day by day, you know.
So, all right, well, if you everknow, call me when, you know, if
you want to hang out, whatever,whatnot, blah, blah, blah.
I'm like, cool, you know.
Eventually, eventually, we getback together, we move in
(27:32):
together, and we start buildingour lives together and
everything.
It's like, you know, unexpected,expected thing.
So, you know, whenever, let'sjust say this was in August,
right?
We decided to move in togetherand everything.
And August, I'm leaving inFebruary, August, September,
October, November, December,January, February.
(27:54):
It's time for me to leave.
Uh, the day of I go to the YMCAand and I work out.
I work out, and I can rememberthis like no other.
It's snow on the ground andeverything.
And I'm like, yo, I'm about to,I'm about to change my life.
I'm about to leave my city inorder to better myself, in order
(28:16):
to join the military, the UnitedStates Air Force.
I am on this treadmill, and I'mlike, I don't, I don't, I don't
know what I'm doing, bro.
It's like, it's like I don'tknow what I'm doing.
I don't know if I should bedoing this, man.
But it's like, it's too late nowbecause I already put my hand up
and already put it on the Bibleand swore to protect and defend
the Constitution.
(28:37):
And uh I don't know what I'mgonna do.
You know, I'm with somebody.
I'm currently dating mygirlfriend, and I don't know
what I'm gonna do because youknow, I'm helping, you know,
we're paying rent together andeverything, and I don't know
what I'm gonna do.
So I come back home from thegym, sweaty, stanking, and
(28:59):
whatever.
Uh I wake her up, I'm like, hey,um, you know, today's the day,
and you know, it is what it is.
Um, so we're talking andeverything, and I do this cheesy
proposal with a ring pop, and Iask her to marry me.
(29:23):
And she says yes.
And, you know, uh, now I have alittle bit of purpose when I
when I go.
And so that happens.
And my recruiter comes, knockson the door, and says, Hey man,
you ready?
And I give her my Visa card, Igive her my bank card, and I
(29:44):
give her, you know, everything Ihave, and it's like, hey, um,
you know, use it, use it whenneeded.
Use it when needed, and youknow, I'll be getting paid and
everything, so good luck.
You know, I'll be back.
I'll be back.
So I roll off to Columbus toleave for the military.
(30:07):
Again, I seen the same people Isaw the first time when I in
process.
I saw them and I was like, hisone was named Bell, and the
other one was Isaac's.
Okay.
Bell and Isaac's we're brothers,right?
We're black.
That's what I mean.
We're black.
And um, you know, we hang outfor a while, we talk, yeah, you
know.
Uh I used to play for UCfootball.
(30:30):
I said, oh, that's cool.
He's like, yeah.
The other guy, he's like, yeah,you know, I just wanted to join.
I'm from another part of Ohio.
Like, cool, you know, we'reabout to, we're about to do
this, you know, and everything.
And um, we all hanging out andeverything, and we go to start
in process.
In processing is a two-dayevent, right?
(30:53):
The first one is just, hey,you're here.
Um, want to make sure you'rehere, you eat, you sit down, you
wait, and everything.
It's like, all right, cool, youknow, whatever.
You know, you're gonna be atelephone systems apprentice,
you need to learn this, this,that, this, your tech school,
your tech school is gonna bethis long, this, that, and the
other.
And we're like, cool.
So now we're doing all thesetests now, right?
(31:16):
So we're picking things up,seeing what we could lift, uh,
checking out, you know, all ouryou know, shnees and all that
stuff.
And I I remember, I remembergoing into this doctor, it was
like a doctor's office, just me,the doctor, a um, a little, you
(31:36):
know, the little bed that theyhave in the back with the paper
on it and everything.
And he's like, Gillespie.
I said, me.
You know, I was like, you know,we gotta start, you know,
getting to that military moral.
Yes, sir.
Right?
He's like, Gillespie.
Yes, sir.
He said, strip.
I said, what?
He said, strip.
I said, strip down to what?
He said, stripped down to youare butt naked.
(31:58):
I said, oh, okay.
Um, you ain't gonna give me nodinner or anything first?
You just gonna ask me to getstraight up butt naked.
I'm I'm nervous here a littlebit because this dude's asking
me to get butt naked.
And I don't, I don't, I don't, Idon't I don't want to because
it's it's cold.
You know, you know what I'msaying?
It's cold, okay?
You you know what happens whenthings it's cold in this office,
cold in this doctor's office.
(32:19):
I it's cold, okay?
He said, strip butt naked.
I said, man, I'm fighting it.
Initially, I'm fighting it,because you know what you about
to do, man?
What are we about to do?
What kind of military operationsis you want me to get butt
naked?
He said, You get butt naked, oryou're not joining.
I said, Okay.
Draws is off.
I am butt naked.
It is like 30 degrees in thisoffice.
It has to be 30.
(32:40):
It's 30 degrees in this office,man.
He says, Alright, bend, youknow, bend your knees.
So bend your knees.
He says, Squat down, squat down.
Says, no problem, I can do allthis stuff.
Then he says, Bend over.
I'm like, I'm getting mad.
Like, yo, yo, what you mean?
What you mean?
Getting what you mean, bendover, dog?
You know, I'm trying to getghetto and stuff because you
(33:00):
ain't gonna ask me to bend over.
No, you ain't gonna when I'mbutt naked, bro.
I can't.
He's like, man, like, man, whoyou talking to, dog?
He says, I'm talking to you,Gillespie.
He says, All right, you know, ifyou don't bend over, you ain't
can't join the military.
I said, Man, forget this stuff,man.
I don't need it that bad.
I'm thinking to myself, but waita minute.
(33:20):
I'm already in Columbus, man.
I'm about two days out fromleaving.
So yeah, brother bends over,whatever.
And he says, He says, Grab yourankles.
I said, Hold on now, play.
Grab my ankles.
What we do?
No, come on now, what we doinghere?
He said, Grab your ankles.
Whatever.
And he takes a peek.
(33:42):
I don't know what he's lookingat, but I'm pretty embarrassed.
I it's a it's like I rememberbecause it's the first time
someone ever asked me to bendover and grab my ankles.
It's the first person to ask methis crap, man.
So I remember that, but I don'tremember anything after that.
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened.
But yeah, I did that.
So I passed all that stuff.
(34:04):
I am like medically cleared tojoin the Air Force.
Right?
After that, they gave us thisticket, and he says, Hey, go to
the cafeteria, get you somethingto eat.
After you eat, we'll be backhere at five o'clock in the
morning.
And I remember this, I rememberthis moment like no other.
Why?
Because that burger was freakingdelicious.
(34:25):
Mind you, they they gave us MREsthe first time, I think.
No, no, no, no, no.
They gave us like some snack,oranges, you know, gummies,
something like that, chips, andall that.
So once I passed the medical,got the ticket, and gave us
hamburger and fries, the ticketI got hamburger and fries, and
it's like six, seven o'clock inthe afternoon, and I remember
(34:48):
they had this like the awningthat Wendy's used to have where
you could see through the theglass and if you looked up and
everything.
And I'm looking up there and I'mlike, and I remember this so
clear because it's like I'mhalfway through, and I'm like,
what the heck am I doing here?
Because I'm starting to haveinstant regrets because he must
(35:09):
he told me to bend over.
I still nobody don't tell noother man to bend over, man.
You crazy.
So I did that, and I'm thinkingto myself, like, man, I I'm
about to join the military.
And it was like, I'm this iscrazy as I ate my burger and
fries.
(35:29):
I said, I don't know how I wantto do this, but I'm here at this
point, and this is the pointwhere it transitions over from
being a normal civilian to beingan airman basic in the military,
or about to be in the military.
So the next day, they wake us upat 4 30, 5 o'clock in the
(35:52):
morning, and we in process allday.
All day.
Needless to say, I'm exhaustedas I get on the plane and head
to San Antonio for the firsttime.
I am aboarding a plane.
This is officially it.
(36:12):
I see Belle, I see Isaac's indifferent roles.
I say, you know, we say, What'sup, man?
What's up?
We're about to do this, man.
We're about to represent Ohio,talking all this mess and
everything.
As we get on this plane.
And I kept thinking to myself,like, man, I I feel I'm
confident and I'm nervousbecause I've never been on a
plane before.
(36:32):
I'm leaving my home.
I am starting brand F an new.
What am I doing?
And at the end, I say the rightthing.
I'm doing the right thing,right?
So we get on the plane, we headto San Antonio, we get out, we
get off the plane, and mind you,it is maybe time.
(36:57):
I don't know what time it is,right?
Because we've been up all day.
No nap, no nothing.
Barely eight.
So I don't know what time it is,dark and everything.
And then I'm in San Antonio, andyou start seeing groups of
people coming in.
(37:18):
You know, you can tell thiscat's from Boston because he has
the accent.
You know, Boston car, all thatstuff.
Minnesota, California, uh,Latinos.
Don't know Latin as Latinos,don't know where you're from,
but hey, you're joining themilitary.
And so, yo, we're all a unit,right?
We're about to just, we're alltaking pictures.
(37:38):
We're all taking picturestogether.
Hey, you know, hey, this is ourlast interaction with women, you
know, at least eventually for awhile.
Last interaction with women.
It's like, yo, this is this iscrazy.
We're all like, yeah, you know,where I'm from Ohio, girl.
Well, Shorty, where are youfrom?
You know, that's Belle, that'sIsaac's.
They're all talking to girlslike this.
This is not the time for that.
This is not the time for that.
(37:59):
We about to get murdered.
I got a feeling this is thelast, the last hint of freedom
we're ever gonna have.
Right?
So we get there, all right, andthen there's uh somebody in in a
BDU uniform is there.
He's like, hey, everybody, it'stime to load up on the bus.
It's okay, you know, hey, thisis it.
(38:21):
We get on a bus and we're on ourway to Lackland Air Force Base,
all right?
So by the time we get to thegate, we're slowing, the bus
slows down and everything, andum you can see it.
You can just feel it.
Like, this is this is it.
This is the end of MichaelGillespie.
And here comes Airman BasicGillespie.
(38:44):
Alright.
So we the bus pulls in, and youcan see these guys wearing these
weird hats and everything, fulluniform, muscles everywhere.
It's like, dude, what this issupposed to be the Air Force,
right?
The Air Force is supposed to bethe easiest branch, right?
Like, why is dude meme muggingme through the bus window?
I don't know who you are,player, but dude, you need to go
(39:06):
somewhere because you're makingme scared.
And so they are looking at allof us, looking at all of us as
the bus slowly pull in, and ourbus stops.
Our bus stops, and he goes,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, knocking on the window.
Knocking on the window, and he'slike, I want you.
SPEAKER_03 (39:25):
I said, Who are you pointing to, dog?
You ain't pointing at me, areyou?
He's like, I want you! Get youroff the bus and they cussing.
This is supposed to be the AirForce.
Why are you cussing at me, dog?
SPEAKER_04 (39:41):
Scared to death.
And that was my welcome to SanAntonio.
Week zero has started.
And it gets worse from thatpoint on.
To be continued though.
Tell next time.
Hope you guys enjoyed the storyof my military beginnings.
(40:03):
I'm your host, Michael Gillespieof the WDYM, and I'm out.
Girl Scout, Boy Scout.
Peace.
You're listening to the WBYL, the What Do You Mean
podcast?
Hamilton's number one podcast.
Now sit back and relax.
Here's Hamilton Zone, MichaelVilletsky.
SPEAKER_04 (01:12):
I figured it out.
I have figured their grandscheme out.
I thought, I thought it was onpurpose, but then I figured out
it's their grand scheme.
It is their grand scheme.
Ladies and gentlemen, I amtalking about Popeye's, the fast
food restaurant.
Right?
Everybody knows if you just goin there and everything, you're
(01:35):
automatically getting terribleservice.
It's just terrible service.
They cannot avoid the terribleservice.
This is the opposite ofChick-fil-A.
Chick-fil-A, you get greatservice.
You get excellent service.
But Popeye's nah nah.
No sir, no ma'am, no ham, nobacon.
You're not getting good serviceat Popeye's, no matter what you
do.
(01:56):
I've been in the restaurant gamefor the longest time.
You know, restaurant game,culinary game, whatever you want
to call it.
I've been in the game for awhile, right?
So I know, as someone who's beenin this industry for a while,
it's something we call peak.
Peak times.
At Chipotle, we had peak timesevery day, all day.
(02:17):
And we were we were prepared forthose peak times.
Popeyes don't believe in peaktimes.
They don't believe in anythingclose to a peak time.
Um, let me give you a coupleexamples of peak times.
Peak times for certainrestaurants could be lunch.
SPEAKER_03 (02:36):
Right?
SPEAKER_04 (02:37):
Dinner.
You follow me?
Maybe a breakfast.
Maybe like nine o'clock,everybody wakes up, they come
down to eat breakfast.
Peak time.
Even special occasions.
They have, you know, like theafter church rush peak.
Holiday peak time.
(03:00):
Fourth of July.
Maybe, you know, there's a peaktime.
You get what I'm saying?
There's peak times for certainsituations where, hey, we let's
let's overproduce or produce alot a lot of chicken, so
therefore we don't run out ofchicken.
You follow me?
You understand?
Okay, great, good, good.
(03:22):
I went to Popeye's this pastSunday at let's just say 11:30,
right?
So it's that peak time whenpeople are starting to get out
of church, you know,predominantly white church,
because black church, we don'tget out till 4 o'clock in the
afternoon.
That's another story.
But you get what I'm saying,right?
(03:43):
It is 11:30.
You guys open at 10, 10:30, oneof those times.
So therefore, you shouldn't runout of chicken.
I'm sorry.
That's just something that wedon't do.
So I I should have known, Ishould have known that this was
gonna be a half-hour type dealwhen I walked in.
(04:06):
When I walked in, there wasalready two people in line.
So okay, not a big deal.
Maybe they got their thingstogether, so therefore we're not
worrying about chicken.
Two people in front of me, andmy first sign, I should have
been like, uh oh, is that theperson at the register has her
(04:26):
back turned against the peopleon her cell phone.
So I'm like, okay, you know,maybe, you know, benefit of a
doubt time.
Maybe they just get theirschedule and they're looking at
their their phone and all thatstuff.
So that that could be a legitthing.
As I'm investigating, there'sfour people working.
I think one person's working thedrive-thru line, the other
(04:47):
person's frying chicken, themanager, and then the person in
the front.
So I'm looking at, I'm like,okay, so four people, two people
in line.
We're not they're not busy.
So I'm figuring, okay, this isthis is gonna work.
This is gonna be fine, and it'sgonna work.
It's gonna be fine.
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
Okay.
unknown (05:07):
Ha!
SPEAKER_04 (05:08):
What was I thinking?
I don't know how many of youguys know, but how many times
have you gone to Popeyes and gotokay service?
Just okay.
Just okay service.
I have never been to a Popeye'sand got excellent service.
Like, ooh, Chick-fil-A,excellent service almost every
time.
(05:28):
I can't I cannot think of a timeI haven't got excellent service
from Chick-fil-A.
Popeye's on the other hand,they're like, nah, we'll screw
that.
So I'm in there, two people infront of me.
They're getting uh mobile order,so they're just you know doing
their little Uber Eats, yeah,Uber Eats, whatever.
DoorDash, those two, those typethings, right?
So those pool people are justgrabbing bags and leaving.
I pull up and I order atwo-piece and a three-piece.
(05:52):
I order a two-piece andthree-piece.
And the first thing he says,well, we got we gonna we're
gonna have to cook some oldchicken.
SPEAKER_03 (05:58):
I say, okay, you know, I'm gonna be, I'm not
gonna be angry.
I'm not gonna be angry.
I'm not.
But I'm like, it's like 11:30.
How are you guys out of chickenalready?
This doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_04 (06:09):
You guys just open open for an hour.
And I'm pretty sure, right?
You have a shelf life forchicken for at least an hour
under a heat lamp.
At least pushing it.
They're out of chicken.
I'm like, man, this is this issomething else.
I'm like, all right, fine.
You know what?
She said it's gonna be a six toeight minute wait for regular,
and I got spice.
(06:29):
He says it's gonna be a wait forspicy.
I'm like, okay.
So I sit back and I'm like, youknow, can you give me my two
cups for my drinks?
And she's like, yeah, sure.
Hands me the cups.
Guess what?
They didn't they didn't want tobrew no tea today.
That's a staple for Popeyes.
Can I get that sweet tea?
That's a normal.
(06:51):
Like, and then the funny thingabout it is that the front
person, the front registerperson, sh looked actually like
surprised, like, what?
We ain't got no tea.
Come on now.
Come on now.
You know you didn't have no tea.
Why are you acting all brandnew?
And I was like, you know, I'mgonna be nice.
Like, no, ma'am, you don't haveno tea out here.
(07:12):
So, okay, I'll get that for you.
And then she goes, you know, tothe little fountain machine in
the back for dry-thru and getsme tea.
And guess what?
It's it's gold peak.
Gold peak is the worst tea in abottle.
Period.
It's terrible, it's nasty.
It don't even taste good.
What is that?
(07:32):
That's not tea, that's brownwater, ladies and gentlemen.
That's not good tea.
I'm sorry.
Anybody can brew tea make itbetter than what Gold Peak does.
Maybe I'm on a maybe I'm on asoapbox today, and I'm
complaining about the experienceI got at Power's.
But the tea was trash.
Tea is absolutely garbage.
(07:53):
So I'm sitting there waiting,and lo and behold, four people
come in after me.
Right.
So my culinary brain is like,okay, what you should do, lady,
is take these people's orders,so therefore, you got them,
right?
They're not gonna ask for moneyback.
You got them.
What does she do?
She's on her cell phone,actually looking at her schedule
(08:16):
and complaining, like, I can'tdo this day, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:20):
And then I look and I'm assuming she was the
manager.
She was on her phone, too.
SPEAKER_04 (08:25):
So I'm like, what is going on?
What is going on?
They are doing this on purpose.
This service is terrible.
Is absolutely terrible.
So I'm sitting there and 10minutes go by, no food.
15 minutes go by, no food.
(08:48):
20 minutes go by, still no food.
I'm like, okay, this is crazy.
So I'm looking at the personwho's next to me.
It's a young lady in a nursingoutfit and everything.
And I'm just looking at her.
She looks upset.
Because obviously she hasn't putan order in.
And she's upset.
Nobody's giving her theattention.
(09:09):
And eventually she walks out.
She's like, you know what?
I'm done with this place.
McDonald's is right down thestreet.
She's probably gonna getMcDonald's.
I'm sitting there, and I'm like,this is I don't understand why I
keep coming here.
This is ridiculous.
There's actually a canes rightacross the way.
Go eat there, right?
Uh no, we want a Popeye's.
I want us some spicy chicken.
(09:30):
I eventually get my chicken.
And lo and behold, everything ishot and delicious, right?
Everything is good.
SPEAKER_03 (09:41):
It's like, hey man, is it worth the wait?
I mean, I'm eating this spicychicken and I'm enjoying life
right now.
This is delicious.
I love Popeye's chicken.
SPEAKER_04 (09:51):
I hate Popeye's service.
It's terrible.
I cannot believe it.
So I'm like, you know what?
I'm gonna do my due diligenceand I'm gonna write the company.
I'm gonna write the company andtell them how bad they are.
So I go in there on theirwebsite, start filling out,
like, hey, everybody's on theircell phone, nobody's giving the
(10:13):
people attention, had to wait Xamount of minutes and all that
stuff.
And it's like it's an automatedAI thing.
Was like, well, can you tell uswhat store you were at?
And this, this, that, this,that, and the other.
So I tell them everything, andyou know, they're they're don't
they don't even ask for like anemail or anything.
He's like, Are you are you amember?
(10:34):
Do you have an account?
I said, No, you know, I'mtelling you how it is.
I finished the survey of how badthe service was.
So, yeah, we'll let we'll letthe uh we'll let the restaurant
know goodbye.
Click, now was it.
There wasn't no, hey, we'llfollow up with you.
Hey, do you want a follow-upnumber?
Hey, do you want a call oranything like that?
No.
So I've concluded that this isall part of their strategy.
(10:56):
Get them, get them to wait.
Let me make it hot and fresh foryou because everything was hot.
The biscuit, the sides, thechicken, everything was hot.
That's what people want.
Hot food.
And it was delicious.
But they make they give youhorrible servers.
And I'm trying to figure out isthis a marketing scheme?
(11:16):
Because how are you gonnacomplain about something and not
ask the the person who'scomplaining, do you want a
follow-up?
Do you, you know, something likethat.
Nothing.
So it's it's part of themarketing scheme.
It has to be.
It freaking has to be because Igot hot food.
I'm not complaining about thefood, I'm complaining about the
service.
And I don't think they're evergonna fix it because hey, this
(11:38):
is what they're notoriouslyknown for.
There's been so many skitsonline, people online
complaining about the serviceyou get at Popeye's chicken.
It's terrible, it's absolutelyterrible.
So, yeah.
Um, I don't even recommend it.
Don't go unless well, shoot.
I can't, man.
I mean, that chicken sandwich ispretty good, but you know, know
(11:59):
what you're getting into if yougo to Popeye's.
Okay?
So the main event for today, itis it's quite simple.
I wanted to talk about mydecision to join the military,
man.
That's that's the bread andbutter of this season.
(12:21):
I'm I'm I'm gonna explain acouple weeks of basic training,
maybe some tech school, maybesome real life incidents and all
that stuff for the next coupleepisodes.
So we gotta go with how it allstarted.
How it all started.
And it started with me onSeptember 10th, right?
(12:45):
Uh during this times, man, I wasfresh out of high school and
everything.
A couple years out, like maybethree years out, working here
and there and everything.
I was working at Bob Evans atthe time, and me and my friend,
we we would sometimes have alittle extracurricular
activities, right?
You'd be surprised, Michael.
You used to smoke?
Yeah, I did.
(13:05):
Okay, get over it.
We all did, right?
Maybe.
I don't know.
So when we would have, you know,after work, a couple friends, we
would just do it, do our thing,and then I would go home, right?
That was it, you know, whatever.
This day I went home and wokeup, and why I remember this is
(13:30):
basically simple.
It was a new Jay-Z album comingout September 11th, right?
September 11th, I think it waswhat?
2001.
God.
2001, Jay-Z's album, I think theBlueprint 3 or something,
Blueprint, whatever.
It was coming out, and I waslike, yo, I gotta get this album
because I've heard you knowsnips of the album.
(13:51):
I was like, yo, this album'sabout to be fire.
If memory serves me correctly, Imight be wrong with the names
and everything, so forgive me onthat.
I went to Galaxy CD on the westside, right?
Because, you know, I want tosupport my local businesses and
stuff like that.
So I go there and grab the CDand they have the TV on.
(14:12):
And that's not normal, right?
I'm like, that's not normal.
Like, why do you have the TV on?
I'm watching it and I've stillgot the haze from last night in
my in my brain.
I'm like, dog, this movie is soreal looking.
Like, dude, what movies is this?
This is the new diehard?
This is this must be a newmovie.
He's like, nah, dog, this ishappening in real life.
(14:33):
I'm like, shut up, man.
That's no way.
And by the time I started payingattention to TV, one tower has
already been hit.
Right?
So I'm like, dude, that's crazy.
And it's like, you know, whenthat happened, it was it was it
was something else, right?
(14:54):
Um, this is what as I was as Iwas buying the CD and
everything, I was just glued tothe TV because this is what was
happening.
SPEAKER_00 (15:02):
This is as close as we can get to the base of the
World Trade Center.
You can see the firemenassembled here, the police
officers, FBI agents, and youcan see the two towers.
A huge explosion now rainingdebris on all of us.
We better get out of the way.
SPEAKER_04 (15:23):
Now imagine.
Imagine that.
Like, there is, you know,there's people that was been
born and everything that hasnever seen something like that.
And me seeing that shaped mylife for the rest of my life.
(15:44):
So that happened and everything.
And you and of course, you beingalive in that in that um era and
everything, it was devastating.
It was so devastating to see thetowers fall, and you know, doing
the follow-up, and as years wentby, you know, documentary after
documentary, seeing what peoplewere doing, trying to escape
(16:05):
that, it was crazy.
It was absolutely crazy.
So, as I'm sitting there cookingat Bob Evans, and this freshly
in my mind, I'm asking myself,like, hey, what am I doing with
my life?
Like, what am I doing gettingbuzzed and you know, not really
(16:28):
having a direction?
You know, I I'm cooking, I'mmaking my way up through Bob
Evans.
Started out as a dishwasher,dishwasher to busing tables,
busing tables to hosting,hosting to serving, serving to
cooking, right?
I've in my time there, I've doneeverything.
And they started doing snippetsof management with me, but I was
like, yeah, I'm not I don't knowabout that part, right?
(16:50):
So I'm looking at my life.
Like, what am I doing with mylife?
Because I cannot, this is notthis is not what I want.
This is not this is not what Iwant.
So I'm like, yo, maybe I shouldjoin the military.
And at this time, my brother,I'm sorry, my brother is in the
(17:13):
military.
Uh he just graduated from OhioState.
He's an officer.
SPEAKER_02 (17:18):
And he thinks real high of himself, Michael.
Don't forget, I'm always betterthan you.
SPEAKER_04 (17:22):
Is what my God.
What he would probably say tome, right?
Because I'm going in.
If I'm going in, I'm going inenlisted.
So um, so I go to my localmilitary station, and the thing
about it is that's so annoyinguh when you go in, is that the
(17:46):
army guy, the army recruitersjust basically what you hear the
you open the door, it goesbing-bong, and they just come
out the door, look, put theirhead out, look.
Oh, we got we got somebody new.
And he was like, hey, you wantto join the army?
I said, Absolutely not, dude.
What are you talking?
I have a mission, right?
I have a mission, and you know,I'm not doing it.
Then you look further down,there's the Marine guy back
then, ding ding.
(18:06):
You want to join you Marines,you be a Marine, d-No, I'm not
joining the Marines, dog.
Uh-uh.
I don't know.
Uh-uh.
Uh-uh.
Nope.
Uh-uh.
And they're off, they're justthrowing, like, you could get
this many stripes going in, andyou could do this, and the Navy
guy said, No, don't you, youmight as well just go back right
back in your office.
There ain't no way I'm being aseaman.
(18:26):
Get out of here.
So I would go see the Air Forceguy, but his door was closed.
I'm like, what's going on?
How is his door closed?
Like, he ain't here.
You see that?
That's the Air Force for you.
They don't do nothing.
SPEAKER_03 (18:38):
I said, Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_04 (18:39):
All right.
So I'll go, I go home and youknow, I grab his little card.
And, you know, I'm I I call,buzz, wait, whatever.
And uh he never answered.
So I'm like, all right, so nowI'm gonna have to scout this
guy.
As I wait for him to finally geta hold of me, I'm still doing
the things that I've been doing,you know, sitting out, chilling,
(19:02):
doing extra activities, eatingpizza, not being in shape, this,
that, and the other.
And I'm waiting on him.
I finally get a hold of thisguy.
I go to the office.
I am in a very higher state oflife right now, if you get what
(19:23):
I'm saying.
I go to him and say, hey, bro, Iwant to join the Air Force.
He says, You want to join theAir Force with a chuckle.
I'm like, Yeah, I want to jointhe Air Force.
He says, You, you looking up anddown, looking me up and down,
like you want to join the AirForce.
Absolutely, I do.
It's okay.
If you're serious, quit smoking.
I said, Done.
(19:44):
So I quit smoking.
Then he looks me up and downagain and says, Hey, you need to
start running.
I said, What?
He says, You need to startrunning.
I said, fine, you know what?
Whatever.
Alright, I got the mission.
So he wants me to quit smoking,he wants me to run.
Because I guess I gotta shave acouple pounds because I'm too
fat.
According to him, he called mefat.
So, alright, cool, whatever.
(20:04):
I'm committed to this.
He says, I'm not gonna let yougo to Columbus, which is the in
processing area, until you knowyou're serious about it.
So I know you're serious aboutit.
I said, alright, say less.
I can't I got this, right?
So I have to start running.
And lo and behold, if you knowthis or not, I don't care.
(20:26):
I hate running.
I absolutely hate running.
I the only time I enjoyedrunning is once I've been
running for a while, it doesn'thurt no more.
But every time I run, it hurts.
It just hurts.
Lungs, back, legs, it justhurts.
So I talked to the one personthat loves to run.
(20:49):
And we set up a time where wemade Up three times a week at
the track at Big Blue when theyused to let people on the track
and we would run.
We would run the straightaways,walk the curves, just to start,
right?
And let me tell you, thisindividual and myself were super
competitive.
(21:10):
Super competitive.
We would we didn't know.
Like if I won, she didn't, if Iwon a race, she didn't like it.
If she won the race, yeah, Isaid she.
She didn't like it, and viceversa.
I didn't like it and this, that,and the other.
I said, look, I need help.
I'm joining the military and Ineed to enjoy running.
She laughs.
Ha ha.
(21:31):
You mean with me?
And I said, yeah, with you.
She said, okay.
Meet me here Monday morning,9.30, and we'll run.
And that's exactly what I did.
We ran three times a weekMonday, Wednesday, Friday.
And we would run like two miles.
And I hated every second of it.
(21:53):
Hated it.
It was terrible.
But the competitiveness of itmade it fun because she would
dog walk me.
She would beat me so bad.
I hated it.
I hated it.
But then on the side, I wouldrun just like around my
neighborhood, this, that, andthe other.
And they thought I was crazy.
Everybody thought, who runs inthe hood?
(22:15):
That's the thing.
If you ain't running from thepolice or something like that,
why are you running in the hood?
I'm just running to get in shapebecause I'm joining the
military.
So eventually I started beatingher and then it would go back
and forth.
Some days she would get me, somedays I would get her.
Lo and behold, a brother's inshape.
I am in shape.
(22:36):
I the legs are rock andeverything, this, that, and the
other.
So he lets me go toin-processing, and um I do my
job.
I can find me a job.
And at the time I signed up tobe a I was qualified enough to
do telephone systems, right?
(22:56):
Don't know exactly what thatentails, but I say, hey, I'll do
telephones.
Telephone systems, whatever.
You know.
So I'm a telephone system guy.
I come back, he's like, yeah,man, congratulations from MEPS.
You got a good score.
You're telephone systems guy.
And um, you know, you're on yourway to becoming an airman.
(23:18):
I was like, great, cool.
You know, that's what I want.
That's what I want.
He said, All right, justmaintain, maintain what you're
doing.
You haven't smoked, right?
So no, I ain't smoked, sir.
You know, I'm on it.
He said, okay, cool.
Keep this up, and we go fromthere.
So I'm basically mentally tryingto be the best version of
(23:40):
myself.
So I'm trained, I'm running, I'mrunning three times a week.
You know, I'm in shape,everything.
I'm living with my girlfriend,and it's like, hey, everything's
good, and all that stuff.
Well, I'll take that back.
I have a girlfriend.
I have a girlfriend.
We're doing good.
(24:00):
I got a job, just stay in shape.
Uh, I got six months.
Six months before I go and getout of here, right?
I've I'm got my job, I'mmaintaining my standards, that
and the other, and all thatstuff.
During this time, like I said, Ihad a girlfriend and everything,
and we would make up the breakupevery now and then, every couple
(24:22):
months, because of outstandingcircumstances, this is that, and
the other.
So at one point, we're brokenup, and allegedly, again, I'm
using that allegedly, like,there's we're not getting back
together, right?
This is this is it, you knowwhat I'm saying?
So I'm like, screw it.
All right, I'm going to endprocess, like to start the the
(24:44):
ball rolling, like actually gettested and all that stuff, all
that good stuff.
I go up there and there's awhole bunch of people, right?
There's a whole bunch of peopletrying to enlist in the
military.
So I'm like, you know, cool.
So I start to see people that I,you know, I don't know nobody.
Nobody for else from fromHamilton are trying to sign up
(25:08):
for the military.
It's just me.
Because I'm the me and therecruiter are the only ones
driving to Columbus.
Like, whatever.
Uh, so we drive up to Columbusand everything, and you know, we
start in processing and allthat.
And I'm like, okay, you know,starting to do my thing and
everything.
And lo and behold, I'mofficially in.
(25:33):
I swore, I think I swore in thatfirst time.
And don't quote me, because it'sprobably changed eight million
times since I went through themilitary.
Uh, I swear in, so basically, II can't, you know, I'm already
get booked a ticket.
I'm I'm leaving.
I'm leaving Hamilton.
I'm I'm on my way to SanAntonio.
(25:53):
And, you know, I was like, I gotnothing for me here.
I'm I'm I'm clean.
I'm in shape.
I'm running like three milesnow, no problem.
Probably two and a half, to behonest with you.
You know what I'm saying?
So, you know, I'm doing mything.
I'm in I'm in tip top shape.
And, you know, right at thecurrent time, I'm not with
anybody.
(26:14):
So it's gonna be a clean break.
Until I come back.
I come back, and my girlfriendat the time, she's like, Oh, how
you doing?
I said, I'm good.
SPEAKER_02 (26:25):
You know, hey, let's go out, let's go, uh, let's go
eat at one of our favoritespots.
SPEAKER_04 (26:30):
We used to go to this place called the Deli Shop.
The Deli Shop was on, I think,second or third street.
We both love that sandwich.
There you get a hot press, psss.
All that good stuff.
It was a really good place.
I don't know why they closed.
Um, so uh we're talking andeverything, and you know, it's
like, hey, you know, I reallymiss you.
It's like I really miss you too.
(26:50):
Um, what's been going on?
I said, yo, I'm I'm I'm leaving.
I was like, I'm joining themilitary.
She's like, really?
I said, yeah.
I said I'm leaving in February,and that's that.
She's like, oh, okay, okay,cool, cool, cool.
And she said, you know, what doyou have you thought about us?
About us.
I'm like, yeah, not really, youknow what I mean?
(27:12):
This is like, you know, our lastbreakup was some be some BS.
But you know, I'm just gonna betaking it day by day, you know.
So, all right, well, if you everknow, call me when, you know, if
you want to hang out, whatever,whatnot, blah, blah, blah.
I'm like, cool, you know.
Eventually, eventually, we getback together, we move in
(27:32):
together, and we start buildingour lives together and
everything.
It's like, you know, unexpected,expected thing.
So, you know, whenever, let'sjust say this was in August,
right?
We decided to move in togetherand everything.
And August, I'm leaving inFebruary, August, September,
October, November, December,January, February.
(27:54):
It's time for me to leave.
Uh, the day of I go to the YMCAand and I work out.
I work out, and I can rememberthis like no other.
It's snow on the ground andeverything.
And I'm like, yo, I'm about to,I'm about to change my life.
I'm about to leave my city inorder to better myself, in order
(28:16):
to join the military, the UnitedStates Air Force.
I am on this treadmill, and I'mlike, I don't, I don't, I don't
know what I'm doing, bro.
It's like, it's like I don'tknow what I'm doing.
I don't know if I should bedoing this, man.
But it's like, it's too late nowbecause I already put my hand up
and already put it on the Bibleand swore to protect and defend
the Constitution.
(28:37):
And uh I don't know what I'mgonna do.
You know, I'm with somebody.
I'm currently dating mygirlfriend, and I don't know
what I'm gonna do because youknow, I'm helping, you know,
we're paying rent together andeverything, and I don't know
what I'm gonna do.
So I come back home from thegym, sweaty, stanking, and
(28:59):
whatever.
Uh I wake her up, I'm like, hey,um, you know, today's the day,
and you know, it is what it is.
Um, so we're talking andeverything, and I do this cheesy
proposal with a ring pop, and Iask her to marry me.
(29:23):
And she says yes.
And, you know, uh, now I have alittle bit of purpose when I
when I go.
And so that happens.
And my recruiter comes, knockson the door, and says, Hey man,
you ready?
And I give her my Visa card, Igive her my bank card, and I
(29:44):
give her, you know, everything Ihave, and it's like, hey, um,
you know, use it, use it whenneeded.
Use it when needed, and youknow, I'll be getting paid and
everything, so good luck.
You know, I'll be back.
I'll be back.
So I roll off to Columbus toleave for the military.
(30:07):
Again, I seen the same people Isaw the first time when I in
process.
I saw them and I was like, hisone was named Bell, and the
other one was Isaac's.
Okay.
Bell and Isaac's we're brothers,right?
We're black.
That's what I mean.
We're black.
And um, you know, we hang outfor a while, we talk, yeah, you
know.
Uh I used to play for UCfootball.
(30:30):
I said, oh, that's cool.
He's like, yeah.
The other guy, he's like, yeah,you know, I just wanted to join.
I'm from another part of Ohio.
Like, cool, you know, we'reabout to, we're about to do
this, you know, and everything.
And um, we all hanging out andeverything, and we go to start
in process.
In processing is a two-dayevent, right?
(30:53):
The first one is just, hey,you're here.
Um, want to make sure you'rehere, you eat, you sit down, you
wait, and everything.
It's like, all right, cool, youknow, whatever.
You know, you're gonna be atelephone systems apprentice,
you need to learn this, this,that, this, your tech school,
your tech school is gonna bethis long, this, that, and the
other.
And we're like, cool.
So now we're doing all thesetests now, right?
(31:16):
So we're picking things up,seeing what we could lift, uh,
checking out, you know, all ouryou know, shnees and all that
stuff.
And I I remember, I remembergoing into this doctor, it was
like a doctor's office, just me,the doctor, a um, a little, you
(31:36):
know, the little bed that theyhave in the back with the paper
on it and everything.
And he's like, Gillespie.
I said, me.
You know, I was like, you know,we gotta start, you know,
getting to that military moral.
Yes, sir.
Right?
He's like, Gillespie.
Yes, sir.
He said, strip.
I said, what?
He said, strip.
I said, strip down to what?
He said, stripped down to youare butt naked.
(31:58):
I said, oh, okay.
Um, you ain't gonna give me nodinner or anything first?
You just gonna ask me to getstraight up butt naked.
I'm I'm nervous here a littlebit because this dude's asking
me to get butt naked.
And I don't, I don't, I don't, Idon't I don't want to because
it's it's cold.
You know, you know what I'msaying?
It's cold, okay?
You you know what happens whenthings it's cold in this office,
cold in this doctor's office.
(32:19):
I it's cold, okay?
He said, strip butt naked.
I said, man, I'm fighting it.
Initially, I'm fighting it,because you know what you about
to do, man?
What are we about to do?
What kind of military operationsis you want me to get butt
naked?
He said, You get butt naked, oryou're not joining.
I said, Okay.
Draws is off.
I am butt naked.
It is like 30 degrees in thisoffice.
It has to be 30.
(32:40):
It's 30 degrees in this office,man.
He says, Alright, bend, youknow, bend your knees.
So bend your knees.
He says, Squat down, squat down.
Says, no problem, I can do allthis stuff.
Then he says, Bend over.
I'm like, I'm getting mad.
Like, yo, yo, what you mean?
What you mean?
Getting what you mean, bendover, dog?
You know, I'm trying to getghetto and stuff because you
(33:00):
ain't gonna ask me to bend over.
No, you ain't gonna when I'mbutt naked, bro.
I can't.
He's like, man, like, man, whoyou talking to, dog?
He says, I'm talking to you,Gillespie.
He says, All right, you know, ifyou don't bend over, you ain't
can't join the military.
I said, Man, forget this stuff,man.
I don't need it that bad.
I'm thinking to myself, but waita minute.
(33:20):
I'm already in Columbus, man.
I'm about two days out fromleaving.
So yeah, brother bends over,whatever.
And he says, He says, Grab yourankles.
I said, Hold on now, play.
Grab my ankles.
What we do?
No, come on now, what we doinghere?
He said, Grab your ankles.
Whatever.
And he takes a peek.
(33:42):
I don't know what he's lookingat, but I'm pretty embarrassed.
I it's a it's like I rememberbecause it's the first time
someone ever asked me to bendover and grab my ankles.
It's the first person to ask methis crap, man.
So I remember that, but I don'tremember anything after that.
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened.
But yeah, I did that.
So I passed all that stuff.
(34:04):
I am like medically cleared tojoin the Air Force.
Right?
After that, they gave us thisticket, and he says, Hey, go to
the cafeteria, get you somethingto eat.
After you eat, we'll be backhere at five o'clock in the
morning.
And I remember this, I rememberthis moment like no other.
Why?
Because that burger was freakingdelicious.
(34:25):
Mind you, they they gave us MREsthe first time, I think.
No, no, no, no, no.
They gave us like some snack,oranges, you know, gummies,
something like that, chips, andall that.
So once I passed the medical,got the ticket, and gave us
hamburger and fries, the ticketI got hamburger and fries, and
it's like six, seven o'clock inthe afternoon, and I remember
(34:48):
they had this like the awningthat Wendy's used to have where
you could see through the theglass and if you looked up and
everything.
And I'm looking up there and I'mlike, and I remember this so
clear because it's like I'mhalfway through, and I'm like,
what the heck am I doing here?
Because I'm starting to haveinstant regrets because he must
(35:09):
he told me to bend over.
I still nobody don't tell noother man to bend over, man.
You crazy.
So I did that, and I'm thinkingto myself, like, man, I I'm
about to join the military.
And it was like, I'm this iscrazy as I ate my burger and
fries.
(35:29):
I said, I don't know how I wantto do this, but I'm here at this
point, and this is the pointwhere it transitions over from
being a normal civilian to beingan airman basic in the military,
or about to be in the military.
So the next day, they wake us upat 4 30, 5 o'clock in the
(35:52):
morning, and we in process allday.
All day.
Needless to say, I'm exhaustedas I get on the plane and head
to San Antonio for the firsttime.
I am aboarding a plane.
This is officially it.
(36:12):
I see Belle, I see Isaac's indifferent roles.
I say, you know, we say, What'sup, man?
What's up?
We're about to do this, man.
We're about to represent Ohio,talking all this mess and
everything.
As we get on this plane.
And I kept thinking to myself,like, man, I I feel I'm
confident and I'm nervousbecause I've never been on a
plane before.
(36:32):
I'm leaving my home.
I am starting brand F an new.
What am I doing?
And at the end, I say the rightthing.
I'm doing the right thing,right?
So we get on the plane, we headto San Antonio, we get out, we
get off the plane, and mind you,it is maybe time.
(36:57):
I don't know what time it is,right?
Because we've been up all day.
No nap, no nothing.
Barely eight.
So I don't know what time it is,dark and everything.
And then I'm in San Antonio, andyou start seeing groups of
people coming in.
(37:18):
You know, you can tell thiscat's from Boston because he has
the accent.
You know, Boston car, all thatstuff.
Minnesota, California, uh,Latinos.
Don't know Latin as Latinos,don't know where you're from,
but hey, you're joining themilitary.
And so, yo, we're all a unit,right?
We're about to just, we're alltaking pictures.
(37:38):
We're all taking picturestogether.
Hey, you know, hey, this is ourlast interaction with women, you
know, at least eventually for awhile.
Last interaction with women.
It's like, yo, this is this iscrazy.
We're all like, yeah, you know,where I'm from Ohio, girl.
Well, Shorty, where are youfrom?
You know, that's Belle, that'sIsaac's.
They're all talking to girlslike this.
This is not the time for that.
This is not the time for that.
(37:59):
We about to get murdered.
I got a feeling this is thelast, the last hint of freedom
we're ever gonna have.
Right?
So we get there, all right, andthen there's uh somebody in in a
BDU uniform is there.
He's like, hey, everybody, it'stime to load up on the bus.
It's okay, you know, hey, thisis it.
(38:21):
We get on a bus and we're on ourway to Lackland Air Force Base,
all right?
So by the time we get to thegate, we're slowing, the bus
slows down and everything, andum you can see it.
You can just feel it.
Like, this is this is it.
This is the end of MichaelGillespie.
And here comes Airman BasicGillespie.
(38:44):
Alright.
So we the bus pulls in, and youcan see these guys wearing these
weird hats and everything, fulluniform, muscles everywhere.
It's like, dude, what this issupposed to be the Air Force,
right?
The Air Force is supposed to bethe easiest branch, right?
Like, why is dude meme muggingme through the bus window?
I don't know who you are,player, but dude, you need to go
(39:06):
somewhere because you're makingme scared.
And so they are looking at allof us, looking at all of us as
the bus slowly pull in, and ourbus stops.
Our bus stops, and he goes,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, knocking on the window.
Knocking on the window, and he'slike, I want you.
SPEAKER_03 (39:25):
I said, Who are you pointing to, dog?
You ain't pointing at me, areyou?
He's like, I want you! Get youroff the bus and they cussing.
This is supposed to be the AirForce.
Why are you cussing at me, dog?
SPEAKER_04 (39:41):
Scared to death.
And that was my welcome to SanAntonio.
Week zero has started.
And it gets worse from thatpoint on.
To be continued though.
Tell next time.
Hope you guys enjoyed the storyof my military beginnings.
(40:03):
I'm your host, Michael Gillespieof the WDYM, and I'm out.
Girl Scout, Boy Scout.
Peace.
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