Episode Transcript
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Being disabled or having a chronic illness canfeel like you're moving forward in reverse.
I'm your host Scott Martin. Join me and my newfriends in this underrepresented community
as we talk about disrupting the status quo andcreating change within the world and within
ourselves. Hey, life's a road trip. Hop in,let's turn on some tunes and go.
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With me in the passenger seat and managing theradio for this road trip is Christian Shaw.
Christian is the founder of the Kamloops self-advocatenewsletter, which he started 10 years ago.
Born with an intellectual disability, Christiannever doubted he would pursue his dream and
has been an inspiration for people with diverseabilities. His message of hope for a more inclusive
world resonates in his work. Hi, Christian,how you doing today? Good. You know, I always
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do dig and deep dive and... on my guests andI see you from, and I was surprised to find
that you're living in a not so small communityof Kamloops, British Columbia, you're like
four hours approximately Northeast of Vancouver.Is that correct? Um, yes. Okay. And 90,000
people are the, is the population there. That'swhat blew me away because I was focused down
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on this side of the border, uh, we know Vancouverand Quebec. in Montreal and Toronto, but when
you hear of a place like Kamloops, British Columbia,it just seems small. I live in a community
of 25,000, which is considered small. I thoughtyou were living around me. What's, what's your
favorite season for living in Kamloops Christian?I'm like, fall. Ah, you guys, have you had
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a color changes yet? No. Nothing coming. Wehave had a, a droughtish. summer and we are
already seeing colors change quickly and leavesdropping, but that's just because of the dry
conditions. So I'm sure it's going to be beautifulup there where you're at when things start
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to change. Um, so the objective of this podcastis to shake up the public a little bit so that,
uh, they become more aware of the disabled communityand you're, you seem to fit that mold perfectly.
And I think you actually reached out to me first.And I started to, like I said before, I do
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a lot of deep digging on the guests and whatyou're doing and what you have been doing is
very impressive to me. And I want to introducethis newsletter to folks and so the listeners
know they can go on the Life's a Road Trip websiteor wherever they're listening and find a link
to get onto your website. I read that the visionand mission of the newsletter is this, promote
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community inclusion, including ideas like socialjustice, social inclusion, kindness and compassion,
anti-bullying, mental health issues, and alldisabilities. What was it that triggered you
to start the newsletter? I wanted to work inthe field, but I couldn't go to university
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to get a college degree. in the disability field.Okay. Well, that's the main reason I started
it because I got lots of help since I was akid growing up during my adulthood and I wanted
to return the favor and support people. That'slike I was supported when I was younger. Okay.
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I went back to your very first edition 10 yearsago and you titled it overcoming mental health
challenges. And in it, you describe your experienceas a member of the disability community. And
folks need to go through there and read. I believeit's on page 19 as of now, and we're recording
this in the middle of September. So maybe alittle bit further down by the time we get
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online with this, but you close that with this.But remember you can't let mental illness get
in the way of your goals. Take control of yourmental illness instead of it taking control
of you. I'm constantly told, don't worry, behappy. And that is what all of us should aim
for in life in hopes of fighting against mentalillness. Now, Christian, don't worry, be happy.
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Have you changed your outlook on that from thatpoint 10 years ago? Has the meaning of don't
worry, be happy changed at all for you? I'malways happy. Cool. Have you been by doing
this newsletter, I'm sure you get feedback fromfolks, correct? And what sort of feedback have
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you been getting over the years and has thatfeedback changed during the time? Yes. It's
cheap. The test changed. Okay. How would youdescribe it?
I'm stuck. My mom's being... That's all right.People didn't believe that he could do it.
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They figured that... Well, I was told from thetime he was small that he had never learned
to read and write. He's a fluent reader, writer,and speller now. He taught himself mostly because
the school wouldn't teach him because they saidhe couldn't retain the information. And so
I taught him phonics and he taught himself alot on the computer himself. And he just wanted,
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um, to reach this goal of being able to, uh,be self-employed and, and work himself. So
he wanted to prove everyone wrong. Okay. Sohe's done that. Uh, just so listeners know
that's Christian's mom, Linda. And I'm gladthat, you know, we didn't plan on you necessarily
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doing a whole lot on this, but Lindy, you justgot into something that. I want to touch on
and it seems quite evident as I've read througha lot of the articles on the newsletter and
now meeting you Christian that a lot has tobe said that has pushed you forward and it
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seems that your motivation comes from just provingpeople wrong. Is that correct? Yes. Okay.
like, if I can be so bold to ask you, what areyour emotions like when you come across people
like that, that either say it directly or indirectly,like Linda, what you mentioned about the school
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not providing services that just blows my mind.So Christian, what, what sort of emotions do
you go through when you come across someonethat doesn't believe you can do something?
Do you get angry with that? Or do you use itas fuel to move you forward? To move me forward.
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Okay. So nothing drags you down? No. I've gotto say that that's just amazing. I mean, that's
different from so many of the guests becausewe, so many people in the disabled community
run into, well, I call them brick walls. Forexample, when I, uh, I'm 65. I'm proud. I'm
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disabled. I'm proud. That's fantastic becausethat has to be presented. But do you, how can
I phrase it? You have to come across peoplethat treat you differently because of your
disability. Would you say that? Yeah. Okay.So are you then, how are you handling it? Is
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it, you see them as having a different opinionof you. So therefore you want to help them
learn or is it okay? Yeah. And how do you goabout. doing that? Is it through the newsletter
Christian or do you have other ways of helpingeducate? It's just what he can do, not what
he can't do. How does that come across? I mean,we touched on it earlier. I tried to get a,
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try to tweak you a little bit to see where youfeel about it. Has that changed on how people
perceive and receive your message? Has thatchanged in these past 10 years? Let's get into
talking about that change, what have you experiencedthat is different from trying to send that
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message 10 years ago to trying to send thatmessage now? Everyone is supportive and wanting
to help. Wow.
that I'm, I'm so glad to be able to finallymeet someone like you that is just totally
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open and honest and understanding that you musthave a way with people Christian that is calming
and takes away their desire to, I don't know,uh, to, to act negatively towards you. Yeah.
I hope you're proud of that because a lot ofthat has to come with how you raised him too.
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Positive, positive, positive. That's what youmust have done. Yeah. I've always told him
that he can do anything. He sets his mind towith the right supports in place. There's the
key. With the right supports in place. Now let'sget in. Very lucky with the supports he's getting.
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So going back to when he was younger and goingback to the educational system, since I've
been in the educational system, I, I understandwhere you're coming from. Um, so Linda for
you. So he goes off, did he end up, did Christianend up starting in a quote, traditional school
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setting or was he sent out? Okay. special edright from day one. They never ever talked
about inclusion with Krishna ever. Okay. Andso I have a child that went in through special
education program as well. And she noticed howshe was treated differently and it troubled
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her. And I learned, so this is going back sinceI started first teaching, we didn't have write
ups or. specific things that were told to uson how to handle children with special needs.
It was just to either incorporate them intoyour classroom or not. And it seems better
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now, nowadays that teachers do have things.So Linda, thinking back to when he was going
to school, was it always a positive environmentthat he was in? No, it was not. Okay. Talk
about that. He had ADHD, so he was hyper tosay the least. Okay. And teachers just, you
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know, until, well kindergarten was a disaster,but grade one they changed the school and these
teachers and they handled him really well. Theylet him know that he was wanted and accepted.
He just wanted to come home and be with mom.Okay. No, that's totally understandable. I
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get it. Okay. So I want to go to your fifthanniversary edition and there's something I
found in that, that edition, what you wrote.I'm proud to say that for the last five years,
I've been reducing stigma and discriminationaround all disabilities and mental health issues.
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It's been slow and we still have a long wayto go, but things are changing. I am very proud
of my advertisers, supporters, and readers forreading and supporting my newsletter to this
day. I'm looking forward to another five yearsof fighting for change. That's amazing because
that was when, that was on your fifth. Now itis five years later. How have, I mean, how
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smooth has that been? So looking at, tryingto compare the start to your fifth year anniversary,
and from your fifth year anniversary to your10th, which you just recently celebrated, Christian.
Looking at those two, is there a way for youto separate how you look back on those two
as both being five year periods? Yep, I havea new, I have a professional website now which
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I never used to have. Okay, so how did you dothis? Did you go to Kinko's or something and
print? How someone gave offered to give me afree website and I went for it. I said, yes,
please. And they are sponsoring it. So you'vealways done this by website. You've never done
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paper newsletters and paper too. Okay. Papertoo. Okay. And I think I just recently got
a few months ago was a. was a professional lookingwebsites that was sponsored for me. Okay. That's
fantastic. Yeah. You know, I will tell you thisfrom a new person's perspective going on your
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website. And I know that it's important foryou to hear this, that I had no problem getting
around your website. It was clean. Um, it wasprofessionally done. I didn't see typos or,
you know, again, use the word professional.I would say it does come across as professional.
So it's working from a user standpoint, justso you know that, Christian. Yeah. How is it
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that you come about either what to write orwho else you have and what the topics are that
are written for each newsletter? For October?What's your process? For October, I interviewed
some Halloween podcasts and they have no disabilities.
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Tell me about your
How people suggest Okay, people suggest to mewhat I have an advisory group and it's five
very Okay, where they advise me on their articlesthat they want to write and I and they tell
me to dust in somewhat topics to write aboutand for each month And we meet every third
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month as a team with the contributors. And Ihave an advisory group. Okay. So the advisors
present their ideas to you and you then sitdown and go through those and pick and choose
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because I'm, I would imagine you're limitedon how much space you do on your newsletters
or is it? totally open, you can do however manywritings you want. Or in paper, copy and paper,
it's eight. Okay. Online, it doesn't matteronline. It can be any amount you want online
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because people can look at it online and taketheir time. But offline, it's eight. Online,
it's like 20 online. Okay. So you have to havesome guidelines. to go through with what you're
doing. When the advisors give you ideas to write.Do you, does the idea about how you want to
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write about that topic or idea come to you quickly?Or is it something that you have to ponder
for a while? And is it you sit down and youwrite the whole thing right there? Or are there
times when you write and then you kind of losefocus and have to come back to it? Writer's
block, we all get it. How is your process ofwriting? At the beginning, when I first started,
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I had Dwight Reijer's blog, but not anymore.Not anymore. Why do you think that is? Because
I, because I'm interested in topic. So therefore,are they giving you better topics? And because
it's more successful, more success for my newsletter.Okay. So over the- So I'm more gung-ho. So
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you've been gaining confidence with every issue?Yeah. Okay. I see that. And I should go back
and review more and compare and contrast yourfirst newsletter and your 10th anniversary.
I'm sure that your writing style has changed,the format has changed, and a lot of things
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have changed for you. How has this changed yourlife, speaking of change? It makes me proud
that I can support people similar to how I wassupported when I was younger. So that takes
me into something, probably the last piece Iwanna talk about, because it really struck
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me as being important. In your 10th anniversary,sorry, I didn't take note of the person's name,
there was an article written from the perspectiveof a blind person. That's Ben, my best friend.
Okay. I want to read a portion of that and wecould talk about it a bit because I think it's
really interesting. And she wrote, so... No,he, he. Oh, he, I'm sorry. His name is Ben.
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Okay. So Ben wrote, So can you tell how I lookby touching my face? I often get that question
for family and friends who undoubtedly got theirfalse stereotype about blonde people. blind
people through the media. Like all minorities,the media has promoted and reinforced both
positive and negative stereotypes about peoplewith disability. And then he went on to write,
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while exaggerated, negative deception, uh, depictionssend the wrong message. Positive and realistic
portrayals can help create more awareness andopportunity for all people with disabilities.
How difficult do you think it was for him towrite that? Or do you think that it was, uh,
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that it, that it felt good for him to writethat and get that information out there? I
actually thought you were talking about himbecause he writes for me too, but it's, but
it's not, but this article is not from him.I get, I wasn't sure what article you were
talking about. So let's get it squared. ButI found it on line. And then I gave the source.
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It's from mental health. It's from mental healthcommission of Canada. Okay. And see, wrote
an article talking about her experience andincluded the source. Okay. So that makes me
think of, you do come across your own ideasbecause you're out just reading, for example,
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this. You happen to read it and the idea cameinto your head. I want to include that. And
legally there are certain, uh, steps that youhave to go through. So are you, have you been
over the years been doing that sort of thingmore than you did in say the first five years,
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finding articles and then bringing them. Tothe readers because you want to do, send a
message in that way. Yes. Okay. I think thatthat's great because you are being a resource
for people that don't have the time or theyhaven't thought to go to where you're going
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to present that information. I would suggestyou do that more and more because I think that
you're presenting your own perspective moreChristian. I think you have a lot to say. And
I want to read, I believe it's the final sentence.from that article to you. And then I want to
talk about it, okay? And the author wrote, "'Itseems like nowadays the focus is shifting more
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toward creating realistic portrayals, just likewith any other minority group.'" Have you,
have you experienced change in a positive waytowards the portrayal of people with disabilities?
Yeah. We've talked about that. Okay. You havewhat's your take and are you noticing? Cause
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I am more people with disabilities in say advertisements.You seeing that more? Yeah. that's something
that I think the author was trying to touchon because if more people with disabilities
just present themselves as openly as you do,Christian, and again, I applaud that because
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it just got to, it's actually Christian helpingme learn as well, because I have disabilities.
So people like you were helping me learn too.Okay. Um, I think it's just. so important for
the public to get a, an open and honest message.But when you're talking about his, a Christian's
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experience in school, being open and honestis the way to go. And, and it helps present
things in a more realistic light. Okay. There'san article I also came across that. I want
to hear your views on Christian because I'lljust talk about it. The next article is called
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Down for Love on Netflix. It's on Netflix. Thesummary of the show goes like this. The series
follows the heartfelt journey of individualswith Down syndrome as they venture into the
realm of love, witness their triumphs and trialsas they navigate the ups and downs of dating,
challenging stereotypes and promoting inclusivity.Have you seen the show at all, Kristen? Yeah,
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I liked it. And how would you, if you were togive a little bit of a pitch about the show,
what is it about the show that you like themost and why would you recommend it to people?
It's about inclusion. And one person with Downsyndrome is from the Elga BTQ. community. Okay.
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And see, and I think see it's a lesbian is thatright mom? My mom, my mom thinks that one,
one girl in there is a lesbian. Okay. So it'sopen, honest. Uh, it's just opening or creating
another situation where society can see disabledpeople as just people. Would you agree with
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that? Okay. The show shows how important itis to have advocates helping them and having
supports in place because they had them, youknow, they set them up for meeting people and,
and supporting them on it. So that it becamea successful endeavor. Do you guys think that
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is it a scripted show or do you think it's areal life? Disreality. Yeah. About everyday
lives on things. Yeah. Might be scripted tooon things they say. They might have some of
it scripted just to make sure that somethingis portrayed a certain way. Okay. Um, let's
wrap up this before we get into something reallyfun. Christian, just from your perspective,
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I'll ask you again, in your life, even, andleading up to the newsletter and through the
newsletter, what are some messages? that youwould like to share with people about your
perspective on your situation and growing upand living with a disability? What would you
have to say to people? You can go far in life.Okay. So just... With the right supports. That's
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the key. With the right supports. And beingan educator, I am seeing that laws are in...
coming into and having an effect in the classroombecause I do see some aids coming into the
classroom. So I hope it keeps going in thatdirection. And I wanna see and make sure that
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you keep going in your direction. You are gonnabe continuing this, right? You're gonna continue
doing the newsletter? And tomorrow I'm celebratingthe party. What are you doing? What's it for?
I'm going to a restaurant called Frickin' Frack,a restaurant. And I'm also going to have some
speakers to celebrate my 10th year tomorrow.To celebrate my 10th year tomorrow. What do
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you see in the future with, um, with where thenewsletter is going to go? Or do you have any
other ideas to, to branch off of the newsletterand do something a little bit different? Do
you have any? other aspirations or you just.I'm going to keep, I'm going to keep at it
and I'm going to interview different kinds ofpodcasts like Halloween, like Halloween, like
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Christmas podcasts and stuff like that. Okay.That's great. And then you're going to present
the information, what you learned in the newsletter.Yeah. So keep branching out, keep finding people
that you learned from and pass it on becauseyou are. A springboard for information, Christian.
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And I think it's important that you keep doingit because as I get deeper into doing the show,
I don't see as much of what you're doing asI would hope to. So that's why I said, yeah,
let's have you on the show. So I think you'redoing a great job. Christian is a workaholic.
He, he's, he never goes on the computer to play.or anything or games or anything like that.
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It's always the newsletter. And if he takesa break at all, it's to listen to YouTube videos
or music or whatever. But that's it. Other thanthat, it's the newsletter 24 seven. Pretty
well. Other than that, I live and breathe it.I live and breathe it. Well, that's like, that's
how I am with soccer, man. So it's, we've gotsomething. It's it tugs at our heart, right?
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Yeah. We just love to do it. Well, Linda, youmentioned something about music. One of these
questions coming up does have to do with music.And I want to hear what Christian has to say
about it. So we go to this part of the show.The sound of the VW Beetle means that it's
time to shift gears with the road trip roundup,Christian, I'm going to give you five questions
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that relate you and your experiences with roadtrips. Okay. All right. When road tripping.
Do you tend to do fast food or local diners?Fast food. You have a favorite? McDonald's.
I love their chicken nuggets. Nuggets? Yeah.Gosh, you know, those are, I remember when
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those first came out and they're just stillthe same. I mean, they're nice and crispy,
right? Hey, what's your favorite sauce or youjust eat them plain? I love hot mustard. Honey
mustard, hot, they have a hot mustard now? Yeah.Wow. Cause I always get honey mustard. Cause
it's a little calming. I could, I should trythat. Okay. Thank you. But, but I don't know.
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I don't know if they sell it in the States orCanada. Okay. That could be. I've been to McDonald's
in various countries. Cause it was the thingof mine whenever I was traveling and yeah,
there are sometimes you get something healthyfood too. I also go to hell. I also go to healthy.
fast food to restaurants like Subway or likeTopped Leaf or whatever. Okay. All right. There
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you go. Okay. So what's a dream car for a roadtrip? It could be a car that you grew up with,
um, or something that you guys own now or somethingthat, you know, whatever you would like to
do, what sort of a, is there a car out there,Christian, that you'd love to go driving in
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or riding in?
Um, I don't know. What did you grow up with?We don't have a car. We don't. Okay. So there's
something out there. I'm sure that would, youwould love to see you be able to slide into.
I'm sure. All right. Let's go to the music thing.Christian, what's the last cassette? You're
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kind of young, but I'll say it anyway. What'sthe last cassette or CD that played? while
you're on a road trip or while you were in acar drive, going from one place to another.
I love Taylor Swift. Really? OK. Boy, she hasconcerts all over the place. Have you ever
been to one of their concerts? Yes. Yeah. OK.Where where'd you go? To her other concert,
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but it's in the movie theater. She's comingout. Oh, got it. I was with the Taylor Swift
concert film. And it's going to be playing atour features in Canada. That's interesting.
I've been wondering what the movie industrywas going to be doing during COVID to pivot.
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So are you seeing now? So if she's doing concertonline, I mean, being filmed, have you heard
of any other bands or singers that are doingsomething like that as well? Cause this is
the first time I've heard of. No. I think thereason they're doing it is because, uh, her,
um, concert this year, uh, is only in the States.And then, uh, Canadians complained about it.
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So then she decided she was okay. She woulddo Toronto. Okay. What's all. And, uh, people
still complained about it. So they decided toput it in the movie theater where everyone
could see it. Hey, a question for you too, sinceI have you on and you guys are from Canada.
My wife Sue and I are looking to do a, likea 10 day getaway next year. And we're looking
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at Toronto and Montreal. Would you recommendthose two cities to go visit those two cities?
Don't know. We've never been there. Okay. I'msure you guys have heard. I mean, those are
the big, we've been to their airport stone.We've been to their airport.
We've, we've, we've been to Vancouver and outon on some of the islands in Vancouver and
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we just loved it. So when I saw you guys arefor four showers from Vancouver, oh yeah. That
brings back to lovely, lovely area. You guysare living in. It's fantastic. Hey, straight
up question, Christian Coke or Pepsi. I likeCoke. Okay. Have you had the Coke zero yet?
Yeah. Do you like that? I love it. And I havelike BDs. So that's, so that's the best bet.
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That's fantastic. I dropped drinking diet Cokefor Coke zero. Have all right. Here's another
question. We're getting off the track and bananacare. Uh, have you guys found the price of
Coke going sky high? Are you experiencing that?Yeah. Okay. Uh-huh. What the heck? They first
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blamed it on COVID that they couldn't have workersthat has some reasons. And now the darn things
they're keeping it up there. So we're actually.There is a, we have, um, Kroger is down here
and they have their own brand of zero sugars.It tastes just like Coke zero. So we're buying
that. So stick it to Coke instead of Jack andthey're double, at least double their price
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for a 12 pack. Frustrating. Okay. Last questionfor you, bud, wherever you want to go with
this, what's your favorite road trip memoryor go in someplace, including being in the
Toronto airport? Going to camp. All right. Tellme about that. I went to, I went to Easterseals
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camp. Oh, and I also been to some retreats,self-advocacy retreats. What was it about the
self-advocacy retreats that you picked up on?Because that seems, uh, an important part for
what you're getting into. They teach you howto be a better advocate. Okay. And how to present
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messages. Yeah. And to be, you probably taughtthem. And I also went to leadership in training
camp. That's before, that's before I startedthe newsletter. I learned how to be a leadership
in training at camp. Dude. I think that helpedme do the newsletter. I think that you could
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help them with the leadership because your positiveattitude and your doggone and I'm not going
to quit at anything that makes for a good leader.So I think by doing that, I hope sometime they
ask you to come and speak. Yeah. Because I thinkthat it's right up your alley and you care.
You can't help to speak English. I have. donelots of speaking engagements. I also have been
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to conferences. I saw one that I came acrosson you. I think you have something on your
website, uh, where you're speaking in frontof some people. So I, I suggest to folks go
to the Life's a Road Trip website or whereverthey're listening to this podcast, they'll
find a link to, uh, the newsletter website.Go on there, fish around. And there is at least
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one video on there where Christian, you do getup there and you do talk openly and honestly
about stuff. Well, we're going to wrap thisup. Uh, but I want you guys to stick on with
me. We could talk off the microphone for a littlebit, but I'm just going to tell our audience
right now, challenge, relax everybody and keeplistening to life's road trip.
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Thanks for listening. Check out previous episodeswith new ones dropping each Tuesday. If you
don't see a synopsis of this show where you'relistening, visit our website at Life's A Road
Trip dot podbean dot com for more informationon this week's guest. This is your host Scott
Martin reminding you that life's a road trip.