January 7, 2026 • 33 mins
Firefighter debates, water shortages, and a powerful story from a Walmart greeter overcoming cerebral palsy — plus why perspective and second medical opinions matter.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time, time, time, time, Luck and load. The
Michael Verie Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
But chief also checks another box when it comes to.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Inclusivity and diversity and this department. She's a proud member
of the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
That just kind of opens the door of people that thought, Oh,
I didn't even know that that was an opportunity for me.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Nobody got time for it. I'm super inspired.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
She took time out of her already busy schedule to
tell us about her vision for the department's future, one
that includes a three year strategic plan to increase diversity.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
People ask me, what number are you looking for us,
I'm looking for a number is never enough.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Thirty three hundred city firefighters. Only one hundred and fifteen
are women. Right now, She's already looking at ways to
change that. She's quick to point out that doing so
has a greater purpose attracting the best and brightest for
the job.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
They feel included, they feel valued, and they feel part
of a cohesive team.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
You might have recall a new story from last year.
There was some interest in the fire departments and the
firefighters in California, and the interest was there were too
many white men who were firefighters, and we need to
have a program in California to make sure we don't
have enough white men as firefighters.
Speaker 6 (01:48):
They said, we have no water. I said, do you
have a drought. No, we don't have a drought. I said,
why don't you have no water? Because the water isn't
allowed to flow down. It's got a natural flow from
Canada all the way up north, more water than they
could have a use. And in order to protect a
tiny little fish, the water up north gets routed into
(02:09):
the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water
gets poured. I could have water for all of that land,
water for your forests. You know your forests are dry
as a bone. Okay, dangerous that water could be routed.
You know, you could have everything.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
What is restitution with water? Obviously in the al sage
ran out last night and the hydrants. I turned the
firefighter in this block.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
They left because there were no water in the hydrants here.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Local folks are going to figure that out.
Speaker 7 (02:53):
Do you go citizens an apology for being absent while
their homes were burning? Do you regret coming the our
department budget by millions of dollars?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Not a there.
Speaker 7 (03:04):
Have you nothing to say today? Elon Mosk says that
you're utterly incompetent.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Are you considering your position.
Speaker 7 (03:18):
Ada mayor have you absolutely nothing to say to the
citizens today?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
You're dealing with this disaster.
Speaker 8 (03:42):
When listener writes your remarks about comparing volunteer firefighters with
the idiot in Galveston pretending to be an ice agent,
we're very disparaging. We do the same job putting our
lives on the line. We do it for the community.
Good grief, folks. If you're on your period, please wait
(04:06):
till you're off to send me an email.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Good grief.
Speaker 8 (04:11):
I said that that idiot pretending to be an ice
agent must have thought to himself, well, if there's volunteer
firefighters and I'm just being a volunteer ice agent, that
was an insult of that dude. That is not an
insult to volunteer firefighters. But I'll tell you what happened there.
(04:36):
This dude doesn't think he gets enough respect for being
a volunteer firefighter, so he's running around looking for people
who are showing a lack of respect to volunteer firefighters,
and he thinks he just trapped one.
Speaker 9 (04:50):
Me.
Speaker 8 (04:52):
You know, we have to be careful because remember, he's
listening to our show, so you can have a pretty
good idea how he thinks his politics and are just
be careful that you're not so obsessed or so influenced
by the idiocy of the left that you adopt their principles.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
If you think I'm out.
Speaker 8 (05:15):
Here insulting volunteer firefighters, maybe you need a perspective check
because everyone knows I'm not. So why would you think
I am. Let's dig deeper into that. Do you need
to be a victim?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Today? Is today?
Speaker 8 (05:35):
Victim Day for you is today? Pay more attention to
be day for you is today? You know I go
up there and volunteer and then you know people bring
donuts those fire stations and we don't even get paid,
and we do it because we love the community, and
no one ever tells.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Me thank you. Is that what this is? Because it's.
Speaker 8 (06:02):
Won't you just ask for a pat on the back
and I'll give it to you. I think being a
volunteer firefighters cool.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I really do.
Speaker 8 (06:10):
In communities where they can't afford a full time firefighter
fire department, the fact that people in the community did
that's what.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Public service is. Supposed to be.
Speaker 8 (06:19):
That's what serving the legislature or Congress is supposed to be.
That's what a reserve deputy is all about. Our government
wasn't meant to be full time professionals at every level
all the time, with fat pensions and union contracts and
breaking the backs of taxpayers to fund these things. It
was supposed to be everybody pitching in as parents and
(06:43):
school teachers and volunteer firefighters. But if you find yourself
during that time of the month getting butt hurt or
worse over something I've said, just stop for a second
and ask yourself. I got a nice message from a
fellow named Jason Pontratrain, and he said that he appreciated
(07:08):
the fact that I had spoken nicely about Walmart readers.
And I did so for one reason because I always
thought it was the sweetest concept. I thought it was
a brilliant business idea brilliant business idea, because you have
this faceless corporation, and this is how you put a
face on it. If you're a company in Arkansas and
(07:32):
you've got a Walmart in Lobock or Alabama, and it's
this cold, clinical four wall stores, and you've just put
the local business out of business that was owned by
Bob and Jane had been there.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
For thirty years.
Speaker 8 (07:46):
You've got to figure out a way, some way to
make just feel like a local company, to give a
local flavor to it. You're not going to let somebody
run it because you're Walmart. So you find usually an
old person in the community. You put them into front
and the only job they have so they can never
get distracted by it. They don't they don't keep the
(08:06):
bathrooms clean, they don't take returns, and only job they
have is.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
To greet you as you come in and it improves
the experience.
Speaker 8 (08:14):
And we have Jason poncer Train one such Walmart reader
who will be our guest coming up. If you have
a question you've always wanted to ask a Walmart reader,
send me an email through the website Michael Berryshow.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Dot com and or list. So I dropped and then
I tell you, Michael very I recommend it, and you.
Speaker 8 (08:32):
Jason poncer Train was the aforementioned person who emailed us
who had experience as a Walmart reader and appreciated our
respect and.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Appreciation for them, And we do.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
We do.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Jason.
Speaker 8 (08:44):
Welcome to the program, Sir him Michael. Now you were
in the state of Michigan.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Is that right?
Speaker 9 (08:50):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
No, sir, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. They're all the same. To me.
Speaker 8 (08:54):
It's like if somebody says they're from Guatemala, I just
say they're Mexican.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Gotcha? So how long did you work at Walmart?
Speaker 9 (09:01):
About two years?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay? And what occasioned you applying to Walmart?
Speaker 8 (09:07):
Did you go there as a greeter or did you
go there just looking for a job.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
I just went there looking for a job.
Speaker 9 (09:14):
But because of my cerebral palsy and the electric wheelchair
that I use, it just worked out best.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That i'd be a greeter. Are you full time in
an electric wheelchair? Yes? What brand? What brand would be?
Quickie to Q seven hundred? What your model? And horsepower
of a wheelchair?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Well?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Was an honor?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
These things can fly?
Speaker 8 (09:39):
Well, I would want to know if I'm getting a
wheelchair that I'm not getting, you know, the toilet of
tersell of wheelchairs. I want something. I want the Hennessy model.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
We can raise sometime.
Speaker 8 (09:51):
So does cerebral palsy help me understand? Because I mean
I just know of it. I can't tell you much
about it. Are you able to walk at all ever?
Speaker 9 (10:01):
Or not at all?
Speaker 1 (10:02):
My body is very gnarled. Okay, and tell me exactly
what happens there.
Speaker 9 (10:10):
Well, I was born nine weeks premature in nineteen seventy four,
and without oxygen the brain dies and so I stopped
breathing as an infant and the damage was done, you know.
Speaker 8 (10:26):
Okay, So help me understand how the lack of oxygen
manifests itself in the condition you have that do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You may not know. I'm just curious.
Speaker 8 (10:36):
Usually people know their conditions inside and out.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Well.
Speaker 9 (10:39):
Cerebrabopalsy is a neurological condition, so it's a very wide
ranging condition. So for example, if you see somebody who
walks with kind of a clumsy walk and can't speak so, well,
that could be a cerebral palsy or someone like me.
I can talk just but I can't walk at all,
(11:01):
and my body is really stiff.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You know, have you never walked? That's correct? I have
never walked? Oh wow?
Speaker 8 (11:08):
Okay, yeah, so growing up, I'm assuming an electric wheelchair
was not an option.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
That's correct.
Speaker 9 (11:17):
I did not get an electric wheelchair until I was fifteen.
Speaker 8 (11:21):
Yeah, all right, and then so what is your upper
body dexterity?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I have good use I should.
Speaker 9 (11:33):
Say better use of my arms, no use of my legs.
I am left handed, my right hand can't do a
whole lot.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
But yeah, but you can fully function using the remote
control in your hand.
Speaker 9 (11:51):
Yes, so I'm holding the cell phone in my left
hand right now. I could not hold it in my
right hand.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
If that helps you it at all?
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Yeah, it does. So at what age do you decide? So?
Had you worked as an adult your entire life.
Speaker 9 (12:06):
I had struggled to find employment. I was able to
go to college. Edinburgh University in Erie, Pennsylvania has special
programs for the disabled, and so that's how I was
able to go to college. Yeah, so yes, yeah, And
what are those programs?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
What do people primarily do coming out of that program?
Speaker 9 (12:28):
Coming out of that program? Well, I'll tell you about
my experience. I have a degree in speech communication. It
was my desire to go into radio, really, but telling
you about some of those neurological issues. I have some
of those difficulties that make some other aspects of life
very difficult, which is why I enjoyed working at Walmart
(12:53):
because I could focus on one thing at a time
just talking to people, just interacting.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know that makes sense?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You know, well, what makes sense is my suspicion.
Speaker 8 (13:04):
I can't know what I don't know, and the difficulties
you go through we take for granted.
Speaker 9 (13:09):
All.
Speaker 8 (13:09):
You don't know how you go to the restroom. I
don't know how you feed yourself. I don't know how
you get to the grocery store. You know, all those
things that we just kind of take for granted. But
I would imagine that there would be a sense of
purpose to being useful because you're the face of the
company and somebody walks in the door and your elocution
is amazing. I would assume that you enjoy the process
(13:31):
of interacting verbally.
Speaker 9 (13:33):
So it's kind of a wind well, yes, and let
me tell you kind of a little scenario when I
go out in public, Sometimes children especially, but other times
other people also will just stare because it look so
differently from everybody else, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And so it's nice to be able to be at a.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
Place like Walmart where the interaction is positive and all
I have to do really is say hi and just
kind of make conversation.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
That's great, you know.
Speaker 8 (14:01):
Interesting, So when you went to apply did you have
any idea? So sorry, let me go back when you
come out of the school in Erie that has a
special program for disabilities. What were some of the jobs
you did over the years.
Speaker 9 (14:18):
Well, I tried it in radio, I tried customer service.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I tried being.
Speaker 9 (14:23):
A receptionist in local government.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Actually, but just focus a little bit on that.
Speaker 9 (14:32):
There were too many other responsibilities that I had that
I couldn't quite couldn't quite pull off or execute the
way I would want to or the way that my
supervisors would want to because of the neurological issues.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Let's see what else.
Speaker 9 (14:50):
I've worked at amusement parks and Walmart. Honestly, was really
the best fit because of some of those other issues.
Speaker 8 (14:58):
So did you know they had kind of a special
affinity for disabled folks that were more than you had
a shot at get in the greeter's position, Because I'm
guessing you just don't apply to some jobs.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
That's exactly right, Okay, all.
Speaker 8 (15:11):
Right, so you go in and you know their receptive
to this, and do they give you any special training?
Speaker 9 (15:19):
Uh, just to look to see. Another part of the
job was asset protection, basically making sure that shoplifting does
not happen. So I just kind of look around and
see what's going on and check receipts and so forth.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
But you didn't like ram somebody if they tried to run.
Oh no, no, no, no, that would be.
Speaker 8 (15:40):
Cool at all, Okay, So you would check receipts on
their way out. And my brother before he was a
police officer, he was going to college and he worked
as asset protection as you called it, for Walmart. In fact,
this weekend, I was cleaning out some stuff from my
parents and I came across his what my mom had
held on.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
To his Walmart badges?
Speaker 8 (15:59):
Can you believe this from from thirty five years ago?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
But he he chased the guy. He didn't think you
should steal. He chased the guy, chased the.
Speaker 8 (16:09):
Guy out and tackled him and brought it and he
got fired. They rehired him, but he got fired because
they didn't they din't want him actually stopping people from
firing stuff. Jason Pontree trains with Walmart feeder. He's going
to tell his stories coming up. Drew writes, today, I
heard your conversation with the caller who has cerebral palsy.
(16:31):
It sounded as though you have an interest in electric wheelchairs.
I would draw your attention to an annual trade show
in Houston that caters to people who have a disability.
The focus is largely on mobility issues, but other disabilities
such as blindness and hearing are also addressed by the industry.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Well, who gets the barking spot?
Speaker 8 (16:53):
Really, that's your question, ramon, while I'm gonna you know what,
I'm not even I'm not No, you're not taking me
off my game today. While commercial vendors carry the show,
there are both with social service providers and nonprofit support outfits.
Several years ago, I participated as a vendor with a disability.
If you have a serious need in your family for
mobility assistance, I recommend an afternoon walk through at the
(17:16):
next Abilities Expo this summer. I have posted a link
to their website below, Abilities dot Com Forward Slash Houston.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
You know, this is such a great country.
Speaker 8 (17:30):
Whatever you can think of, there's a trade show an
entire industry. There are people focused yes on selling things.
Go listen to the Whole Foods founder talk about capitalism
and how capitalism is a great thing that leads to
innovation and if you want to see the difference between
(17:52):
capitalism and socialism. Go look at the grocery stores in Bulgaria.
My son was taking an entrepreneurism class year and each
they did groups of four and they had to come
up with a company that they're going to start a startup,
and they would if you agreed, then you would be
(18:12):
a person who was a potential user or investor, and
they would send you an email and they would first
identify the problem, let's say a mobility a particular mobility issue,
and then a solution, and then would you pay this
amount for this? Is this something you would use? Would
you be willing to pay this amount for it? How
often would you use it? That's how entrepreneurism, that's how
(18:33):
capitalism thinks, is solution providing solutions to problems. Sure, companies
can drive us crazy, but if I'm disabled, I want
to know that there are companies out there competing for
my dollar to make me a wheelchair that can go
up the ramps or go around the corners. Or Now
you've got these exoskeletons, that's a pretty amazing thing. I'll
(18:56):
tell you that you see those exoskeletons, Ramon and Neuralink
and Elon and their involvement.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
In this space.
Speaker 8 (19:04):
That man should win a Nobel prize for what they're doing. Jason,
I have some questions for you from listeners.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Are you are you?
Speaker 8 (19:11):
This wasn't in your contract, but are you willing to
take questions?
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I can stay till about a quarter till the hour?
Speaker 8 (19:17):
Yes, okay, all right, Linda writes, do greeters ever transition
to the Walmart receipt checker when you leave Walmart? You said, yes,
but have you ever checked a receipt and saw that
the person is a crook?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Is a thief? How did you confront the crook?
Speaker 9 (19:34):
Well, there are others in the asset protection department who
are looking at the cameras back in the back, who
would chip us off to a to a situation and
how to handle the given situation. So it is really
a collaborative kind of effort.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Okay, that makes me feel better, Jason.
Speaker 8 (19:56):
I still think it would have been awesome if you random
we could have put a cattleguardland.
Speaker 9 (20:01):
But yeah, it would have been fun to do that,
but it would have caused it would.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Be rewarding for you.
Speaker 8 (20:07):
You probably didn't get to play tackle football, so you
never got to hit someone nor get the snot knocked
out of you.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It'd be good.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
That's correct, all right.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
Cindy writes, when all the government debit cards were on hold,
did people really go as crazy as it was portrayed
on social media?
Speaker 9 (20:24):
Uh? Probably not that crazy, but it's all on camera.
So I mean, if you want to try it sometime
and go crazy, big brother is.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Watching you, as they say.
Speaker 8 (20:36):
She says, Are you a spiritual person? Do you pray
for the people you encounter? Thank you for your smile?
You make people's day by being kind?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he gives
me the strength to go from day to day. Yes.
Speaker 8 (20:50):
Blake writes, if he was retired and already collecting Social
Security or Social Security disability, did working for Walmart as
a greeter having any effect on your mind monthly social
Security rate?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
No?
Speaker 9 (21:04):
I did not receive any kind of government financial support
that way. I was a full time employee and blessed
to do so. Michael, Can I just say one other thing? Sure,
we in a special needs community are blessed to.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Live in America.
Speaker 9 (21:21):
Only in America can we have a contribution to society
the way that we were able to do. Nowhere else
in the world could we do what we do here.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Amen, what a great perspective. You know, I'm a big
believer in attitude and perspective. And when someone is complaining
about everything and I say to them, you just need
to change your perspective, you need to have a different
approach to that, they'll say, well, I can't because and
then they go back to the thing that they're using
as their crutch. You have a real crutch, a real
(21:54):
legitimate crutch, and yet you don't see it as that.
You have such a great attitude. You you know, when
I when I asked you to be on the show,
it was just purely because you were a greeter. And
with all due respect you being a greeter is the
fifteenth most interesting thing. Your perspective, your ability to push
through the hand you were dealt, your ability to be
(22:14):
a witness. It's incredible. I am in awe. I will
think about this show a week from now.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Jason, Well, thank you, thank you. I'm so glad you.
Speaker 8 (22:25):
Took the time to email me. I am so glad
you did that. I love the fact that you seek
purpose in your life. When you could sit around and
let other people feel sorry for you and baby you,
And yet you don't because that would be the easier
way out. But what you're doing is far more fulfilling.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yes, it is fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
That's the word. That's the word, really good for you.
Are your parents still alive?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yes, they are. They're both seventy six years old.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
You live with them? Yes? And did they come to
the Walmart while you were working?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Sometimes? Yes?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Would you while you were working and you were on
your break, would you ever go and purchase anything? Yes?
Did you get a discount?
Speaker 9 (23:17):
Yes?
Speaker 8 (23:17):
Tell me one thing about working at Walmart that people
don't know, wouldn't expect. Can be good, can be bad,
can be neither.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Well. Walmart is very diverse.
Speaker 9 (23:30):
It draws a lot of customers and a lot of employees.
So whether or not as employees, whether we spoke the
same language or not, it was a it was a
great environment.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I mean, we were all.
Speaker 9 (23:42):
Friends and all kind of working toward the same goal.
It was a really brotherhood and sisterhood kind of experience.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That's good to hear. So you looked forward to going to.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Work, Oh of course, yes.
Speaker 8 (23:54):
What was the reaction of people when you walked in
and they saw someone in a wheelchair with such a
cheerful counttance.
Speaker 9 (24:02):
Oh, it was just great to build relationships and learn
people's stories. I mean, the regulars would come in and
whether or not we knew one another's names.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
It was like, you know, we recognized one another. We
built that rapport, that camaraderie. You know. It was great, wonderful,
great experience.
Speaker 8 (24:20):
It's interesting you say that, Jason, because I believe that
little moments like that, chance encounters, random acts of kindness.
I think that's what grounds us and keeps us going
because we have we have allowed a system to establish
and in the process we've kind of perpetuated it of rage,
anger and rage bait and this anxiety and all these things.
(24:47):
And it's amazing to me how a kind word to
someone can just seemingly change their disposition and maybe change
their hour or their day.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And it's it's a powerful thing.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
And you obviously that because all of the things that
keep the rest of us pulled down you don't have.
You've got a very narrow space you're working in, and
within that space you have seen glory.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I love it.
Speaker 8 (25:10):
Jason poncher Train, thank you for sharing up with the Michael.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Barrys, That's how I found my first Ten Wives listener.
Speaker 8 (25:19):
Robert Reeves of iHeartMedia Fame says, why do they always
check my receipt but never my wife? Is it the tattoos,
bloodshot eyes, or grace wetpants that.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Get me stopped? See?
Speaker 8 (25:32):
The thing is about Robert Reeves is a dude makes
a million dollars a year. He's got He's the most
financially successful sales rep in radio Houston radio history. He
is incredibly buttoned up. He goes to breakfast, lunch, and
dinner with a different show sponsor every single day. He
never takes the day off. He's incredibly focused. But the
(25:54):
dude is a mess. Like that's the appearance. You go, Okay,
here's his success, Here's here's what he does. Here's how
good he is. I hold him up as the model
of relationship management.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
You know, he's not a salesman.
Speaker 8 (26:08):
People have the idea of a salesman as a guy
that wants to, you know, stick the Scotch guard on
at the end of your purchase. But here's a guy
that's a real relationship manager. In fact, I argue with
him all the time because he'll say no I don't
think that that particular sponsor needs to spend more money.
I'm not sure we'll get results for it. And he
would make money off of them spending more money. And
I'll say, yeah, they've got additional bandwidth, and here's where
(26:30):
we are, and here's what I think they should do.
I don't think people should either. But the point is
he will argue back even to his own contrary to
his own financial interest. And yet when he's off work,
he's like the usual suspects or something, and you think,
to yourself, that's this jekylin Hyde kind of deal. I
think they do stop him at the at the Walmart,
(26:51):
and I think they don't stop his wife is partly
because she's hot, But you figure they would stop her
because she's hot, right, Excuse me? I mean cops are
more likely to stop a hot woman than an not
hot woman, when we know that that's been verified. Clint
Pustayovski writes Czar, I was shocked to learn I had
heart problems a few months ago. You know, when a
(27:12):
guy's name Postayovski, I expect he has heart problems, don't
you like doabars, you just expect to do It's got,
you know, sky high numbers. After a stress test and
a heart catheticization catheterization catheterization, I learned I had ninety
five and ninety percent blockages. I was told if I
(27:34):
had blockages over seventy percent, I would have to have
open heart surgery with a long and hard recovery. A
friend from the third grade told me she was able
to receive five stints and one blockage with one blockage
even being at one hundred per oh.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I read that wrong.
Speaker 8 (27:53):
A friend of mine from the third grade told me
she was able to receive five stints with one blockage
even being at one hundred percent. Gave me the name
of the doctor who did the procedures. My wife and
I went for a second opinion with doctor alpes Shah,
who's an interventional cardiologist. He was able to fix my
multiple blockages with two stints no open heart surgery. It
(28:13):
appears that the standard line is quote, if you have
more than two blockages or blockages above seventy percent, you
need CABG, which is bypass surgery. I want to let
your audience know that there can be other options in
many cases, and if you're able, maybe get a second opinion,
have a blessed day, Clint Postayovski.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
The reason I read that is this is not a simple.
Speaker 8 (28:40):
Conversation to have, and a lot of people want simple,
set it and forget it. Give me my answer, tell
me what to do. Don't complicate things as good b
as bad. This is what I've always been told. Don't
question anything. First of all, as I told my mother
many many times. Are not gods. They are people who
(29:03):
went to medical school. It's not easy to get in.
But being good in organic, because that's the class in
college that typically is the separator. Being good in a
particular class at providing the answers that the professor wants
does not make you a great doctor. There has to
be some way that you determine who's going to be
(29:23):
a doctor and who's not. You could say, anyone able
to throw a eighty five mile an hour fastball, or
anybody able to throw a screwball, or anybody able to
kick a soccer ball through the goal from forty yards,
or anybody able to win a Pat McAfee challenge, or
anybody over six feet tall or under five four.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
You could do anything.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
Now, how you do an organic is probably more related
to whether you're going to be a good doctor than
kicking a field goal. But the point is it's not determinative.
So then you have medical school and you go through
the courses in you learn the things.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
How well do you.
Speaker 8 (30:00):
Learn the things you're supposed to learn, We don't really know.
You create tests to try to determine how well someone
has learned something, but you know that that's not necessarily.
I can tell you that some of the best lawyers
I knew from law school were C students. And it
is widely discussed and hilarious fact that the C students
are going to get rich and the A students are
(30:20):
going to become alcoholics working for defense firms downtown. And
that's not criminal defense, that's corporate defense. The big money
is for the poor students. But often poor students, for
poor students because and you may have this with your
own children, Often poor students for poor students, because they're
not rule followers, they're free thinkers, they're elon musk. Our
school system was established to create compliant, little peasants, little
(30:45):
industrial workers who would show up and do what they're
supposed to do. That is not a sign of intelligence.
A lot of people think it is the school system
does not reward or encourage in any way shape or
form intelligence, Creativityeople who do great things in our society
are more often than not actually good students. Witness Steve
(31:05):
jobs Zuckerberg, weird as he is, did something special.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
He dropped out of school. He didn't finish at.
Speaker 8 (31:12):
Harvard, even though he did get in really really really
smart people till and Fatita didn't go to college. He's
done pretty well for himself. Had a friend David Sapristein
who became a billionaire. He didn't go to college, went
to work at eighteen at a car dealership. All that
by way of saying that doctors are not God's. It's
not that you walk. Many people believe this, that you
(31:34):
walk into a doctor's office. If we can just get
to the doctor's lowice, we'll survive. And you walk in
the doctor's office and you sit down, and the doctor
comes sweeping in, and you've already spent two hours in
the lobby and filling out a bunch of stupid documents
that you've already filled out before, and the insurance in
this and the nurse and for whatever reason, they've taken
your temperature and stuck something up your butt and they've
(31:56):
done your blood pressure. So you're like, yeah, I'm about
to be he well, nothing's actually happened.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
But people, it's part of the trappings.
Speaker 9 (32:04):
Right.
Speaker 8 (32:05):
You got there, you got all dressed up, you went down,
you parked, you got in the elevator, you went up,
you went to all the little doors. Oh this is ours,
so and so medical associates. And then you waited and
you watch the other people and you wondered what they have,
and then you go in. The doctor comes, he comes
sweeping in, and all of a sudden, everything is gonna
(32:26):
be fine because he's here now, and he's just gonna
tell me. He's just gonna heal me with the Midas touch.
It doesn't work that way. He's only going to react
to what you tell him. Garbage in, garbage out. We've
come to learn people who think, and who are curious,
and who read and who engage and who question, that
(32:48):
oftentimes you can know more about your condition than the
doctor does. Doctors are instruments. They're not gods. They're not
the solution. They're a person trying to help get to
the solution. And you're as if not more important to
that process than they are. If you go to the
doctor and simply do what they tell you, then you
(33:09):
deserve what you get. Well, I just don't know. Learn
it's your body. You've got some hobby that you spend
untold hours pursuing. And if you don't, then you're watching
Mariy Povich.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Is that still on remo? Focus on your own.
Speaker 8 (33:28):
Body and your own health, and question and ask for
second opinions. And before you go to the doctor and
know as much as he does, know every one of
your symptoms, write them down, read about what people say
and don't take one person's opinion online because there's coops
out there, because there are a lot of solutions that
people don't realize.
It's that time, time, time, time, Luck and load. The
Michael Verie Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
But chief also checks another box when it comes to.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Inclusivity and diversity and this department. She's a proud member
of the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
That just kind of opens the door of people that thought, Oh,
I didn't even know that that was an opportunity for me.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Nobody got time for it. I'm super inspired.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
She took time out of her already busy schedule to
tell us about her vision for the department's future, one
that includes a three year strategic plan to increase diversity.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
People ask me, what number are you looking for us,
I'm looking for a number is never enough.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Thirty three hundred city firefighters. Only one hundred and fifteen
are women. Right now, She's already looking at ways to
change that. She's quick to point out that doing so
has a greater purpose attracting the best and brightest for
the job.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
They feel included, they feel valued, and they feel part
of a cohesive team.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
You might have recall a new story from last year.
There was some interest in the fire departments and the
firefighters in California, and the interest was there were too
many white men who were firefighters, and we need to
have a program in California to make sure we don't
have enough white men as firefighters.
Speaker 6 (01:48):
They said, we have no water. I said, do you
have a drought. No, we don't have a drought. I said,
why don't you have no water? Because the water isn't
allowed to flow down. It's got a natural flow from
Canada all the way up north, more water than they
could have a use. And in order to protect a
tiny little fish, the water up north gets routed into
(02:09):
the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water
gets poured. I could have water for all of that land,
water for your forests. You know your forests are dry
as a bone. Okay, dangerous that water could be routed.
You know, you could have everything.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
What is restitution with water? Obviously in the al sage
ran out last night and the hydrants. I turned the
firefighter in this block.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
They left because there were no water in the hydrants here.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Local folks are going to figure that out.
Speaker 7 (02:53):
Do you go citizens an apology for being absent while
their homes were burning? Do you regret coming the our
department budget by millions of dollars?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Not a there.
Speaker 7 (03:04):
Have you nothing to say today? Elon Mosk says that
you're utterly incompetent.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Are you considering your position.
Speaker 7 (03:18):
Ada mayor have you absolutely nothing to say to the
citizens today?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
You're dealing with this disaster.
Speaker 8 (03:42):
When listener writes your remarks about comparing volunteer firefighters with
the idiot in Galveston pretending to be an ice agent,
we're very disparaging. We do the same job putting our
lives on the line. We do it for the community.
Good grief, folks. If you're on your period, please wait
(04:06):
till you're off to send me an email.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Good grief.
Speaker 8 (04:11):
I said that that idiot pretending to be an ice
agent must have thought to himself, well, if there's volunteer
firefighters and I'm just being a volunteer ice agent, that
was an insult of that dude. That is not an
insult to volunteer firefighters. But I'll tell you what happened there.
(04:36):
This dude doesn't think he gets enough respect for being
a volunteer firefighter, so he's running around looking for people
who are showing a lack of respect to volunteer firefighters,
and he thinks he just trapped one.
Speaker 9 (04:50):
Me.
Speaker 8 (04:52):
You know, we have to be careful because remember, he's
listening to our show, so you can have a pretty
good idea how he thinks his politics and are just
be careful that you're not so obsessed or so influenced
by the idiocy of the left that you adopt their principles.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
If you think I'm out.
Speaker 8 (05:15):
Here insulting volunteer firefighters, maybe you need a perspective check
because everyone knows I'm not. So why would you think
I am. Let's dig deeper into that. Do you need
to be a victim?
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Today? Is today?
Speaker 8 (05:35):
Victim Day for you is today? Pay more attention to
be day for you is today? You know I go
up there and volunteer and then you know people bring
donuts those fire stations and we don't even get paid,
and we do it because we love the community, and
no one ever tells.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Me thank you. Is that what this is? Because it's.
Speaker 8 (06:02):
Won't you just ask for a pat on the back
and I'll give it to you. I think being a
volunteer firefighters cool.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I really do.
Speaker 8 (06:10):
In communities where they can't afford a full time firefighter
fire department, the fact that people in the community did
that's what.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Public service is. Supposed to be.
Speaker 8 (06:19):
That's what serving the legislature or Congress is supposed to be.
That's what a reserve deputy is all about. Our government
wasn't meant to be full time professionals at every level
all the time, with fat pensions and union contracts and
breaking the backs of taxpayers to fund these things. It
was supposed to be everybody pitching in as parents and
(06:43):
school teachers and volunteer firefighters. But if you find yourself
during that time of the month getting butt hurt or
worse over something I've said, just stop for a second
and ask yourself. I got a nice message from a
fellow named Jason Pontratrain, and he said that he appreciated
(07:08):
the fact that I had spoken nicely about Walmart readers.
And I did so for one reason because I always
thought it was the sweetest concept. I thought it was
a brilliant business idea brilliant business idea, because you have
this faceless corporation, and this is how you put a
face on it. If you're a company in Arkansas and
(07:32):
you've got a Walmart in Lobock or Alabama, and it's
this cold, clinical four wall stores, and you've just put
the local business out of business that was owned by
Bob and Jane had been there.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
For thirty years.
Speaker 8 (07:46):
You've got to figure out a way, some way to
make just feel like a local company, to give a
local flavor to it. You're not going to let somebody
run it because you're Walmart. So you find usually an
old person in the community. You put them into front
and the only job they have so they can never
get distracted by it. They don't they don't keep the
(08:06):
bathrooms clean, they don't take returns, and only job they
have is.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
To greet you as you come in and it improves
the experience.
Speaker 8 (08:14):
And we have Jason poncer Train one such Walmart reader
who will be our guest coming up. If you have
a question you've always wanted to ask a Walmart reader,
send me an email through the website Michael Berryshow.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Dot com and or list. So I dropped and then
I tell you, Michael very I recommend it, and you.
Speaker 8 (08:32):
Jason poncer Train was the aforementioned person who emailed us
who had experience as a Walmart reader and appreciated our
respect and.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Appreciation for them, And we do.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
We do.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Jason.
Speaker 8 (08:44):
Welcome to the program, Sir him Michael. Now you were
in the state of Michigan.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Is that right?
Speaker 9 (08:50):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
No, sir, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. They're all the same. To me.
Speaker 8 (08:54):
It's like if somebody says they're from Guatemala, I just
say they're Mexican.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Gotcha? So how long did you work at Walmart?
Speaker 9 (09:01):
About two years?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay? And what occasioned you applying to Walmart?
Speaker 8 (09:07):
Did you go there as a greeter or did you
go there just looking for a job.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
I just went there looking for a job.
Speaker 9 (09:14):
But because of my cerebral palsy and the electric wheelchair
that I use, it just worked out best.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That i'd be a greeter. Are you full time in
an electric wheelchair? Yes? What brand? What brand would be?
Quickie to Q seven hundred? What your model? And horsepower
of a wheelchair?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Well?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Was an honor?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
These things can fly?
Speaker 8 (09:39):
Well, I would want to know if I'm getting a
wheelchair that I'm not getting, you know, the toilet of
tersell of wheelchairs. I want something. I want the Hennessy model.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
We can raise sometime.
Speaker 8 (09:51):
So does cerebral palsy help me understand? Because I mean
I just know of it. I can't tell you much
about it. Are you able to walk at all ever?
Speaker 9 (10:01):
Or not at all?
Speaker 1 (10:02):
My body is very gnarled. Okay, and tell me exactly
what happens there.
Speaker 9 (10:10):
Well, I was born nine weeks premature in nineteen seventy four,
and without oxygen the brain dies and so I stopped
breathing as an infant and the damage was done, you know.
Speaker 8 (10:26):
Okay, So help me understand how the lack of oxygen
manifests itself in the condition you have that do you know?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You may not know. I'm just curious.
Speaker 8 (10:36):
Usually people know their conditions inside and out.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Well.
Speaker 9 (10:39):
Cerebrabopalsy is a neurological condition, so it's a very wide
ranging condition. So for example, if you see somebody who
walks with kind of a clumsy walk and can't speak so, well,
that could be a cerebral palsy or someone like me.
I can talk just but I can't walk at all,
(11:01):
and my body is really stiff.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You know, have you never walked? That's correct? I have
never walked? Oh wow?
Speaker 8 (11:08):
Okay, yeah, so growing up, I'm assuming an electric wheelchair
was not an option.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
That's correct.
Speaker 9 (11:17):
I did not get an electric wheelchair until I was fifteen.
Speaker 8 (11:21):
Yeah, all right, and then so what is your upper
body dexterity?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I have good use I should.
Speaker 9 (11:33):
Say better use of my arms, no use of my legs.
I am left handed, my right hand can't do a
whole lot.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
But yeah, but you can fully function using the remote
control in your hand.
Speaker 9 (11:51):
Yes, so I'm holding the cell phone in my left
hand right now. I could not hold it in my
right hand.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
If that helps you it at all?
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Yeah, it does. So at what age do you decide? So?
Had you worked as an adult your entire life.
Speaker 9 (12:06):
I had struggled to find employment. I was able to
go to college. Edinburgh University in Erie, Pennsylvania has special
programs for the disabled, and so that's how I was
able to go to college. Yeah, so yes, yeah, And
what are those programs?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
What do people primarily do coming out of that program?
Speaker 9 (12:28):
Coming out of that program? Well, I'll tell you about
my experience. I have a degree in speech communication. It
was my desire to go into radio, really, but telling
you about some of those neurological issues. I have some
of those difficulties that make some other aspects of life
very difficult, which is why I enjoyed working at Walmart
(12:53):
because I could focus on one thing at a time
just talking to people, just interacting.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know that makes sense?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You know, well, what makes sense is my suspicion.
Speaker 8 (13:04):
I can't know what I don't know, and the difficulties
you go through we take for granted.
Speaker 9 (13:09):
All.
Speaker 8 (13:09):
You don't know how you go to the restroom. I
don't know how you feed yourself. I don't know how
you get to the grocery store. You know, all those
things that we just kind of take for granted. But
I would imagine that there would be a sense of
purpose to being useful because you're the face of the
company and somebody walks in the door and your elocution
is amazing. I would assume that you enjoy the process
(13:31):
of interacting verbally.
Speaker 9 (13:33):
So it's kind of a wind well, yes, and let
me tell you kind of a little scenario when I
go out in public, Sometimes children especially, but other times
other people also will just stare because it look so
differently from everybody else, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And so it's nice to be able to be at a.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
Place like Walmart where the interaction is positive and all
I have to do really is say hi and just
kind of make conversation.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
That's great, you know.
Speaker 8 (14:01):
Interesting, So when you went to apply did you have
any idea? So sorry, let me go back when you
come out of the school in Erie that has a
special program for disabilities. What were some of the jobs
you did over the years.
Speaker 9 (14:18):
Well, I tried it in radio, I tried customer service.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I tried being.
Speaker 9 (14:23):
A receptionist in local government.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Actually, but just focus a little bit on that.
Speaker 9 (14:32):
There were too many other responsibilities that I had that
I couldn't quite couldn't quite pull off or execute the
way I would want to or the way that my
supervisors would want to because of the neurological issues.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Let's see what else.
Speaker 9 (14:50):
I've worked at amusement parks and Walmart. Honestly, was really
the best fit because of some of those other issues.
Speaker 8 (14:58):
So did you know they had kind of a special
affinity for disabled folks that were more than you had
a shot at get in the greeter's position, Because I'm
guessing you just don't apply to some jobs.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
That's exactly right, Okay, all.
Speaker 8 (15:11):
Right, so you go in and you know their receptive
to this, and do they give you any special training?
Speaker 9 (15:19):
Uh, just to look to see. Another part of the
job was asset protection, basically making sure that shoplifting does
not happen. So I just kind of look around and
see what's going on and check receipts and so forth.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
But you didn't like ram somebody if they tried to run.
Oh no, no, no, no, that would be.
Speaker 8 (15:40):
Cool at all, Okay, So you would check receipts on
their way out. And my brother before he was a
police officer, he was going to college and he worked
as asset protection as you called it, for Walmart. In fact,
this weekend, I was cleaning out some stuff from my
parents and I came across his what my mom had
held on.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
To his Walmart badges?
Speaker 8 (15:59):
Can you believe this from from thirty five years ago?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
But he he chased the guy. He didn't think you
should steal. He chased the guy, chased the.
Speaker 8 (16:09):
Guy out and tackled him and brought it and he
got fired. They rehired him, but he got fired because
they didn't they din't want him actually stopping people from
firing stuff. Jason Pontree trains with Walmart feeder. He's going
to tell his stories coming up. Drew writes, today, I
heard your conversation with the caller who has cerebral palsy.
(16:31):
It sounded as though you have an interest in electric wheelchairs.
I would draw your attention to an annual trade show
in Houston that caters to people who have a disability.
The focus is largely on mobility issues, but other disabilities
such as blindness and hearing are also addressed by the industry.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Well, who gets the barking spot?
Speaker 8 (16:53):
Really, that's your question, ramon, while I'm gonna you know what,
I'm not even I'm not No, you're not taking me
off my game today. While commercial vendors carry the show,
there are both with social service providers and nonprofit support outfits.
Several years ago, I participated as a vendor with a disability.
If you have a serious need in your family for
mobility assistance, I recommend an afternoon walk through at the
(17:16):
next Abilities Expo this summer. I have posted a link
to their website below, Abilities dot Com Forward Slash Houston.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
You know, this is such a great country.
Speaker 8 (17:30):
Whatever you can think of, there's a trade show an
entire industry. There are people focused yes on selling things.
Go listen to the Whole Foods founder talk about capitalism
and how capitalism is a great thing that leads to
innovation and if you want to see the difference between
(17:52):
capitalism and socialism. Go look at the grocery stores in Bulgaria.
My son was taking an entrepreneurism class year and each
they did groups of four and they had to come
up with a company that they're going to start a startup,
and they would if you agreed, then you would be
(18:12):
a person who was a potential user or investor, and
they would send you an email and they would first
identify the problem, let's say a mobility a particular mobility issue,
and then a solution, and then would you pay this
amount for this? Is this something you would use? Would
you be willing to pay this amount for it? How
often would you use it? That's how entrepreneurism, that's how
(18:33):
capitalism thinks, is solution providing solutions to problems. Sure, companies
can drive us crazy, but if I'm disabled, I want
to know that there are companies out there competing for
my dollar to make me a wheelchair that can go
up the ramps or go around the corners. Or Now
you've got these exoskeletons, that's a pretty amazing thing. I'll
(18:56):
tell you that you see those exoskeletons, Ramon and Neuralink
and Elon and their involvement.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
In this space.
Speaker 8 (19:04):
That man should win a Nobel prize for what they're doing. Jason,
I have some questions for you from listeners.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Are you are you?
Speaker 8 (19:11):
This wasn't in your contract, but are you willing to
take questions?
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I can stay till about a quarter till the hour?
Speaker 8 (19:17):
Yes, okay, all right, Linda writes, do greeters ever transition
to the Walmart receipt checker when you leave Walmart? You said, yes,
but have you ever checked a receipt and saw that
the person is a crook?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Is a thief? How did you confront the crook?
Speaker 9 (19:34):
Well, there are others in the asset protection department who
are looking at the cameras back in the back, who
would chip us off to a to a situation and
how to handle the given situation. So it is really
a collaborative kind of effort.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Okay, that makes me feel better, Jason.
Speaker 8 (19:56):
I still think it would have been awesome if you random
we could have put a cattleguardland.
Speaker 9 (20:01):
But yeah, it would have been fun to do that,
but it would have caused it would.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Be rewarding for you.
Speaker 8 (20:07):
You probably didn't get to play tackle football, so you
never got to hit someone nor get the snot knocked
out of you.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It'd be good.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
That's correct, all right.
Speaker 8 (20:16):
Cindy writes, when all the government debit cards were on hold,
did people really go as crazy as it was portrayed
on social media?
Speaker 9 (20:24):
Uh? Probably not that crazy, but it's all on camera.
So I mean, if you want to try it sometime
and go crazy, big brother is.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Watching you, as they say.
Speaker 8 (20:36):
She says, Are you a spiritual person? Do you pray
for the people you encounter? Thank you for your smile?
You make people's day by being kind?
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he gives
me the strength to go from day to day. Yes.
Speaker 8 (20:50):
Blake writes, if he was retired and already collecting Social
Security or Social Security disability, did working for Walmart as
a greeter having any effect on your mind monthly social
Security rate?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
No?
Speaker 9 (21:04):
I did not receive any kind of government financial support
that way. I was a full time employee and blessed
to do so. Michael, Can I just say one other thing? Sure,
we in a special needs community are blessed to.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Live in America.
Speaker 9 (21:21):
Only in America can we have a contribution to society
the way that we were able to do. Nowhere else
in the world could we do what we do here.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Amen, what a great perspective. You know, I'm a big
believer in attitude and perspective. And when someone is complaining
about everything and I say to them, you just need
to change your perspective, you need to have a different
approach to that, they'll say, well, I can't because and
then they go back to the thing that they're using
as their crutch. You have a real crutch, a real
(21:54):
legitimate crutch, and yet you don't see it as that.
You have such a great attitude. You you know, when
I when I asked you to be on the show,
it was just purely because you were a greeter. And
with all due respect you being a greeter is the
fifteenth most interesting thing. Your perspective, your ability to push
through the hand you were dealt, your ability to be
(22:14):
a witness. It's incredible. I am in awe. I will
think about this show a week from now.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Jason, Well, thank you, thank you. I'm so glad you.
Speaker 8 (22:25):
Took the time to email me. I am so glad
you did that. I love the fact that you seek
purpose in your life. When you could sit around and
let other people feel sorry for you and baby you,
And yet you don't because that would be the easier
way out. But what you're doing is far more fulfilling.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yes, it is fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
That's the word. That's the word, really good for you.
Are your parents still alive?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yes, they are. They're both seventy six years old.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
You live with them? Yes? And did they come to
the Walmart while you were working?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Sometimes? Yes?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Would you while you were working and you were on
your break, would you ever go and purchase anything? Yes?
Did you get a discount?
Speaker 9 (23:17):
Yes?
Speaker 8 (23:17):
Tell me one thing about working at Walmart that people
don't know, wouldn't expect. Can be good, can be bad,
can be neither.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Well. Walmart is very diverse.
Speaker 9 (23:30):
It draws a lot of customers and a lot of employees.
So whether or not as employees, whether we spoke the
same language or not, it was a it was a
great environment.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I mean, we were all.
Speaker 9 (23:42):
Friends and all kind of working toward the same goal.
It was a really brotherhood and sisterhood kind of experience.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That's good to hear. So you looked forward to going to.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Work, Oh of course, yes.
Speaker 8 (23:54):
What was the reaction of people when you walked in
and they saw someone in a wheelchair with such a
cheerful counttance.
Speaker 9 (24:02):
Oh, it was just great to build relationships and learn
people's stories. I mean, the regulars would come in and
whether or not we knew one another's names.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
It was like, you know, we recognized one another. We
built that rapport, that camaraderie. You know. It was great, wonderful,
great experience.
Speaker 8 (24:20):
It's interesting you say that, Jason, because I believe that
little moments like that, chance encounters, random acts of kindness.
I think that's what grounds us and keeps us going
because we have we have allowed a system to establish
and in the process we've kind of perpetuated it of rage,
anger and rage bait and this anxiety and all these things.
(24:47):
And it's amazing to me how a kind word to
someone can just seemingly change their disposition and maybe change
their hour or their day.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And it's it's a powerful thing.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
And you obviously that because all of the things that
keep the rest of us pulled down you don't have.
You've got a very narrow space you're working in, and
within that space you have seen glory.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I love it.
Speaker 8 (25:10):
Jason poncher Train, thank you for sharing up with the Michael.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Barrys, That's how I found my first Ten Wives listener.
Speaker 8 (25:19):
Robert Reeves of iHeartMedia Fame says, why do they always
check my receipt but never my wife? Is it the tattoos,
bloodshot eyes, or grace wetpants that.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Get me stopped? See?
Speaker 8 (25:32):
The thing is about Robert Reeves is a dude makes
a million dollars a year. He's got He's the most
financially successful sales rep in radio Houston radio history. He
is incredibly buttoned up. He goes to breakfast, lunch, and
dinner with a different show sponsor every single day. He
never takes the day off. He's incredibly focused. But the
(25:54):
dude is a mess. Like that's the appearance. You go, Okay,
here's his success, Here's here's what he does. Here's how
good he is. I hold him up as the model
of relationship management.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
You know, he's not a salesman.
Speaker 8 (26:08):
People have the idea of a salesman as a guy
that wants to, you know, stick the Scotch guard on
at the end of your purchase. But here's a guy
that's a real relationship manager. In fact, I argue with
him all the time because he'll say no I don't
think that that particular sponsor needs to spend more money.
I'm not sure we'll get results for it. And he
would make money off of them spending more money. And
I'll say, yeah, they've got additional bandwidth, and here's where
(26:30):
we are, and here's what I think they should do.
I don't think people should either. But the point is
he will argue back even to his own contrary to
his own financial interest. And yet when he's off work,
he's like the usual suspects or something, and you think,
to yourself, that's this jekylin Hyde kind of deal. I
think they do stop him at the at the Walmart,
(26:51):
and I think they don't stop his wife is partly
because she's hot, But you figure they would stop her
because she's hot, right, Excuse me? I mean cops are
more likely to stop a hot woman than an not
hot woman, when we know that that's been verified. Clint
Pustayovski writes Czar, I was shocked to learn I had
heart problems a few months ago. You know, when a
(27:12):
guy's name Postayovski, I expect he has heart problems, don't
you like doabars, you just expect to do It's got,
you know, sky high numbers. After a stress test and
a heart catheticization catheterization catheterization, I learned I had ninety
five and ninety percent blockages. I was told if I
(27:34):
had blockages over seventy percent, I would have to have
open heart surgery with a long and hard recovery. A
friend from the third grade told me she was able
to receive five stints and one blockage with one blockage
even being at one hundred per oh.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I read that wrong.
Speaker 8 (27:53):
A friend of mine from the third grade told me
she was able to receive five stints with one blockage
even being at one hundred percent. Gave me the name
of the doctor who did the procedures. My wife and
I went for a second opinion with doctor alpes Shah,
who's an interventional cardiologist. He was able to fix my
multiple blockages with two stints no open heart surgery. It
(28:13):
appears that the standard line is quote, if you have
more than two blockages or blockages above seventy percent, you
need CABG, which is bypass surgery. I want to let
your audience know that there can be other options in
many cases, and if you're able, maybe get a second opinion,
have a blessed day, Clint Postayovski.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
The reason I read that is this is not a simple.
Speaker 8 (28:40):
Conversation to have, and a lot of people want simple,
set it and forget it. Give me my answer, tell
me what to do. Don't complicate things as good b
as bad. This is what I've always been told. Don't
question anything. First of all, as I told my mother
many many times. Are not gods. They are people who
(29:03):
went to medical school. It's not easy to get in.
But being good in organic, because that's the class in
college that typically is the separator. Being good in a
particular class at providing the answers that the professor wants
does not make you a great doctor. There has to
be some way that you determine who's going to be
(29:23):
a doctor and who's not. You could say, anyone able
to throw a eighty five mile an hour fastball, or
anybody able to throw a screwball, or anybody able to
kick a soccer ball through the goal from forty yards,
or anybody able to win a Pat McAfee challenge, or
anybody over six feet tall or under five four.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
You could do anything.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
Now, how you do an organic is probably more related
to whether you're going to be a good doctor than
kicking a field goal. But the point is it's not determinative.
So then you have medical school and you go through
the courses in you learn the things.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
How well do you.
Speaker 8 (30:00):
Learn the things you're supposed to learn, We don't really know.
You create tests to try to determine how well someone
has learned something, but you know that that's not necessarily.
I can tell you that some of the best lawyers
I knew from law school were C students. And it
is widely discussed and hilarious fact that the C students
are going to get rich and the A students are
(30:20):
going to become alcoholics working for defense firms downtown. And
that's not criminal defense, that's corporate defense. The big money
is for the poor students. But often poor students, for
poor students because and you may have this with your
own children, Often poor students for poor students, because they're
not rule followers, they're free thinkers, they're elon musk. Our
school system was established to create compliant, little peasants, little
(30:45):
industrial workers who would show up and do what they're
supposed to do. That is not a sign of intelligence.
A lot of people think it is the school system
does not reward or encourage in any way shape or
form intelligence, Creativityeople who do great things in our society
are more often than not actually good students. Witness Steve
(31:05):
jobs Zuckerberg, weird as he is, did something special.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
He dropped out of school. He didn't finish at.
Speaker 8 (31:12):
Harvard, even though he did get in really really really
smart people till and Fatita didn't go to college. He's
done pretty well for himself. Had a friend David Sapristein
who became a billionaire. He didn't go to college, went
to work at eighteen at a car dealership. All that
by way of saying that doctors are not God's. It's
not that you walk. Many people believe this, that you
(31:34):
walk into a doctor's office. If we can just get
to the doctor's lowice, we'll survive. And you walk in
the doctor's office and you sit down, and the doctor
comes sweeping in, and you've already spent two hours in
the lobby and filling out a bunch of stupid documents
that you've already filled out before, and the insurance in
this and the nurse and for whatever reason, they've taken
your temperature and stuck something up your butt and they've
(31:56):
done your blood pressure. So you're like, yeah, I'm about
to be he well, nothing's actually happened.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
But people, it's part of the trappings.
Speaker 9 (32:04):
Right.
Speaker 8 (32:05):
You got there, you got all dressed up, you went down,
you parked, you got in the elevator, you went up,
you went to all the little doors. Oh this is ours,
so and so medical associates. And then you waited and
you watch the other people and you wondered what they have,
and then you go in. The doctor comes, he comes
sweeping in, and all of a sudden, everything is gonna
(32:26):
be fine because he's here now, and he's just gonna
tell me. He's just gonna heal me with the Midas touch.
It doesn't work that way. He's only going to react
to what you tell him. Garbage in, garbage out. We've
come to learn people who think, and who are curious,
and who read and who engage and who question, that
(32:48):
oftentimes you can know more about your condition than the
doctor does. Doctors are instruments. They're not gods. They're not
the solution. They're a person trying to help get to
the solution. And you're as if not more important to
that process than they are. If you go to the
doctor and simply do what they tell you, then you
(33:09):
deserve what you get. Well, I just don't know. Learn
it's your body. You've got some hobby that you spend
untold hours pursuing. And if you don't, then you're watching
Mariy Povich.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
Is that still on remo? Focus on your own.
Speaker 8 (33:28):
Body and your own health, and question and ask for
second opinions. And before you go to the doctor and
know as much as he does, know every one of
your symptoms, write them down, read about what people say
and don't take one person's opinion online because there's coops
out there, because there are a lot of solutions that
people don't realize.
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