AM Show Hr 3 | Mattress Mac on Why America’s Furniture is No Longer American

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's that time time, time, luck and load. So Michael
Varie Show is on the air. In twenty sixteen, early

(00:27):
twenty sixteen, a book came out by a woman named
Selena Zito. I didn't know who she was, but several
people recommended I read it, so I did. It was
called The Great Revolt, and it was a bellweather piece
for telling Trump's victory. It's hard for people to remember.

(00:52):
People tend to think that whatever happened was ordained to happen,
and of course that was gonna happen. Of course we
were going to land at Normandy and win, and of
course we were going to defeat Hitler. But doesn't work
like that. I mean, of course we were going to
beat the Cardinals, and you know it was over and

(01:12):
Puhols hits that home run off lights out lytch, which
just wasn't supposed to happen, and everything you thought was
going to happen wasn't. Of course, we were going to
beat the Bills. We were up big, and Frank Reich's
a backup and it changed, right, These things happen. So
there is a story in that book she really went

(01:33):
out into the hinterlands that the bycoastal elites of LA
and New York and DC don't know anything about. And
she told stories about real people and it was turning
out that they were end up supporting Trump. And she
told the story about a woman who was a baker,
and it was such a moving story to me. This

(01:56):
lady had been had worked, and she was a single mom.
She worked in dispatch at the Sheriff's department, and I
think she was there for ten years in dispatch, and
she decides she wanted to be an officer. So here's
this heavy set woman with kids at home, and she
decides she's going to be an officer. She goes through
the academy, she gets her badge and her gun, and

(02:18):
by God, she becomes an officer and gets a full retirement.
I think she was twenty two years there and eleven
is a dispatcher. I might have it mixed, but I
think that's right. And she retires to chase her dream,
and that is to open a bakery. And she opens
that bakery in downtown and it's something like Dayton, Ohio.
It's a smaller town. It's a rust belt town. And

(02:38):
Selena Zito is beautifully telling the story about towns like
this all over the Midwest who've gone bankrupt, They've gone
you know, the downtown is dead. Everyone has moved out,
and there are a few people trying to bring it back.
And this woman gets up early every morning, I think
at one o'clock, gets in and starts baking it too,
and then she has a helper up and as the

(03:01):
people are coming in and getting their breakfast, starting at
say eight o'clock, she switches over back in the kitchen
to making lunch, the soups and the breads for lunches,
and it just felt very wholesome. I felt. I've always
had a thing for the bakery, the smell of the bakery.
I mean at Astra World, remember the little mini loaf
of bread. There's just something good and wholesome and beautiful

(03:24):
about a bakery. So with that in mind, I received
the following email from Pastor LeMay Higgs Czar. Thank you
for your wonderful program and you often emphasize small businesses.
I'm writing you because the longtime bakery in Lagrange, Texas,
Lucas Bakery Lukas, is an amazing opportunity for someone who

(03:45):
would be willing to train and keep this wonderful historic
shop going. The owner wants to retire and is offering it,
offering to sell everything, business equipment, recipes, and train the
new owner for six months for the amazingly low price
of three and seventy five dollars. As a poor college
student in the sixties, my husband and I would have
an outing we could afford by driving to Lagrange and

(04:07):
enjoying Kolachis on the historic Courthouse Square. So it was
with some joy that I was called to be a
minister here twenty two years ago. I really hate to
see this historic bakery open since the nineteen sixties not continue.
Surely there's a young couple or someone who would be
interested in finding a lifelong occupation here in beautiful Fayette County.
And I agree it is beautiful. I love it. I

(04:28):
would be appreciative of any help you might be able
to give on your program to make this happen. I
have no personal financial attachments to this business other than
wanting to see our community thrive and preserve its historic roots. Also,
there's sausage, rolls, pigs Koblenski's are my favorites, not greasy,
and the yeast bread is so good. They make wonderful

(04:50):
fruitcake at Christmas too. Let me just go ahead and
tell those of you whose great grandmother was from Czechoslovakia.
And you've got a check name and that's about all
the check you've got. You've got a yaxhamas a bumper sticker,
and you want to out check me if you send
me an email about what is and isn't a colachi,

(05:10):
I'm blocking you because I find that very annoying. You
better check good point ramon. You better check yourself because
I know you're out there and I know you're just trying,
just dying. I ain't know colachi. I ain't not peting
a brank it. If I called a kilachi, it's a klacchi.
That's part of being bazaar, Okay, It's just that's the
power I wield. I don't I try to be you,
don't try to be responsible with it. But if I

(05:32):
called a kolachi, it's a clacchi. Larry Falden, Larry Falden
is our guest. He is the owner of said bakery.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Welcome, sir, thank you.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
So I did look online and there is a site
about you trying to sell it says you're seventy three
you've worked there for fifty two years. You don't look
seventy three for the record, says it's been all right.
It says, it's been almost five years since you're late wife, Carol,
daughter of the founder of the bakery, passed away.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
I imagine you're tired, sir. I am still there, Yeah,
I said, I imagine you're tired.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah. Yeah, I'm just getting worn out because it's just,
you know, the hours and stuff, and and you know,
I got people wanting to buy the billy, you know,
and then turn it into something else. But I got
so many people that asking me not to do that.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
It says Larry is ready to enjoy retirement. He gets
to the bakery at midnight most nights to start making
the next day's fresh array of colaches, pigging a blanket, cookies,
et cetera, but doesn't want the bakery to retire with him.
You're asking three seventy five. Let me ask you some

(06:54):
business questions, because we might as well just be honest
if we're going to try to find a real buyer.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Does the three seventy five include the building that's.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
The property all? Yes, okay, the equipment, the recipes, The
recipes are all my own recipes. They're homemade. I don't
buy anything that's let's.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Talk about assets. How much land do we have?

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (07:15):
The building that's probably lead it's uh think here, I
think the buildings about three thousand square feet. It has
a legal right away in the back it's probably uh,
I think it's twenty five foot wine and it goes
about two hundred and fifty feet deep. But then there's
a legal ride away to the back.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Right across Who's property? What do they have there?

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Uh, it's just the road that comes to my property.
And it belonged to a bank at one time. And
then we uh neighbor bought a strip and then for
me to get in, but he couldn't get to his
so I gave him a legal right away to cross myt.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
Okay, so you're driving, do you have front access? Your access?

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yes? Oh no, yes, we got front the square. Well
that it's on the square, I mean, so you.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
Got oh I see it. Hold on just second, Larry,
hold on.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
Orderous but the new.

Speaker 4 (08:07):
Twenty five package and you get it all fiberglass hood
with air grabbing scoops.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Mit the Michael Berry fucking.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Hood Benssmobile Escaped from the ordinary.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
Curly crime Brown. You always hear the line, even in
tough times, Farmers Family Eats. If you own a bakery,
can you imagine it's a little slow this afternoon. Yes,
I'll have myself a bogette, now, won't. Larry Faldon is

(08:43):
the owner of Lucas Bakery on the Square in Lagrange. Larry,
I got a couple of business questions for you. You
can give me a quick answer and then we'll move
on to the fun stuff. His bakery is for self
for five hundred and seventy five thousand dollars, been around
since nineteen forty seven. Boy, you can't you can't make
old friends.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
What's that three hundred and seventy five thousand?

Speaker 1 (09:02):
What did I say?

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Not five? You said? You said five to seventy five.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Oh yeah, see we've already it's on sale, Ramon, we
dropped the price. I knew it was three seventy five.
I was looking at the number of my head. Sometimes
I'm talking while saying things, so I don't get things right.
But I tell people not to worry about that. Okay,
So you got three thousand square feet of improvements. Uh?
You got it right away in the back. The parking
is all on the square right right, correct, All right,
let's talk about actual numbers. What is the what does

(09:27):
the bakery do per month? You got to give this
to any buyer anyway, we might as well get it
out there.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
I mean in sales or yeah, sales, Oh you know,
it runs around let's see, around twelve thousand, twelve twelve
to fifteen thousand, twelve to fifteen thousand a month.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
And then what does your staffing look like? You're there?
Probably are you open? What six days a week?

Speaker 2 (09:48):
Well, Monday to Saturdays from five am till one and
then when we closed on Sundays.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Okay, And what does the staffing look like other than you?

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, I got three other women, but they're willing to stay,
you know. And like I said, I'm willing to stay
and teach somebody you know does stuff. And then if
they want to stay open longer, because some of them
do the sandwiches and soup, we don't do it because
I've got all I can handle. Really, because like pigs
and a blanket, which actually a real name is Cloba schneaky,
I do about one hundred and fifty to one hundred
eight does in a week.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
So you don't do soup and sandwiches?

Speaker 2 (10:24):
No, no, no, we're strict to just a bait bakery.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
Does anybody on the square do soup and sandwiches?

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Not that I know of.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
Man, I would think soups would be so profitable, maybe
just because I really like soups. The thing I love
about soups as a business model is you make it
and you can store it. It doesn't have to be made,
you know. Like I used to eat at CON's Deli
in Rice Village and they would have to make each sandwich.
It was this big production, whereas soup you just spooned
it out. You like soup, you like see yeah missus,

(10:58):
Larry I do too.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
So you don't serve an actual meal of any sort
other than I guess the what you call Kleavinci's or.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
The yeah yeah cloba sneaky that's yeah yeah, and klachia
that's a completely different. Lot of people call a pig
of Klatchi. But a kolachi is sweet though, with fruit
in it.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Do you serve iced tea?

Speaker 2 (11:21):
No, we just we have soft drinks, but well we
have the tea that in the in the bottle in
like soda, water, chocolate, milk, orange, you guess all that, yes, coffee.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
And are you willing to finance any of this yourself?
Carry a note for some period of time with the
balloon or anything.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Just said, I'm not. I'm just they have to finance
it themselves, and they have a econ I with developing
board that's interested in financing it for the people that
would want to buy it.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Well, yeah, because Lagrange has an interest in a deal
like this. They they need this thing, especially with the
history it is. You want to presus that's what makes
a little town special.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, we draw a lot of you know, they don't
want the square to die because a lot of the
still of grocery stores went out of business, you know
because at Be and Walmart kind of put them out.
And we're we're three other bakers, but our bakeryes so
it's so different. Their stuff is more all the same
in ours is completely different because like I said, it's
it's homemade and it's some recipes some of thees in that.

(12:19):
So everything we make is made from scratch.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
Larry, what's the hardest thing about baking bread that people
wouldn't expect?

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Well, it's not. I mean it's all the same. I
mean just pixing, put it on the table, proofing and
baking it. I mean, of course we splice it. We
have slices, spices. It's it's not you know, we don't
do a lot of bread because you got different breads
and the stores, you know, but we do. We do
a lot of cookies and a lot of sweets, and
a lot of picking the blankets.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
But what would you say is a challenge about this
business that you would have to teach somebody that one
wouldn't expect, because every business has that, whether it's.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Most of them, most of them don't expect to want
to get up that early, you know, but you got
to get up early if you want to get the
stuff put out at five o'clock. That we have apartment
in here and something them goes, they go to work.

Speaker 4 (13:07):
You know.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Some days you get one, you might sell eight nine
dozen in thirty minutes. You know, next day you don't.
You just you have to kind of eat the ours
with the time because you never know when somebody wants
the stuff. You know, interesting, interesting, it takes it almost
takes a man and wife, you know. And then after

(13:28):
I lost my life. It kind of made it difficult.
You know. We did cakes and decorated cakes, but then
she decorated. Well I kind of did away with it
cause it's got to be I couldn't handle it all,
you know, But the man part, it's just somebody has
to be willing to do it.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
Well, I wish you the absolute best. I have a
pastor LeMay's email address. If somebody is interested, they can
email me and I will forward it and they can
connect with you and hopefully we can report back. I'd
love to see this little uh, this little jewel in
Lagrange carried on by somebody looking to chase the dream.
It's kind of thing that if a couple wanted to

(14:05):
do this, it's ready made. Just walk in.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah. Well see, this place actually has been a baker
for almost one hundred years. Le Lucas is my finalow.
So he started back in nineteen forty seven. Of course,
then he passed away in seventy eight mother in law.
Of course he's gone now too. And then I took over,
you know, the whole thing. So like I said, I
I got fifty two plus years here and I don't
want to, you know, knock on wood and something happens

(14:30):
to me then able to be just shut down, you know.
And I'm trying to keep a baker because I got
so many people asking me not to shut down, but
I told him I'm hard, and most of them people
work thirty years and say that's what y'all doing this,
that we were hard, So try fifty two years.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yeah. You know, it's interesting because we take things for
granted when we have them, and then they're gone and
we so desperately wish they were back. That's the sort
of thing that you don't want to lose. And it'd
be so nice to see a young couple or a
young young a guy or girl who this was their
dream and they just walk right in and keep the

(15:05):
tradition going and maybe maybe add to it. Larry, thank
you for being our guest man. Good luck to you.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Okay, I appreciate it, just sir, thank you.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
I can't help but think that it wouldn't I wouldn't
add something to to add soups and a few things
like that. You know, you always think you know somebody's
business until you and you realize you don't. But my
first thought was that like adding barbecue to a country club,

(15:37):
too soon or mom too soon. It's only been five
years that that was an inappropriate thing to say.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Verry.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
You know, I went back and toured the RCC the
other day, Uncle Jerry and I and all we're doing
is walking through there. They've hardly changed anything and going well.
That was brilliant. Remember we did that. Remember it took
us three months to do this. Now it's just sitting there.
But wow, I remember how hard that was to make happen.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Al Mike ob.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Just got a nice message from borgea hood who owns
and operates Stogies where I buy my cigars, and he
needed their ice maker, refrigerator, all sorts of appliances UH serviced,
and their top of the lines. Not for your everyday

(16:30):
guy to do. And so he took my referral and
called Uptown Appliance Repair and Bobby Fierro walked him through it,
said the guy took care of it, followed up and
he said, Wow, I see why you're high on these guys.
I love it when you listen to our show and
need something and email me and let me connect you

(16:53):
with the owner of a show sponsor and they jump
on it. It makes me very, very happy. That is
never a burden. People will sometimes I know you're busy,
but no, no, no, that's my passion connecting our show
sponsors with our listeners, because if it works the way
it's supposed to work, you're gonna send me a thank
you note later and say I've never had anybody show

(17:14):
up on time, do a great job, do this, do that.
You know we take for granted the business that Mattress
Mac created at Gallery Furniture. If you've ever had furniture delivered,
it's delivered faster than anywhere else in the world. You're
gonna get it delivered because he keeps it in a
warehouse in the back and they jump right on it.

(17:38):
But the guys when they deliver it are like the
customer service of the delivery guys. Usually they're kind of
listless or smug. These guys are all over it. Is
there anything we can take out of here for you?
He want us to take the old couch, Well, yeah,
I was trying to. I was gonna put it out

(17:59):
on the street corner, hope to Mexicans came and got it. No,
we'll take it for you, and there's a sheet you
have to sign. It says you're completely happy with the delivery,
and it says, is there anything we can do for
you before we leave that would make you happy, including
mow your lawn where there have been people who try them,
who just tested them out over the years, then they

(18:21):
end up tipping them for it. But the point is
that level of customer service, that level of efficiency. Well,
you think about this. Trump's tried to bring manufacturing back
to the United States, and granted, not all of that
will be homegrown. Some of that will be foreign countries.
We'll have to come here and set up an operation
to manufacture here. But we want that if they're going

(18:45):
to manufacture products for the American market as much as possible,
we want that to be on American soil because it's
not just American jobs, it's American investment. It's more people
eating at Lucas Bakery in Lagrange because that's where all
this growth is going. You look at where Elo on
his building up. It's in that bass Drop area. You're
seeing more and more. You look at all that growth

(19:06):
out in Waller right now. My niece works for Dike
and they own half of Waller. Now's massive tilt wall
buildings going on forever So Mack built this business forty
five years ago, and he's kind of seen a thing
or two, including the decimation of the American furniture industry.

(19:26):
There are very few places left who manufacture in the
United States. Well, he made a video that he posted yesterday,
and he's talking about not just American manufacturing. Used to
be Texas manufacturing. It was a lot of it, even
right here in the Greater Houston area. Anyway, this is
what he posted yesterday. Hi, Mattress mac here Galli.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
Firster are lots of talk nowadays about making products in
the United States, making products overseas. Let me tell you
the story of the American furniture business. When I first
got in the American furniture business back in the night
eighteen eighties, everything was made in America.

Speaker 3 (20:03):
Everything.

Speaker 4 (20:04):
There were plants all over Texas, all over Mississippi, all
over North Carolina.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
And you can get whatever furniture.

Speaker 4 (20:10):
You want, get it fairly quickly too, because the plants
were constantly making furniture and shipping it all over the country. Then,
as the nineties came on, the NBA started buying these
furniture companies, seeing a lot of them had a healthy
cash flow and they started lowering the number of workers
and offshoring jobs to China, Vietnam, Mexico, wherever. And about

(20:31):
that time the American furniture business started downhill. Once upon
a time there was a great American furniture company that
the NBA guys put them all together, some of the
best American furniture companies ever like broy Hill, Lane, Drexel, Heritage,
Henry Don, Maitland Smith, the list goes on and on.
They put them all together into a giant brand called

(20:52):
Furniture Brands International that at one time employed thirty five
thousand Americans. They gradually offshored all those jobs to China
and shuttered every one of those plants in all those
different states, and thirty five thousand people out of work.
You know, work brings purpose and meaning to life, and
a lot of these factory workers knew nothing else than

(21:12):
making furniture. That was their life's work, that gave their
life purpose and meaning. And once that job was gone,
out came the oxycodine epidemic and then the fetanohyl epidemic.
And we know what horror is that ravaged on the
American people. So my pitch is there are still a
lot of great American furniture manufacturers left, like Stickley Furniture
in New York and North Carolina making some of the

(21:34):
finest high quality furniture anywhere in world. In fact, I
would say the finest high quality furniture. And then right
here in Texas, there's great companies like Dixon Furniture right
here in Houston making a posting furniture. The Sealy Betting
Company started in Sealy, Texas, then went to Brenham making
high quality mattresses. We've got Mayo Furniture in Texas. Kind
of Texas being making quality of poster furnichure for forty years,

(21:56):
employing people, making communities, having a tight community centered around
that plant.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
My pitch is for bringing.

Speaker 4 (22:03):
Jobs back to Americans, getting Americans back to work.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
Work brings purpose and meeting to life.

Speaker 4 (22:09):
In nineteen hundred, the average size of the US household
was ten point five people. Today, the average size of
the US household is less than two and one's a
lonely's number. Work brings community to people. They meet their
friends there, they live there. That becomes fabric of their life.
And we've robbed these people the joy of work. I
say we bring back the joy of work, bring back

(22:29):
American manufacturing, and take care of our own.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
You're getting a little window into a side of Mac
that most people have never seen. Mac has a carnival
barker entertainer. This is the sale take action that has
served him well since he was wearing a mascot of
a mascot, a mattress. You know, Elvis is on the lot.

(22:57):
Russelly Borr loves to quote that line and the story
behind it. If you don't know, you got to read
Mac's first book. It's a great story. Most people only
see the grandiose mattress Mac who's placing the big bet,

(23:17):
who is you know, was holding up the cash will
save you money? And then they elevated into a higher
end and now it's it's you know, very high energy
to separate from the crowd. And then he has the
very thoughtful Mac. People will ask what we talk about
when we get together, and I say, we don't. I

(23:38):
do because he just asks questions, which is what I
like to do. I already know my story. I don't
want to talk. I want to ask other people questions.
So I have to turn it on him because I
want to ask him questions. But there you saw. If
you've never heard Mac give a speech, it's a third personality.
It's very, very thoughtful. I think what probably gets undervalued

(24:01):
and understated the most when it comes to Mac is
how incredibly bright and articulate and thoughtful and analytical he is.
You got to realize this is a guy who, for
most of the time and still to this day, primarily
out of one furniture store the number one sells volume
furniture store in the country. Now, a lot of really

(24:23):
smart people that were in that business, and some of
them screamed louder and some marketed more. And this is
a guy who has managed for forty five years. I'm
not a U two fan, but I can appreciate the
fact that when a band can last that long, there's
something to be said for that, or the Stones or Mac.
He's a Houston treasurer. It really is. Some don't want

(24:48):
to hear it. He'll just go ahead and say it.
Sorry that Michael very.

Speaker 4 (24:53):
Show, Oh the Shot to be has such team did
and it shows then.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
Early I had a story that Chad prepped up real
nice for me with audio and everything, and I was
going to go into it now and I give you
the gist of it in about a minute, but I'm
going to go past it, and it's about third Ward,
one of the historic wards in city of Houston, and
it's about how they're very upset that crime is going

(25:33):
up and they're demanding more police. And as Chad pointed out,
Sylvester Turner as mayor told us that crime was down,
so it's nothing to worry about, and he attacked pastor
ed young my dear friend over his sermons about the
violence across the city. Let's be honest, it was worse
than Third Ward than it was around the sack of

(25:54):
Baptist Campus. Third Ward residents are now saying that police
aren't doing enough to keep them safe and they want
more POPO. Let's go back flashback to twenty twenty Houston
Chronicle headline Houston's third Ward remembers gentle giant George Floyd,
anti cop Black Lives Matter rallies. So you hate the

(26:17):
cops because they showed up when George Floyd was in
the middle of a fentanyl overdose. You hate the cops.
The cops are pigs. You want them out of your community.
They're terrible, They're horrible, and you won't support them, and
they're all awful people, just trying to go home to
their own families. And then when they stop coming in,

(26:39):
then crime is up and you want more cops. It's
almost as if you just want to bitch about something
and be a victim. But I said, you know what,
I can do that tomorrow. I like to end the
show on a positive note. So Mac saw fit in
his busy schedule to call me back, which is by
way of saying he didn't take my call firm time.

(27:01):
And he's our guest Mac.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
Yeah, sirtain, mister Barry.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
I was in a book reading contest for the salespeople.
Oh how'd that go? Yeah, we're reading a.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Book called Unreadable Hospitality.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
We're trying to up our hospitality game to our great customers.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
I was reading a book about not being on speakerphone
when you're on a radio interview. Did you read that one?

Speaker 4 (27:21):
No? True?

Speaker 1 (27:23):
Obviously not. Hey, on a serious note, how are you doing.
Let's talk health for a minute. How are you doing?

Speaker 3 (27:31):
I'm doing great. It's like I used to take twenty
pills a day. Now I take a zero. So I
had the ultimate physician, the Good Lord and Doctor Lowry
down in Methodists did a great job. So I'm I
feel like I'm eighteen years old again. I'm able to
work more hours than ever. Mister Barry, I sent.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
A message to you. Somebody had Lowry had done their
surgery and apparently had the exact same surgery you had,
and just thought it went off great and all that.
But I mean you were back on your feet greeting
our listeners at the store. But that's a pretty brutal recovery, right.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
Yeah, it's pretty brutal for the first couple of weeks.
But I had the magazine cinder down to Methodist Hospital,
so I was able to sleep in that chair all day.
And then when they let me out on December twenty sixth,
I said, doctor Lowry, when can I go back to work?
He said, how about today? I said, Doc, you're my
kind of guy.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
And you do feel better. I mean, you got more
energy and all that sort of stuff.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
A lot more energy. People tell me I'll look better,
et cetera, et cetera. So, whether whether it's thea febo
effects or not, I feel a lot better because he
went in there and fixed that valve. They didn't have
to replace it with a pig valve. He fixed it
and all this functioning well now like I'm eighteen.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Oh, they did not replace the valve after all, because
I know they were intending to. So what did he do?

Speaker 3 (28:53):
He just fixed it up because he's so talented.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
How many inches would you say the scar is on
your chest?

Speaker 3 (29:00):
It's about eight inches. And the most scary part was
when they wheeling me into the anesthesiologists of Fixing to
give me the drugs. I said, what are you giving me? Doc?
He said fentanyl? I said, oh no.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
So two weeks ago you and I were giving a
speech together and we walked in together and I asked
to see your scar, and you kind of chuckled, and
I said, I'm serious, and then I never got around
Was it your intention to show it to me and
we just didn't get around to it, or you didn't
want to show it to me.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
I probably just forgot in my feeble old age mind.
But I'd be glad to take my shirt off, take
a picture and send it to you can post as
the listeners.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
How are you better as a business owner operator in
twenty twenty five than you were forty five years ago?
What did you learn that makes you.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
Better listened to the people that work here, and you
get them more involved in the business and make the
place more of a community where they feel welcome and
they look forward to come to work. And we're not
here to make money. We're here to make a difference
in these people's lives. And these kids that come to

(30:06):
you know, a lot of them have felonies, have that
they're scared to death, but they get here and they're
surrounded by a community and it changes their life forever.
And if we can do that, we did something meaningful.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
What do you find in hiring someone is the trait
that's going to be most important to their long term success?

Speaker 3 (30:24):
Desire? You know, desires are better themselves. Desire to say
this is where I'm at in life, and I'm willing
to come in here and grind it out, because retails
are grind And if you're willing to grind it out
and you like the whole idea, my pitch in life
is work. Work is life's greatest therapy. Work brings purpose
and meaning to life. And if we can get more

(30:45):
people working. You were talking a while ago about the
crime will reduce the crime level. People not working invitation
to crime.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
You have said many times over the years that work
gives purpose and meaning to life, and I have to
say it is so true. When I see a grown
man who doesn't have a job and gangbanging with their buddies,
I think you're unmoored. I think it messes with your mind.
There is something to be said for the pride of

(31:17):
work and a job well done. It's even better if
you can make money that you're proud of from it.
But I always had jobs as a kid, and my
mom was She wasn't keen on that, but from mowing lawns,
and so many of us did that, so many people.
I didn't through newspapers, but I found there's such pride

(31:37):
and meaning and dignity to working and earning your own keep.
It's just something. It's an old fashioned value, but it's true.
It's real.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
It's so true. I have an adopted child named Regina.
She works at a daycare center. She loves her job,
she loves those kids. It ain't about the money, it's
about the fulfillment in life that that work brings. So
it doesn't matter how much money you make. It matters
that you're out there and you like what you do,
and when you find a job you love to do.

(32:08):
You don't have to set the alarm. You jump out
of bed, you put your clothes on, and you go
to work, and you're ready to change people's lives to
that magic exeller called work. And that's what this country
needs to focus on, not how do we get more
resources for the people.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
We played your video that you put up yesterday. I
thought that was wonderful about American manufacturing and bringing that
back or the loss of it. Is it realistic to
believe that we could make much more of our furniture
state side?

Speaker 3 (32:40):
Absolutely, the Amige never put making furniture. And you know,
the Amage never had COVID because they don't have radio, TVs, newspapers.
They just kept working through the whole thing and they're
making the best quality furniture in the world. They never stopped.
And now other manufacturers are popping up. Why can't we
make furniture? Why can't we make electronics? You know, we're like,

(33:02):
you know how to train a flee No, you take
a flea that can jump about eight feet and you
put him in a mason jar. You put some holes
in the top where you can breathe a little food
in there. For him and leave him in there all
night long. He jumps up all night hit a six inches,
hitting on the top of that mason jar, so that
flea can jump eight feet. But you you put him

(33:25):
at flea, train him all night long. You take the
top of that Mason's jar off, and he'll never jump out.
That's what we're doing to our citizens.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
That's that's what happened to Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mac
you are the best. We love you. You're a Houston institution.
Keep on keeping on.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Thank you, mister Barry. I was not ignoring your call.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
I know my friend, and that's all we have for you.
Do me a favor, take a moment. Go to Michael
berryshow dot com. Send me the minute. Who are you,
what do you do? Where do you listening to the show?

Speaker 2 (34:00):
What are you like?

Speaker 1 (34:01):
What are you not like?

Speaker 2 (34:01):
Whatever it is,