#222 Valentine's Day Misadventures and Meaningful Celebrations with Jay Webster

Picture this: it's Valentine's Day 1997, you've just snagged a speeding ticket, run into your youth group while watching Titanic, and the film's tragic ending is the cherry on top of your misadventure sundae. Join us as Jay Webster, the witty author of "You Don't Have to Read This," brings his comical calamity to life on The Scott Townsend Show. We unravel the societal pressures and commercial expectations that can turn this day of love into a stress-fest. Instead of succumbing to the chaos, Jay's tale inspires us to explore more meaningful and unconventional ways to celebrate with loved ones.

As your trusty host, I, Scott Townsend, am sending a big, virtual hug to all our listeners out there. Your engagement keeps this podcast thriving, and I warmly invite you to share your thoughts, reviews, and even the questions that keep you up at night. Whether you're a veteran listener or a fresh face in our community, your support lights up our studio. As we bask in the Valentine's spirit, remember we're all about creating connections and sharing laughter. Stay tuned for more heartwarming and hilarious stories, all brought to you by The Scott Townsend Show, a Deetsoman Production.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Scott Townsend Show brought to you by
Pizza man Productions.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello Scott, let me just begin by saying I've always
been really terrible atValentine's Day.
My wife, anjanette, loves allholidays.
She treats them all like hugecelebrations.
She treats them all like hugecelebrations and I have always

(00:31):
just felt a tremendous amount ofpressure on Valentine's Day to
try and come up with somethingthat was meaningful or that
would seem sincere or whatever,and I always feel like a dismal
failure.
And I I think that now, youknow, 32 years in with my wife,
um, through a series ofunintentional, just utter
failures, I think I've set thebar pretty low.

(00:54):
So there's really not muchexpectation anymore.
But back in 1997, we had onlybeen married for like four years
, and so I was still trying toprove that I could be the
romantic that I I hoped I wouldbe and all that stuff.
And so anyway, for those whodon't remember, 1997 was also

(01:15):
the year that the movie Titaniccame out, and all the trailers
and all the push for that moviehad shown it to be this epic
love story and I thought thought, ok, this is it, let's do this.
I made reservations at arestaurant we were going to go
to Tulsa, which is about, youknow, 45 minutes away, or an

(01:35):
hour away at the time because ofthe speed limit had not changed
on the highway yet.
And so I made all thearrangements, got a reservation
for a restaurant, planned outthe tickets and all that kind of
stuff, and we of course lefttown late and so I managed to
get a speeding ticket on the wayto the restaurant reservation

(01:56):
and that was about $100 evenback then and, yeah, rushed
through the meal and dinner andall that to make sure that we
got to the theater on timebecause we knew it would be
jam-packed, because the moviewas exploding and every time
every showing was just full.
And so we finally get to thetheater and as we walk in I just

(02:24):
noticed I started seeing a lotof familiar faces.
And, to make it worse, thefamiliar faces that I was seeing
were all kids from the youthgroup at the church that we were
going to, and so they had all.
I mean, the movie was huge andthey all knew that it was going
to be a big deal, and so we gotseated and tried to sit away

(02:47):
from all the youth group kidsthat we knew in the room.
And then hopefully there's nospoiler here, but as the movie
goes on, there's also a prettytremendous love scene with full
on nudity and all that.
So yeah, you can imagine justsitting in a theater next to

(03:08):
kids from your youth group andjust boobs being on a giant
screen, and it was just a wholelot.
And then three hours later theboat sinks and finally,
mercifully, the credits rolledand all the romance had left the
air in the theater and it wasjust tragic.

(03:31):
And then I just thought tomyself well, what was I
expecting?
It's Titanic.
You know the ending.
They're not rewriting it.
It doesn't all of a suddenreach New York and everybody has
a great day.
It's going to sink and muchlike my Valentine did.
So anyway, I have a longhistory of bad Valentines, but

(03:57):
that's probably the worst.
So a speeding ticket, nudity infront of the youth group and a
sinking ship, and then at leastan hour drive home after all
that, and that was the Valentineday of 1997.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
That was Jay Webster.
He's been on the podcast beforehe wrote the book.
You don't have to read this.
He's been on the podcast beforehe wrote the book.
You don't have to read this.
He's a great storyteller, hasan article in the Bartlesville
magazine once a month, and yeah,so I asked him to share a

(04:43):
Valentine's Day story because Iknew he would have one, and so I
really appreciate that, jay.
And don't worry about givingaway the ending at the end of
titanic.
I think we all know whathappened.
But yeah, that's hilarious.
Uh, nudity, youth group, aticket and a three-hour movie,
that's yeah.

(05:03):
By the time you walk out of themovie, people are bawling.
We went to go see Titanic.
There was one person in thattheater that was inconsolable.
Anyway, they were justboohooing.
The whole mood in that theaterwas just ravaged.

(05:27):
It's sad and horrified and asense of loss and tragedy, but
it's a good movie and that'swhat it was intended to do.
So, james Cameron, good job.
But yeah, it's probably not thebest movie to go to on

(05:48):
Valentine's Day.
It is if you stop in the middleof it, but if you go all the
way to the end, man, you are infor a ride as far as Valentine's
Day goes, I don't likeValentine's Day or any other

(06:08):
holiday where I have to perform.
What I mean by that is there'sthis expectation that
corporations Hallmark andchocolate companies and candy
companies have conjured up andjust promoted and scaled over
the years.
The expectation is that youneed to perform, you need to get

(06:33):
in on this, you need to get thecandy for Halloween, you need
to get the cards and candy anddinner reservations, and so you
go to a dinner reservation onValentine's Day, which is the
worst day to go out to eatbecause everybody else is doing
the same thing, so there's noenjoyment there.

(06:54):
If you ask anybody in therestaurant business if they
enjoy working on Valentine's Dayor what was the other one?
There was another holiday.
That's just murder.
Anyway, I know Valentine's Day,but Easter I think it is.
It's tough man People.
You're turning those tables andyou're working hard on

(07:17):
valentine's day.
There's a lot of pent-up,emotion and stress and it's not
my idea of a good time.
So we don't go out to eatbecause, unless you went in on
all of that, it's probably bestto stay away.
So if the whole crowd's goingthis way, I like to go this way.
If they're going.

(07:38):
All right, I want to go left,because that means I have to
deal with less people, lesscrowds, less stress.
So generally, on holidays I'mall for doing something else, or
if not, if nothing at all,that's not to say I'm not about

(08:01):
promoting love and myrelationship for and with my
wife.
Uh, I heard a uh story aboutJack Benny, the old-time radio
comedian, something that he didafter he died for his wife, mary
Livingston, and when I heardthis I was like, wow, that is

(08:24):
really great.
That is so intentional, sopurposeful and anyway.
So just take a listen to it andwe'll come right back.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
And his final appearance on television that's
this photograph was in 1974 in atelevision special, and that
was the year he died, 1974.
Mary Livingston died nine yearslater, in 1983.
And here is the capper to theirlifelong love story and
marriage of almost 50 years.
After Jack Benny's death, aflorist delivered one

(09:00):
long-stemmed red rose to MaryEvery day For the rest of her
life.
In Mary Livingston's words Ilearned that Jack actually had
included a provision in his willthat one red stem, the red rose
, would be delivered to me everyday for the rest of my life.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
So, yeah, that was.
That's just so awesome.
And I, when I heard that and Idecided that I want to do
something like that.
I can't afford to send a roseevery day for a very long time,

(09:44):
if even just a short time, but Icould do a rose a week.
So I arranged for our floristto deliver a long-stemmed red
rose to my wife, either here atthe house or at the school where
she works, and I've been doingthat for several years now and

(10:04):
it's a I love doing that.
She has not tired of gettingthe rose on Fridays.
Her friends all ooh and ahevery time she gets one.
They all know she's going toget one next Friday, but they
still act like it's the firsttime they've ever seen someone
do something like that.

(10:26):
So we do Valentine's all year.
We do Valentine's all year Oncea week, just a good little
reminder, and that works for us.
So on Valentine's Day everybodyelse is freaking out and
getting cards and candy anddoing what everybody else is

(10:47):
doing, not because they lovetheir wife or husband or
significant other partner, it'sbecause there's this expectation
and then the other party getsmad if they don't get something.
You know.
So blah, blah, blah.
So we just do our own thing,but we do it every week for 50,

(11:09):
52 weeks in the year and we likeit that way.
So there's my Valentine's Daystory, and I hope you have a
good Valentine's Day, whetheryou're going out to eat or
you've carved out a traditionfor yourself.
Forget the masses, forget thecrowd, do your thing.

(11:30):
Do you Celebrate Valentine's inAugust?
And why do it once a year?
Well, it's because you knowcorporate America wants you to
spend that money, baby.
So actually I do better thanthat.
I spend it all year.
That's it Valentine's.

(11:51):
Happy Valentine's Day.
I hope you love the show.
Speaking of love, if you dolike the show, let me know.
Scott at ScottTownsendinfo.
Leave a review, write a comment, ask me a question.
If you have a question, Ireally appreciate the fans that
we have and would love tointeract with you fans that we
have and would love to interactwith you.

(12:12):
And if there's something thatyou need to know or have a
question about something I'vesaid or a guest has said, I'd
love to hear from you and answerthat question.
You guys have a great.
I really appreciate you guysand appreciate the fans that we
have, our small little fan baseof family, and friends and a few

(12:36):
strangers out there notstrangers.
You're fans of the scotttownsend show, so you're not a
stranger.
Um, tell friends about it,share it like it, subscribe.
You got the.
You know the.
You know the drill.
So anyway, for valentine's day,this is scott townsend.
Have a great day, everything'sgonna be all right and we'll

(12:59):
talk to you later the scotttownsend show is a deets o man
production.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
For more episodes, visit the scott townsend show
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to your favorite shows.