Try That in a Small Town Podcast

Santa Wears Red, Starbucks Wants Tips, And Fruitcake Needs A PR Team :: Ep 87 Try That in a Small Town Podcast

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A Christmas special should feel like a living room after dark—lights on, jokes flying, and just enough chaos to keep it honest. We kick things off with the great inflatable debate, the price of holiday lights, and who still climbs the roof when the weather drops. From there it gets spicier: does Santa “lean” one way or another, and did Coca‑Cola really give him that red suit? We share a small New York moment where a stranger buys our pizza, and it launches a bigger conversation about generosity that carries through the hour.

The tipping talk hits home. Some of us tip almost everyone—servers, delivery crews, furniture movers—because we’ve worked those jobs or just feel grateful. Others draw the line at the counter iPad for a plain coffee. We trade stories from butchers to juice bars, and wrestle with how far tipping culture should stretch without losing the point of service. It’s lively, respectful, and real—exactly the conversation people are having at drive‑thrus and kitchen islands right now.

We reset with music and movies: Sinatra over synths, Crosby over remixes, and a strong case that Polar Express is beautifully shot and also kind of creepy. Gifts get practical—do you give a gift card or hunt for the perfect thing?—and caroling makes a nostalgic return. The episode closes with stories from childhood Christmases: waiting behind “burglar bars” for parents to wake, the magic of a few gifts that meant everything, and how that feeling still guides us. Through all the banter and hot takes, we come back to the heart of it: faith, family, kindness, and the small-town spirit that makes December feel like home.

If this one made you laugh, nod, or argue in the car, tap follow, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more folks find the show and keeps our holiday lights on a little longer.

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SPEAKER_11:

What do you think about like Santa? You think he leans left or right? And and the only reason I asked, and if you think about it, if you think about it, like he you're talking about inflatable Santa?

SPEAKER_02:

No. No. That's good. No.

SPEAKER_10:

That's I like that though.

SPEAKER_11:

It's just the way the wind's blowing. Just the the the real the real Santa. Christmas songs you secretly like, but pretend to hate.

SPEAKER_05:

Secretly like?

SPEAKER_09:

See, I like my Christmas songs classic. Are you guys big tippers?

SPEAKER_08:

Okay. It's an interesting question. This is a good. I I tend to be a good tipper, yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Like, like really good? I'm really good. I've had to I've had to make Klo stuff. I like, dude, you can't. I know you're generous and you want to help people, but good lord, dude.

SPEAKER_08:

That's like I'm gonna answer somewhat for Tully. Thank you, Kurt. It depends.

SPEAKER_01:

The try that in a small town podcast begins.

SPEAKER_08:

Alright, welcome back. This is a try that in a small town podcast. A special episode. Here we are this episode back by popular demand because so many people loved our last years.

SPEAKER_09:

Well, last year it really got aggressive.

SPEAKER_08:

It got a little aggressive. Uh by the way, we got Neil who's wandering.

SPEAKER_06:

The tree's not plugged in.

SPEAKER_08:

Yeah, that's that's that's a fail. Your wife would be very upset. There we go. That's nice. Oh, now it's Christmassy. That's trash. We got K-Lo, we got TK. I'm Kurt, coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios, powered by eSpaces. We got some original glory beer somewhere. Yeah. And our uh soon-to-be sponsor, Evan Williams. Yes. Yeah. You're welcome. It is lightly chilled.

SPEAKER_11:

It's not super it's not cold, cold, but it's lightly chilled.

SPEAKER_08:

It feels good.

SPEAKER_11:

How long does it take you to go through that size? Well, I've been on a break. So but if I wasn't on a break, that'd be gone in probably six nights, maybe. It's a lot of calories. If it wasn't for the calories, it would be gone in two days. That's not true at all. No, it's like uh four or five thousand.

SPEAKER_06:

No, I know how you snack. Four or five thousand?

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, but not all the time. It's just intermittently.

SPEAKER_06:

If you had, if you had, if Kalo had two big bags of Cheetos, a whole case of gum, what else? Beef jerky, two big five-pound bags of beef jerky, and a bottle of that, it's all gonna be gone that night.

SPEAKER_11:

Maybe. It depends. Uh that is like ten loaves of bread in it.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, it's a lot, huh? It is, it is. And it is, I will say, it is so good. It's fantastic.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, we'll break it out.

SPEAKER_09:

We will. I may break it out tonight.

SPEAKER_11:

You can. That's what it's for. That's what I was for. I don't want to believe here.

SPEAKER_08:

It's been a year since we know, talked about it. I can't believe that we're still doing this. People still watch us? Yeah, listen to us.

SPEAKER_11:

Actually, more people than last year. Matter of fact, when we finished recording last year, I don't think I was the only one. But I was like, all right, guys, that's terrible. That's the worst thing we've ever done. Do we even like each other? You know? And then I went back and looked at it and said, Oh, that's pretty funny.

SPEAKER_08:

What was it about the Christmas episode that got gnarly? Caleb called me an orphan.

SPEAKER_11:

No, that's not. That only happened after because you struck first and you kept saying, Oh, not everybody has a mom and dad, Caleb. You know, like that's a terrible thing. And if you do have a mom and dad, then you're rich. So if you have a mom and dad, you're absolutely rich, and that is emphatically. In my town, that was it. That is not true. Christmas marriage. Here we go again. Break out the Evan Williams.

SPEAKER_06:

Bring on the cuts. You know what? I think I think we love and like each other more than we did a year ago. We didn't know.

SPEAKER_11:

It's because it's more like family now. So, you know, sometimes you've you've got to be. We fight like family now. You have to.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. You have to. I would rather fight like family than fight like friends.

SPEAKER_11:

Even in a marriage, I mean it's not true love unless somebody's mad at the other one at some point. I know. Right? If it's just all honey, sweetie baby, all that stuff. I mean, that's that is not real. Now that's not real.

SPEAKER_09:

Well, you're right. And behind every marriage that's like that is a man who's just bowing down and giving in. Possibly. You may be right. No, but I mean that's true. Yeah. I mean, if that's happening, if you're seeing that, yeah, whatever you say, you're right. Love you, it's perfect. It's just a a man getting shelled. Yeah. Getting shelled. Absolutely shanked.

SPEAKER_11:

And sometimes, sometimes, uh, the man is also wrong. Sometimes. And you have to be able to admit it. And if you do, it goes a long, long way.

SPEAKER_06:

But but that's true, though. I'm probably one of the best at it in the world. I'm wrong quite a bit. Admitting that I'm wrong. Oh, yeah. And apologize. Well, you better be. Women have a really hard time apologizing in in general.

SPEAKER_11:

I don't know if it's in general.

SPEAKER_06:

In general. No, no, no. It's it's that's a fact. Again, that's not that's that's not an opinion. That's a fact.

SPEAKER_11:

Again, listeners, we are not a band. We are individuals.

SPEAKER_08:

If you missed last week's episode, Kalo asked a question, or he posed it to uh us and the audience that uh he has I don't you never gave up your sources, but you said that uh some people thought that we might be bashing women or not. Um yeah, it wasn't a maybe.

SPEAKER_11:

It was yeah, some people think yeah, some people think that yeah, bashing women.

SPEAKER_06:

And they same people that thought our song was racist.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah. No, it was a different one. Same people. Yeah, it's a different couple.

SPEAKER_08:

But I don't know if you read the comments. That's what I'm saying. If you guys read the comments this week, there were a lot of women that stepped up and said, No, no, no, you guys are fantastic and they love for having gone over the line.

SPEAKER_09:

I feel like that was a limb that came off of the WMBA conversation. It was a big limb. It was a very large limb.

SPEAKER_06:

It's a branch, it was a very big branch.

SPEAKER_09:

It was a big branch that came off and and I will stand by that no one really this morning.

SPEAKER_08:

Well, I mean the Kalo has sources.

SPEAKER_09:

This morning, I'm sitting there with my coffee, trying to stomach sports center to get through to the NHL highlights, just a peek at an NHL game. I had to sit through the WMBA and the in the in the let's not give it too much time, but I guess they're trying.

SPEAKER_08:

They're on strike, they're trying to work out a collective bargaining agreement to get more money. We've been over that. We've been over that. Oh god, we've been over that. Uh let's get Christmassy.

SPEAKER_06:

Like Caleb looks like Tully made the comment. You look you do look good in that shirt. I haven't seen you in that style of shirt because you do look like you he said you look like you just keep me from chopping wood.

SPEAKER_11:

Well, thank you. I think it's a little fancy for chopping wood because it's got these little matching cuffs with the inside of the colour. Well, it's very Christmassy.

SPEAKER_09:

Well, it's how we chop wood in Franklin, Tennessee. Yeah.

SPEAKER_11:

Well we expect how we chop wood in Franklin, Tennessee is you drive down the road long enough until you see somebody's yard that says wood for sale. Yeah. Then you pull over and you get some. Yeah. And then you tip him. And say Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_08:

You and Neil are festive. My wife would be very or will be very upset. She's gonna be yellow. I'm wearing black on Christmas. Christmas blacks. Christmas black. But you got the Euserius Clark hat, which is Thanks.

SPEAKER_11:

Just said not many people notice it.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, I just did.

SPEAKER_08:

Thrash is who where'd you get that sweater?

SPEAKER_07:

I think uh I think Lena's mother bought this for me. Pretty, pretty fantastic. She's got good taste.

SPEAKER_08:

Looks Christmas blacks. Yeah, it looks good.

SPEAKER_06:

I know, I know, what what what why?

SPEAKER_08:

I got one rig. It's this. It's he said he wore this for last year's Christmas. Same as I did.

SPEAKER_11:

Same thing. I know it's the jacket.

SPEAKER_06:

Will you ever wear another color? Ever?

SPEAKER_09:

Uh occasionally.

SPEAKER_11:

Pastels in Easter, maybe?

SPEAKER_09:

I'll wear like uh wear some gray.

SPEAKER_08:

I'll wear some stuff, you know. I'll surprise you. Uh Kayla, what do you got? You got anything festive for us? Let's have fun on this Christmas episode.

SPEAKER_11:

That's the Christmas episode. So I guess it started off. I was gonna ask you guys, how do y'all feel about inflatables?

SPEAKER_09:

I love my are you kidding me? Okay, great question. From the minute my from the minute my kids were born. We've had I mean, used to be a lot. Like, oh, I'm sorry, Christmas inflatable.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, Christmas inflatable. Yeah, you know the ones in the front yard. Not the one on the ones in the back long Christmas episode. Had many front yard. Had many, many.

SPEAKER_09:

Had had six, seven at one time. The kids loved them. And even now, you know, still got still got two up in the yard. I just love it. It's fun. Reminds me of when the kids were small, and I I like it. It's Christmassy, it's festive. I do like the inflatables. Oh, yeah. I mean, especially back in the day when you had so many. I had I'm out there and it if it rains or it gets wet, you're out there and you're trying to position the stakes right and they're blowing over, but I still like it.

SPEAKER_06:

I don't think they're allowed in our neighborhood. But they're not.

SPEAKER_11:

Oh, surely. I mean you hung an Alabama sign on.

SPEAKER_06:

I think there's a size limit. Maybe you can have uh they can't be like, you know, 40 feet tall. Uh-oh. Yeah. You know, and half bent over. Because most of them are.

SPEAKER_11:

The only thing I don't like is during the daytime when they're all they're all limp.

SPEAKER_08:

I mean, that's hard.

SPEAKER_11:

What do you mean? Well, I guess they turn the power off. I've never I've never actually had one. Do you is there a blower like you plug them in and they're on all time? So in the daytime, they come with a blower. Our whole neighborhood almost they're all down, and then around four o'clock they start slowly going up.

SPEAKER_09:

I'm up, they're up, they're up around the clock. I think you gotta keep the inflatables up.

SPEAKER_08:

Inflatables go up unless it's windy. Kayleigh, you're about to learn about all this. Yeah. With your child, you're gonna be putting the inflatables.

SPEAKER_06:

Do you have inflatables in your yard right now?

SPEAKER_11:

No. No, no inflatables. Just got the outside that's uh decorated pretty decent.

SPEAKER_06:

So you're kind of testing the waters with us?

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, well, we have a yeah, I was just saying a lot of our neighbors have it, and we drive around every evening because Lucy likes to see the lights, and so we're can't believe you don't have any.

SPEAKER_09:

I'm stupid.

SPEAKER_11:

Don't yet. I've never had the inflatables uh inside. Do you have a do you have lights?

SPEAKER_06:

Did you put them up or did you have it?

SPEAKER_11:

I did not. What it cost?

SPEAKER_06:

I want to know what it I want to know what you paid.

SPEAKER_11:

Last year, because we had to buy the lights, it was an installed and then them take them down was$1,400. This year, because you had the lights to put them up and break them down$600, which is fantastic.

SPEAKER_06:

That's a great deal. Yeah, nobody's gonna know where that's a lot worse than that.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, it's ri it's really good. The the house beside us, uh, well, I don't want to say exactly they spent a lot more. So we just found a guy. Nice.

SPEAKER_06:

Okay. I hung every light on my house.

SPEAKER_11:

You didn't do it?

SPEAKER_08:

You go full clerk as well. Yeah. Because I know how to do it.

SPEAKER_11:

I just don't want to get up on the roof. Period. I don't want to get up on the roof.

SPEAKER_06:

You want to do it for 600 bucks? No. No, just mine. Would never I've always hung them up. I always like it. It's always people want it done when it's the coldest time or the coldest day of the week. That's when they want it done. I see these poor guys out there.

SPEAKER_09:

Oh I put mine up in March before Thanksgiving on the warmest day so I don't freeze. I like hanging them up. I've I've I've always enjoyed it. Hang them up, tear them down, you know. Again, I love the whole process. How long do you leave them up? When do you take them down?

SPEAKER_08:

I well again depends. Are you into January? I'm oh I'm into January. Are you kidding me? At least I get past New Year's.

SPEAKER_06:

I pass New Year's. No, if it's cold outside, they're they're still up.

SPEAKER_09:

But a lot of times we would go skiing after Christmas and then we get we wouldn't get home till you know what, the third or fourth, and I'd leave them up through the first weekend generally.

SPEAKER_06:

We keep them, we keep them up till Atlanta keeps them up till we get a letter. I love it.

SPEAKER_08:

Yeah. An assessment. Yep. What about this? What do you eat on Christmas? Some people are like, oh, it's gotta be ham or turkey. What are you gonna eat at Christmas this year?

SPEAKER_11:

Sausage balls for sure.

SPEAKER_08:

Really? That's a that's a big tradition.

SPEAKER_11:

And then Christmas cookies that mom makes. They're great. This icing on it's good. But that and anything on it. Yeah, it's it's icing, it's got the white icing, and she makes little trees. You know, sounds amazing. And homemade icing, it's so good. And that's when I get in real trouble. I'll eat like 20, 30 of those.

SPEAKER_06:

And uh it's uh and a bottle of Evan Williams.

SPEAKER_11:

No, not not this year. I've uh switched to opioids. Um Merry Christmas. Yeah. No, but uh but anyway, yeah, that was good. I was wondering too, um, what do you think about like Santa? You know, you think he leans left or right? And and the only reason I asked, and if you think about it, if you think about it, like he you're talking about inflatable Santa?

SPEAKER_02:

No. Oh the real Santa. That's good. No, that's I like that though.

SPEAKER_11:

It depends on which way the wind's blowing. Just the the the real the real Santa, because you know, he he judges, he lets you know whether you're good or bad, so he judges all that. Um he gives things to people who who didn't earn anything, and he also gives things gives more things to what the wealthy than the poor. So, based on that, what would you think?

SPEAKER_09:

I don't know. I don't like the conversation. I do. I love this. This is fantastic.

SPEAKER_06:

It just occurred to me today while I was thinking about it. It's fantastic. I mean Where do you think Santa Lene's? I love this. Is it a hard style? He's a hard worker.

SPEAKER_11:

Definitely. But one day a year.

SPEAKER_09:

Oh, there's a lot of lead up to that. But he's not minions for that.

SPEAKER_11:

He's just eating. He's just eating and eating and eating and getting heavier and getting ready to be able to do it. He's Republican, actually. You think so?

SPEAKER_06:

I think so. He's gotta be. Yeah, he's gotta be. Red suit. He's not a blue suit, he's a red suit. That's true. That's that's true. We'll go with that.

SPEAKER_08:

I'm surprised there hadn't been somebody make a movie with do you know, by the way, you know, as you scroll, you find these stupid things that you would never know or why, but do you know that Coca-Cola is responsible for the red suit? Back for years and years and years, he was always depicted with a tan or beige or green getup. Coca-Cola did an ad, put a red suit on him, and that's what started the red suit. What's that? Long time ago. Jim looked at it. Gotta be the 50s, right? Huh. Uh, but you know, I saw it on the internet. It must be true.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08:

Yeah. Great bit of trivia, though.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is great trivia. They always come with some good trivia, especially this time of year. Really, I really enjoy it.

SPEAKER_08:

Is that true?

SPEAKER_11:

When I think of Coca-Cola and Christmas, I think about that. I'd like to teach the world to sing. You know, I love I love that song. I always associate that with Christmas. That's a happy time.

SPEAKER_04:

Coca-Cola, they um did not invent Santa, but they popular popularized his modern image.

SPEAKER_08:

With the red suits. Yeah, yeah. They didn't, of course, they didn't invent Santa, but yeah, the red I was just saying the red suit. That's where that came from. Yeah. So Coca-Cola Red is Christmas Red. Yeah. It's Santa Red. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09:

I did not know that. There you go. I had a really good like Christmas thing happen this last couple days. So I went up to New York, had to go there for some business in New York City. Yeah. And um went up for made it, you know, took the wife and daughter up, made a little like three-day thing out of it. So I'm walking around, there's a pizza place in Soho called Ben's Pizza. Ben's Pizza? It's a m it's it's so good, it's not even fair. Um better than John's. That's tough. That's tough, yeah. That's tough. Uh John's is they're they're slightly different, but it's it's a I enjoyed it as much. Okay. Anyway, I go in. And the it's an old place, obviously, and the card machine, the credit card machine's down. I didn't realize that until I ordered my slice and drink, you know, and to get it and like, you know, Italian and I'm trying to understand, and he's like, Down, it's down. I'm like, oh, I don't have any cash on me. You know?

SPEAKER_11:

Artists never have cash.

SPEAKER_09:

I don't have any cash on me. And I'm like, okay, I'll go get some. And I push them back. And this girl that was sitting at a table came up and goes, Here I'll I'll buy your pizza and drink. I said, You don't have to do that. She gave me like like you know, pay me like 14 bucks in cash or whatever. I said, No, no, she was I insist, you know. And it and I I paid for it and I was I started talking to her. She was from like San Francisco. She knew who you were? No, no, I mean she's just really nice. She's like just a really nice person, and and the whole place was like talking about it. Yeah. Yeah. And it was uh just a really nice thing to do in in in New York in New York City of all places. Did she give you enough for a tip? Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. She gave me like 14 bucks and the whole thing cost like eleven dollars or something. I can't remember. That's incredible. It is incredible.

SPEAKER_11:

Did she give you enough for dinner too? Did she leave you with some extra?

SPEAKER_09:

Like she feels asked, you know, because I wanted to go.

SPEAKER_11:

So hey, you got an extra 20?

SPEAKER_09:

You know, because I valet out, you know.

SPEAKER_11:

I don't have any cash.

SPEAKER_08:

I valet. Yeah. That was just a really nice thing to do, though. That's incredibly nice. You know, something so small. Do you guys ever do that? You go through a drive-thru and they say, Oh, the person in front of you paid for it. And you're like, who doesn't, by the way? Does everybody pay it forward? Do you pay for the people behind you? Or do you just say, Cool, free coffee today?

SPEAKER_09:

I haven't had that happen where the situation. But I would definitely do that.

SPEAKER_08:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09:

But of course, you don't want to be the one who stops the shake. Yeah. Paying for like five sandwiches and three.

SPEAKER_08:

And you don't know. That's a thing. It's kind of a roulette. It's it's like they could be ordering that.

SPEAKER_11:

It's kind of like those shirts. I don't know if y'all have seen them like on you know, Instagram and stuff like that. It's I think the front of the shirt says you are an up, but on the back, it says something like the person behind me said like I love you, or something like that. It's like a super nice statement on the on the shirt. And you've had people come in to a restaurant or whatever and just hug that person, and they forget you forget you're wearing the shirt, but that person really needed to hear that message. It kind of reminds me of that, that nice thing that that lady did.

SPEAKER_09:

Um it's really I mean she she was in finance or something that she lived in Manhattan, but was from San Francisco. I don't know. It was really are you guys uh are you guys big tippers?

SPEAKER_08:

Okay, it's an interesting question. This is a good I I tend to be a good tipper, yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08:

I'm like like really good.

SPEAKER_11:

I'm really good. Definitely. Well I know that.

SPEAKER_06:

We'll we'll get to you in a minute because I know how good you are. Sorry. I've seen it. I've had to I've had to make ket Kalo stuff. I like dude, you can't I know you're generous and you want to help people, but good Lord, dude.

SPEAKER_08:

That's like I'm gonna answer somewhat for telling. Thank you, Kurt. It depends. It depends This is why on where and what the service is. Like if you're absolutely if you go to Starbucks and order a coffee, a black coffee, are you gonna tip that person? Not even not a remote chance.

SPEAKER_11:

Is it like a Okay, one like one you made yourself or somebody else made it.

SPEAKER_09:

No. If you go to Starbucks, do you tip?

SPEAKER_11:

Uh yeah. Just because Why? Well that in fairness, it's been a long time since I've been to Starbucks.

SPEAKER_08:

But if you got black coffee, they went, shh, here you go. It's three bucks.

SPEAKER_11:

If yes, because it's going to be on the the thing you the sign generally it says tip. Okay, here we go. I tip it publics.

SPEAKER_09:

First of all, you go to here's here's the thing about tip. Tip of Publix?

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, sometimes.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, because they get you, you know, we're going to we're we're fixing a reveal while we have festive clothes on, y'all have dark clothes on. Here we go.

SPEAKER_09:

Here we go. This is a great life lesson for young men out there. Okay. Here we go. Here's tipping. It's gotten out of control. You go to a good restaurant, you tip. You tip well. You get you know 20%, but good service, you go, you may go above and beyond at a great restaurant, uh a professional waiter. You go to any restaurant, even you know, mid-level or even whatever, you tip. Good service, you tip. You go to Starbucks and you order a coffee and it costs five bucks and they hand you the coffee. No tip. You don't tip if you go to McDonald's and order a cheeseburger. You tip the tip the topic.

SPEAKER_08:

But they're gonna start asking for it. Here's my favorite thing to do.

SPEAKER_09:

I go through the drive-thru on purpose. Even when I should walk in, I'll wait in the drive-thru for this. I go through the drive-thru, I'll order Essentially, I order my pumpkin spice this time of year. I love it. That's a$7 rig, right? 8$8.50, probably. You know, pumpkin spice with almond milk, whatever. I go through, I weave in through, I come up there. They hand me the little thing through the window now. The little computer thing. And it says it's got all the boxes.

SPEAKER_08:

Which option of tip do you want? 15%, 20%, or 25%. Yeah. Or no tip. Custom. No tip. Not tip.

SPEAKER_09:

Look, I want to hear first of all, they didn't make she handing me the coffee. They didn't come to my table, they didn't do anything, they didn't fill up my my water glass. Women who you know, women and men who work as waiters and waitresses, it's a tough business. You don't tip the the stewardess in the airplane, you know? You don't tip if you go to a fast food place.

SPEAKER_11:

Klo does that they have a salary and benefits and and they won't let it be.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, they're Starbucks, too. They do everybody Starbucks make it. Tipping has gotten out of control.

SPEAKER_11:

I agree it's gotten out of control, but I would say that if you can pay$750 or$850 for a coffee, you can afford a buck to teenager or somebody working on the city.

SPEAKER_09:

Not that I can't afford it. It's that I don't want to do it.

SPEAKER_11:

Would you do it if one of your kids were at the window? Would you do the 80 gallons? Would you do it if one of your kids one of your kids worked at Starbucks and they're saving up money? You went through there in your fancy ass car and your jacket and everything, eight fifty eight fifty for a coffee. And would you say, say, here you go, here you go, son, here's an extra five for the or would you stiff it?

SPEAKER_09:

My kids wouldn't expect the tip. Hard. Not skirting. I'm just saying, I it's a good question. I just don't feel like someone okay, you talk about Starbucks. I mean, they got 15 people down the line. Someone's squirting the thing and someone's pouring the coffee, someone's putting the lid on, someone's handing it to you. They didn't there's no service involved in this.

SPEAKER_08:

You go to I'm I'm I'm gonna back Tully here. If you go to McDonald's, they're gonna start asking for tips soon. It's a what's a difference?

SPEAKER_11:

I probably would. It wouldn't be a ton, but I probably would. Oh my god, I'd probably throw a dollar on there, five bucks on there, something, you know.

SPEAKER_09:

I and I'm a fair tipper. I tip, you know, our like this time of year, uh the mail lady. I give her a tip. Oh no, no. Mail people, I tip the trash people. Trash people and tip. I tip when it's legit, like the tipping is we've lost our way. I mean, you you do you tip the person bagging your groceries if you go to Publix?

SPEAKER_11:

Publix doesn't allow it. They don't they don't you're not supposed to accept some generally they won't they won't do that.

SPEAKER_09:

Okay, if you order a sub at Publix, do you tip the person making the sub?

SPEAKER_11:

But but it's not but no, but here's the thing like at like at a Publix or something like that, I'm not sure if it's that grocery, but there's a lot of businesses now that before you ring up says, Would you like to give a dollar or five dollars to Special Olympics or whatever it is? Well, yeah, I mean now I can't not do that. You're standing there like, well, God, I hadn't intended on doing that because I give in other ways, but I guess I will, because I don't want him to think that I don't like, you know, kids or St. Jude or whatever they're asking for. So you can't do it. So you do it, but you're almost but you're almost forced to do it because they play on that.

SPEAKER_08:

Do you not give to St.

SPEAKER_09:

Jude on your own? Yeah. All year we go to St. Jude. That's that's our that's our charity. So we give to St. Jude a lot per year.

SPEAKER_08:

So you're just giving that company a way to write off stuff.

SPEAKER_11:

But in my my odd mind, what I'm thinking about is when it's the if it's the first question, I feel like all of a sudden the whole store is watching me and say, I wonder if this cheap bastard's gonna give anything. And so I generally just do it. Yeah, I just push whatever it is.

SPEAKER_09:

Would you tip okay, you go and buy this amazing flannel somewhere, and they come and they bag it up for you. Do you tip them? No.

SPEAKER_11:

That no, just because it's not well, there's not an option for it, and it's just not it's just not what you do. Like in the that's that's not as much of a service as you're buying it to you're buying retail. And service like even McDonald's, I'm not saying I go in and drop give somebody twenty bucks at McDonald's, but but they are it is a service. They it's a service industry.

SPEAKER_08:

But it's a service are getting paid to do that.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, they're not gonna be able to get they're not checking on you. Part of it and and I really feel bad for honest, really amazing. First of all, a great waiter or waitress, I'm always impressed. When they come take your order, and it's like damn, you're you're good. And and I I love to overtip. I'm not tipping someone for making my coffee. It is insane.

SPEAKER_11:

Well the waiter, the waiter or waitress didn't make your steak.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, but they're coming to check on you. They're like they're br they're filling your glass.

SPEAKER_06:

That man, I I Neil, what's your I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask that question. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we're way off Christmas. This should have been for the first time. No, no, this has everything to do with Christmas. It does. Yeah, it really does. So do you you tip at all places? Not all places, no. Okay. No, I it's it's like a case by case. Okay, so where's who's the cutoff? Where's the cutoff? Do you at coffee shops? It just depends. I mean, I can kind of read people a little bit who's talking to me, who's serving me, or you know, who's helping me. But at coffee shops. And I can you can kind of tell. I mean, this person's been really nice and been and gone over the top with me and they they look like they like coffee. They they look like a they could use it. It for cracker barrel, for instance. You know, cracker barrel tip. It's like I know, I know.

SPEAKER_09:

It it is different. You you're talking about normal stuff. Yeah, just normal. I'm talking about you go to a coffee shop, you might as well set your money on your fire.

SPEAKER_06:

If there's a if there's a thing I have to sign at Starbucks that says leave a tip, I'm gonna generally put like two dollars down.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

You guys are. I just will. I just will. I just anybody could draw the line. I've been blessed my whole life. Yes. In my career. I don't think and and I'm like, it's not gonna kill me. I'm just gonna do it. I I'm not I don't know what this money might be. It's not like you do somebody.

SPEAKER_09:

It's not like you to do something just because someone asked. Otherwise, you could put that, you know, you go to a home depot and you I don't deliberately go, I'm not tipping you.

SPEAKER_06:

But it has happened before where somebody was horrible. It has happened before to me in a restaurant where somebody was just absolutely horrible.

SPEAKER_11:

They would have to like throw food in my face for me not to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_06:

It would, I mean, it's like it really would. Yeah, and and I've had a couple of those, but usually I'm gonna be as generous as I possibly can. He's more he Kalo's much more generous than I. Well, and he goes, he I mean he'll give them their car in the car, I'll give him a side.

SPEAKER_09:

If you come serve me at a restaurant and my family, you're good, your tip's gonna reflect how well you did.

SPEAKER_07:

I I told you. I have a baseline 20%. That's still true.

SPEAKER_09:

I rarely deduct from the 20% unless something goes horribly wrong, which it has. If you're really good, uh it's gonna reflect.

SPEAKER_06:

I have tipped more at Waffle House than I have at Cane Prime. But you that's great. I guess people like percentage-wise. Yeah, because I can tell you can tell those people that are hard up and they're they're there working their tail off the house. See, I love that I love that. They're working their tail off and they're working the midnight shift, and she's trying probably who knows what her story is or what his story is. I think that's great. I I love that. You know that and that's what I tend to do. That's a tip, that's a that's a service where you tip. That goes back to my case by case.

SPEAKER_11:

But one one reason that I overtip and I do overtip on on everything, and sometimes I'll ask Rachel, you know, somebody like I tip, I mean, if somebody brings us furniture, if they drop off a couch.

SPEAKER_06:

Always, always tip.

SPEAKER_11:

I mean, I see see how many 20s I've got, how many guys are there, you know, because I try to give them like forty bucks a piece of the city.

SPEAKER_08:

I'm good at that, and I do the same thing. We always we always tip something.

SPEAKER_11:

The reason I overtip everything on everything is because I waited tables on and off for like 10 years. And you you I mean, and that's one of those things like if you're if you ever worked in the service industry, and if you can do that, you can pretty much do anything. It's great training for life and humans and everything else. And I've I've been, you know, you get you've gotten good tips before, but you've also gotten stiffed by by supposedly really great people, you know. But the worst tippers uh ever uh is the church crowd. The church crowd back when I was waiting on tables, the the church crowd is like, oh, we gave a church, son. I was well, that's a good idea. That's good school for you. I'm glad you did. But you know so anyway, but I just but because of that, I think I just over I just overtip everything, and I and and like Neil said, I feel you feel like you've been blessed. And so I actually it it just feels good to to give. I and I I do probably overgive. Try that in a small town, y'all. Try that in any town.

SPEAKER_08:

I don't want to harp on this, but that was when you were a waiter, first of all, you probably made two bucks an hour, which is waiters used to do that. Isn't the case anymore? Right. And then also, if you're working at Starbucks and making a decent wage, I don't know, aren't you kind of you're not rewarding somebody for actually working hard. They're not doing it very liberal in making their giving money out. Very I have an app you're not teaching good hard work deserves good hard work.

SPEAKER_09:

I have an app I have an app on my phone, it's called Tat Tip. I do, I have an app. And I I put in what the bill is, and it comes down to the penny, what the tip's supposed to be. It says it gives you 18, 19%, 20%, right down to the penny. So I know what I'm gonna do. My grandpa used to do that. So that's my rig. And I go totally and if the tip's saying, okay, leave uh$12 for their tip, and that's 20%. If it was a great waiter or something, I'll leave more. I like the tip. Service, I'm just saying, just so there's no confusion, I don't think the coffee shop, uh unless you're sitting down drinking coffee at a table and she's checking on you. Going through the Starbucks line, I agree. I don't think you're rewarding anybody. Warren, I think I think it's taking advantage of the tipping situation and handing you Okay, there's a juice bar that I like going to. Juice bar, I love going there. They make juices, make great smoothies right down the street of my house. Again, one of my favorite things to do. I go down and order my juice. It's like a nine dollar thing. They flip the iPad over to me. I flip it right back. Yeah. There's no tipping involved in this. You're behind the counter, you're making the juice. You should have worn a Grinch outfit tonight. It's not Grinch, it's just the tipping, the tipping net has gotten too wide. It's like tipping used to be like waitresses, waiters. And then it expanded into all this. It's just expanding, and then now there's no no stopping it.

SPEAKER_11:

I I I agree with it. It is getting out of control. And the the last time where I the biggest time I've had an issue with it, and I still did it a little bit, but I was uncomfortable, it was at a butcher shop. There's a new butcher shop, and the meats are really good, you know. And at the end, I mean you've paid for them. The meat was already cut, and it was Lane and I just pointed to it. Somebody cut it earlier in the day. But then it's a it was a big yeah, it was a big bill, like 235 bucks, and you can put it in the freezer, you know, and all the stuff, because I I'm not there often. And you flip it over, and the first thing is, you know, tipping on just purchasing groceries. Trapping up the meat. Meat. Yeah. And and it it caught me off guard because I was thinking, oh, I I feel like we're already tipping because we're probably overpaying for this, but I still had to do it. I still had to do a little bit, and I didn't do 20 or 40 percent. Thank god, you know. But nonetheless, I was like, why why is that? So I I agree that in certain places it's it is getting out of hand. So I didn't I didn't love that.

SPEAKER_06:

It's gonna get more out of hand. It is gonna get more. It's coming to McDonald's. No tax on tips, no? Not me, it's not.

SPEAKER_11:

If it's if it's McDonald's, I probably would do even more so based on the fact that you're leaving there. I mean, if you do 20 percent on what? What's a biscuit, man? I mean, it's gonna be eight bucks. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.

SPEAKER_06:

I didn't mean for this to go that long. Let's it let's get off it actually.

SPEAKER_09:

I actually think it's a great subject. It is a great subject. I think we're gonna get some good. I I think most people are gonna side with me on this. We'll find out. No, everybody leave a comment. I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_08:

Shaking his head. What about you? Are good friends like you?

SPEAKER_06:

Neil, your dad, I'd love to know. I know I got I got a feeling that I used to be the most hated guy on this podcast, but I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_08:

Hey, if I'm the most hated guy because I don't want to tip a Starbucks. Make sure you leave your comments. I'm standing at my ground on this. I'm standing at my ground. Do you tip at Starbucks? Would you tip at McDonald's? Do you have a chance? Where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line? Uh we got to take a break, uh, but we'll be right back. This is a try to have a small town podcast. You know what goes great with small town stories? Original Glory, America's beer right here.

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SPEAKER_08:

All right, we're back. This is a try that in a small town podcast. Coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios, powered by eSpaces or giving love to original glory as well. Make sure you check it out. It's the holidays. Leave us a tip. Leave us a tip. Drink a beer. Just send some money. Yeah. Don't forget. Believe me.

SPEAKER_06:

Tip waiter.

SPEAKER_08:

I liked it. Let's get back to being festive. Yes. We are festival.

SPEAKER_11:

Talking about Christmas. So I was wondering, and maybe this has already happened and I'm just behind. But uh has anybody pushed uh to change the name of fruitcake? It's like anybody? This is what happens when we leave you in charge. Yeah. No, but I was curious.

SPEAKER_08:

I was curious because is it still it's still called fruitcake, right? Let's get back to this. Okay. Because I obviously know where you're going. Uh B. John Robinson, do you know who this is? Yeah. This is in line, so just work with me on the segue here. He was, they won the game, I forget what it was, last week. He was being interviewed, and he was talking about as a kid, he loved playing Smear the Queer. Yeah. I love to see this. Yeah, we played that. Yep. We played it. Yeah. We did too. And then, of course, the next day he had to come back and we sometimes call the kill the man with the ball, whatever. It's Smear the Queer, right? Okay, so anyway, he said it. Of course, he apologized. I assume this is where you're going with fruitcake as well.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah. Same type thing. I was just kind of curious. And maybe somebody already has, but I was just curious to know.

SPEAKER_08:

Well, it's kind of like uh uh the master bedroom. You that's one of those uh politically incorrect things to say now. Yeah, they haven't changed that. I can't. Well, they there was a petition to change it. There was a lot of things. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_09:

Yep. All gender bedroom. They them bedroom. Yeah, you know you have a Jack and Jill bathroom.

SPEAKER_08:

You can't even say Jack and Jill.

SPEAKER_06:

I love Smear the Fruit Cake. I like that even better. Yeah, why can't we? Smear the Queer is a great game.

SPEAKER_09:

Well, but if you use it. Can we just leave I think some things should be grandfathered in. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Go ahead. Smear the Queer should be grandfathered in as just a fun thing in a game. Even though it's not correct, whatever. But just let it come in. It's like Because when you were a kid, you didn't really think of it. That's what I was getting ready to say.

SPEAKER_08:

It's a homosexual. No. We didn't even know what that words are.

SPEAKER_06:

It sounded good, but you know that's probably what invented, you know, drew me to songwriting because it rhymed. Yeah. And I didn't know what it meant. We just let's play some weird queer. And I didn't know what a queer was. Yeah. I mean it really smelled.

SPEAKER_08:

Actually, I think queer's back. Can't you say queer now? I think so. Yeah. Jim.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, you got well, you got queer. You got queer eye for the straight guy, right? Or something like that. It's okay to say that. So it's okay once they're saying it.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, Kurt, I am the authority on that. Thank you for asking.

SPEAKER_08:

Ryan. Anyway. Get to the next one, KL.

SPEAKER_11:

Oh, I don't know. I was um I was looking at terms like you say, you know, like like uh things you might say at Christmas, kind of like golf, you know, where you golf has some words that you say while you're playing that that could be interpreted as sexual. You know, like if you're on the green, you're talking about the pen, says, says uh, hey Neil, you wanna you wanna leave it in, or you want to put it on out of there? Merry Christmas, everybody. It's our Christmas episode. It always goes out. We always go south at Christmas. So, but but you know, it's kind of the same, you know, like if you if if somebody might say, say, well, that's the best stuffing I've ever had. Or well, I think it's It's about time to loose my belt. What do you think? You know, things like that. Or man, that's a big package. Nice. That's a nice package. I'm just wondering, that's just kind of uh some of those terms. Only your brain would go there. No, not only mine. Well, I had a lot of free time. Had too much free time, probably.

SPEAKER_06:

Did you drink eggnog on the way tour?

SPEAKER_11:

No. Still on the opioids. It's good. Just the old blue, blue bottle there. No, I don't know. What else y'all got? Do y'all don't have anything? No, no. We relied on you.

SPEAKER_09:

Freestyle tonight, man. I'm freestyling. Look at my sweater. No, it's just it's great. It's great. I've already watched Elf ten times. Oh Lord, yes. Yeah, it just can't get enough of this time. I think Polar Express is like it's kind of creepy.

SPEAKER_06:

It's creepy. One of the worst things. Okay, good. A little bit. Polar Express. Nobody likes it. It's like, I don't like, they didn't, they didn't. I think they left it creepy. I think they wanted it to be creepy. Really? Yes, I do. I don't know. Anyone who would have to do it. They could have, hey, with the technology they have today, they could have made those characters look, you know, sweet and innocent, but they look freaking demonic.

SPEAKER_08:

It's a little bit more.

SPEAKER_06:

Some of those kids have this demonic look. It's just weird to me. And I think it's a cool story, and the graphics are cool, and the and the the cinematography is really good. Yeah. But man, it's it's it borderline creepy. No, I'm with you. It is borderline creepy. But I can't stop watching it.

SPEAKER_09:

I can't stop.

SPEAKER_06:

I haven't watched that one in a while.

SPEAKER_09:

I don't like it. Not good. You don't like Polar Express?

SPEAKER_08:

Nah.

SPEAKER_09:

Turn it off the other day.

SPEAKER_08:

No kidding. What have you watched so far this year?

SPEAKER_09:

Oh, the usual Krampus Alpha B.

SPEAKER_08:

Has Krampus already got there?

SPEAKER_09:

Oh no, we've saved that for Christmas Eve. You're supposed to watch it on December 5th. I still haven't seen Krampus. I haven't either. Yeah, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_11:

It's classified as horror, not fun.

SPEAKER_09:

That's right.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09:

Kayla, what have you what have you guys watched? Christmas vacation, all this stuff. Yeah, Chris.

SPEAKER_11:

I've not watched anything yet. So probably this weekend I'll just. It takes me a long time. Like I get in the spirit generally on Christmas Eve. That's when I really get. And then it turns on like really buttons. Yeah, a day or two. And then it lingers some. You know, it can go till the evening of the 23rd. That's going to change. That's going to change. Probably. It is. It will definitely change. Yeah, probably. And I like the lights and all that stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_06:

But it takes many minutes to put a barbie jeep together. Oh my gosh. Oh, that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_11:

We've already been putting together some stuff. Oh my gosh. Putting together.

SPEAKER_09:

Oh my God. A whole Barbie house. My daughter, she was five or six giant barbie house up all night. Yeah. Never played with it. Yep. Things sat there for years.

SPEAKER_06:

I'm like to land. I'm like, they don't sell Barbie Jeeps assembled? Like, like they don't have a Barbie Jeep dealership.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11:

I mean, you can get a floor model and sometimes that's cheaper.

SPEAKER_06:

But it's it's hit or miss. I'm like, you gotta come home and a Barbie Jeep is like, I mean, you open the box and there's wheels rolling over here and there's shit going everywhere. And I'm like, and it takes you, you but you don't sleep. That's part of being a dad, though.

SPEAKER_09:

That's part of the being a dad and making the driver. And they said I would miss it one day. What's that?

SPEAKER_06:

They said I would miss it one day. You're gonna miss this. I know. I'm like, I don't miss putting barbecues together. Yeah. I don't miss that. It's uh sorry, Allie and Emma.

SPEAKER_11:

Beautiful girls.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, you'll you'll be putting some stuff together down the road.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, it's coming.

SPEAKER_09:

Can't wait.

SPEAKER_11:

Well, speaking of gifts, uh which I haven't got anything yet, but I was I was gonna ask El's opinion on this. Do you think whether you're giving or receiving um gift card is is a gift card, do you think do you look at that as a as a just not a cheap way, but just a a quick mindless gift, pure layer. Do you like do you like getting the gift card so you can get exactly what you want in the right size and all that?

SPEAKER_06:

That's a good question. And it depends on the individual as well.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, I mean I think so too. Me personally or like when in general, getting stuff for people?

SPEAKER_11:

I guess either either way, whichever one you want to answer.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, tell every case is different. I mean, kids, you know, like you know, like my son's in college, so like gift cards and money, that's probably where he's at, where he needs the most. Me personally, I I like opening stuff, but I also I don't like opening something I don't like. Like, damn, I could have used that bigger buck. I really could have used that 50 instead of this plaid scarf.

SPEAKER_11:

So if you what if if you gave your wife, if you gave your wife a gift card, would she like look at you like that?

SPEAKER_06:

My wife wouldn't that wouldn't be fine. My wife wouldn't think. That wouldn't fly. No, more men buy gift cards than women, for sure. We can look that stat up, but I can guarantee you that's a fact.

SPEAKER_11:

That's probably right.

SPEAKER_08:

Look that side of that. Yeah, my wife wouldn't like the gift card. She'd she'd she wants something. Whole life's a gift card. Yep. Well one giant gift card, bro.

SPEAKER_11:

I think I know the answer to this. That's fine. But do you guys or do you know anybody that goes door to door and sings Christmas carols?

SPEAKER_08:

I used to. Really? You've done that? Yeah, we did. Yeah, with church and all that. Me and Dad have done it a bunch. Oh, I bet you and Daddy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_11:

Let's hear a little bit.

SPEAKER_08:

No, we used to do it as kids a lot. Okay. Up through high school, either with the school or with the church, we did it all the time. Now, the last time I saw anybody caroling, I can't even think. Well, you're negated, you know, you gate.

SPEAKER_06:

We used to we we would uh pound. We would we would uh we would rehearse before we went. We'd get the parts worked out. We all are great singers. Uh no, we would we would we would have it down.

SPEAKER_08:

What's your dad tenor, baritone, we'll do it? He was a tenor. A tenor. Yeah. Yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Get his little note there, Joe.

SPEAKER_09:

Oh, he can still sing. I will say it's Tennessee at Christmas time is nice. I I I enjoy it.

SPEAKER_06:

Oh, yeah. Jim sent me a uh thing said Christmas songs you secretly like but pretend to hate.

SPEAKER_05:

Secretly like?

SPEAKER_09:

See, I like my Christmas songs classic. Yeah. Classic. I like them classic. I don't like any of the new pop. No. Are you tired of the m Mariah Carey? I like I like Frank's not just style Christmas songs. Sung in that way. Bang Rosby. Yeah. Yes, I I like it. I I actually enjoy listening to it in the car, but don't mess with it.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. That's that's where I'm at. All the youngsters out there should go back in time and dig. Are there any? Look up some of the oldies and compare what the oldies sound like to the new ones or the newer ones. And I guarantee you they'll be like Tully. More than anything.

SPEAKER_08:

I don't know. I wonder about that.

SPEAKER_09:

I mean, I I think we're biased. Yeah, I don't want to hear the classic songs redone. That's for sure. Yeah, I mean, does any do we like the Really?

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, I mean, I think so. I mean, like uh just different versions of like old old classics.

SPEAKER_06:

Like the what's the uh I've got a great question for you guys.

SPEAKER_11:

I'll be I'll be home for I'll be home for Christmas and the and the other one uh that's start bell, you know, bells will be ringing. That's the first first word. Is that called is that uh Please come home for Christmas? Yeah, Eagles and then Kelly Clarkson did it. I mean, I love that song. I don't care who sings it.

SPEAKER_09:

You know. I like it classic. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06:

I want to know what y'all I gotta know what y'all's first reaction is when a publisher or somebody calls you and says, Hey, so and so's looking for a Christmas song. Will y'all write one? What's your first reaction to that? You got the wrong guy, a waste of a day.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah. There's just there's just no money in it.

SPEAKER_06:

That's what I'm saying. It's like now, you know.

SPEAKER_09:

They're it they're written. There used to be a long time ago. Yes. You know, I like Christmas and Dixie. Can we say Dixie? Is that one of those words?

SPEAKER_11:

No. As long as you say cup after it.

SPEAKER_09:

I love that song.

SPEAKER_06:

I but I like you know, the the OG version and and yeah, I mean That's one thing I'm glad I'm thankful for AI for. Y'all go write your own Christmas songs and use a uh I'll say this.

SPEAKER_08:

Tony and I have played on a few Christmas songs as session players. Boy, you gotta get your chops ready for that. Oh man. Really? It's not like the typical Nashville 6415. Right, no.

SPEAKER_09:

So you're you're reading. You're reading some heavy reading involved. Yeah. And what's great about what they do is this. So you they always cut these songs in early summer. That's when they that's when you cut the Christmas songs so they can get them ready for Christmas, right? That's right. Always in the hotel. So you go in and when we're playing on sessions, we'll go we'll go in and we'll you'll you get called for an album, right? And you go do the album, and they'd always tack this Christmas song on the very last song of the two or three days. Let's do a Christmas song. They don't tell you they know it's coming, but you have no idea until you get to the you think you finished the album or the six, seven songs, or ten songs, whatever you're doing. And they forget it. We got called uh playing a Clay Walker album. This is four or five years ago, probably, maybe long longer now. So we play it's a Clay Walker album, and it's probably 12 songs we've done in two days. And just plowed through the charts and having a good time. And then, hey, we're gonna do one more. It's a Christmas song that we're gonna put out. And it's you got it's the last song, and it's like 430 on the last day, and they hand you this chart and then they go right to the piano player to say, You gotta chart this out because there's a hundred chords in it, and you're handed this chart at 4 30 with a hundred chords, and you got like 20 minutes to get it done. And Kurt's right, get your reading on, and it's like it's you're you're in August. It's yeah. But it's they're never easy to do. They're never easy to do, and they're always fun to do, but they're it's not easy to do. I mean, not not to do them justice and do it right, and you're trying to cut a Christmas a song with a Christmas vibe in you know, in June.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. Try singing a Christmas song in August. Get in get festive in August.

SPEAKER_08:

Let's uh let's end with something positive. You got something in your list that's positive and we don't put anything positive again?

SPEAKER_11:

I have something positive. I well it's it's uh it's just cr I it it may or may not be positive, but so because we all had different Christmases growing up, right? So I was thinking about it today. Like like, do you wish that you could take your family back back in time to see what your childhood Christmas was like, even if it was one special year, for whatever reason, do you wish you could take them back so they could see that see your childhood Christmas?

SPEAKER_08:

Hundred percent.

SPEAKER_11:

Yes. Yeah, yeah. You have to say, Yeah, your dad's sitting right here. Oh yeah. Yeah, you have to that'd be terrible if you said, no, I wouldn't want to know, right?

SPEAKER_08:

And it's I mean, I uh like Tully, I'm sure it's like, you know, my first of all, mom and dad were divorced. Uh but uh my dad's birthday is Christmas Day, and he would typically be come home. Yeah, no, he would be home. I'd see him, you know, a couple times a year, but um he would come home and it would be a great Christmas. But you don't you know w as a kid, would you get one or two, I mean just a couple gifts because that's all parent parents could afford, but it was incredible. Um and I do wish you know, I spoil my son rotten. He and his birthday, by the way, is the day after Christmas, so he's getting a ton of presents. But I do wish like he could just see that atmosphere, because I think in general we probably spoil our kids way more than I shouldn't say way more than they need to be, but do you try to replicate kind of what you had as a as a kid and what y'all did? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_11:

It's a little different.

SPEAKER_08:

I think it's it's unique to I've got I've got a really good one.

SPEAKER_06:

Go. And I can kind of throw dad and mom under the bus a little bit here.

SPEAKER_11:

Under the sleigh.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. Where I grew up, my mom and dad had the great idea of putting when they built the house to put burglar bars that separated the upstairs from the downstairs. Hold on. Burglar bars? Burglar bars. Yeah. We'd shut them and they would unlock them. Okay. That's amazing. So nice. Yeah, it was amazing until Christmas rolled around. Wow. And we had to wait for them to get up, and they took their sweet time to get up every Christmas morning, and we're standing at the burglar bar like we're in jail. That's torture, Joe. Let us in, let us in. That is amazing. Yeah, it's true, right? Oh that's amazing. So we had to live through years of our youth behind burglar bars. How many kids? Wow.

SPEAKER_08:

Uh how many brothers and sisters do you have?

SPEAKER_06:

I have an older sister and a younger brother. Okay. So the three of you at the burglar bars. We would be waiting at the burglar bars for mom and dad to get up. They took their time making their coffee. So they could stroll down. Oh my gosh, Joe. I love that. That's amazing. I made the anticipation. Okay, love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08:

What's one of your memories? What's that? What's one of your memories as a kid that you might want Lucy to see one day?

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, I'd like uh Lucy and Rachel to see, you know, just because uh Christmas has always been a big deal, just like you guys were saying. And it's that one perfect time of year, and you know, dad was off work, you know, at least for that day and stuff. And and it's just really great. It's all the anticipation. So I would like because Rachel never got to meet my dad, you know. So and uh so it'd be cool to go back and see that because you I just felt like we had great Christmases, so I really miss that this time of year. I love that. And it's smaller, and Christmas now is smaller, it's great, but it's smaller than it was, you know, as you get older.

SPEAKER_06:

So but yeah, your Christmases are gonna get better and better.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, no, I love Christmas.

SPEAKER_06:

I'm not gonna get down and I'm just saying because of Lucy, they're gonna get better and better and more special and more special every year.

SPEAKER_11:

Yeah, it's true. She's currently scared of I've got she's scared of Santa Claus. We've got this life size Santa in the living room, you know, and he he moves and talks a little bit. She hates that. So I've I've turned him off. But uh but maybe next year, maybe next year she'll like him.

SPEAKER_08:

I think that happens.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah. Yeah. Totally convenient here. No, I just yeah, I'd love to to take my kids back there. You know, we all, you know, grew up in my grandmother's house, you know, and you know, we lost her a couple months ago, so it's a first Christmas so that my grandmother, which is very strange because we, you know, that that's where home base was. We lived there and grew up there. So you know, we get up, me and my cousin Brooke, who lived there as well, we'd get up at 4 30 in the morning, 4 45 or whatever, and come downstairs and you know, didn't didn't grow up with anything really, but we always had a lot of presents at Christmas morning, somehow. So it was just an amazing amazing time, and uh just everybody was more present, I think. You know, there was Oh, for sure, you know 100%. It was a simpler time.

SPEAKER_08:

So but um Did you guys go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, we did candlelight service. Yeah, yeah, Christmas Eve. Yep.

SPEAKER_11:

We do Eve if we if yeah, it'd be Christmas Eve. Christmas Day you wanted to hang around.

SPEAKER_06:

I think that I think that's the one thing that the four of us can say. We haven't forgotten over the years what Christmas is all about. Amen. That's true. Very fortunate.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

I mean, if we can send any message to any of our listeners, that would be the one that we want them to know the most. Yeah. Is we've never forgotten what it's about. Jesus is the reason for the season. Hey, man.

SPEAKER_11:

Absolutely. Yeah, we hope everybody we hope everybody has a uh incredibly blessed Christmas.

SPEAKER_08:

Right? Absolutely. Um this I feel like this episode was a little calmer, a little less volatile.

SPEAKER_09:

Yeah, sure, we went right off the rails.

SPEAKER_11:

If you remember right off the rails, but but we were we had the the knot cracked open. Yeah, you know, not drunk, but uh everybody's a little more free. Yeah, you know, I think so. Let's do this for the next episode.

SPEAKER_08:

So that stay tuned for the New Year's episode. Uh we do wish everybody a Merry Christmas. We're thankful for everybody for watching. We're thankful that uh you download and you leave us comments and you do all that. Uh we want to make sure we reach out and thank Patriot Mobile. They've been great to us all year. Um eSpaces, of course, original glory, absolutely. Um Thrash, Kalo, TK, Merry Christmas Kurt, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, try that in a small town podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

Make sure to follow along, subscribe, share, rate the show, and check out our merch at try that inasmalltown.com.