Robots Are Entering the Operating Room

Smoke in the air, robots in the operating room, and a plane story that will make you grip your armrest. We start with a real-life check-in on the Canadian wildfire haze hitting parts of the United States, then jump straight into a medical breakthrough: five-foot-tall humanoid “Surgy” robots helping surgeons perform teleoperated surgery. We talk through what that could mean for precision, recovery, and access in smaller clinics, remote communities, and even field medicine, while also asking the uncomfortable questions about healthcare costs and what patients actually gain.

Then the mood turns intense with a shocking account from a Ryanair flight where a man is nearly pulled out of a cabin window and his wife holds onto his legs until other passengers help pull him back in. We unpack why incidents like this raise bigger concerns about airline safety, near misses, FAA staffing, and how long it takes to train air traffic controllers. If you have felt uneasy about flying lately, you will understand why this conversation hits a nerve.

We also get real about money and independence as we debate moms leaving corporate life to buy existing small businesses and franchises for flexibility. One of us shares a personal cautionary story about a deal that turned into a financial nightmare, plus practical advice on research, contracts, and why “instant cash flow” can hide serious risk. We round it out with a law school banning devices for first-year students because of AI, and a viral stripper pole disaster that turns into a surprisingly important talk on safety, responsibility, and liability. If you enjoy smart takes on current events, technology, and everyday life lessons, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review, then tell us which topic you want us to tackle next.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. How's it going, Wander?

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Man, it's going. I'm chilling out today, man, because you know, we got that fog or smog and the smoke from Canada. And I just I walked the dogs earlier, and I'm just chilling today. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yeah, I I definitely hear you. I went outside earlier and um I my eyes started watering, started like coughing a little bit. And then um, I know you and I spoke early, and um I did not sound like myself.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

You didn't? I thought you were just woking up or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

So um drank a bunch of water, some tea, and everything. And um, if you live in the Midwest or if you live in the uh northeast section of the United States, yeah, you don't want to be outside unless you have to. It's it's pretty bad. I mean, you can actually smell the smoke in the air.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

You can smell it. I I smelled it this morning around seven something when we were walking the dogs,

Smoke-Filled Skies And Staying Safe

SPEAKER_00 2:15

and I'm going like, oh my gosh, so it only got worse. And so there are other places that are worse than we are, like they can't even see, like New York and places like that.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yeah, I can actually you if you look hard enough, you can actually see the mist outside of the smoke.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

You can't. That's why I had to blink my eyes to make sure you know I don't have my glasses on, and I had to blink my eyes to see was it foggy outside? And I remember there was the smoke. Do you step out there? You can actually smell the uh the the burning. So yeah, be careful about that, guys.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Yeah, that is true. We got so much topics to talk about today, and you know the the crazy thing, Wander, is I had a hard time narrowing it down to five because it was so much stuff going on.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yes, there's so much.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

It seemed like more than usual.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Oh yeah, oh yeah. So let's get started then.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Alrighty. Well, the first thing we're gonna talk about here, and I think it's a good thing. Um, some people may not, but we're gonna talk about this thing called Surgy Robotic Doctors. Thank you. So basically, researchers at UC San Diego have successfully used five-foot-tall humanoid robots nicknamed Surgy to perform the world's first teleoperated live surgeries guided by human surgeons. The robots perform gallbladder removals on pigs, making a milestone for more accessibility, portable, and affordable robotic surgery. Wow, what do you think about that, Wonder?

SPEAKER_00 3:59

You know, let's be clear. You know, I I'm I'm for

Teleoperated Surgical Robots Explained

SPEAKER_00 4:03

evolution, you know, that the robots will not take the place of doctors. They're only tools, and uh, even though they're operated uh and they're highly trained by surgeons, and just like any other uh evolution or new wave technology, that's all it is. It's just make it because you you you think about the times of what doctors knew, even when I was born in the 60s, right? So just think about what the the technology that has grown. And I can remember uh being pregnant with my daughter at an early age, and technology was had gotten a little bit better, but not for someone. Uh, my daughter was a neonatal, so technology changes uh along with the doctors, and you know, so I don't see anything necessarily wrong with that. You know, uh I had a C-section, you know, and I wonder now if a robot had done it, would it just be like a thinner line, you know? I don't know. What say you? I can't hear you.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Sorry. I I guess I have mixed feelings on it. Now, the way they're doing it right now, it looks like you still have to have a doctor guiding the robot on what to do. So it's being used as a tool, not a replacement. And I'm okay with that. I just get nervous if it gets to the point where they say, okay, you're, you know, have a major heart surgery and the robot's gonna take care of you. Well, is the doctor gonna be watching over? No, no, the robot's good. I'd be a little nervous about that.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Yeah, that's almost like the the self-driving car, you know. Yes. Now, you know, we we we can we can only digest a little bit at a time here. Uh, for because from what I understand, uh, with that particular article, the doctors are controlling the the robots, and and from what I'm understanding, and that maybe I could be wrong, the incisions are sharper. That's why I was mentioning about the C section, though. I was cut by a regular doctor, right? Uh and so with these robotic, they they're gonna be a little bit more precise with the cutting, the pain is supposed to be less, you know, a faster recovery. So there's a lot more to it than just oh, a robot's uh doing this on me, because a human being is actually running the robot. Now, with what you just said, if we get to a point, just the robot, who knows? Maybe uh uh we would get to that point somewhere down, you know, probably when our grandchildren are adults or something, it'll come down to just the robots doing it, you know, it could be sooner. But yeah, so it's it's again something that's different. But when you think about it, what doctors knew 30 years ago, 60 years ago, things have changed even with that.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

That's true, that's true. Um some notes that I have here, um, and actually positive notes is accessibility. So their compact size makes them ideal for smaller clinics, remote communities, or field medicine scenarios. So basically, I guess what they're saying is that the long-term goal is to integrate artificial intelligence so humanoids can work alongside human surgical teams to autonomously complete specific steps of a procedure. Now, the one thing that I'm wondering, and I don't know the answer to this, is it going to help out with the increasing cost of health care? Healthcare is very, very expensive. And you know, let's face it, you know, you could probably have a robot do way more operations than a human can. And what you do is maybe you have, again, I'm just talking out loud, is maybe you have a team of surgeons doing this many surgeries, and then the next team comes in and this one. Again, just thinking out loud, I would think that that would be a cost savings on the healthcare system, too.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Well, you know, um, I don't know, because you know, when things first come out, you know, they're expensive. Look at the TVs. I remember spending $2,000 for one of those platinum TVs. So when things first come out, you know, it's you know, uh people, it's usually for people that have money. So that would be a concern. Uh, will the the rich people afford this technology and someone poor couldn't because of the cost, you know. I went, I was walking uh somewhere and saw, I couldn't believe I saw uh a 50-inch TV for 198, a 50-inch TV. So somewhere down the line, just like even with the computers, they were so expensive when you first got a computer, you know. So I think because of um the technology and it's new and it's making all of these promises. My thing is the cost is important, but compassion. People are they're concerned about the compassion of a robot.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Excuse me. Yeah, the other thing too is you know, sometimes when you're doing surgery, there are other things that you see. Okay. Now, here's the big question will a robot have the thought process to see, oh, I know I'm working on this, but I see some issues here that we should address or bring up to the patient as well. Now, a human surgeon does that all the time. That's just a part of what they do. But will that robot have that same knowledge to do that?

SPEAKER_00 11:10

With the way I'm looking at um the AIs and all the different things like that, I I can almost believe that that's a possibility. That they could probably even see more than what the doctor sees. Because a lot of when you think about you know the the the fight with AI and the people believing uh the dangers in it, and some people see the good in it. Uh, so I can almost see that that would have to be a plus that they that that uh and if it didn't, it'd be a shame to go back, you know, to the drawing table uh to put that in. So hopefully they hear what you're saying. But as far as the compassion, people like, well, my doctor uh can uh have more compassion on me uh when they see uh like a cancer patient or a diagnosis, then they they can be a little bit more human. But on the other hand, I worked at a hospital, and I was a chart tracer, a very large hospital. And when I'm looking for those charts for surgery or whatever, somebody's doctor's appointment, I have kind of overheard some dialogue with doctors in surgery rooms, and they're drinking, uh talking, some of them eating, they're something so they're kind of cold. And I've heard doctors can be kind of cold while they're doing surgery, or even with my my my doc my daughter's doctor, she was diagnosed, and I felt that this guy was a little bit cold with the way. Oh, well, you'll probably have to have uh chemotherapy, you'll probably die in my he was very cold

Cost And Compassion In Robotic Care

SPEAKER_00 12:48

to my doctor, yeah to my daughter. And we just kind of looked, so even as humans, doctors can be kind of cold too. That robot could be made out of plastic or some type of metal, and you know it's gonna be cold because there's no soul there. So, you know, you weigh the difference with that, and and what you know, what what is your pocket saying, you know? So that can go either way, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

That's true, that's true. Something tells me that um this is probably gonna expand how fast and how wide we'll see, but unfortunately, this is here to stay.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

You think? Oh, yeah. Well, it is what it is, as they say. It is what it is, and it's it's basically what a what a person wants to think about. So are we ready for our next uh topic?

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Or are you listening? Uh I I gotta warn the people that don't like to fly. Hold on to your seat. You may not like this story.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Hold on to your horses. My goodness. And I was really, really shy. I got a lot to say about this. Um, I know you guys probably have heard about this. Is that if we die, we die together. A wife of a man nearly sucked out of a Rainair plane. She speaks of the ordeal. So a woman held onto the legs of her husband as he was nearly sucked head first out of a Ryanair cabin, uh window on Friday, and said uh his shoulders and head were almost outside of the plane. So uh I can't pronounce these names on here. So Slovena Gorix. I don't know who they are. I'm gonna mess their name up. If they were American, I probably messed their name up. Who were

Airline Window Blowout Survival Story

SPEAKER_00 14:45

traveling, she was traveling with her husband uh to Greece uh and into Germany and told BBC uh Syria, Serbia, two other and two other passengers held pulled them back inside after nearly two minutes. We pulled him back together, she said. His entire face was deformed and blood was pouring from his nose and mouth. So my thought on that topic is my god, where's the love? I hope they didn't have an argument. I know that they there had to be some love there because if they had been in an argument, mad at each other, whoops, okay, he's out the window. But could you imagine anybody sitting next to you on a plane and the window just opens up? I've seen it in movies, like a vacuum plane, and just sucked about. That's real love. And the story tells just how fragile life is. We could be here one minute, and the next minute we're gone. So it's more than just what happened out that window, but that's huge that this man was nearly sucked out the window, and her instincts, her instincts was to know to grab him and you know, by his feet, his legs, or whatever. And so that's just amazing. How would you feel sitting next to someone, your wife, someone sitting next to you, and all of a sudden, because you gotta be thinking, because this is you don't have time to think. I mean, you have your instincts have to be kicking in. What's your thought?

SPEAKER_01 16:27

I think for me, um, I mean, God forbid, you know, my instinct would kick in to grab her, you know. Because I can tell you something that quick, she didn't think about that. Was just pure instinct to grab him.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

On the same token, you would never think that, you know, hey, me or my spouse may get sucked out of an airplane in the air. No one would ever think that.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

And I think it it's opening up a lot of serious questions that need to be asked because between the near misses, between, you know, the airplane clashes, I mean, granted, those are small planes, they're still planes. There's it seems like to me over the last year, there's been a lot of mishaps. You know, in fact, um, the incident over in uh, I think it was Washington, D.C., where the plane crashed into the helicopter. I mean, there's been a lot of instances lately where it kind of makes you wonder, is there something bigger going on that we're not aware of?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Uh absolutely it is. And and unfortunately, it's political. There's a lot of people that that were in these jobs, they have been fired.

unknown 17:37

True.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

So you don't have people manning the stores anymore. So there's a lot, and and and because so much other stuff is going on, it's a distraction, and we do need to be careful about that. We need to be very, very careful about taking trips, going different places, or whatever, because it just even the other day on the beach, the plane came so close to the people on the beach that that was like a day or so ago. So there's a lot of stuff happening uh uh in the situation. And could you imagine that

Air Travel Safety And FAA Staffing Worries

SPEAKER_00 18:10

poor guy probably thought more as the cat? He had nine lives. I I couldn't even imagine what was going through his head because it was happening to him.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

If I had to guess, Wander, I would say that he thought he was going to die that day. Literally.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

Because you don't know what's happening.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

What you you hit on some great points that I want to stress. Because one of the things, with all the craziness going on, we kind of forget that a large number of officials were fired from the FAA when Doge was at was taking care of things. Now we we don't know who these individuals are, what they did, but that's a fact. There was a lot of FAA employees that were fired. Now, the other thing too is we always had an issue with not having enough air traffic controllers.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Now the other thing we don't know is when they had um those government shutdowns, how many of those air traffic controllers said, screw this, I'm not doing this no more, that left and made the situation worse. And it's like we wait till fire comes out, and instead of planning ahead, it's like we're putting out fires after they start.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Because it takes, I want to say, and I don't want to misspeak here, but I want to say it takes anywhere from 18 months to two years to bring on new air traffic controllers. So this isn't something you could just go and you know put an ad out there and just hire a bunch of people. It doesn't work that way. You have to plan for it. So it just kind of wonders why no one kind of saw this coming.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Well, it's because it's again, I've I bel I believe, in my opinion, and this is alleged, it's it's it's everything that's going on, all the other different distractions. You know how you you've seen it, uh, crooks, when they're tapping you on this shoulder or they're doing something to get you distracted while they're stealing over here. So that's that's part of what's happening. There's so much going on that it takes people like us on our platforms and the different platforms to talk about this situation, that situation. You know what I'm saying? So it's just um this is one thing among so many, and all of them are serious. You know, everything that we talk about, these things are definitely serious things to talk about, and they need to be brought to the forefront, especially being the summer, people are traveling. You know, uh, if it's not one thing, it's another with the airport, you know. So, yeah, so we we definitely have to think about that. That poor guy, oh God bless his soul. And of course, we'll probably hear him giving his story on Good Morning America or something, uh uh soon to talk about his life, you know, a flashing before his eyes, and then even the wife and even the people that surround them. You think about the people on that plane? Because everybody, when you think about that plane, everybody on that plane was in danger.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Right. Now, here's a here's a great question. Do you think that that couple will ever fly again after that?

SPEAKER_00 21:33

I don't know. I probably wouldn't. You'll be probably alone, and especially getting all of the details about uh people not in place. Uh, we need air uh traffic controllers and things of that nature. Uh I I probably wouldn't, because even like right now, you know, I'm I'm being mindful of things, especially getting closer to the election, you know, about traveling outside of the country. God bless those that that that still uh still, you know, part of like it's 1999, people are still enjoying life, as they should, but also you should be watchful. But I don't know, I wouldn't. I I I certainly wouldn't uh fly again. And then I guess it's kind of like driving a car. You're in a in a in a no, I don't know. That that plane, because with a even with a car, their ways of getting out of that that that uh a car wreck probably unscathed, but a plane, you're in the hands of God and the birds that they probably hit.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

That's true, that's true. Well, we'll definitely pray for for um for the husband and wife on that, and also pray for the other people on the plane because even though it didn't happen to them, um, I'm quite sure they're not gonna forget what they saw.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

So, oh absolutely not. I I know I I certainly wouldn't. And uh again, you know, uh hopefully we'll hear uh some updates about you know uh how the guy is doing, how they're doing, because she she was just as much a victim, but her reflexes, thank God for her reflexes, he owes her.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Amen for that. Well, after a story like that, we definitely need a good story.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Say it again.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

I said after a story like that, we definitely need a good story to follow up with.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Yes. Uh I don't know if I got the right, clicked on the right one because there's so many articles uh with this one. Um weird this story, like you say, it's it's it's up B, but I got something to say about that one too now. Okay, moms are increasingly ditching corporate careers to pursue entrepreneurs. Through uh uh acquisition. Rather than building from scratch, they are buying existing small businesses. And this trend is accelerated by moms uh offering uh mom sessions, uh, offer moms the uh the ability to set their own schedules, work remotely. Uh, one of the things, the many things, uh small business loans, many of them are they're acquiring the small business loans. Some of them they say it's instant cash flow. The workplace is uh is flexible for parents now to buy businesses, existing businesses for their children. Now,

Moms Buying Businesses For Flexibility

SPEAKER_00 24:39

I just read a few things, it's an instant cash flow. Uh it's it's a workplace of flexibility, it establishes uh operations, right? What's your thought on that? Because I'm gonna come back on the other end of that. Or should I go ahead and give my opinion now?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

You know, I I think it's great personally, um, for a number of reasons. One, by owning a business as opposed to working for someone, that instantly allows you flexibility for your personal life. I do like the idea of purchasing a business, whether it's an existing business, whether it's a franchise. But what happens is that when you do that, you're not starting from scratch. And if you do a franchise, you know, there's a big corporation behind you in most cases that's gonna help you, you know, kind of figure out all these things up front that you would have to find out on your own. So I think it's great personally.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Well, I'm gonna give you some personal experience. Uh, and and I and I the idea sounds wonderful. It sounds wonderful, but I did that, and I wasn't a kid, I did that. I ended up purchasing an existing franchise, and the thought they said, you'll be, you know, you you're your you're your own boss, we're gonna partner with you, we're gonna show you how this business, and I lost everything I had. It was a pyramid. Because guess who gets the money? The person that gets the money is the one that originated it. It's another from my situation. I lost, I had 25. Uh it was a cleaning business. I had 25 employees, 26 employees. I was purchasing all the equipment that I needed, this, that, and the other. It was a gimmick. They saw me and another gentleman at the same

Franchise Scams And Hard Lessons

SPEAKER_00 26:40

time coming, and we put in a whole lot of money. I was paying payroll, I was it was a farce. If somebody mentioned, stop taking taking another business. If I did a business, it would be from scratch because I know how to do that. And you said something else about the flexibility. Sometimes you may not have all that flexibility that you would want, right? Because you're your own boss, you spend even more hours on that business. The concept is good, but you better know who you're getting this franchise from. Because just like I did, we tried to sue them. They were they had the lawyers, they screwed the people, and then what we found out what they were doing, they would find something wrong with what you've done and say that the company was not pleased with you. And what it is, they got a new client that needs businesses. I had I had the private airport in Nashville, I had about 13 Sun Trust banks. I had Captain D's headquarters. I had some, I had uh Taylor Swift and uh Darius Rucker. I had their I had their studio, and there's a couple more, uh Hertz, I had the Hertz. What they do, they didn't they didn't have enough people, so they had to find a reason to kick you out. It's a farce in some cases, not all cases. So God bless the ministries of those parents that go into finding an existing uh company because they're gonna get theirs from on top. The top tier is gonna get that money, and you're gonna be down there working, working, working, working. So, if in fact this is what people are saying is working, I don't know because I got the twitches, I got the twitches. Don't come to me about something that somebody has already has and want me to invest in it. No, sir, redock. I will be starting from scratch because I believe in entrepreneurship, I really do, but that for me was a touchy subject, and God bless those parents because that the idea is right. I mean, I guess, but you better know and do some serious investigation, and I was gonna do that, and I even went to an attorney, but I had some other people with me, and it it went the other way, and I lost pretty much everything.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Wow, so sorry to hear that. Wow. Let me ask you if if you had to do it all over again, and let's say it was a McDonald's or it was um, you know, another major national brand that if you say the name, everybody knows it is, would you reconsider then, or you just absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Wow, it's just like when you leave a church, oh come on and come to my church, come all it's it's some similar stuff there, it's some similar stuff there. If you are not the originator, it's a pyramid, in my opinion, it's a pyramid because the ones at the top is what's gonna get the money. You busting your behind, you're spending all your money, and not to mention, man, when you have these businesses, you got to trust people because they're gonna steal from you, they're gonna give you food away. You know, you gotta be able to trust those people that's that's running your stuff. So, yeah, that's a sore spot for me, but I'm grateful if that's what some of the parents are doing. Just like with my grandson, he wants to be a chef. From a little boy, he was interested in being a pastry chef. So of lately, I've spoken to one of my daughters, really good friends, an excellent cook. So, what in the next maybe three to five years, he can have his own restaurant. Remember, I always say this analogy: Wendy's not scared of McDonald's, KFC is not scared of Popeyes. So I can I got some ingredients that's gonna make you keep coming back. I can do some food because when I used to have all my events in Nashville, I had people that love to cook, but I said, I gotta season the food. Let me season the meat, and I season, and I'm talking about so I can do it. Many mistakes, and there's an old saying, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, every day will be Christmas. So it ain't what it is. It ain't so that's it, that's where I'm coming from with that. If other people are doing it, they're willing to do it, all I say is do your research. Because I said, Oh, don't do it. That was just my experience, and I'm still scarred when I think about that. So when I saw that that topic, I'm like, Oh, yeah, I'll I'll be the one to talk about it. Yeah, let me talk about it. So be mindful if you're uh if you're wanting to be an entrepreneur and and you want to do uh an existing business, get all the details, the fine print, and get an attorney. And had I listened to the attorney, we probably wouldn't have known each other. Lawrence, we would have known each other. I would have been somewhere else, yeah. But it happened because now I know you.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Yeah, well, you know what? I I've I've learned in life that even the bad things that happen sometimes puts you in a place where you need to be. You just didn't know it at the time.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Absolutely. Yeah, that that's what I get past the hurt, I get past all the twitching and all that. And when you think about people who are multimillionaires, man, they lost way more than I did. They lost, and they and they did not give up. And those are the people that I'm encouraged by their stories, and I once I want to be encouraged by my story because that was a long time ago, more than 10 years ago, and and then and yeah, way more than 10 years ago, and so seeing where I am right now, it didn't stop nothing, and so well, it did, but it didn't stop me, it didn't kill who I was on the inside and what God put inside of me. That's what it did not, but oh yeah, I was down and out, I was down for the count. Yeah, I was, I was.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

I don't blame you, I don't blame him.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Well, this next one is very interesting. Just when you thought you've heard enough AI stuff. Okay. Well, a law school bans electronic devices for the first year students. So the University of Chicago Law School instituted a device-free classroom mandate for the first-year students in response to the rise of artificial intelligence taking effect in the core first-year courses. That's actually pretty shocking, being that everything is on tablets now. But um the core ban uh means that uh laptop phones and tablets are prohibited across all required first-year classes, requiring students to take notes by hand. That's a new one for them. Exam restraints. All examinations are strictly in class and offline without access to the internet or electronic

Law School Bans Devices Over AI

SPEAKER_01 34:31

files. Now, there are limited exceptions. Professors may assign specific scribes to be used as devices to take notes for the class or permit device use for interactive polls. Students with approbe academic accommodations are also exempt. So, this is a very interesting topic here. I think um, you know, for a law school, I think this is actually a good thing personally. What do you think, Wanda?

SPEAKER_00 35:03

It is, you know, you know, technology has transformed in almost every part of our lives. We we we every every week we're talking about something, it has transformed our lives to the laptops, smartphones, or tablets, as you just said, and yet this university wants to borrow it. Now, on the one hand, I can kind of see, especially where the old was working. What why why fix something that wasn't broke, right? Wasn't broken. And then on the other hand, evolution. We we we are evolving. Now, personal, I get personal again. I was I I I teach uh a class on Wednesdays as a uh a prayer line, right? And I can remember having my computer set up and everything, because it's quicker for me to read it, right? Boy, I forgot to charge my computer up and didn't even realize it went out on me. The old school for ah, that's why I got my Bible, I can flip my page, and I do my handwriting for an important person like me. That ain't gonna, I just got to charge my computer next time. That was the problem, and it's easier for me to do it that way, right? So, depending on what a person likes, and not to mention, I could be on my computer, which is the downside, I'm looking for something like I was looking for these topics, right? And oh, so-and-so got in touch with me. You can get distracted with that device, so you can't focus on your work. So I can see the both sides of that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

And you know, the interesting thing too is that they're not saying they're banning it forever, just the first year. And I think sometimes you need a break because there is times where I literally would put my phone in another part of the house or the room and maybe watch something on TV or something, you know, just to get a break from it. Or even, you know, maybe just go out in the backyard, just sit and do nothing, just relax. Because you you kind of do need a break because you know, once you start getting on social media, you're looking at posts, and then I like looking at the uh at the responses, and you kind of fall find yourself falling into this little pit where you just, oh my god, I've been on this thing for two hours.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

You know, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I I I'm thinking, meet me down the middle. I'm I I can compromise. That first year, there's so much that you have to, you know, get used to. This is like you're coming from eighth grade to go to high school. That's a transition. You're going to high school to college, that's a transition. So when you're going on to higher learning, that's another transition. I'm thinking, in my opinion, that perhaps a certain portion of the class should be let's do the no no electronics, let's do like this, and then let's go to make everybody okay with it. And I think that could kind of balance it out. But just to say the whole first year, did you get no? I would, I would, you know, because everybody, everybody's not college-bound. Uh, every, you know, and and and and and technology has made it easier for us to be able to navigate through higher learning. So I'm thinking maybe the first uh uh 30 minutes or whatever, we're gonna do structured this on this, and let's see what you have, and then see what you got with your, you know, and make it easy the second half. I I just in the first year, I don't I don't I don't agree with that being the first year. I think with some some type of sound structure, uh, and people, you know, you gotta do the right thing, man. Not because everybody's looking, you got to do the right thing because this is why you give them the reason to say it's not gonna work. Because look at you, it's just like with the school, when I was in Nashville in the school system, it got it, it was a nate as a school-wide, a statewide mandate that knows no cell phone. Oh my god, you thought somebody mama died. You thought, man, oh, it's a cardinal sin. We can't have our phone because they're texting. It was so many fights uh of people on Facebook instead of being in their class. I had to get on my grandson because he got a warning last year. He got a warning that he was on uh you know on his cell phone, he's not supposed to be on the phone. He texted me. What are you doing on your phone? Ask me about something, get off of that phone now. So doing the right thing takes discipline, yeah. So I I think it's wrong for the whole the whole school. Yeah, I don't know what our audience thinks. I want to say shout out to my friend uh Howard and Shawanda, who re dialogue with us, whatever. Yeah, so what what what does our audience think about this?

SPEAKER_01 40:08

You know, I agree, I agree. And you know, there are there are available techniques in place. Like when my son went to high school, um they couldn't use their phone during the day at school. And what they did is there's a way they can block all the cell phone, the cell communications going in and out of cell phones, but they'll let certain things like 911 and certain other things get through. So the average, unfortunately, the average school doesn't have that budget to get that kind of technology, but it does exist. And the other thing too is uh my son just graduated from from a uh a very specific prestigious music school. It would be impossible not to use those things because he's in the music business. So that's a part of the business. Now, yes, his main art is his voice, his writing ability, producing, but uh you need to be able to use the boards to control the music. You need to be able to use the computers to mix the music and edit it. So it's impossible for them not to have the technology to use. So I guess it depends on what it is, um, as far as being able to say, okay, we're not gonna do this.

SPEAKER_00 41:24

And you know, the the thing about this dealing with it, the world is gonna leave America behind. The the the Japanese, the Chinese, all the other countries, they are advancing. So while they're dealing with these uh uh cars that's flying, we're gonna still be putting gas in our cars here. So we have to, we you you you cannot get away from technology and evolution again. It just goes back to the discipline. Those people, those foreign companies, they are disciplined, they're a lot more disciplined than we are, and so I think that's what we're missing. Uh with with because it's okay to have it, but you got to have discipline with it. And for me, like I said, I believe we do need both. It's kind of nice to be able to write, but sometimes in this fast-paced world, this fast-paced generation that we're living in, it's hard to want to sit down and just write. Like when I first did my first book, it took me a long time to do that first book. But the second book, it took me uh maybe a matter of maybe four months to get all the material. I didn't put it all in there because I was kind of going through some things in life. So I had a whole bunch of stuff to write down. So the writing was therapeutic, but when I got ready to sit back and read it and had to look at it, I gotta look at what other people are gonna be seeing as well, and not me venting, you know. So I was able to write a lot, you know, but my fingers got crampy, you know. So, yeah, so technology, don't shun it. Just I think it's everything in life is about balance, man. It's about balance, but at any rate, that is true.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

That is definitely true. Well, this last topic, this is an interesting one, and I can't wait to see what people say about this one. But a woman swings on a stripper pole, which the pole breaks away and floods both her and her neighbor's apartment. This video has gone viral, okay? But a West Houston woman's pole dancing ended in disaster after the pole hit a fire sprinkler and flooded her and her neighbor's apartment. Asha Gilbert was filming herself in her living room on July 6th as she followed along to a pole dancing workout tutorial. Right as she began spinning on the pole, the top dislodges from the ceiling and hits a fire sprinkler, causing water to shoot everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 43:59

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

Immediately, I'm in a shock because I'm like, oh my gosh, this cannot be happening, uh happening to me, said Gilbert. The pole was a recent addition to Gilbert's living room. She says a colleague had

Stripper Pole Disaster And Liability

SPEAKER_01 44:17

given it to her just three days prior. Wow, colleagues give polls now? That's a new one to me. Uh anyway, it was like, hey, I have this pole. Okay, even much more weird, but okay. Uh I'm giving it away. Do you want it? I'm like, yeah, absolutely I want it, Gilbert said. But when she had a friend install it, they didn't anchor to the ceiling. Instead, they relied on the pole's natural tension between the ceiling and the floor. Okay, that was dumb. It was wasn't even a thought that it could possibly hit the sprinkler, Gilbert said. We were more worried about hitting a wall. Much of Gilbert's furniture was ruined, and she had to move to a different apartment. She said the water also seeped into the downstairs neighbor's unit. Oh, there's a whole lot we're gonna say about this.

SPEAKER_00 45:09

Oh my god. My God. You know, this story may sound humorous at first, but it carries a serious lesson. According to the reports, a woman was using the stripper pole installed in the apartment, as you just said, and you damaged not just your apartment, but the other people in the building. And did you say she had to move to another apartment in the same building? Yes. She must have been real, that must have been a family building or something. It'd be a family building. But what in the world are you thinking, first of all, to accept a stripper pole? You don't know, and I don't know. How thick she was, or if that had anything to do with it, because even a small person can have like they call dead weight, could be real heavy. So depending on how they hit the thing, but that that was just dumb, dumb, dumb, and dumber. Yes, that was not smart at all to put a stripper pole in the house and not count the cost.

SPEAKER_01 46:17

That was the other crazy thing about it, Wonder, is the only way to safely install that, you have to you have to nail it into a uh screw it in.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

Which is very difficult to do in a ceiling because the way the ceiling beams are, the ceiling beams are only a few inches wide. So you couldn't even put all four of them in there. So even if you anchor up, you know, do you put a plate or something in there to connect?

SPEAKER_02 46:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Now, before people go, Laura, how do you know so much about this? Okay, I I work around my house, okay. I own a home, okay. So let's not go crazy because I know some people are gonna go online like, Morris, what's going on in your house? So no, we you know, just saying.

SPEAKER_00 46:57

All right, Tracy. Okay, wifey. All right, but anyway, it's just a lot of fun, whatever you do.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

Um would you put a stripper pole up?

SPEAKER_00 47:15

Absolutely not, absolutely not. My my body weight would it no man, no way, Jose. And you know, one person's action is another person's consequences, you know? Yeah, man, you you you you got consequences when you make bone-headed choices like that. And who's the friend? Did the friend chip in with the damages? Because that's the other thing.

SPEAKER_01 47:44

So you you you put it confused about that too, because it's like, what kind of friends do you have that give away stripper poles? I'm just saying, you know.

SPEAKER_00 47:51

Well, no, I'm talking about the friend, not just that friend, the friend that put it up. True, true. Are you are you you going and defacing somebody? You you got to get permission to put you know, uh changes in an apartment. Yes, and she probably gonna have her friends to come over, you know, like come on. Oh lord, they it oh my god, oh imagine what really would have happened. Somebody would have broke a leg, broke a hip, probably you know, did some serious damage up in there. Oh my god, I I can't even I can't even uh uh fathom that so the thing about it, you should think before you act, Wanda P. I'm the one to say think before you act, man. Consider whether your actions could put other people at risk. We just need to think about those things, man.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

Wow, but you know, yeah, I I'm wondering a couple things. One, did she have renters insurance? Because very few apartments required, which I'm very shocked because rental's insurance is so cheap. And here's the other thing if she didn't, is the owner gonna make her pay for that damage? That's the real question.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

What you what are they gonna get it at? Take it out. I ain't I'm not gonna say that Lord watch my woman. My father's gonna take it out here, take it out you where are you gonna take it from? Because she because uh undoubtedly she's trying to get a second job or trying to entertain somebody, as the dial with everything else, people wanted to work from home, so maybe she was trying to work from home. And I and another story, my studio I had in uh at Nashville. I remember I was renting it out, and a lady told me, she said, Well, I was coming home and it was uh cold outside, like maybe October or something like that. And she was pulled up in the back and she was written a studio out. Do you not know that this guy they have she said, Well, they put a trip a stripper pole? I said, What in my studio? And the little girl was outside because she couldn't freezing, and she happened to come home. She threw them folk about it. But so you just people would take your property that they're written from and think they could do anything with it. Yeah. Had little young girls teaching them how to the another girl was teaching them how to be strippers. These were like 12 and 13-year-old girls. Yeah, they were renting the place out for something with the youth, and the lady happened to come home that was renting it, and she saw the girl out there just shivering. What you out there for? They told me I it's a punishment because I couldn't get I could I couldn't swing on the pole. She said, What pole? Went in there and I ain't gonna tell you what happened, but needs to say they were gone. But she could not believe they had put in a portable stripper pole in the studio. So, yeah, people got a lot of nerve, colossal nerve. Wow, yeah, now they that's a whole nother story now. That that fits another topic.

SPEAKER_01 51:02

Well, everyone, don't put a stripper pole up in an apartment, okay? And if you're gonna put one up, get someone who knows how to put up a pole and nail it into the actual studs themselves, okay? Put a plate up there, whatever. And take some lessons. Don't don't have your buddy do it, just have somebody do it there, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 51:22

Yes, that's good, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 51:24

But uh, I still would like to know what kind of friends does she have that give away stripper polls, though. Just saying, you know, stripper conversation, I would think, you know.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

Can you go on Amazon? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 51:40

Well, everyone, um, we have a great time today, a lot of great stuff. And uh man, it's just too bad we don't have more time because man, I we we got a lot of stuff we could have talked about, but I do want to thank everyone for supporting us. Please, please continue to watch us and also make sure that you share what you watch and also tell people who we are. And um, you know, if there's anything specific that you would love to see us talk about, um, I know a lot of you go into um into the the comment section. I do read all of them. Some of them, wow, I'll just leave it like that. But if you have some ideas on things that you want us to talk about, definitely feel free to leave a message there and maybe we'll listen to you and surprise you one day with uh with your suggestions. So again, I'm Lawrence Elrod.

SPEAKER_00 52:32

And I'm Wander P, and I want to give a shout out to my boy Howard, to my girl uh Deborah. I think Debra's listening tonight, and also to Shawanda. They've all made the comments and everything. So if you

Wrap-Up And Audience Callouts

SPEAKER_00 52:44

guys heard something tonight, you know the conversation is going to continue to go, even if we're off the air, it's gonna continue to go on, and we'll respond to your uh comments. So I'm Wanda P. Follow me on all the social media platforms.

SPEAKER_01 52:59

Take care, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 53:00

Peace.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

Bye.