Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast
Why Aloha? the whole world knows what aloha is--love in Hawai'i--but better to ask WHY ALOHA? the answer is as essential as breath & as fun as whistling, so LET'S GO!
Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast
Ep. 7: Comic Augie T ~ When Life Hits Hard, Hit Back LAUGHING!
What happens when life knocks the wind out of a local boy comedian? Augusto "Augie T" Tulba's journey from the comedy stage to the Honolulu City Council chambers reveals a man whose toughest battle wasn't fought in either arena, but in coming to terms with his brother's unexpected death.
Growing up extremely poor in Kam IV Housing, Augie learned resilience early. But when he ran for City Council, life threw an unexpected punch – he & his wife were fired from their radio jobs the very day he filed his candidacy.
And it was WHO stood by him in this challenging time that spoke loudest: No one... except his brother & a cousin – both ex-convicts. This hit harder when Augie's brother passed unexpectedly.
Now juggling roles as comic, MC, councilman & radio personality, Augie approaches life with renewed passion. "It's finding the strong, not the wrong," he smiles. His story reminds us that sometimes our greatest growth comes through our deepest pain. Take a moment, take a listen, take a WIN!
Catch more Augie T's shows across Hawaii & USA: www.AugieTLive.com
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Aloha mai kakou Mr Augie Tauba. Augustus Tauba, it has so much mana, when I say Augustus.
Speaker 2:Well, it's Augusto, but a lot of my friends call him Augustus.
Speaker 1:Well it's.
Speaker 2:Augusto, but a lot of my friends call me Augustus. Okay, thank you for grace. Augusto is my Filipino grandpa, and then my middle name is Emery Salamatpo Augusto.
Speaker 1:Which is the?
Speaker 2:Howdy side, oh, emery.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's Augusto.
Speaker 2:Emery Toba.
Speaker 1:Welcome, Mr Toba.
Speaker 2:I use Augie because Augusto is too sexy. Can you imagine?
Speaker 1:Augusto. Yes, I hope we got it on camera and we're right here in front of the whole public. Thank you so much. Now you've done comedy as you are doing now, right now live. You've done radio and television. I was listening to you on the radio this morning. County Council for Honolulu City and County. You're a multi-talented, hard-working celebrity. You've also won two Nahoku Hanohano Awards for Comedy Album of the Year.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And maybe little-known fact, is 16 years old. He won Golden Gloves. Now, back in the day, I'm a kiddie of the 70s, a lady of the 80s. My daddy used to make me watch muhammad ali frazier the rumble in the jungle, like we know boxing it was uh an event everybody sat around watched tv, right?
Speaker 1:yes, sir you know, muhammad ali beat joe frazier yes you know, george foreman, sorry george foreman, the foreman grill, but now passed. But yes, we were very much into boxing, so kudos. But what I want to nail down into quite quickly here is that what many people, many of us, don't know is that recently you were in a round in the ring that brought you to your knees and this was the passing of your brother. Yeah, can you share on that? Would that be okay? Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you know my brother and my cousin like one of my biggest supporters as far as coming out to help whole signs campaigning for your political run, yeah and I, and both of them were ex-convicts.
Speaker 2:So you know, when I took the picture, when I signed the paper that I was gonna run, posted the picture on social media and people went hey bro, half the guys in your pictures was in jail. Yeah, it's my family. Sorry, you know. Cam 4, what's up, you know. You know, what's nice about the whole thing is that during that whole process I saw who my friends were yes, sir, and the people that was important in my life. You know, my cousins and my family. They knew like, wow, no one's helping. And I say this not to be mean, but I had performed for maybe every union business and when I ran for office, people were like, let me stay far away from Augie, he's the comedian.
Speaker 1:And I never thought about that, augie, because I have known you. I love comedians, love your shows. You're right, you've been performing for over 30 years. Back in the day you were the only comedian to sell out the Blaisdell in your Aloha Oe show. Right Then Tumua came. Love you, tumua, but you're the man, augie. Well, it was crazy because and no one came to be there with you or stand with you, and you're right, because in local style it's either at weddings or at luau. You find out who your friends really are.
Speaker 2:Well, when you run for office, you do. You find out real quick. You know who supports you, who don't, and I saw all the mean comments which gave me really fire.
Speaker 1:Is this a joke? Yeah, is he for real?
Speaker 2:Which gave me fire. Because everything I've done in my life, Don, from boxing to comedy to running for office, has always been a calling, and I think that's the reason why people ask me how come your show's still $15? Because it was never a job. Wow, I never looked at doing comedy. Was I blessed to do all those great shows? Yeah, yeah, but I never saw it as a job. Like you know, this is kind of cool, I get to talk and get paid right. And then you know, my radio job same thing. It's the same thing, Like when I don't feel like I'm needed there or I feel like it's come to the trail is gone.
Speaker 2:I'm done right. I leave because I always feel like god will always provide or find one way. Wow for you to like.
Speaker 1:So I've never been and even your councilman job. You were the one who went according. According to the newspaper said, a 64% pay raise is absurd and that's no joke. That was your quote You'll work for free for the people I know you are.
Speaker 2:Well, I knew coming in to the council that that was my pay and it's not part-time or full-time. The qualification to be a city council member is you have to live in a district and you have to graduate from high school. That's it. That's it, wow, right. And then I have a staff that I pay well to help me understand what I'm reading, because I always feel like, the way our founding fathers did, it was the correct way. You go in, you're a businessman, you a farmer, you an entrepreneur, you, okay, right. I like know why certain things in government operates the way it does, and you go and you learn, and you do your term, and then you right, leave, you're not there to make a living correct, become a billionaire so my fear is they're saying stuff like well, if you give us more money, you know we can work longer, we'll work harder.
Speaker 2:We do that already. Right, you're supposed to be working hard. Or the other was like you know, we could attract more new candidates. But then they started talking about, like you know, education, and, mind you, I'm the only one in the city council that don't have a college. Education Doesn't mean that you are a governor, though.
Speaker 1:Farrington High School. The thing is like. The thing is like hey, I went to Hill High. It's the worst high school in the state of Hawaii.
Speaker 2:You know there are challenges for me getting to college, but not like Really you don't have a college degree?
Speaker 1:no, yeah, I don't have no college degree, but you're working for the people, is the point? You would do it for free, and when you ran for office just to hook us back into this your brother, an ex-con was one of the few guys standing next to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I thought that was kind of cool. You know, every morning these guys would wake me up like where you at, they'll be there on the corner before yeah, we're coming. Jeez, wow, what you running for office or we running for. But what's kind of cool? Because when I looked across, you know, I saw my, my brothers, and I saw my cousin and I know what their past was like, and in my head I was like maybe this is just this small way of saying sorry, but also like, wow, somebody from our family come on right, yeah, doing something. So out of the box, you know, because we live my family.
Speaker 1:We're not the richest, we live a very simple life right in fact you've said extremely poor and you were at Kamehameha for housing, which is here in Kalihi. Yes, highest crime rate in the state in our district. Yeah, and a pretty hardcore.
Speaker 2:I mean we have gangs running in some of our elementary schools and that's where you grew up yeah, and you know I was like, and that was the best time of my life because I got to spend time with them. You know, because you know you, as kids you grow up, you do all the crazy things together and then you know, life takes you in different directions. To have my brothers and my family around me spending time holding signs was a good time for, like, talk story. Yeah, how you doing a lot of time, right, man, so excited that you're running and you know it's pretty. You know winning a small team of people that you know had your back no matter what. And then when I say you see your friends, there are a lot of people that I did stuff for never responded to my emails, wow, never came out to help. And I'm going to get mad because I knew the landscape.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right, I knew like You're entering the political arena landscape. Yeah Right, I knew like you're entering the political arena and if we think about Rome and the arenas with the lions and the bears and the animals, this is worse than Rome. I feel. Now let me add to that and a lot of people may not know who are watching on the very day you declared your run your candidacy for councilman with your wife yeah, you were let go. Both of you were partners on the radio. Let go from radio that same day.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's happening in the back of your head. You both have zero jobs, zero livelihood in the state of Hawaii, which, by the way, highest cost of living, highest taxes in the nation. Hi, welcome to unemployment.
Speaker 2:Right and I just told everybody I was done doing comedy. I shot my last special at the Blaisdell. That was the sellout at the.
Speaker 1:Blaisdell Correct.
Speaker 2:And I was like, okay, I'm going to focus on this new path. Right, but I also knew like from conversations that I had with the station, I was going to be okay, right, and now no more. Especially if you're making money for somebody, right, so I'm going to be okay. So like had no, never been fired in my life. Can you imagine you walk into one room and you just know like something is wrong?
Speaker 1:And that's radio. You can get fired on a dime and the general manager was crying before even, and I knew it.
Speaker 2:Oh, you guys going to fire me. And, mind you, the night before I wrote all these amazing letters to people who I felt like made a difference in my life. I had no idea, right. So I remember just walking in the rain and my wife was at Honolulu Hale and all the news were there. They're going to interview me on why I'm running, and I had to tell her guess what? I lost my job, oh boy. So if you watch that interview, it was like all over the place, because I was worried, you were, not you In my mind.
Speaker 2:I was like maybe I shouldn't run.
Speaker 1:But then I just Maybe I should go back to comedy.
Speaker 2:You were thinking of every way that you're going to make it, but I also knew that if I did that, then people would think that I, because a lot of people thought that I was doing that as a gimmick.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know like a political yeah, you know like a political Right, Like a stunt.
Speaker 1:That this is going to be like some reality TV game.
Speaker 2:I wanted to learn. I was mad at the way things were running and I just wanted to sit at the table and listen. And I want to learn. Is that why you?
Speaker 1:ran? Yeah, because I saw an interview you were doing with your family, with Howley Girl, his wife Kim, and you said you were inspired by Governor Lingle to make a difference.
Speaker 2:I was Long time ago. She asked me to run for office a long time ago. I became a Republican during the Lingle administration, Then I left the party and then I was like I'm not going to run as a Democrat or Republican because I saw both sides being very crazy.
Speaker 1:And I went okay.
Speaker 2:I'm going to run as a nonpartpartisan.
Speaker 1:Wow, right, but everyone knew you wanted to make a difference, but not do all of the crazy shenanigans of political and non-partisan is really.
Speaker 2:You're working for people, right, moderate, yeah, and you know it was very um eye-opening because, no matter what, people just kind of identified you as, in fact, some union I'm gonna say all of them. I mean, we want to say because the letter that was attached to the name and I was like but this is sitting county, is non-partisan, right, it's supposed to be so you, you get to learn a lot of the reality.
Speaker 2:Yeah and again I don't hold grudges because, no, if I lost then I gotta go look for something else and find another interest, but the quiet confidence I always had from a little kid, a little boy or people telling me that if you work the hardest, no matter what, there's victory right. So inside I knew like I had a chance to win because I was working harder than anybody else. And then I was listening to what people were saying at the door and I still you know, was it hurtful hearing some of the things that I saw. Yeah, because people don't know me right, they just kind of assume what you see, and that's okay, because you get an opportunity in life daily to prove them wrong by your works, the success in your life results speak for them. Yeah, you know, and I've always been that kind of person. If I'm wrong, I just admit sorry.
Speaker 1:You're good at that, have to move on. I've seen you make public apologies for certain topics you did in comedy, and you had no problem owning it and saying sorry to these groups of people. But, augie, may I just pause, okay, and this isn't even planned or part of the show, but thank you Because you do work hard. You'll break yourself for the people and you do it every day, even when people make certain assumptions, even when and we started scratching that iceberg of a topic, the tip of the iceberg about unions and politics and we're in the most corrupt state in the union. But all of that aside, augie, as a man of God and as a local boy, I am so proud of you. Oh, thank you, super proud of you, thank you, and I do cheer you on just as a sister in Christ, because you live, you fall forward to the best that you know how.
Speaker 2:Do my best, I try.
Speaker 1:And that's where, when I saw you talking about your brother passing and he was one of the few who stood with you right he met my cousin Joel, you know a couple other family members.
Speaker 2:Uh, I was I you know, normally I don't get depressed, you know what I mean like, but like it's not your nature, yeah, but I was like really depressed and I I was telling my wife which, and my kids, like why, and then you know, you talk with them, you get back on the horse, okay, good. And then my brother passed away and then I'm wondering, like did he make it to heaven? That was my question.
Speaker 2:It's a real question yeah, and I was like, because that's eternity correct, and you know, my parents love them to death, but they never do a good job at like teaching us how to be affectionate, like tell your brother you love him, tell your brother you love him. You know, it wasn't like that. I couldn't even tell my dad Like it was hard Only towards the ending of his life, you know, with the dementia, that we would have conversation and he would know that I love him, which was like good for me, a lot of healing from the challenges of growing up. But with my older brother, I saw the abuse, I saw the neglect, I saw the abandonment and but then it was still my brother, the guy that taught me how to surf, taught me how to ride the bike, and yet we had a hard time saying we love you to each other. You know what I mean. Like even our conversations like would get there, but they, you could tell that we were both like nah, better not, you know. So when he died unexpectedly, I was like, did he make it? Did I do enough as a brother to let him know that I love him, even to my brothers that's still living? Like, are we doing enough? Yeah, and I remember Kim telling, telling me maybe you should go to, to, to queens and go pray, wow, right, yeah, ask god, yeah to maybe intercede, right, because I don't know right and now, and that broke me in the, in the, in the hospital, and it just happened that week, um, um, and Pastor Mike at Inspire was doing like prayer for candidates, wow.
Speaker 2:So I went, good for you, pray for candidates, right. And then there's like a men's devotional and I wasn't going to go and I called my wife. She said you should go, like there's a lot of people, and I went and I remember sitting in the front row and Rex Crane was preaching and I was like holy, holy, smoke, you know what I mean. Like he was talking directly to the some of the challenges that I always felt as an entertainer, like it's a very lonely place. People think like I'm very you know, I say hi to everybody you're very approachable.
Speaker 1:right, you are Mr Aloha man, you know, but it't. But it is an isolated, lonely spot that you sit in.
Speaker 2:And the people that you hurt are the closest to you because you know they get the scraps, which is sad, because you know that's one of the things that I neglect as a dad and as a husband that by the time I get home I give my family You've grown out the best of you. Yeah, now we're just getting the jerk jobs, yeah, and you know, sometimes Kim goes. I'm going to write a book.
Speaker 1:I heard her say that on your podcast. I'm going to write a book and expose who you are. The tell-all from Kim Toba.
Speaker 2:You know, I don't know if you're going to sell a lot I think I did a good job at masking Augie but but in all seriousness, that's the reality and you know, my children have. You know, I'm not apologizing because I've apologized enough as a as a father and as a husband, you said you apologize every day yeah, you just try your best to be the best person you can be, but it's's hard because, man, you know, there's so much that people don't know.
Speaker 1:You know the it is isolation and it's lonely. But then, when you're in that place, after a lifetime of choices, your brother passes away, as you said, unexpectedly. And now you're faced with how do I move forward? Because when out from the outside, looking in my humble forgive me, please you look like the wind got knocked out of you, you know when you get punched in the gut and I, we used to practice boxing as a kid.
Speaker 1:My daddy was Irish. We walked, watched the show. Now you guys are practicing. Dad, did you forget I'm a girl? No, I didn't go at it. Right, you know, when you get socked in the stomach and you get the wind knocked out of you, you have the wind knocked out of you.
Speaker 2:A little bit Did it change you. Well, you know, we all think we know God right.
Speaker 1:You've always been a man of faith, augie, but this was like a catalytic moment.
Speaker 2:Well, I never get to ever talk about God with him. And I did with my dad, you, brother, and I did with my dad. You know, I did with my other brothers, like, but you know, and that's the guy that I saw get neglected, you know, is the guy below him and I knew there was a lot of anger and I knew there was a lot of like I did I do my best. You know he would call me when he was stressing out, you know, and I was like, dude, just take a deep breath. So what was nice about that whole thing? I did the prayer, like maybe two weeks there to mana, you know mana right.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, god loves bad boys and bad girls right, so he invites me to share that.
Speaker 2:Sorry, my, so I go and I share it at a midweek service to a guy who's running a church at midweek service that some 20 years ago I go to his house invite him to go to church. I was going to church. I was leading Bible studies in Waianae.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a nice turnaround.
Speaker 2:I went there to pick up his nephew and uncle's drinking and now he leads a little church in Waipawa. He told that story. That's awesome. And when I was sharing about my new awakening because you know, god does things to wake you up, shake the tree a little bit my brother's friend was there and told me he got saved. So I was like, oh awesome, yes, really, my brother gave his life up to Christ. Really Wow. At the funeral they were showing pictures and his grandchildren was talking about going to church. I was like I had no idea.
Speaker 1:That's the thing, how crazy, I did not know this. This is awesome. This is really good news.
Speaker 2:His friend that was in jail with him said Augs, I'll let you know your brother gave his life to Christ. Praise Jesus. I was like, oh right on cool, wow Right. So now more appreciation to you. Know, read my Bible, share and just try to be the best human I can be daily.
Speaker 1:This is massive. I did not know the end to that story with your brother, that he had given his life and that even to the third generation, as the Bible promises us we will be blessed, even to your children's children are going to church. Now here's the next question I have for you how do you sustain the change? Because you always have been a man of God. You have this catalytic moment that switched you back onto a right track with God. I've noticed a tremendous change in you. Are you in the Word of God daily? Are you praying daily?
Speaker 2:What's the trick, brother? I just read my Bible daily and then, you know, as much as I can, if I have time, I go on and do a video what I learned, what I read, and part of it is accountability, you know. So I like that people are commenting, I like that I get to do this because it keeps me in check and then, because of that, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I speak with my father-in-law Kim's dad, who I don't relate.
Speaker 1:This is on Holly guy from the Navy right Retired, he lives on the mainland. Yeah, and you guys connect every morning, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
Speaker 2:Before I jump on air. From like 5.30 to 6 o'clock we have our daily Bible. Talk about everything that I read that morning. Because he's a theologian. The guy has like so much degrees right, so like Augie, what was the intent? Who wrote the Bible?
Speaker 1:What are you learning from it? You know and this is the guy like let's curse the word and the etymology of revelation.
Speaker 2:I love it. The first time he met me, the first question he asked was what was my credit score? I was like what?
Speaker 1:To marry his daughter, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I slept in another room.
Speaker 1:Well, I hope so, if he's a good man of God and an 80 guy. He married us in a small little church. He was the officiant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was nice, so I get to. He married us in a small little church and he was the officiant yeah, it was a nice, you know. And so I get to spend some time with my father-in-law. We get to, you know, and you know I think it helps my wife knowing that. You know I'm talking to her dad and big time she knows that. You know, marriage is challenging, you know, and you know I spend myself thin and sometimes I don't listen to my wife, sometimes I don't pay attention, sometimes I don't take her on a date, you know I accountability and the accountabilities with her dad and if we can swap on to that, because that was my next question coming up.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 1:I love your wife. I mean you love your wife, but I really love your wife. I watched a podcast with the two of you and it was really quite um intimate, as an honesty. There was a lot of transparency. I'm all about truth and transparency, and so my next question was going to say you know, kim Holly girl, which I I used to always listen to you guys on the radio.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I did not know Holly girl was your wife.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And and then it turns out she is. But you folks were talking and I I'm going to ask you what's the key to a successful marriage team? Cause you guys are, and she's a huge part of your marriage uh, success. But here's the other thing is you said on that podcast I apologize every single day, multiple times.
Speaker 2:Even when I walked in here I was like hey, sorry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you did. You're good at it. I can tell you've been successfully married to a good woman of God. And then she said yeah, and he says yes all the time. So I have to remind him Augie, can you write it down? Because you say yes to so-and-so, so-and-so. That's why you work so hard. But if I don't write it down, we're going to forget. So she's what's the key to successful marriage? Because I just heard a great quote that says marriage is two sinners who come together as one. So how do we operate as a successful team for Jesus? How do you do that?
Speaker 2:I just think in all honesty, like not giving up. Wow, just, no matter how bad it gets, don't give up, because if you're people in faith, you know that God can turn this around. You know what I mean. And then, at the same time, at 56, who wants to try to have another relationship. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:You're going to have to train up a whole new one.
Speaker 2:And then follow with a wagon around Ross and and walmart you know, on tuesdays and wednesdays kupuna shopping days. As much as there are a lot of bad moments, there are good moments too. Right, huge, so it's never, ever like amazing. So when I look at movies and you see that, that magic, I'm like the birds.
Speaker 1:Make a real movie. The sun is saying make a real movie about us like man, we lie every day.
Speaker 2:Like I remember, I met my wife in the 1900s guys, camera guys done in the 1900s, you know when lying was easy, I was lying from day one, because there was no tracking, there was no social media yeah, she cannot discover who you are where's your location? Right now. Who are?
Speaker 1:you talking to on dms.
Speaker 2:Now it's you know I track your every move no, the other day I was like where you at hoggy, I'm at the gym and she was like, oh, I never know.
Speaker 1:Popeyes has a gym, it's like gosh there it goes, run through, not a drive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so now I know I go to the gym, leave my phone in a locker, then I go to Popeye's.
Speaker 1:God man, I be smart but like yeah, not giving up, not giving up because, no matter how hard, because every marriage I firmly believe has hard times. It has bad moments, a lot of it, and you're saying don't walk away.
Speaker 2:A.
Speaker 1:It's two sinners coming together as one big ball of sin. It's not easy. Yeah, think about that. So that's another question for you. Augie, thank you for that. How do you keep laughing, even when times get tough or desperate? Oh gosh, because there's a lot of hard times hitting. We've noticed since COVID lockdowns, et cetera. Oops, I said the word.
Speaker 2:Edit that out, charlie Victor. No, leave it this, etc.
Speaker 1:Oops, I said the word Edit that out. Charlie Victor Nah leave it. This is truth transparency and trusting yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I decided to jump back on stage more because I just felt like I needed.
Speaker 1:We need the joy of Augie T.
Speaker 2:I needed to disconnect from you, know sitting in council.
Speaker 2:So, like I've learned how to really manage the radio hat. You do great and then take off the radio hat and then go to council, put on the council hat, work hard at the council and then on the weekends take them off right. Yeah, your job as a council member never stops. Yeah, but I think in the last four years years I've done a good job at letting people know that you can do all these things and still serve your community. Wow, like I love getting on stage and and making people laugh.
Speaker 1:That's my little like that's my little therapy, but it's your strength. The joy of the lord is his strength, but it's yours.
Speaker 2:And I love sitting in council listening to discussions on how to either make people's lives better or worse. Right, yeah, that's what it comes down to worried that you know a lot of the common sense in politics are not there because the people… Are disconnected. Well, no, I think it's so hard to get a seat at the table. I was talking to this… I was talking about this. I was a speaker at the Kauai Republican Party, thank you, and I walked up on stage and I kind of went is this the demographic of hawaii?
Speaker 2:because it doesn't look like kawaii yes, well, but like I think, overall, yeah, right it's changing and for me, you know, for me it's like if, when I go to events, I always look at it like church, the welcoming right, the first reason why you like that church, is because the guy that met you at the door, hey, thank you for coming. You're going to have an exciting time.
Speaker 2:And you just already feel like, okay, this is getting out. So when I go to different events and I don't get greeted or I kind of go, hmm, right, and I've learned a lot in the four years. And when I went out and helped certain candidates and I would have conversation and we'd hit on like amazing, like we were talking about all the things that matter to people. And then I go, oh, can you please support this candidate? And they look at you and they go you're Republican.
Speaker 2:And I go, wow, I never knew you're Republican too, because in Hawaii what we're concerned about public safety can my family live here? Can I really live here, live, work and play here and, believe it or not, the kind of values I have is the same kind of values democrats have, republicans have. Thank you, like, how can we get to the table when everyone thinks that the party is just this way? Right, there's more people here in the middle we gotta go talk to. Thank you. That concern about, like the high cost of living Can mom and dad live here Are my kids going to college and going away for life, or are they going to come?
Speaker 2:home. That's where we got to go to. We got to start talking about that. That's really good, aghi, and electing people with common sense. So getting more people to the table who can appeal to more people, and I think the Republican Party is the party with common sense, because for a long time, we saw this party take us to where we're at right now. Well, since they could, I mean if you like it continue to go that way.
Speaker 1:How's that working out?
Speaker 2:for you. I cannot tell you what to do, right, and I would never, ever tell you what to do, but you know if we see the reality of Hawaii today and this works for you, then that's great, right.
Speaker 1:But if it's not working for you, then let's vote different. But here's a little monkey wrench in our in our statement right now that less than 10 percent of the Hawaii population is voting anymore Because the, the, if we compare it to a woman, the woman is backed off of the table.
Speaker 1:Right, she's not having this nonsense anymore. Both sides, it is both sides, but I'm going to swing off of this just because I love you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no worry, and this is such a quality thing. Can we have you back, augie? I? Know, you're a busy man, but if I ask him on camera he won't feel any pressure whatsoever and I apologize.
Speaker 2:This is supposed to go in an hour, but the mayor of the city and county of Honolulu and I'm out you he was like I'm sorry, I thought it was terrible, I was there and nine.
Speaker 1:He's going to throw the mayor of the city and county of Honolulu under the bus. Absolutely Wait, I'm backing my bus up right now 9-15.
Speaker 2:I was there already.
Speaker 1:And you did radio this morning. I and you did radio this morning. I heard you. You went to city and county at another meeting and then you had us. I was on busing and I was like huh you late. So to put a cap on our political discussion, aloha is the key to bring more people to the table. Here's the last question I had for you.
Speaker 1:Because I grew up super, extremely poor. Like you did, we both try our best to keep going forward, emua forward, falling forward, whatever it takes, keep going forward. But we both have a compassion and a passion for youth. Today, you know, I go up to right by Ka'evae Elementary is the police department, it's the pool. I'm always there. We have Camp 4. I'm up at Kalihi Elementary. I love our neighborhood brother. What would you say to youth today? Because there's too many temptations, too many criminal interests where they can make a fast buck. But what would you speak into that young man who's growing up in Camp 4 today?
Speaker 2:You know, I believe every kid is a dreamer, right? They don't want to be a part of bad situations or bad environment. So let me talk to the parent. Wow, because a lot of the stuff that we're seeing right now is because of, I think, just bad examples. You know what I mean. Like we have become a lawless society. Like I get, oh, put speed humps, do this, do that Right. And I tell people with speed humps, you know, go slow down. Emergency medical services. There, it is Right, right.
Speaker 1:How about if we just follow the law. Right, just drive, slow Drive. 25. In a residential school district Right In a residential school district.
Speaker 2:So when I look at children coming from the background, I had you can make good and bad choices, right. But like I also saw my mom and dad work hard Weren't the smartest you know, but I saw both of them doing what they're supposed to do as parents, right. Like you saw this e-bike situation Huge Right. Another child just died. So I said how come parents don't know where their kids are, thank you. So for me, right. Like my dad knew I had crazy friends. It's not like they never know, like that boy right there, augie, right. No, dad, he's good.
Speaker 1:No, this is true Back in the day. They knew who we were hanging out with and when I would ride my bike and I want kids to ride their bike.
Speaker 2:Have fun, yes, but be careful, be safe. That's the reason why I called with the new, the bill, yeah, with tyler dos santos, I thank you introduced it, because for me, I want you guys to ride, but have be, be safe, be responsible if you're riding a vehicle, they can go faster than right.
Speaker 2:So, like per hour, if I was with my crazy friends, I judged everything based on getting lickets from my dad Right, it was in the back of our minds, or like maybe getting like, ah, I would rather not get lickets from my dad, yeah, and you know, my friends did some bad things. I just went that way, right, and in life, in life, that's it right. You can either take the path that's easy or the path that's hard, and God always gave me the harder path.
Speaker 1:Well, you had good parents. I mean they, we all have parents who have their faults but you had a mom who cared, a dad who cared, so that we did get dirty lickings If we acted up. I knew I was going to get the butt whooping of my life and I just had one the other day, but I'm going to get a new one of my life if my dad saw what I was doing. So you and I had a moral compass, so to speak, and that seems to be what's missing. So you're addressing parents right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Be the unpopular parent, your kids are dreaming like. Give them that platform to dream. And the only way you can give them that platform to dream is to see like tomorrow gonna look. Okay, yes, if I'm looking around. Yes, you know, uh, and things are tough. Mom and dad are fighting um homelessness. How can you dream that my life gonna be better? Come on, you know what I mean. So that's good, augie. Give them a home that they can dream. I was poor, but I never felt poor Does that make sense.
Speaker 1:The house was our sanctuary. I'm going home, right. Yeah, home is home-based because it's my sanctuary.
Speaker 2:I didn't know, I was poor until I got the token and I was like why come. My coin is different from everybody else's and ours would float on water.
Speaker 1:I was like why?
Speaker 2:one of my classmates looked at me and said because you're poor, augie.
Speaker 1:Really I don't know it was a fake quarter and a fake dime. You're a little bit older than me, but mine was a quarter and a dime fake like. And parents give them the platform to dream yeah, give them the platform to dive into their.
Speaker 2:They already know like life is tough, uh man, it's so complex because I think we got to fix our schools, I think we got to fix our oh, family first and I think we got to fix our our. You know, I remember being in class and they would have a guest speaker come and they all said the same thing Right, inspirational speakers, you are tomorrow's future. And he sat there and he went yes, I'm tomorrow's future. And only had one homeless person in the neighborhood that you all knew yes, yes, right. And you become an adult and you look around and now there's 300.
Speaker 2:Did the future get better Right, who are you talking?
Speaker 1:to. I'm only laughing because this is so true.
Speaker 2:No, when I talk to kids, I don't even say that. Yeah, I don't say that because I'm on this thing where, like, find the strong and not the wrong, wow. Right, it's so easy, though, to find all the wrong, find the strong and not the wrong right.
Speaker 1:like it's so easy, though, to find all the wrong, find the strong and not the wrong, and we're gonna bring this in on a landing right there's so many people that are so strong in our communities.
Speaker 2:Let's go help them. Yes, right, because we have dreamers, kids that ticking like I don't want to be here. Children, yeah, who want to perpetuate and all he's seeing right now is the wrongs, that's good, you know.
Speaker 1:I mean, especially because of media. How do we show them the strong? We can spotlight the strong and how do we do?
Speaker 2:that the strong. How do we inspire them that there's people in our community that doing amazing things? You know what I mean, because it's so easy. You wake up every day and you go right, there's a lot that's going wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's tough time to dream, hard to dream when you see, hard to dream, but we can still make. I can't look. As one of my guests said earlier, we can't blame the white house, we can't blame the governor's house or the mayor's house no, I can't even blame augie t. But I can take responsibility for my house because I can't change all of those necessarily. But today I'm going to change mine. So spot um, highlight the strong, not the wrong. Yeah, can we?
Speaker 2:hana ho you, augie t of course this is our brother mr mayor, be on time, so you know we can actually do a full interview and put a filter on my boom busting laugh and I was like don you know, I'm running 15 minutes.
Speaker 1:He even answered a phone call. He's's like Don, what's up? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, did you get us lunch.
Speaker 1:Oh no, sorry, I'm in a lunch, I'm in a meeting, but he's coming back Every day it's like that with my wife.
Speaker 2:You take your call. I love it Every day it's like that.
Speaker 1:Tell all the girls she's coming. Thank you for your time. Thank you for what you're doing to fight for the spirit of aloha in the state of aloha.
Speaker 2:You are the people's hero.
Speaker 1:And we'll have you back soon. Thank you.