The Foot Guy

Rae from the Mixed Insights podcast joins the show to talk about their experiences with "The Foot Guy."

Intro Song: Footloose by Kenny Loggins

•  01:26 - Meeting The Foot Guy
• 05:18 - Are You Barefoot?
• 11:07 - Who is the Foot Guy?
• 16:24 - Foot Guy's Intentions
• 20:01 - When Does Foot Guy Call?
• 24:30 - Is Foot Guy Dating?
• 30:16 - Reunited
• 36:55 - Tinder Swindler
• 40:20 - Flip the Script

Chapters

• 1:26 Meeting The Foot Guy
• 5:18 Are You Barefoot?
• 11:07 Who is the Foot Guy
• 16:24 Foot Guy's Intentions
• 20:01 When Does Foot Guy Call?
• 24:30 Is Foot Guy Dating?
• 30:16 Reunited
• 36:55 Tinder Swindler
• 40:20 Flip the Script

Transcript

00:01.53
Matthew Thomas
OK, so the episode will be called The Foot Guy. is is that And we're not speaking about a podiatrist. Is that correct?

00:13.08
Rae
Oh, that's correct. Yeah, the book guy is a great episode net title because that's what I call him. but

00:17.65
Matthew Thomas
OK, so The Foot Guy. um And you say that's what you call them. So you discuss The Foot Guy with with your sister, Kate, who's who's been on the podcast.

00:29.59
Matthew Thomas
And this has been ongoing for for how long now?

00:33.51
Rae
It started, oh, I moved out to Colorado in 2010 and it started right before I moved out there. So.

00:42.04
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

00:42.94
Rae
almost 15 years.

00:45.50
Matthew Thomas
and twenty Oh yes, that that is how time works. Oh my goodness.

00:49.15
Rae
but Yeah.

00:51.94
Matthew Thomas
Okay, and so i had a how did you and the foot guy meet?

00:57.25
Rae
I have no idea how this guy got my phone number. I think maybe ah yeah, ah we've never met.

01:01.59
Matthew Thomas
Oh, okay.

01:05.84
Rae
um But he just calls my phone from a private number. So

01:11.66
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

01:12.53
Rae
you know, oftentimes private numbers are companies.

01:17.10
Matthew Thomas
Sure.

01:17.21
Rae
So I'll i'll answer it.

01:18.86
Matthew Thomas
Oh, okay.

01:19.40
Rae
And in the very first time, I was like, Hello, who is they like, this is Ray, and just straight into foot stuff was not a company.

01:33.32
Matthew Thomas
What? Right, right. Not a company. What do you remember? It was was so long ago, but do you remember his opening line after you said hello?

01:45.41
Rae
Oh, yeah, it's actually usually the same stuff that he says every time.

01:50.56
Matthew Thomas
OK.

01:51.81
Rae
Almost the same stuff. It's almost like a s script. The very first thing he says when I say hello is, um are your feet clean?

02:05.66
Matthew Thomas
Uh, so we'll, we'll get into everything, but the first call is, is what's going to fascinate me the most. So you were good on you for answering these unknown calls. I think I gave that up at least five or six years ago, maybe, maybe eight, because I do agree. Sometimes you'll miss important calls because, because they'll come in, but you know, they can leave a voicemail and I figured so many companies have my email.

02:35.95
Matthew Thomas
And if they can't get ahold of me by email, like people who actually need to get ahold of me, then I don't need to be talking to them on the phone. like that that's That's the way to to to reach me. so But you're you're answering, you're doing your due diligence, and he asks if your feet are clean.

02:50.37
Rae
Mm hmm.

02:53.38
Matthew Thomas
And it's the first time you've ever, if anyone's probably asked you that question in your life, I'm guessing, and

02:59.37
Rae
yeah i never no one's ever asked me that um other than him um i am a very like literal person i i believe i i am on the autism spectrum and when i'm bullied or something like that my react my my automatic ah defense is to just not give people the rile that i assume they're wanting from me

03:02.75
Matthew Thomas
Okay. So how did, right. So how did you respond the first time? Okay.

03:29.24
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

03:30.50
Rae
So when he said, are your feet clean? And it was coming from a weird number, like a number I can't identify. I was like, oh, this sounds like somebody trying to mess with me. So I'm just going to answer honestly and without any major emotions in my voice. So my my response to him the first time was, yeah, they're clean.

03:54.07
Matthew Thomas
And he's like, oh, I got one. I'm definitely going to call her for the next 15 years.

03:58.62
Rae
I guess so.

04:00.96
Matthew Thomas
So your feet were clean. And then what what does he usually go to after that?

04:07.35
Rae
and The second question is typically, are you barefoot right now?

04:11.99
Matthew Thomas
and Okay. Are you, are you a barefoot type of person? I always, I always wear socks around the house. Something about being barefoot, even indoors in the house, doesn't sit right with me, but that's an easy, that's easier than the first question.

04:27.00
Rae
Yeah, actually, it could be i it it I think it rotates between the two of them.

04:31.89
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

04:31.93
Rae
This last time he called it was are your feet clean and sometimes when he's called it's are you barefoot right now is the first question.

04:40.38
Matthew Thomas
But he'll always ask about clinging feet.

04:43.20
Rae
Yeah, he'll always ask both questions.

04:46.48
Matthew Thomas
Okay. And then so the first time, do you remember being barefoot or not?

04:53.82
Rae
a I think I was not and I said something like, and no, I have my shoes on right now.

05:02.60
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

05:03.69
Rae
Like a very matter of fact,

05:05.20
Matthew Thomas
Right, right.

05:06.65
Rae
Yeah.

05:08.11
Matthew Thomas
And then and then Hadadi pursued.

05:11.09
Rae
um The next question is typically um along the lines of have you ever done this or that? So um a common one was have you ever tried getting your feet dirty or would do you like to get your feet dirty? That that kind of thing.

05:35.23
Matthew Thomas
And what, just the the first time, do do you know how many people would just hang up?

05:43.25
Rae
I know. I don't know why I didn't just hang up.

05:45.58
Matthew Thomas
But they there yeah, there is definitely a, you know, we're here 15 years later talking about it.

05:46.85
Rae
I think I was probably fascinated by it.

05:53.87
Matthew Thomas
So there is a level of fascination. So you're keeping him on the line. He asks, have you ever tried to get your feet dirty? Which I don't know how he,

06:06.01
Matthew Thomas
pictures that playing out, but did you have an answer for that?

06:11.22
Rae
um I've said, you know, Oh, one time, a really funny thing that I said was, well, sometimes my dog licks my feet.

06:20.24
Matthew Thomas
You probably made his whole year that year. Whatever year that was, that was a good year.

06:26.27
Rae
Well, by his response to it was, ew, that's disgusting.

06:30.16
Matthew Thomas
really that's that's a thing it's a very um interesting thing about human perversion is everyone has their their kinks and their things and when so first they but they everyone has lines well most people have lines and when they hear about something else

06:31.57
Rae
Yeah.

06:52.61
Matthew Thomas
they start shaming and and they get grossed out. It's like, no, dude, you're calling random numbers asking about feet.

06:57.96
Rae
Yeah.

07:01.28
Rae
ah Yeah, exactly.

07:01.72
Matthew Thomas
Sometimes dogs lick toes. That's the thing that happens.

07:05.41
Rae
Yeah, sometimes the dog looks at you and you're like, ew, stop it. but

07:09.97
Matthew Thomas
Okay, so heat so that's a, that's a That'll stop him dead in his tracks then. Okay. So he doesn't, he doesn't like that. And, and now you just have, have fun with it. when When's the last time you heard from him?

07:26.09
Rae
Well, even though he was grossed out by the dog licking my feet, he still had another question.

07:30.17
Matthew Thomas
Yeah. Oh, I'm sure. Oh, no, he's not going to. Yeah, he that that's going to give him this type of person, like pause for like a second. And then, yeah, he's he's back at it. I can't imagine he'll he'll put you on the do not call list or something.

07:47.60
Rae
Right, yeah. um The last time I heard from him who was I think last week.

07:54.97
Matthew Thomas
Last week.

07:55.99
Rae
last week, but prior to that, I had not heard from him since before COVID. So I assumed he died.

08:02.27
Matthew Thomas
Oh, ah not got in a committed relationship or got over his foot fetish. You know, just died. Just, I mean, he he could have.

08:12.27
Rae
Well, because he sounds, he could have, he sounds like an older gentleman from the South.

08:18.20
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

08:19.63
Rae
And I think at one point he told me he's from Texas or something like that.

08:23.37
Matthew Thomas
Wow.

08:24.51
Rae
And so I, you know, my brain was like, Oh, maybe not careful. He's a little bit older. He could have died during the pandemic because I hadn't heard from him since 2018 until, um,

08:38.62
Rae
until late 2024. So that's a long time.

08:42.99
Matthew Thomas
Right, and then now he's back at it. And look, I'm just going to assume that your part of you is just happy to hear from him, that he's OK, and he's up to his his same devices. or Or what was it like hearing from him after after that long hiatus, we'll call it?

09:02.61
Rae
Um, I, it was definitely, I felt a little bit happy that he was still okay. You know, because yeah,

09:08.93
Matthew Thomas
Just person to person.

09:12.48
Rae
because why I don't know exactly what date it was, but you know, 2018, 2019, it was, is when I stopped hearing from him. And that was like nine years of some guy randomly calling me and asking about my feet.

09:20.02
Matthew Thomas
Yeah. Right.

09:26.60
Rae
So during those nine years, it would, it would be like four to six times a year. We developed a little bit of like a, I wouldn't call it friendship because I don't know anything about him, but a little bit of a friendliness, you know?

09:40.66
Matthew Thomas
no Yeah, if I could be so bold, I would say you guys are acquaintances.

09:47.05
Rae
Yeah. So at some point, like, I think I went through a divorce and we went through the whole routine of his questions. And then at the end.

09:57.86
Rae
yeah He was just like, how are you doing? And I said, you know, life's hard right now. How are you doing? And he said, life life's hard, but I'm surviving. And I was like, okay, well, I'm going to go to bed because it's 1 a.m.

10:11.93
Matthew Thomas
He said that or you did?

10:13.72
Rae
I did.

10:14.72
Matthew Thomas
Oh, OK. OK. Life's hard. Yeah, you told them life's hard, but your calls keep me going. But it's 1 a.m.

10:23.30
Rae
No, I didn't.

10:25.09
Matthew Thomas
So I'm going to get to you. didn't Oh, I made that up in my head. Okay.

10:28.12
Rae
You made that up, no.

10:29.27
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

10:30.35
Rae
I asked how he was and he said he was, you know, life was hard for him, but he would, he was still going. So.

10:39.16
Matthew Thomas
okay Okay. Okay. So life got hard from him. is there Is there any chance that this is someone that you know that you came across at some point?

10:50.04
Rae
Um, I mean, maybe I've met a lot of people, but he doesn't sound, he doesn't have a voice that I recognize.

10:56.60
Matthew Thomas
That you recognize?

10:58.28
Rae
other than being a foot guy, you know?

11:00.62
Matthew Thomas
Right. um And the and the the number always comes up as a as a no number, you're saying.

11:11.53
Rae
ah Yeah, it's marked as a private number.

11:13.88
Matthew Thomas
private number so you can't. what what did What percentage of you is interested in in like tracking them down? Not for to like meet in person or even get so much information, but at least at least the number, that seems that seems ah attainable, but how much interest

11:34.19
Rae
Can we track down private numbers? I didn't know that.

11:37.57
Matthew Thomas
I can in my head, I watch a lot of movies though, but in my head, I feel like you'd be able to contact your service provider. And they might, if not, if not his number, just some kind of information, they probably tell you where like, where the call is coming from.

11:46.91
Rae
oh Oh.

11:53.60
Matthew Thomas
And maybe the FBI certainly, but I would, um,

11:58.96
Rae
Get the FBI involved in my foot guy case.

12:04.95
Matthew Thomas
um OK, but you never so you just you just kind of take it for what it is. It's just someone that you hear from. How long are these calls?

12:16.85
Rae
They're like five minutes. And if I'm busy and I answer and he's like, hey, are your foot your are your feet clean? I'm like, I can't talk right now, gotta to go by.

12:33.41
Matthew Thomas
He's probably very understanding of that.

12:37.57
Rae
Yeah, I mean, he's gotta to be, he's called back, so.

12:38.28
Matthew Thomas
Uh, um, man, what's, what's the most that you've ever asked him about himself feet or otherwise.

12:52.99
Rae
um

12:54.67
Matthew Thomas
Aside from how he, how he was doing.

12:58.71
Rae
He has a like the last few questions in his lineup are, is six inches a big penis? And then what do you do you like the six inches?

13:11.49
Rae
And my question is always, did someone make fun of you for that? Because that's a normal sized penis.

13:18.16
Matthew Thomas
And what does he say?

13:19.79
Rae
He says yes, people made fun of him for that.

13:22.17
Matthew Thomas
Wow. Do you ever answer his penis questions?

13:28.51
Rae
Sometimes I've said that's an average size penis, so I'd be fine with that. you know like He

13:32.27
Matthew Thomas
Yeah. How does he, how does he, does he respond at all to that? Man, how, all right. So he's just somewhere. Well, how did you find out how, how, what made him,

13:47.93
Matthew Thomas
Excuse me, what prompted him to reveal that he's in Texas?

13:53.73
Rae
He might not be in Texas. i

13:57.07
Matthew Thomas
But he said he said something like that.

13:57.17
Rae
could have just made that up. it's He has a very southern accent.

14:01.66
Matthew Thomas
Oh, OK.

14:02.34
Rae
That sounds like some people I've known from Texas. So ah that could have been an assumption on my end made many years ago.

14:08.21
Matthew Thomas
Sure. Oh, OK. Just trying to profile him with all the information that you do have.

14:15.72
Rae
Yeah. And he has told me that his name is Tommy.

14:19.69
Matthew Thomas
Tommy.

14:20.66
Rae
Yeah, one time I picked up the phone and he said, hey, it's Tommy. Are your feet clean?

14:27.88
Matthew Thomas
Wow.

14:30.80
Matthew Thomas
Have you ever have you ever asked him how many phone numbers he calls?

14:36.48
Rae
I have not. I've typically just been not super curious about him because it seems like he just has this line of questions that he wants to ask.

14:46.00
Matthew Thomas
Sure.

14:47.33
Rae
But I could, I could ask him.

14:49.79
Matthew Thomas
Well, the on the unlikely side of things, it's that he got your number somehow. Maybe didn't even know it belonged to you, but he got your number.

15:03.92
Matthew Thomas
And then got a wild hair, this is all on the unlikely side of things, and then got a wild hair to call you and then question you about feet. What's more likely, ah and ah and yeah and you reciprocate into to a degree, what's more likely is that he's gone through at least hundreds of numbers.

15:23.93
Rae
Mm-hmm.

15:24.66
Matthew Thomas
With most people hanging up on him, I can't imagine how many, wouldn't it be amazing to meet one of the other women that he speaks to? I wonder if he calls guys too.

15:37.01
Rae
Right? Like, it would be really cool. I think it would be fun if someone else hears your podcast and is like, oh my god, I know a...

15:43.64
Matthew Thomas
Oh, that would be insane.

15:46.16
Rae
I know a foot guy named Tommy.

15:52.66
Matthew Thomas
But it's probably coincidence. So yeah, he has to he has to have a lineup. And and it's never it's just a line of questions. Does he does he like moan at all? Do you hear any background noise?

16:10.67
Rae
Now, I never and never hear anything that would suggest that he is doing things while talking on the phone with me.

16:17.58
Matthew Thomas
Sure. Yeah.

16:20.43
Rae
um And even his voice is very steady, so it just sounds like he's messing with people for fun.

16:23.65
Matthew Thomas
Right.

16:29.56
Matthew Thomas
Oh, no, I think. No, there's so many different things like you don't go from easy refrigerator running to all your feet clean without something really going deep, going on deep in your mind.

16:47.85
Matthew Thomas
And it's the same one every time. I think he's just messing around. No, this is he's he's getting something more out of it, I think. I don't think he's just trolling. um

17:02.59
Matthew Thomas
OK, so you we can't confirm whether he's Texas. Are you just saying he's he's older, a heavy Southern accent you're saying, or just recognizably Southern?

17:14.77
Rae
ah recognizably southern yeah oh he thought it was hilarious all of my friends think it's so funny because i will get the random call and i'll be like huh private number i wonder who that is if i wonder if it's foot guy and then i'll answer it

17:17.47
Matthew Thomas
Okay. And you you said in your time of knowing him, you went through a divorce. What did your former partner think of this?

17:43.36
Rae
Because, you know, for a long time I had debt collectors, that kind of thing.

17:46.74
Matthew Thomas
Right, okay.

17:47.52
Rae
So I would answer private call numbers and there it would be foot guide. I'd be like, hey guys, it's foot guide.

17:54.18
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, this sounds... There's so much there's so much opportunity there. you know like ah you you You have yeah your your budding podcast now. You could easily just record the next. It would take some diligence because you would need to be like by your equipment or make preparations beforehand, but just record that five minutes. That that would be fantastic.

18:22.97
Rae
Oh, that's a good point. I had never thought to record it.

18:28.44
Matthew Thomas
There's so many things. Because now that I'm learning, like now that we're fleshing out the details, that I'm so curious about the the the the guy and there's so many ways that you could go about it.

18:45.66
Matthew Thomas
that would make it that much more interesting because you you know i if you, again, if you're curious, maybe call your service provider and just see how far that goes.

18:57.13
Matthew Thomas
you know It might be a dead end, it might not, and then just see what you can find.

18:57.61
Rae
and he

19:00.78
Matthew Thomas
So it's funny that you that all your friends know, your sister knows, and everyone just kind of takes it at face value and just kind of enjoys it for the quirky moment it is.

19:11.61
Rae
yeah

19:13.36
Matthew Thomas
Maybe I'm missing something.

19:13.75
Rae
hey

19:14.24
Matthew Thomas
Maybe I'm missing an opportunity to just live in the moment and enjoy it for for what it is.

19:20.11
Rae
Well, and part of the reason I haven't done all the sleuthing is because it's not It's not as important to me as other elements of my life. like in In the last 15 years, I got married, he got divorced, completed a master's degree, became a teacher for 10 years, like tons of things going on.

19:28.33
Matthew Thomas
Sure. Right.

19:39.36
Rae
And random foot guy who calls me for five minutes a few times a year just tends to slip my mind.

19:49.19
Matthew Thomas
All right, what what time of the day does he typically call? Is it a like evening thing or is you never know?

19:57.21
Rae
Ah, it's typically been after 5 p.m.

20:00.74
Matthew Thomas
After he works.

20:03.50
Rae
Yeah, ah that's a good point. He does, he probably does work. It was pretty funny the last time, he last week when he called, I think it was 10.30 at night and he asked if I was, if, or what are you wearing on your feet or what, you know, are your feet bare or something like that?

20:20.49
Rae
And I said, no, I have shoes on.

20:20.78
Matthew Thomas
Yeah.

20:21.73
Rae
And he said, why do you have shoes on at this time of night?

20:27.53
Matthew Thomas
Which.

20:30.15
Rae
Because I was out with friends, that's why.

20:32.12
Matthew Thomas
Right, yeah. Was was was it a weekend or was it a week weekday, do you remember?

20:38.00
Rae
That was the weekend. Yeah.

20:40.96
Matthew Thomas
OK, so he's home late in the evening. He probably works if he's calling after five. I think the loneliness is obvious.

20:51.57
Rae
Mm-hmm.

20:54.36
Matthew Thomas
Hmm.

20:58.32
Matthew Thomas
I just kind of feel bad for him about the penis thing.

21:02.38
Rae
Yeah, yeah.

21:02.79
Matthew Thomas
But he also could just be generous with the six inches though.

21:03.31
Rae
Like, why would people- Maybe. Maybe it's not quite six inches. But regardless, you shouldn't make some of or make fun of someone's penis size.

21:14.63
Matthew Thomas
Oh, right, or almost any aspect of another person, but we don't live in that world.

21:19.92
Rae
Right, yeah.

21:21.83
Matthew Thomas
and but i have But it must have happened to them early.

21:26.22
Rae
Right, for it to be a long-lasting thing.

21:26.28
Matthew Thomas
and Really? Really? Yeah.

21:31.76
Matthew Thomas
And you know what's funny is that when you tell them it's it's average size, I'm going to look that up. I've always heard it's average size, but I'm going to put this into my Google search history because fuck it.

21:43.46
Rae
Okay, I want to know what you find. I've always just trusted.

21:46.96
Matthew Thomas
I always trusted that too, but now now we're here, now we're profiling the complete foot stranger. let's Let's get some actual information.

21:55.39
Rae
Foot stranger is like also a good title.

21:59.60
Matthew Thomas
Okay, yeah, 5.1 to 5.5. According to most studies, the average direct penis size is around 5.1 to 5.5 inches in length, with the average flaccid penis measuring around 3.6 inches long.

22:15.18
Matthew Thomas
You should read that to him because right now I think he thinks that you're just being kind to him.

22:15.43
Rae
So.

22:21.25
Rae
OK, I'll keep.

22:21.88
Matthew Thomas
I don't think i don't think he believes you. I don't think he's taking you at your word.

22:26.50
Rae
Because you think that because he's asked it so many times.

22:29.49
Matthew Thomas
Uh-huh. And you said that, I mean, unless his response varies, he's he's just chuckles.

22:37.55
Rae
That's true, yeah.

22:38.40
Matthew Thomas
That's what I would say if like, oh, that's that's nice of you to say. That's that's how I would respond if, you know, someone was just kind of placating me. Or I felt that way.

22:48.45
Rae
Okay, so next time I hear from him, I'll just have to read off a Google definition.

22:53.51
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, this is from this is from healthline dot.com. Yeah.

22:57.88
Rae
Oh, okay, there we go.

23:00.02
Matthew Thomas
He's like, you know, Tom, I was talking with a friend of mine, we we got some information down for you. You know, whats here's here's my other impression of him. He's probably just, for intents and purposes, just a regular dude. How many people do you think he interfaces with on a daily basis that would just have no idea what he gets up to with with his phone?

23:25.65
Rae
after 5 p.m. at night just calling random people about feet? Yeah.

23:29.53
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, you could never guess that about someone unless they were, you know, a lot of no, even if you have a foot fetish, this still goes into like the unguessable random territory.

23:30.73
Rae
Well...

23:43.34
Matthew Thomas
Because if someone has a foot fetish, you're like, oh, they probably look at feet pics online. You would never meet someone with a foot fetish and assume or even guess that they call random numbers and have a line of questioning about their feet. And they'll do it for, you know, a decade and a half.

24:01.62
Rae
right oh who knows i wonder if he has a wife yeah one time he called during a dinner and that's the time i was like i gotta go i was eating dinner

24:05.96
Matthew Thomas
Mmm Call in after five so you said typically it's just somewhere after five and then there's that Yeah, you were eating dinner he was eating dinner Okay Damn he might have a wife what? Let's let's get hypothetical let's say um you were partnered and you, you, they hit it from you and you found out that your partner calls people randomly like, like Tommy does. Is that, is that cheating? How upsetting is that news? Cause they hit it from you. It's not like they revealed it like in a moment of vulnerability. They hit it.

24:57.28
Rae
Uh, that would feel weird because it was hidden.

24:59.12
Matthew Thomas
Yeah. Because what?

25:01.69
Rae
Because it was hidden.

25:02.95
Matthew Thomas
Oh, right.

25:03.24
Rae
It would feel weird. I don't know. I am polyamorous, so relationship, uh, expectations are different for me.

25:08.26
Matthew Thomas
Yeah.

25:13.29
Matthew Thomas
Sure. What if?

25:14.97
Rae
But the being hidden part would make it feel weird.

25:18.19
Matthew Thomas
Right, then it's lying to see things like that, which can lead bleeding to other issues.

25:21.11
Rae
yeah

25:25.18
Matthew Thomas
What if you're with this person and you've been seeing each other for a year and everything is going very well? and Let's say like up to that point, they're the perfect match. And then they hey, I have to tell you something.

25:39.06
Matthew Thomas
And they tell you that they call numbers and ask them feet questions. What what what are you doing from there?

25:48.89
Rae
I would be happy that they told me.

25:50.99
Matthew Thomas
Right.

25:52.05
Rae
Yeah. And then I would be like, I don't want to participate in that.

25:57.56
Matthew Thomas
By continuing seeing them or just, is hey, when you take that call, like go to the other room or something.

26:04.22
Rae
I'd be like, when you take that call, I don't want to be around because like, if you're spending time with me, I want to be prioritized. So don't be taking those calls during during our date nights.

26:15.87
Matthew Thomas
here Okay, so as long as it right.

26:18.00
Rae
And I don't want to listen into it either.

26:22.67
Matthew Thomas
Really, you don't think your curiosity about your partner, someone that you're seeing would make you or would you just ask them outside of that like what they ask? Because that's different because you you you find out because they tell you, but you don't have to listen in in real time.

26:40.30
Rae
Right. I think I would, I would ask them about it in a separate situation.

26:46.67
Matthew Thomas
yeah sure okay okay so okay okay all right tommy so yeah that because yeah that that that's a good point is that he might have a wife i think my my

26:46.68
Rae
and let them have that phone time because and like emotions can come up when you actively hear your partner talking weird with someone else. you know

27:15.22
Matthew Thomas
You know, we'll get into more details as they arise, but thus far, he just seems like profoundly lonely, doesn't he?

27:25.10
Rae
Yeah, based on, I mean, just based on our interactions, why would you be calling a random person for 15 years, if you're not at least a little bit lonely?

27:36.15
Matthew Thomas
Yeah. Right, right. my My other thought about the nature of these calls is I found that like through either trauma or introversion, a lot of people have just kind of like receded into their private lives or just live online. And and it's really hard to come by like actual human connection. I don't know if you've seen that oh just gradually occur over the decades. So I think what that causes people to do, especially those real go getters like Tommy, is is to start seeking out like really innate, intimate, still, you know, for intense purposes, benign connections and interactions with people.

28:32.00
Matthew Thomas
But you know what I mean? Because it's so niche, you and him, depending on how many people are on his list, but you you and he share a a sacred bond that very few people in the history of mankind have shared because you think of the invention of the telephone. So everyone before that, they never did this. And then you think from the telephone to cell phones,

28:59.58
Matthew Thomas
No, not even cell phones, because it was a lot easier to call privately on the landlines. He's been doing this his whole life, right?

29:10.04
Rae
He's gotta have been, he's got a whole system down. You know he didn't have that system when he started and he like slowly started to.

29:15.23
Matthew Thomas
Right. Oh, yeah his his line of questions and he's just he's just at work one day.

29:18.89
Rae
Yeah.

29:20.46
Matthew Thomas
He's like, oh, that's a good one. If I ask.

29:25.01
Matthew Thomas
Does he ever get into like specific footwear or is it just barefoot or not barefoot?

29:33.25
Rae
He probably has a couple times like you say that and I vaguely remember saying I wear tennis shoes and he

29:38.83
Matthew Thomas
Yeah.

29:39.40
Rae
as mentioned heels, you know.

29:41.90
Matthew Thomas
Oh, he has mentioned heels.

29:43.48
Rae
I vaguely remember heels being a thing.

29:46.08
Matthew Thomas
Do you remember if that was like in a positive light or maybe like he wasn't a fan?

29:51.84
Rae
I think he was a fan.

29:54.09
Matthew Thomas
Okay.

29:54.47
Rae
And I would have answered, no, I have weak ankles.

30:00.86
Matthew Thomas
And he would have asked, okay, weak, but are they dirty? And have you ever dirtied your ankles?

30:08.49
Rae
something along those lines. Yep.

30:12.81
Matthew Thomas
Uh, so you, you went five years without hearing from him and then he popped up this year in 2024. When, when was that? That pop up.

30:24.49
Rae
I think it was last weekend or the one before.

30:29.19
Matthew Thomas
Oh, so you've only gotten one call from him this year.

30:29.67
Rae
I guess very recently. Yep.

30:33.05
Matthew Thomas
Oh, okay. All right. He's, he's back. Uh, and, and that, and this. It was, any of you guys just kind of picked up where you left off from from the last call? Was there any noticeable differences?

30:50.85
Rae
Uh, this one, no, there wasn't any difference from his routine, but I was like, i I answered his question of like what I was wearing on my feet. And then I said, he he asked, why am I wearing shoes so late at night?

31:05.62
Rae
And I said, well, I'm busy and I have to go. So we didn't have the full conversation.

31:08.97
Matthew Thomas
uh is quick yeah there's so many you know those choose your own adventure books in this situation that book would be like a thousand pages because there's so many different forks that you can take every time he calls

31:11.19
Rae
Yeah.

31:18.61
Rae
Mm-hmm.

31:30.03
Matthew Thomas
It could be like Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow or or something where you just, there's so many different paths. Like I wonder what he would do using that that most recent example if he called and he said, oh, and you said, oh, I'm out and I'm busy. That's why I'm wearing shoes. But ah let me, let me call you back. Do you think he gives his number?

31:55.86
Rae
I don't know actually thanks for saying that because he did say something about well you should consider it or like what do you think of I can't recall what it what question it was that that he asked at the end of the last time I talked to him

32:14.65
Matthew Thomas
Mm-hmm.

32:20.13
Rae
but he sounded like he was making a proposition like well you should consider it if like in regards to him calling me more or something like that and i'm like he's never asked if he could pay me for fit pics

32:29.39
Matthew Thomas
Oh! Well...

32:35.69
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, I think I started.

32:37.04
Rae
um

32:37.62
Matthew Thomas
I think I started to ask before it. It never goes beyond his line of questioning and just pretty much that those little mini interviews. He never asked for like pictures or anything else.

32:51.19
Rae
Nope, he doesn't.

32:53.39
Matthew Thomas
Huh.

32:54.91
Rae
And I'm like, you know what, I need money. I might sell you foot pics if you ask.

33:04.99
Matthew Thomas
um Would you do you think you're bold enough to to proposition it with that?

33:12.89
Rae
I don't know. I have a lot going on and I'm like, how much how much energy is it to maintain a relationship with somebody where you're sending them feet pics for money?

33:16.05
Matthew Thomas
Yeah.

33:23.19
Rae
I don't know if I have that in me.

33:25.08
Matthew Thomas
Right. Well, I think I think that's definitely a spectrum. I think on the lowest level, where it's it's just transactional and it's in your free time. That sounds pretty easy to me. But for a complete stranger who already, he himself goes to great lengths for just a quick Q and A. Who who knows? ah Yeah, it might it might be like a can of worms with with Tommy.

33:59.84
Rae
It could be you could start asking for really complicated foot pics.

34:04.71
Matthew Thomas
Or he could just like. Take that as ah an opening for. Further debauchery.

34:13.22
Rae
Oh, I see.

34:13.98
Matthew Thomas
And yeah, like these that it just might be the the tip of the iceberg. With the whole. But ah but imagine if imagine if this was the the weirdest thing about him, you know, quote unquote weird and just everything else you couldn't even tell you couldn't guess.

34:32.78
Matthew Thomas
You think Tommy's his real name?

34:37.16
Rae
That's a good question. I'm not sure. It seems like something that he wouldn't have to lie about because he's calling from a private number that I can't track.

34:46.92
Matthew Thomas
Right, but because he's calling from a private number, he's already he already knows that, not in the wrong, but he already knows that this operation is best done covertly.

35:00.80
Rae
Hmm.

35:01.31
Matthew Thomas
He already understands that part, but he he might even know that, I can't believe how deep I'm going into this, but he also might understand that if he has a personal feature, like a first name,

35:17.19
Matthew Thomas
then that makes the conversations more endearing, for lack of a better term.

35:24.14
Rae
Right, yeah. Just oh like calling me to be on the phone longer.

35:26.11
Matthew Thomas
In which case, I mean, the smart, yeah, the smart play would be to use a fake name, I would say.

35:33.22
Rae
Yeah. But then he sounds like an older guy and would an older man do that?

35:40.30
Matthew Thomas
Care?

35:41.40
Rae
Care? I don't know.

35:45.76
Matthew Thomas
Well, that's what this thing is. It's so strange, the activity that it's hard to just like pin it on any one demographic. I mean, for sure it's a guy thing. Like I think I don't think you can escape that.

36:06.89
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, because Kate, that's how Kate connected us. She told me that that you had the foot guy who calls you. I didn't know who it was, 15 years. And I'm glad I was spared all the details up until this. But Kate was wondering like what the guy gets out of it. And I don't know. um it's It's pretty like low level, profound connection.

36:33.14
Matthew Thomas
And just by virtue of that, there's so much like that's, I think, me personally. People wanting to connect with others drives everything, drives all our behavior, almost everything that we we do.

36:44.97
Rae
the Yeah.

36:49.22
Matthew Thomas
You know, if we want to make money, it's so we can meet someone nice or sustain a family or or things like that. So he just had an idea to call random numbers.

37:06.94
Matthew Thomas
Dang.

37:10.89
Matthew Thomas
Well, i hope I hope it remains safe and fun fur for you for sure. And I hope something crazy doesn't happen and Netflix picks this up and then they're using this audio on the Netflix documentary where you just unravels and you've been speaking to, I don't know, one of the long lost Bush brothers or something.

37:36.39
Matthew Thomas
I don't know. There's a few ways.

37:37.46
Rae
Oh my god. and that But all that would be hilarious, honestly, if they make a ah movie out of this.

37:44.72
Matthew Thomas
Well, usually, I mean, have you have you seen those, those ne not all of them, but most of those Netflix documentaries?

37:51.60
Rae
I've seen some of them, yeah.

37:53.36
Matthew Thomas
there Did you see the Tinder Swindler?

37:56.17
Rae
No.

37:57.47
Matthew Thomas
This guy, that's what I'm saying. If if Netflix pick picks it up, like things got way crazy. It could still be safe, but the things got crazy. So the Tinder swindler was he would meet these girls on Tinder and he would flash a lot of money and he would flash like a wealthy lifestyle.

38:19.67
Rae
Mm hmm.

38:20.52
Matthew Thomas
And because he would like take them to to dinner and stayed at expensive hotels and and even I think some, if not most, he flew them around in a private jet he had.

38:33.35
Rae
Wow.

38:34.62
Matthew Thomas
Right. So he would like flash that lifestyle and then he would, he would ah fake these emergency situations where they have to give him money. And he was just and he was just peer emitting off of that. So anytime you saw him ah on vacation in a lavish place or in a private jet, he was typically using some other woman's credit card that he had tricked from the scam before.

39:04.07
Rae
Oh my goodness.

39:05.34
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, yeah it's it's really weird. and And the women that got swindled into that were just looking to connect with with someone. There was one woman, she says they that she claimed they never even slept together. like She just considered he and her platonic friends that she cared for him. his hit One of his emergencies was He was supposed to be a ah a family in a diamond business, like diamond moguls. And he says that the government sees his funds and froze his account. So he just needs some money for X amount of time. And then of course he'll pay it all back and everything.

39:48.96
Matthew Thomas
Um, yeah, so crazy. So, so crazy. So yeah. So, oh, yeah here's what stood out to be the most is my, my ex-wife told me about the documentary and she was telling me about it and I watched, did I watch all of it? I think I watched enough where I just got the picture because it is interesting. And she said, man, I would never, never give money. And she's like, and then it came up unless it was an emergency.

40:17.07
Rae
yeah

40:18.42
Matthew Thomas
So that's, you know, he didn't understand like the psychology he was playing there where yeah and just preyed on people's sympathies to get get his grift on.

40:29.52
Rae
who

40:29.74
Matthew Thomas
So so you know we'll we'll we'll start closing it out. But from from us recording to the next time he calls, are you gonna are you going to stray away from the the status quo in the and the conversation, or are you just going to keep it keep it how it's been?

40:51.29
Rae
I'm tempted to ask him more about himself now. Just because it, I mean, I thought he was gone for multiple years.

40:55.64
Matthew Thomas
Yeah.

40:59.34
Rae
And if he, if he calls back, that's the thing.

40:59.37
Matthew Thomas
Right.

41:03.58
Rae
that's If he calls back, I would be more curious to learn a little bit more about him.

41:06.85
Matthew Thomas
I think so, because he didn't you guys.

41:09.26
Rae
Yeah.

41:10.22
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, so because the last time he didn't even he got like two questions and then you had to go. Do you remember?

41:17.34
Rae
who

41:18.79
Matthew Thomas
from all, from all those years ago, if there was ever a quick turnaround, if he had like an unsuccessful call, if he would call in quick succession after that.

41:30.34
Rae
No, I don't think he ever did that. They're usually like a few months apart.

41:37.16
Matthew Thomas
So fascinating.

41:38.58
Rae
I just assume he has a whole list of people's phone numbers that he just goes through. And he must have been on hiatus for a while.

41:45.32
Matthew Thomas
What,

41:48.82
Matthew Thomas
he he's He had a lot going on. he's He's just sitting at home. He's like, you know, I've been doing a lot. I had my marriage and my divorce, and I got my master's and started teaching. You guys might just be living parallel lives, except he just calls you periodically.

42:07.96
Rae
no

42:10.77
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, yeah. So to close out, what would be like the one question? Because he might not like it. He might not like you. like turn it around. But what is like one question you think is innocuous enough that it wouldn't scare him away, so to speak? And and he would just in turn just be happy to answer.

42:31.16
Rae
Oh, oh I'm not sure.

42:36.67
Matthew Thomas
Maybe how many people he calls?

42:39.16
Rae
Oh, that's a good one.

42:39.92
Matthew Thomas
I think he'd be comfortable.

42:40.25
Rae
Yeah.

42:42.25
Matthew Thomas
One, you get a lot of information just from if he answers that. And two, I think he'd be pretty comfortable from everything I know about Tommy.

42:50.50
Rae
yeah Yeah.

42:52.29
Matthew Thomas
Me and Tommy, we go way back, you know, since I heard about him just now.

42:58.48
Rae
I was going to say like what state he's from or how he got my phone number. Those kinds of things.

43:07.32
Matthew Thomas
The state is personal, I could see where that would spook him.

43:13.99
Matthew Thomas
How he got the numbers all so good. Man, remember?

43:18.08
Rae
But I'm more curious, I'm more curious about how many people he calls.

43:21.89
Matthew Thomas
No, I think me too. I think me too. Imagine he's he's his list is so long that those months where you don't hear from him, every day he's just calling someone else.

43:36.74
Matthew Thomas
and checking in with them.

43:40.90
Rae
Oh yeah, that'd be pretty funny.

43:44.93
Matthew Thomas
Okay. Well, yeah, thanks. Thanks for coming out. Very interesting. And if if and when he he calls again, it'd be great if you if you came on gave us an update and and And if you ask them something else, but if it, if he goes the full length, then you'll probably just have a ah better recollection of the questions he asks and, and everything like that.

44:09.66
Matthew Thomas
That'd be good.

44:09.75
Rae
Yeah, i'll du I'll let you know if if he calls back. Maybe he was just so turned off by me being like, I'm busy that he's not going to call back.

44:14.09
Matthew Thomas
Yeah.

44:18.49
Matthew Thomas
But you've done that before. You said you'd done that before.

44:20.95
Rae
I had done that before, yeah.

44:23.42
Matthew Thomas
He'll be fine.

44:23.50
Rae
But maybe maybe I did it too many times in ah in a row in the past.

44:24.14
Matthew Thomas
Tommy.

44:27.35
Matthew Thomas
Oh. That's where the amount of people he calls is is crucial. Because if it's a short list, he doesn't necessarily have the luxury to pull people out of the rotation, I think.

44:43.25
Rae
Oh, okay. Yeah.

44:49.13
Matthew Thomas
But well we'll we'll see. Anything anything else from from you before we go?

44:57.28
Rae
I don't know. What are your feelings about hearing all of this?

45:02.96
Matthew Thomas
Something I haven't said yet is I'm glad that you are participating in reciprocating in in the way that you are. um Because I feel like people, people shame.

45:20.56
Rae
Mm hmm.

45:21.27
Matthew Thomas
People shame others. And i my personal feelings is that he they mean a lot to him. I think these calls mean a lot to him.

45:33.33
Matthew Thomas
And aside from the calls themselves, I don't think he doesn't harass you.

45:39.52
Rae
No, yeah.

45:40.70
Matthew Thomas
You know what I mean? And he and he easily could. like Technology allows for that. his His hidden number allows for that. it Yeah, I don't know. It all seems very safe, cordial, consensual. Whereas you know it just seems like a like you're doing it for the plot. And I think people have lost that aspect of living as well. And and you know and and the world, I think, um not increasingly dangerous, but there's just these

46:19.52
Matthew Thomas
these unusual pitfalls that you would it wouldn't even occur to you that, oh my God, I should look out for this now.

46:26.15
Rae
Mm-hmm.

46:26.31
Matthew Thomas
So I understand why people are are turned away from these kinds of things, but I'm glad and glad you do it. I'm so curious about him. i you know It's hard to put myself um like and ah in a woman's shoes because I don't think he's calling people with with you know male voices or anything like that, unless he is, but then Tommy becomes this completely different person.

46:50.62
Rae
but Right? I want to hear if he is because that'd be fascinating.

46:52.70
Matthew Thomas
Right, right. That's what I'm saying is like, if if it was me fielding these calls, you know, and with my brain, I feel like I would I would have pushed back a lot like I would have kept everything friendly. And I wouldn't really like grill him. I wouldn't have grilled him all at once. But I would have thought of a new at least a new question, I think, every call.

47:18.32
Rae
Yeah, that's a good way to do it.

47:18.71
Matthew Thomas
So a few months. Yeah, I think, um, just yeah. Cause there's so many, there's so much for mystery surrounding him. So every few months, so you probably won't hear from him until 2025.

47:34.12
Rae
Right, probably not. But when I do, I'll ask him how many people he calls with these questions.

47:36.37
Matthew Thomas
Yeah.

47:41.70
Matthew Thomas
Can you imagine if that, this is crazy, stick with me, if you ask him and that just spawns the longest conversation the two of you ever had and you're gonna come back on the show and like, you know, him and I actually had a lot in common. and like yeah

48:02.48
Rae
That would be pretty great. He'd have to be pretty weird to have a lot in common with me as an older white man from the South.

48:16.31
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, you guys have you guys have one thing in common right now, and it's one of the craziest things I've ever heard of, so I definitely see what you're saying, but I like i think it could go in any any direction.

48:17.29
Rae
You know.

48:30.68
Matthew Thomas
but But that's my thoughts. I hope that he it's his intention to keep everything safe. I hope you know i hope ah he does seem lonely, so I hope he, at some point, depending on how old he is, but it's really never too late, is just to, I hope he figures out that connecting with people on deep levels isn't terribly difficult. So he doesn't really have to go through this rigmarole of masking his number, calling random numbers, asking, you know, quote unquote, weird questions, because it's weird to me

49:11.11
Matthew Thomas
But there's so many people, like, how many how many people do you think would love to get those calls?

49:17.97
Rae
Oh right, I'm sure.

49:18.81
Matthew Thomas
It's not zero, it's so far from zero.

49:22.92
Rae
There are a lot of foot fetish people, and a lot of people who like to help with that kind of thing.

49:28.14
Matthew Thomas
Yup.

49:30.83
Matthew Thomas
Yep, so i think I think that all that encapsulates my my thoughts. yeah Did you have a anything anything else ah on your mind about it?

49:47.15
Rae
Nah, I don't think so. I've shared a lot.

49:49.23
Matthew Thomas
Okay. he

49:50.94
Rae
I don't have any major things coming up.

49:54.74
Matthew Thomas
OK. Well, yeah, thanks. Thanks again. And and yeah, hopefully yeah i hope I hope that he calls because one, that means he's OK. And two, we we get to find out that much more.

50:04.10
Rae
i

50:08.04
Rae
Well, and thank you for having me on here. This has been fun.

50:11.48
Matthew Thomas
Yeah, yeah, a lot of fun, of course.