Don't Even Bother

#1: Welcome to the Cult of Dark Humor

• Katiuscia + Megan • Episode 1

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0:00 | 38:15

Why do we laugh at things we probably shouldn’t — and why are people so drawn to groups that feel like absolute certainty?

In our debut episode of Don’t Even Bother Podcast, we break down dark humor, why it works as a coping mechanism, and where the line between funny and uncomfortable actually sits.

We also explore the idea of starting a cult (hypothetically… mostly), unpacking cult psychology, group dynamics, and why people are drawn to belonging, identity, and shared belief systems.

From humor and mental health to groupthink and cultural behavior, this conversation blends comedy with curiosity — and maybe a little chaos.

If you’ve ever laughed at the wrong thing or wondered why people follow things so deeply, this one’s for you.


00:00 Welcome to the Cult of Dark Humor
02:30 Why Dark Humor Resonates
06:10 Humor as a Coping Mechanism
10:25 Where the Line Is (and Who Decides)
14:40 Being Misunderstood for Dark Humor
18:30 The Idea of Starting a Cult
22:15 Why People Join Cults
26:45 Belonging and Group Dynamics
31:05 Satire vs Reality in Culture
34:20 Processing Life Through Humor
36:30 Final Thoughts

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speaker:

Don't even bother.

katiuscia:

Hello, I'm Katiuscia.

megan:

And I'm Megan.

katiuscia:

Welcome to the Don't Even Bother Podcast.

megan:

So disclaimer, if you're somebody who doesn't love colorful language, and maybe get your feelers hurt sometimes. Get easily offended, don't even bother. Just turn it off right now.

katiuscia:

This idea has been in the making for a long time. We're super stoked to finally have it rolling. This was something that I personally have had on my mind for years and one day Megan and I were driving to Utah to go see some comedy, and I brought this idea up very gently. Would you be interested? And she was totally on board. So that's where this came from,

megan:

because. the art of the voice text, and it's not unusual for us to send each other five to 10 minute voice texts. And then we spent the entire drive to Utah and then 24 hours. If that in Utah and then the entire drive home talking nonstop. So we knew we could for sure put on a podcast. We have enough to talk about

katiuscia:

nonstop talking, which was so good. I think that was actually the clue to us that this is, this is gonna work, I think in our voice text. It's so. Just, it's all kinds of random things. If you know how to do a voice text, you know that sometimes you'll be like, squirrel, what? 17 topics In a span of just a cluster of minutes. But I think that with us, we're just kind of two besties in their forties trying. We're very relatable. We're pretty witty and sassy and snarky at times, but. I think that why not let other people in to these fun conversations? You made a really good point. When we were in Salt Lake, was it something you would overhear in a bar? Yeah. You know what I mean?

megan:

In a bar, at a restaurant. Totally. Just, you know. Don't, you've dropped. Just come sit in our booth.

katiuscia:

Just come in with us. We're totally willing to have you. It's, it's a lot of fun. So we're, I guess we're on the cusp of, I'd call us elderly slash geriatric millennials.

megan:

Don't call me a millennial. I am not a millennial,

katiuscia:

officially. That's where we'd be at. Right. So

megan:

I'm the Oregon Trail slash Goonies generation.

katiuscia:

Yes.

megan:

But I have several older siblings. So I refuse to accept the millennial moniker.

katiuscia:

I think the official term is ex NAL for us, so I'll take that. We grew up with the Gen Xers. Mm-hmm. And as siblings or for me, I have aunts and uncles. And I think when you're in that life, that nineties life, yeah. It's just something you always wanna hold onto. So being called a millennial sometimes I'm like, no, but that's why I just, it's a slur. It is, yeah. But I just put the tag of geriatric. So, you know,

megan:

I, I'll be a baby, baby, baby. Gen

katiuscia:

Xer. Gen Xer. Your preemie Gen Xer. Yeah. Just super random. So I guess a little bit about us, because you should probably know who we are. Oh, I think another disclaimer we wanted to add, these are our opinions that we're sharing with you. Oh, and these in no way reflect our employers. So. Don't get all bent 'cause of something you heard. Again, don't just don't even bother. It's not, it's

megan:

not. It's just for fun. This is entertainment only, so there're our opinions. Maybe, maybe not,

katiuscia:

maybe.

megan:

And yeah, not our employers. Not our families, not anybody else's. So,

katiuscia:

yes, but we are both fun, loving, sassy dog moms. Megan's also a real mom.

megan:

A real human mom.

katiuscia:

A real human mom. So I think this is just to get to know us a little bit and what we plan, what's our idea for this podcast? Really

megan:

just life, the things that we talk about anyway. So sometimes it'll be, I hate the phrase girl talk, but you know, sometimes it'll be things that are more applicable to 40-year-old women sometimes. We talk about conspiracies or politics or current events or funny shit that we saw driving to work, whatever. Just life. Just our life come along for the ride.

katiuscia:

Yeah, I think that that's really good. And I think most importantly, it's just a little bit of insight into two people who. Are having these day-to-day lives, but also trying to navigate the waters of, oh my gosh, things are so different from when we grew up. This is not from Boomer to Gen X. This is a whole new world coming into growing up when we grew up, but now having to deal with weight. All of this stuff is happening. This is how normal things are done. It's really. Weird and it's hard to kind of get through sometimes. So I think that's where we rely on each other and our 13 minute voice memos, because that's the best time to just kind of vent it out and also know that the person receiving it on the other end is going to understand what I'm talking about. Yeah. And have insight, feedback, anything to kind of help me understand like what the fuck is going on?

megan:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

katiuscia:

Just very fair.

megan:

Yeah. So do you wanna talk about how we met?

katiuscia:

Oh,

megan:

how we became besties instantly?

katiuscia:

Should we talk about that? Is that, is this the day?

megan:

Is it?

katiuscia:

We can talk about it.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

Yeah, I'll let you take the reins.

megan:

Okay. So we met at a blood drive at our church of all places. And holy place, I'm normally hella antisocial, so thank God you just started talking to me. Because I probably had my resting bitch face on and was just,

katiuscia:

can I tell you why I started talking to you?

megan:

Yeah,

katiuscia:

because sitting at this blood drive, and I think I'd only been living here for maybe a little over a year and I was having this difficult time, I threw myself into work and just building my career, but I was having a hard time just meeting normal people. Everyone I meet is married with families, which I mean she is, but. It's just, it was hard to meet people and I do feel like everyone in this area grew up together, knows people, so it was, it felt very tight knit already. Mm-hmm. So I saw this chick at the blood drive. She looks kind of my age. She looks like she could be friendly and if maybe she did have her resting bitch face on, I know that I'm aware of that enough.'cause I also can carry one that I know to read the room. How you read the room. Yeah, I approached her 'cause I need friends and she looks like she could be a cool one. And we go to the same church, which is huge. And we're both donating blood to save a life. We had something in common, resting bitch face or not. We still wanted to help people.

megan:

Yeah. And so we got to chatting while we were waiting and then, you know, if you've ever donated blood, the snack table is half of the point.

katiuscia:

It's the table.

megan:

Yeah. And so we sat there and at this particular blood drive, it's hosted by a really wonderful group of generally old men. They're my favorite, but, so it was just us and a bunch of old guys and we were sitting around at the snack table eating our Oreos, talking about guns.

katiuscia:

Mm-hmm.

megan:

And I'm pretty sure I gave you a TED talk on why I thought the AR 15 is the absolute hands down best home defense weapon that you could get.

katiuscia:

You did.

megan:

And then we started talking about cults.

katiuscia:

Yes. Yes. So, so the guns thing, it didn't just spark out of, hi, I am Kaha. Hi, I am Megan. Highlight guns. It was. I moved here. I kinda had to give a backstory of why I moved here and I moved here for guns and freedom. I came from a state that is not about either. I love it here because it's so freeing to do that, and then how that branched into cults is wild. But we both are ultra fascinated with them.

megan:

Yeah,

katiuscia:

it's the psyche of them though.

megan:

It is. I am fascinated by how. People can be so manipulative

katiuscia:

and so convincing on the other side. I think that's why we started talking about it. What drives people to this one super charismatic person. So then it was Jonestown, you start talking about all of 'em. Mm-hmm. But it's wild. Yeah. When you start thinking of just what made you do that in people, what made you follow, what was the driving factor like, who is this person that looks like a total bum that gets all of this following and somehow convinces you to hand over all your money and your assets and it's just a really wild concept. Yeah. So I think we both bonded over that. Okay. So. We have that depth to us where it's not so lighthearted and funny. It's we dark humors our coping mechanism. Oh yeah. Both of us. Which is why I think we hit it off so well. But yeah, it's a, it's a crazy, crazy thing.

megan:

I think we both relate to the meme that's like, I'm not dumb enough to get sucked into a cult, but I am nosy enough

katiuscia:

for sure what's going on. But always have an escape route. You have to have a plan, but there are no plans.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

So it's just, it's a fascinating thing if you're not into it. I mean, I'm sorry, but

megan:

that won't be an episode about,

katiuscia:

we won't talk about, no, this is just us telling you how we became friends. Yeah. What would it be like if we were gonna run a cult? What would our cult be?

megan:

I've been thinking about this for days now, and I, I don't know, I don't think I'm slick enough to run a cult, but I would be a real good What's it like a second mate? First mate? I don't know. I what? But I'd be a real good hype man. I'd be the slave of, slave of

katiuscia:

cult. You'd be the slave cult of, of the cult.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

Nice. Okay. And I don't think I'm slick enough to run it. I'm not that charismatic where I can pull that all. I'm not outgoing

megan:

enough to be a slave, but we'll pretend.

katiuscia:

We'll pretend. For all intents and purposes, we will pretend, but you'd have to have some basics of a cult. What would you worship? What would the rules be? Do you have to live together? What's your thing? What's your exit plan? What are you following? You know what I mean? No. There's so many elements that come to a cult, but it's also how would you get people to join it? I mean, there's so many. Yeah.

megan:

I don't know. You go first.

katiuscia:

Okay. I think that joining a cult would have to, you'd have to have some kind of promise of an eternal salvation of some sort, right?

megan:

Sure.

katiuscia:

You're going to a place, especially if it's these cults that. Themselves. Right,

megan:

right, right.

katiuscia:

Then you have to be a little, you have to have a promise. There has to be something that you get for that. Nobody does anything for free. Sure. What are you getting out of it? You get to go to some paradise, and Paradise has been explained as how,

megan:

I mean, it's anything. It's marketing, that's all it is. Cults are great marketing.

katiuscia:

I know.

megan:

And so what is marketing? Marketing is hitting people's pain points. And so I think that's what it is, is you find your key demographic and you hit that pain point. Are they girls with daddy issues? Are they boys with mommy issues? Are they people who never felt like they fit in anywhere and you hit that pain point? I think that's how they do it. And And you promise them inclusion.'cause I think that's what most cults are is inclusion. And that's why there are so many groups. That might be a cult question mark, and it's really hard to tell because they might not be like, they're just walk in the line.

katiuscia:

Sure.

megan:

So I think you just have to find your, your key demographic and really lean hard on that pain point that if you leave us you're nothing.

katiuscia:

I think that's fair because if you also. Reflect on the types of cults they want that family belonging. Mm-hmm. They're typically people that maybe were abandoned by their family. Maybe they were dealing with some personal health addiction type issues, and their family had disowned them. Well, now you're welcomed into a place. Mm-hmm. That's ultra accepting.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

And they're giving you that home that you lost with your real family. Yeah. So yeah, back to just inclusion of. You're welcome here. Anyone is welcome here.

megan:

Yeah. But they also create an us versus them mentality.

katiuscia:

Totally.

megan:

And so you're welcome here 'cause you're not one of them, you're one of us.

katiuscia:

Right. Which is probably how they maintain power of mm-hmm. You have to like. D Detach.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

From your family, your friends, everyone who knew you before, because they could either potentially have the power to get you back into reality.

megan:

Yep.

katiuscia:

Or it's some kind of punishment then from this loving cult organization group who has given you a family. Oh yeah. Whatever you're gonna get. Okay. So. A utopia is what we promise you in our cult. Um, where everything is affordable, if not free. I mean,

megan:

I mean,

katiuscia:

because you've already given us all your money, so now everything's gonna be free. But if you make any other money, that also goes to us. But that's to pay for this beautiful life. Yeah. You want, right. Okay. So you're offering them a safe space of inclusion where everything is covered and free. It's happy everyone gets along.

megan:

Yeah. Okay. Everybody, um, pulls their own weight except for the leader. Right. Of course.

katiuscia:

So that's chores.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

If you're on a farm, this is farm chores

megan:

a, a commune. Hmm. Yeah.

katiuscia:

We're not saying Jonestown or anything, but you know, same.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

Very Jones townie in that theory, in that we've gone to a place that's accepted us all. It's a new life. It's a new village. But then what are we worshiping? The one leader? Is he God? Is he the, is he the stand in for God or is he a different being? Do we not believe in God as, is he a

megan:

prophet?

katiuscia:

Oh, he is a prophet. There it is. So he's a

megan:

prophet. Is he immoral? Why is it always a he? Why are there not more chick cult leaders?

katiuscia:

That's why we're creating one right now.

megan:

Oh, okay.

katiuscia:

Okay. So,

megan:

so is our, you're this he leader. We just, is he just a puppet? Are we just standing him up? In front of the world.

katiuscia:

Gosh. But I mean, typically the cult leader, shadow

megan:

government

katiuscia:

Yeah. Of what the, the leader sometimes gets taken out too. You know what I mean?

megan:

Mm-hmm.

katiuscia:

Whether by self or by other,

megan:

yeah.

katiuscia:

So you worship this prophet who's promising you this eternal, I guess, life. You can have this utopia forever. Okay. But what's the object? Do you remember the Heaven's Gate cult in Rancho Santa Fe in California. San Diego area, Richie, rich, San Diego. Were they the ones

megan:

with the Kool-Aid?

katiuscia:

No. And the Nikes. They were the ones, yeah, the Nikes, the Comet. Yeah. They were the HaBO. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Comet the Hale Bop Comet.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

Marshall. Apple. White. Or Applegate. Or Applegate's. A Applegate's. A Turkey and Bacon. So it was Marshall Applewhite. Everyone. When I think of Heaven's Gate, I lived in North San Diego at that time. I mean, I grew up hearing that and just knowing that, and then I knew the stories of Jonestown, but. Y talk about money. You're in a Rancho Santa Fe. If anyone's not familiar with Rancho Santa Fe, you gotta Google it. It's gorgeous. It's very elite, high-end, beautiful mansions, very affluent. It's a beautiful community. So I am always wondering because I haven't deep dived enough into that one. But how, who had that house? Who owned that house? I doubt it was him. He was the total nerd by the way he looked. I would've looked at him and No,

megan:

but look at all of 'em.

katiuscia:

I know. I know. David

megan:

Koresh was Ooh. And he was convincing all those men to be like, yes, my wife can, can bone you. Oh, dude.

katiuscia:

Ew, gross. Ew. Okay. How many wives do they have? Ew. Or is there, Ew? Is there an amount of spouses you can have in this call? No. No.

megan:

Or yes? No. No. Let's not.

katiuscia:

Okay. Are there rules of engagement with the people that live on this commune Farm Village? That which also, have you seen the movie, the Village?

megan:

I don't know.

katiuscia:

Okay. I think

megan:

I haven't seen a lot of movies.

katiuscia:

Okay. I don't know. I know you haven't. That's a whole other day though. So The Village was a movie with M Who? M Knight. Yeah, he, is

megan:

that the one where they lived in like the national park?

katiuscia:

Yes. Oh

megan:

yeah. Yeah. Was a

katiuscia:

great, that was a really

megan:

good

katiuscia:

movie. Did That was a great movie. Movie. Okay. I still can't say his last name, so a apologies. So they created this village. So essentially that's what a cult is. Not that I'm saying that movie, what they weren't. Right,

megan:

right,

katiuscia:

right. That's essentially what it is. You've created this safe place where there was no nothing. Everyone just loved each other, which already is it. So

megan:

they don't because they're humans.

katiuscia:

Yeah, I was gonna say, which is already boring. You have to what? Everyone's just gonna live in this, I mean, utopia sounds boring to me. It really does. However, I digress. I could

megan:

live in Utopia if it was me and

katiuscia:

Yeah. And

megan:

a dog. Yeah. And

katiuscia:

exactly.

megan:

Me and the woodland creatures.

katiuscia:

It was a very, it's a very small utopia when we're living in it by ourselves. And a handful, maybe two handfuls of people that you really like that you know, it's

megan:

really pushed.

katiuscia:

Okay. Fair. Fair. I was gonna say it's a big enough village though. Sure. That you can have your space. Sure. And maybe just come together once a week for. Meetings or chance or lunch

megan:

pass. I'm out.

katiuscia:

Okay. That's it. I lost you at chance.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

Shit. Okay, so what are we worshiping? Heaven's Gate had the comet.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

You know what I mean? I don't know what Jonestown had, but

megan:

I don't either. I don't know enough about Jonestown to really, I know of it. I, I get the reference. Sure. I know about the glasses,

katiuscia:

the Kool-Aid,

megan:

Jim Jones glasses

katiuscia:

and the Kool-Aid,

megan:

but I don't know what their belief set was.

katiuscia:

The craziest thing about Jonestown is it was the seventies and there were audio recordings of these basically therapy sessions that they would have where they're berating and I don't know if hitting abuse just terrible acts against these people who were worshiping you. So that's another thing. You have to have someone who is so moldable of their mind.

megan:

Mm-hmm.

katiuscia:

To take that. If that's an abusive talk about abusive relationship,

megan:

super abusive. But I think a lot of people, like really skilled abusers are really skilled at that and they can mold somebody without even knowing that they're doing it. Like I think that there are people who can be abusive and not even know that they're being abusive.

katiuscia:

Sure.

megan:

It's just

katiuscia:

their nature.

megan:

But I think if you are that wired that way, we'll say that you could really, if you really wanted to. Manipulate people and abuse them. You could definitely, even people who are pretty strong mentally, I think can be manipulated and abused,

katiuscia:

broken down.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

That's a slow and steady,

megan:

mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

katiuscia:

Breakdown.

megan:

Yep.

katiuscia:

Over time.

megan:

Mm-hmm.

katiuscia:

Not all at once.' megan: cause you're hitting'cause everybody has a vulnerability. Everybody has a pain point. So if you hit that in a really skilled way, yeah. You can. You can get 'em to do just about anything, I think, unfortunately. Okay. Well, should we worship trees?

megan:

Sure.

katiuscia:

I mean, I'm just, we need something we have to give.

megan:

Do we have to dye our hair blue if we're gonna worship trees?

katiuscia:

Optional. I guess. Do we have to shave our heads?

megan:

Are we allowed to keep shaving our armpits?

katiuscia:

God. Well, but then you think, is that considered a weapon? Actually, you bring up a very good point. Oh, are we

megan:

not allowing weapons?

katiuscia:

Well, no,

megan:

I don't want to be there. I hate this cult.

katiuscia:

No, but I'm saying anyone who's there, it's one thing for a cult leader when you join a cult to shave your head, but then obviously not give you access to the rage. Oh, it's like a breakdown

megan:

ritual.

katiuscia:

Yeah, because if you have access to the razors, there's a lot you could do. Including turn on the cult leader.

megan:

Mm-hmm.

katiuscia:

I like my hair personally. Yeah. Okay. This is half of the hair that I have from chemo so many years ago, and I would love to keep it so we're keeping our hair

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

For our cult, because it is run by women, we can keep shaving our armpits. Okay. Thank you. And our legs and whatever else you wanna shave. Have your razor. Okay. It's totally fine.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

It's not gonna be the men's five blade razor. You can have a disposable razor.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

Perfect.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

Trees, do we like worshiping trees? I would personally worship a dog, but if that's my object that I, instead of a comment, but it wouldn't be the dogs that are here, it would be the dogs that are gone for the

megan:

past. Yes. Okay.

katiuscia:

The spirit of the dogs guide us, so as the leaders, we are doing everything through joy.

megan:

You know what? I think that dogs are too relatable. We've all had dogs. It should be something just completely unhinged that nobody can relate to, like a goldfish or something, because then we're the only ones that know what the goldfish is saying.

katiuscia:

Oh, okay. That makes sense.

megan:

Because you have to have that step above the plebes.

katiuscia:

I think it would be a beta fish though, because beta fish still have feist in them. Okay,

megan:

okay.

katiuscia:

And so when you're channeling your punishment to give to other people because of what

megan:

Oh, okay.

katiuscia:

I don't know what's its name. Come on. We're being very thorough. So

megan:

one of my kids has a beta fish and its name is Bubbles, and that's all I could think about.

katiuscia:

Okay. I mean, bubbles doesn't sound super strong.

megan:

No. It needs to be like I, I'm non or something really just really heavy. I don't know what this was.

katiuscia:

You're channeling your inner Italian. That's somewhere with me. Aon. What the fuck Aon is. It has been spoken. We have done it as the most random shit I've ever heard, but I'm here for it because I'm committed to creating this fake cult.

megan:

Okay?

katiuscia:

For the purpose of continuing a conversation, now I'm in it to win it. Okay? Aga Non

megan:

optimist. Prime?

katiuscia:

Yes. I don't know. I can't, yeah. No, it's, it's aga, non aga non. The red and blue. Oh, beta fish.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

That lived for a month,

megan:

but no, I think it should be just a blue one.

katiuscia:

Okay.

megan:

Because it has to be immortal. I think the best cults have immortal leaders. Mm. And so then when it dies, you just replace it.

katiuscia:

Perfect. Okay.

megan:

You just pop on down to the pet store down cow and get a new one for five bucks.

katiuscia:

Perfect. Okay. I'm here

megan:

for it. Not fancy. Just a straight up blue beta.

katiuscia:

Blue beta fish.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

I'm not, who always is just the one that gives us direction.

megan:

Yeah. Maybe we have to wear a special hat to hear him.

katiuscia:

Or a cloak, I guess. More known to or going special. The non Harry Potter people is a robe Perhaps, maybe just a robe. I don't wanna say a bathrobe cape, a bathrobe,

megan:

just put my bathrobe on.

katiuscia:

But

megan:

I love a good bathrobe, a

katiuscia:

complete with the shower cap. But no, I think that that would be, is this, wait, was this a dangerous cult or are we gonna flip the script right now? Because I have squirrel brain and this is basically a voice memo. And do we wanna make a self-care cult? I command you to go take a bubble bath right now. Nan says that you're real

megan:

stressed out. Your course all's too high. You need to go meditate for five minutes,

katiuscia:

I mean with lavender. So this is wait. This is for like not really punishment. This is the anti punishment. This is a dream.

megan:

This is the worst fucking cult ever.

katiuscia:

This is actually the best fucking cult ever.'cause can you imagine how many people we would get with a self? We would get a lot of Selfcare cult.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

Actually, no punishment. This is a place of love. This is a true utopia. We still have agam, none for when something gets sassy, but. Bubble baths and shit. I mean, I would think that the only punishment you can give when telling someone to take a bubble bath, you can turn it into punishment By being, you're gonna have your head under water for a certain amount of time. We're

megan:

gonna waterboard you for

katiuscia:

the first five minutes. We're waterboarding you with a lavender. I don't know. I'm just saying we have to have a clear direction. But I like the idea of the fish. I think it needs to have water as a punishment if you step out of line. But this self-care cult thing is a good thing. I just know that it would be very lucrative. Deal with

megan:

water. Water pistols.

katiuscia:

There it is. There's no harm. Six suckers. There's no harm in this cult. So it's not a cult anymore, it's just a club. You know how many people would wanna join us? Spot now

megan:

it's

katiuscia:

just. We, we've gone from cult, I was really trying to think of this. Okay. How could we make it so perfect? And now we've just,

megan:

we've turned it, we've just created a high-end spa.

katiuscia:

We turned it into a spa with a fish as a a profit person.

megan:

I mean, it might be more lucrative than a cult.

katiuscia:

I think for sure it'll be more lucrative. Do you know which spas cost a lot of money? No,

megan:

because I am not a spa girl. I don't,

katiuscia:

I

megan:

am. I have never been to a spa.

katiuscia:

Oh my gosh.

megan:

Never had a facial. Never.

katiuscia:

Oh.

megan:

When my, when my hairstylist washes my hair as the fanciest, I get,

katiuscia:

oh, this is actually making me really sad.

megan:

Oh, I have a lot of those.

katiuscia:

Get ready for the ride. My

megan:

whole life is tell is going, Hey, do you wanna hear a funny story about my life? And then watching the whole room just go, oh,

katiuscia:

but that's how we cope. Yeah. You have to have a coping mechanism. Yeah, I do find. I will. Are we done with the cult topic now? Have we? We, I

megan:

think we better be'cause we just either created the world's best cult or the world's worst cult.

katiuscia:

Okay.

megan:

And if anybody steals our idea down

katiuscia:

Yeah, we know where you heard it down. And if you have an Agamemnon that comes out, I will waterboard

megan:

you with a lavender and

katiuscia:

it's some blue beta. Even if it's any beta, any fish. We know where you got the idea from. And it's copyrighted,

megan:

copyright it. Right now

katiuscia:

we're copywriting this, we're sending it to the. Copyright people. No, I was gonna say the best people that I have met. So let me tell you, when I moved here, one of the biggest problems I had, and I think I had even shared it with you the first time we met at that table, talking about what we shall not talk about anymore was. The lack of sarcasm I find in people, and I was finding it really difficult to have conversations with the public. I would go to the store, I would be anywhere, someone would say something. I would have the most killer. Snark not funny. I'm not a dance monkey, dance comedian. I'm just, I, I would say something that inside I'm like, huh, and it would be stone faced, dead eyes, nothing to contribute, nothing to smirk back. It really made me sad to where I was thinking, holy shit, I think I've made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Leaving California. I mean, no, hold on. Rewind. Best decision was leaving California, but. Leaving my place where people understood sarcasm and humor, and then I met you. And then every person that I've met and truly connected with is darker than I could ever imagine and hope for, and I just finally feel over the past few years. I've done it. I've

megan:

made it. I've found my people.

katiuscia:

We've made it. I've found my people. I'm talking dark shit. We talk about dark shit. Yeah. But when you hear something like, oh no, it's cool, and you're like, oh, okay.

megan:

That's because I'm secretly a cult leader.

katiuscia:

I just sucked

megan:

you in,

katiuscia:

obviously, to my cult of humor. Obvious it. I just missed the dark it made, made you feel really accepted. No, you did. Oh my gosh. I've been the most accepted and now I am also. So talk about Wing Man. We've reversed roles. Mm-hmm. Like now I am bringing new people into it with the dark humor because

megan:

I'm wildly antisocial. You're,

katiuscia:

I do love it though. I love that. Finally, I feel I've found. My people here locally, I have other people. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. In other states. Sure. You always have good friends in other states. Yeah. That are just so your vibe. These people, they know me, they get me. Even if you haven't known them for too long, they get you. Mm-hmm. And that's a really valuable connection to have. I say with. Life and the people that you meet in life, especially at this stage. Yeah. Because for me, for example, moving away, not knowing anybody where I moved and having to grassroots my life again and reinvent myself, not, you know, reinvent my whole life. Yeah. And recreate it. It was wildly difficult because it was so tight knit here.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

That are people just not, I not only found it with business, business was hard because everybody. In my industry, knew each other, worked together for so many years, all these things. So you're breaking into an industry that you've been in for years, but now you're in a new place and all bets are off. Yeah, nothing is guaranteed. But the same with friends. You have these friends that you know, you form these bonds with, and then coming to a new place, it's just really difficult. So I'm just very grateful that I met you and that our friendship has just blossomed where we can tell each other anything. And not get terrified. Judgmental. Yeah. We are truly that meme that's, I'm the friend you could call for mimosas. Yeah. For lunch, or to bury a body at 2:00 AM I'm not gonna ask questions like

megan:

Fictionally speaking

katiuscia:

of course, but if it's online, I'm just using it as an example.

megan:

Mm-hmm. I don't

katiuscia:

know.

megan:

Yep. And yeah, I could call you or leave you. We don't, we do talk on the phone sometimes.

katiuscia:

It's very random. I think I called you last week for something. We were setting something up for this and she was like,

megan:

what? But I, but I send you a voice text and be this bitch.

katiuscia:

And I would know.

megan:

And you're just in it.

katiuscia:

I'm in it

megan:

like just ready to go. Just tell

katiuscia:

me, no

megan:

matter what the context is,

katiuscia:

I don't even care who, just tell me all of it. Mm-hmm. And then we plan like what you need to respond, how it needs to go.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

And I do feel.

megan:

That's a gender, gender neutral. This bitch.

katiuscia:

Oh yeah. I do feel there is a beauty of technology, right? Mm-hmm. We've gone from no phone to flip phone to when the blackberries came out, so no phone. I miss

megan:

my blackberry.

katiuscia:

You do? Yeah. I could never figure it out.

megan:

I loved it.

katiuscia:

It was too. It was like a palm pilot to me.

megan:

I had no business having one. I was a valet at a hotel. I wasn't conducting business. I didn't need a blackberry.

katiuscia:

It was so foreign to me because I think I went from literally a phone in my house. God rest the cordless love it. The corded phone on the walls. Love that. To the Nokia, to the Motorola flip phone.

megan:

I would still use Nokia today if I could find one, because I bet they still work

katiuscia:

with those, with those ringtones. Hell yeah. I

megan:

love, but dude, my phone hasn't made a noise in 10 straight years.

katiuscia:

Oh my gosh. I love, I would throw it

megan:

off the roof if it made a noise.

katiuscia:

I loved my Nokia because then when I would go to Italy, Italy would have the Nokia and it was just cool. You could. Flip the, or swap the face. Oh yeah. Of the Nokia's.

megan:

And they were

katiuscia:

indestructible. Um, where were we buying those?'cause it wasn't Amazon. I don't know.

megan:

At the

katiuscia:

kiosk. Get

megan:

the mall. Verizon store. Yeah. Oh yeah. The faces. Yeah, the kiosk. The mall.'cause the mall was still relevant 20 years ago. Yeah.

katiuscia:

Yeah. That was really cool. So Nokia to Motorola, I think. Then I had an LG slide. Oh, I did to the side. Hated

megan:

that.

katiuscia:

And then I went to, I think iPhone came out and I was, I'm not supporting that. And I got a Blackberry. Okay. I got a Blackberry and I think I had it for about two weeks and couldn't figure it out.

megan:

Okay.

katiuscia:

And just said no. And I went back to my lg, and then finally the iPhone had been out for a few years. My biggest. Fight my biggest point where I thought I didn't even want a Blackberry, but I did.'cause well, the world, I don't know. The world is moving forward. We're growing up. I don't know. So I got it. I did not wanna be reached. Contacted I was, I will never be doing emails in a restaurant or when I'm out with people, girl, I could not imagine on you. Imagine my life without having find my location or you know, find me where I'm going, oh shit, I got an email that I have to respond to right now. I mean, especially with my work, time is of the essence. Sure. But I just can't imagine not having that now, sitting and waiting for a doctor's appointment with my headphones in watching one of the 17,000 reels that we've sent back and forth to one another on Instagram. You can't imagine it, but I miss that simplicity. Mm-hmm.

megan:

Of

katiuscia:

that. Mm-hmm. Where I was going with this was that how everything has evolved and come to this point, we went from phone calls on the cell phones. Mm-hmm. To then text messages, but that shit

megan:

cost money. Well, you had to pay, those were so expensive and you'd get so mad if somebody sent you, you'd be like, meet us at eight 30 at the seven 11, and they'd send you one text that was like, Kay, like, bitch, that cost me 15 cents.

katiuscia:

Yeah, yeah.

megan:

How dare you.

katiuscia:

Crazy. So, so expensive and,

megan:

and don't call me until after nine o'clock 'cause I have unlimited nights and weekends.

katiuscia:

Oh. Oh my gosh. That was such a good time.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

I had singular wireless. My first cell phone I think was singular wireless. I had it since. High school. I think I got a cell phone my senior year of high school.'cause I had skipped a year. So I was 16 in high school in my senior year and driving. And that was the moment that I think my mom was even on board. But before that I had a pager. I forgot about the pager. I was

megan:

never cool enough to have a pager. But one of my best friends in high school had a pager.

katiuscia:

Mine was frosted blue. No, I wasn't dealing anything that I shouldn't have been dealing. I just had a pager.'cause I did. But we've gone from paying for text messages to now you have text messages. To then when iPhone started doing the voice memo. The voice note. Yeah. Like. How

megan:

the

katiuscia:

voice, text how. But the beauty of voice memos, voice texts is that they go away unless you have them saved forever. Like I do. I love reading the transcripts. I don't if I need them,

megan:

I will forget it. That's

katiuscia:

Years are

megan:

gone. The second those two minutes are up. It's gone. It's gone outta my head. It's, it's in the ether forever.

katiuscia:

Yeah. I mean, but it's someone's, someone's listening to it. Oh, for

megan:

sure. Someone's listening.

katiuscia:

Someone's listening to it and building a case file, which is why we're not gonna get recruited. For the CIA,

megan:

my government surveillance agent is probably really annoyed. With the things that I Google.

katiuscia:

Oh my gosh.

megan:

And talk about,

katiuscia:

and when they're in the back end of our Instagram mm-hmm. Monitoring the reels we send Oh

megan:

yeah.

katiuscia:

Just kind of create, they're probably actually creating that algorithm for us though.

megan:

Oh,

katiuscia:

for sure. Like yeah, for sure. You're giving us what we wanna see. Kind of like a cult leader. You're hitting a pain point of dark humor that I need mm-hmm.

megan:

Hit.

katiuscia:

Mm-hmm. And you're doing an excellent job at it, so kudos to our government. Um, workers that are monitoring us, but my point is why text when you can call? Why call when you can voice text?

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

Voice texting is everything.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

It's kind of like listening to podcasts. I do it in the car, I do it when I'm cleaning. I can have my earbuds in and record a voice, text, listen to a voice. Do it all.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

Why would you not?

megan:

Because you can get the inflection and the richness and the, the joke of it and just,

katiuscia:

do you know how many times people read text messages and they're like, this bitch and you? Oh, all the time. No, no, no. You

megan:

just, I've probably lost entire relationships because of a text

katiuscia:

message. You just don't get it.

megan:

Yeah,

katiuscia:

and I mean, I guess that's fine. But

megan:

yeah,

katiuscia:

whatever. We're really good at it.

megan:

Yeah. Oh, for sure.

katiuscia:

We excel at voice texting.

megan:

Mm-hmm.

katiuscia:

I'm here for it. Yeah. I'll send people voice, text, and they won't respond on them sometimes.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

And they'll just gimme a two word answer to my seven. Seven. It

megan:

depends on where I am. If I'm with my kids, I don't always voice text you back because then they try to get involved in it.

katiuscia:

Yeah. We don't want kids involved in

megan:

our voice text or have things that I'm gonna say that they don't necessarily need to hear.

katiuscia:

Yeah.

megan:

Although my kids have heard most of the things that I say, but

katiuscia:

fair.

megan:

Yeah. So every now and then I'll just regular text you back.

katiuscia:

Oh, yeah. I'm sure everyone's seen the reels on social media that someone's recording a voice text and they're responding to their friends and it was something funny,

megan:

never recorded

katiuscia:

and then do it again. They're redoing it. Do you have to have that same energy?

megan:

If I had a dollar for every time my voice text didn't record and I had to start back over with that. That's so funny.

katiuscia:

It's painful, man. It's real life. And I would still rather do that than try to type out all of my thoughts. Yeah.'cause if you're typing out your thoughts, you're not gonna be able to be as fluid. You're gonna be more structured.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

So I guess this is our life lesson. We're providing something of value by telling everyone that you should voice text if you don't voice text.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

There's something very personal also about getting a voice text when you're hearing your, your person. Mm-hmm. When maybe you're not in a position to have the phone call because you're at something with your kids, or I'm in a meeting with people. There's, there's just that moment of, oh my God, she sent me a seven minute voice memo. I'm gonna listen to this as soon as I get in the car, and I know that it's gonna help my drive because it's gonna be some unh unhinged shit, and it's just gonna make me, oh, set me back straight to where I need to be. Yep. Normalism everything just back at, back centered.

megan:

It's the personal connection without having to be on the phone.

katiuscia:

Yes, for sure.

megan:

It's great. Yeah.

katiuscia:

I love it.

megan:

Me too,

katiuscia:

on that note.

megan:

Yeah.

katiuscia:

Shall we wrap it up for today?

megan:

Absolutely.

katiuscia:

Okay. So. Thanks everyone. Have a great day.

megan:

Yeah, a great day to everyone, except for the people who don't put their shopping carts back at the grocery store.

katiuscia:

Boom, bye.