EP015 | We Tried Talking Politics Like Adults. Terrible Idea

EP015 has everything nobody asked for: Marine stories, Buffalo sports depression, Aaron Rodgers ruining Erik’s life, and a voting debate handled by two men wildly unqualified to fix democracy.

We had no business discussing this much.
We did it anyway.

Two guys. No credentials. Lower your expectations.

Transcript

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Welcome to Two Guys No Credentials. We're two completely unqualified people talk about nothing. And everything. Like we know what we're doing. Spoiler. We don't. Well, it's finally summer here in Buffalo, by the way. What? It's 80 degrees today. It was like it was 52 degrees two days ago. So I think it's no spring. It's summer now. I think it's so funny because you tried to get me to move to Buffalo. And it's been warm for like a month and a half, two months here. Yeah. But I also right now I'm sick like it's like January, so whatever. Yeah, it's all that it's all that uh Connecticut Connecticut. What do you call it? Connecticites? Can Connecticut Connecticut? Connecticut. Yeah. Yeah. Um it's gross there. What do you mean? I don't know. I just want to make myself feel better. It's gross there. Oh my god. You know what? Um it's not too bad. It's nice. It's just the I mean, not as short as Buffalo, but the the summers are short here. Yeah, yeah. Um, we're definitely used to that here. Like sometimes we get really lucky and it's 80 degrees in April. Sometimes it's still snowing a couple of feet in April. Like you just don't know. Every year is different. It's so dumb. Still Buffalo has one of the largest um amounts of swimming pools per capita in the country. God, what's happening up there? I don't get it. It's because it's only nice for about 28 minutes, so we're spending every second we can outside. I guess I I guess that's true. Like, I take it take it for granted, but um I was sick since Saturday. Yeah. And uh Paige is like, you haven't even left the house. And I'm like, yeah, I'm sick. What am I gonna do? She's like, it might make you feel better. I'm like, no, it won't. And maybe she was right. Maybe I should have taken advantage. I don't know. That doesn't sound like great advice. The uh I think I feel like resting is like the way to go when you're ill. That's what I think too. We'll have to chat GPT it and see who's right. Well, I mean, she's a doctor. True, but I just don't know about this one. I don't know. What do you tell a dog when they're sick? Do you tell them the rest? I don't know. You know what's funny? I don't think Echo has ever been like sick. Oh, Blue's head kennel cough like three times. Really? And he's not even he's not even two yet. That's crazy. No, I don't think Echo's ever really been like sick. Like she just last week, she did like our bed's kind of high up and she was like playing rough housing a little bit too much. She launches herself off the bed and kind of like wrenched her back a little bit. That is about it. Yeah, uh Baloo's had Kalonkoff a ton of times now. Uh he also has had at least two anaphylactic reactions that we know of. Maybe one. The the one that's in question may have been marijuana ingestion, but we'll never know. Yeah, because the marijuana's gone. Yeah. Well, neither of them neither of us smoke, but we used to have a neighbor that would smoke outside like every 15 minutes, and you know, who knows? Maybe he picked up something out there. Yeah, maybe drop some. Yeah. That's a shame. Well, hope he stays healthy. I hope you start feeling healthy very soon, my guy. Oh. Well, I'll feel good when I'm dead. That's such an old person thing to say. I know. We're not there yet. We're not there yet. Well, what are you, 68? Oh, God. I feel 68. I I I sound terrible. Yeah, it's always the worst when like you you know, you have that like uh the acoustics in the face just aren't working. Yeah, terrible. Yeah, man. Um, let's I do have a quick quick update for our audience, real quick. Um, Caitlin, the intern, she was fired. She never showed up to work on time. Sometimes she never even showed up. She made terrible coffee. I don't even drink coffee. We hired Steve. That asshole isn't shown any up yet either. So you know what we do when uh we have to let someone go that has done it to themselves. We go with we go go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go! Uh next time we hire somebody, we gotta we're gonna have to use ZipRecruiter. Yeah, yeah, that's who the all the podcasts say to use. Yeah, um, if ZipRecruiter, if you're looking to sponsor something, um give us a give us a ring. Yeah. Let us zip recruit you. Yeah what? Whatever. All right, let's jump into some topics here, my guy. All right. You have a very awesome story to talk about uh for one of our now fans, and I'd like to hear more about it. Oh, okay. Um well it was Memorial Day, so this is this is kind of works. Um I'm a United States Marine, and I'm really proud to be a Marine. And uh on Instagram, uh somebody replied to my backing into a parking lot reel and called me gay. So I kind of was, you know, making fun of him a little bit, and we were going back and forth. Um and uh like cooled things down a little bit, and I found out he was a Marine, he's a Marine too. So I was like, Oh, I did nine years, and uh now he follows us. So it went from him being homophobic to being a follower of gays. So that's that's good. Yeah, real turnaround there. It's really cool though. Like it's it's cool that you guys have that don't even know each other, but that brotherhood exists no matter what. Yeah, all I had to do was like, you know, follow a fellow Marie, man. And he immediately gave up gave us a follow. That is so cool, man. And I we appreciate it. We need that. The best part is uh, you know, that when people interact with us online, um, they're just it's basically just people calling us gay for like 50 comments. Um, but it actually helps us a lot. Continue to do that. Yeah, yeah. Engagement helps us in this podcast, so keep calling us gay. Yeah, call me whatever names you want to. That's fine with me. Nobody hates myself more than I hate myself. So yeah, you can't possibly say yeah, you can't possibly say anything to me that I haven't said three inches from the mirror. Yes. Uh but it's pretty cool. Marines are awesome. Um I do I have a quick story about Marines. Um sorry, I'm totally like off kilter over here. Um when my best friend Adam, he was a United States Marine, he died. And we had like a memorial at a at a bar that we all go to. And there was this random Marine that I sort of knew but didn't really know that well. And I asked him, I was like, Hey, would you be willing to find a friend, put on your blues, and just stand watch and help people get in and answer any questions they might have getting into the memorial service? And he was like, Oh, yeah, definitely. And he brought a buddy of his, they both wore their blues, and they stood out there for hours. Um they didn't ask for any money. I gave them free booze, free food, and they did it. And you know, they they really honored my friend. Um, and Marines are just the best, they're the coolest. We don't know each other. We find out we're we're Marines, and you know, we got each other's back, and that's that's awesome. That is so awesome. I can't really think of any other like types of brotherhood that is like that that like for with people you don't even know. Like, I guess you hear about this a little bit in in sports, but I don't think it goes to that level. Like, I can't imagine another athlete in the NFL just showing up at something for someone they don't even know. Um that it that's it's really kind of amazing. Um, I think it's really cool. And yeah, it's it's Memorial Day was uh just like yesterday, really. So um by the time this gets out, it'll be a few days later. But um, yeah, thank you for everything, man. Uh this the the sacrifices that you went through, even though you know, maybe not as um much as some of the sacrifices some of the families have uh suffered, putting yourself and flying all over the world, living different places, even like the inconveniences of that means a lot to myself and to hopefully all of our listeners. And I don't know, we we don't have what we have in this country without you guys, so I appreciate it. Oh, it's my pleasure, but I just want to remind you and everybody listening who's two people. Um Memorial Day is for those that we lost, veterans day are for people like me. Sure, I shouldn't put call that out. Um, but you have you have lost friends, and so that that's a shame. Um so I don't know. Yeah, it's a weird thing. It's a really weird thing. And if it wasn't for for you guys, then I would have to be the Marines, and that would not go well. Oh, you'd make a great Marine. No, no, no. Oh, well, you would have back in the days of don't ask, don't tell. Oh, yeah. Maybe. You're great. You there's something that Marines like to do in boot camp. It's called nut to butt. You would have loved that. I just I just don't know about you fellas, you know. Oh, it's so funny because they had this, you know, the don't ask, don't tell policy uh from the 90s. And I don't know about the other branches, but the Marines, they do some really gay shit. Yeah. Like if the the drill instructors were pissed off at us at boot camp, or like we just weren't moving fast enough, or you know, we were short on time, and we all have to get a shower, like after like like PT or something, instead of just letting us shower, they would be like everybody get nut to butt, and you'd be like this just walking, walking through the shower, because they've got like a million shower heads, so you just walk through, you know, it was all it's horrible. That does not sound pleasant. There's a lot of other gay shit that happens too, but you're gonna have to do the 13 weeks to find out. It's even a gay number. No, 13 is a great number. What do you mean? I mean, I agree. Stevie Johnson. I don't know what that means. Stevie Johnson, number 13, Buffalo Bills. Oh. See, my head is not filled with that kind of knowledge. Well, he's an integral part of creating the Bills mafia as we know it today. So he dropped a critical pass against the Steelers, actually. Um that it was it was a touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick late in the fourth quarter of a late season game. He catches that. We clinched the playoffs, essentially. And that would have ended the drought only after like six or seven years, as opposed to the 17 that it was. Um uh so because of that, that drop, he was all you know, they talked about him all over like ESPN and all these other things, and all of these Bills fans like online came to his rescue defending him because he makes a shit ton of he made a shit ton of plays for us. He was an excellent receiver, and like, you know, you're just talking about this one bad moment that he had. Yeah, it's an important catch, it would have been awesome, but you look at all the other shit that he does too. And so the mafia like name started becoming a little bit more prevalent as we come to the defense of our family, uh, and Bill's players, like like that's what we would consider them as. Uh, so somebody kind of coins the term, his name is Del Reed, and uh he quit his job and ended up starting like a t-shirt company where he makes like bills and or Buffalo specific t-shirts, and then all of the por like portion of all the proceeds since he founded that goes to the Oshai Children's Hospital, which is just more Bill's mafia, like you know, why make all the why keep all the profit himself? Let's give most of that away to charities. Um so all of that has been like that. Was kind of the catalyst from it. Stevie Johnson wore number 13. Oh not against the Steelers, baby. Yeah, not against the Steelers when they were a real team. The best part, it went way back when. Uh yeah, they were a real football team. Uh, but that specific play totally had the DB beat, completely wide open, catching it right over the breadbasket, falls right in, it just goes straight through his arms. It was a tough, tough drop. Brutal. Nikes. All right, anywho, speaking of the Steelers though. Oh, yeah. Aaron Rodgers. Fuck. Yeah. Aaron Rodgers signed a deal with the the Pittsburgh Steelers. Oh my god. Yeah. Oof. Oof, oof, oof. Yeah. For those of us Steelers fans that don't like first downs, it's good news. So, like me being, I'm a huge NFL guy, probably a much bigger NFL guy than than you, and this is just the worst idea. Um, I I can't understand. Now, it could simply be that the Steelers are just aware that they're not the whole roster isn't like awesome right now, then they're not going to the playoffs, they're not going to the Super Bowl. So they're like, all right, well, it's Aaron Rodgers last year. Let's just give him the last year. He already announced this is his final season. So maybe they're just trying to do the right thing by like a future Hall of Famer and saying, like, you know what, just play for us. We we'd like to have the notoriety of that retire a stealer. Like, you know, I can see like organizationally and like merchandise-wise, if they're trying to get a cash grab out of it, why it makes sense. But the actual play on the field, I don't know what you're doing with Aaron Rodgers. I don't I don't understand how how it's any pop anything positive. I really don't. I just don't get it. Like the only thing I can think of, dude, is is friggin' like t-shirt ads. Like you can make it Aaron Rodgers' final season. If you remember like when Derek Jeter like retired, it was his number two and it just said respect. Like, all that kind of bullshit. They can absolutely do a ton of like merchandising and just getting just raking in cash that way. I guess so. I don't I don't know. It's also very good for the NFL to have like a send-off season for one of the greats. Yeah, but last year could have been that send-off season. Like, yo, thank thank you for your service. It should have been, but he didn't want to retire because he is a loser and a moron. I just don't see what what good this does for anybody. He's so old, he's not good. It's gonna it's gonna make him look bad. It's not gonna do anything for his career. Ugh God. I have I have no idea, dude. I I just don't know. Like it made the bringing Aaron Rodgers in made sense before they moved on from Pickens. So if you had DK Metcalf and Pickens on the same roster, then the whole Aaron Rodgers thing makes a ton more sense. But they got rid of one of the star receivers. How much better would that have been to have two number one receivers on the same roster? They were they weren't really in cap trouble, but they traded Pickens anyway. And I guess like you could argue Pickens is like some sort of like locker room asshole, but like they're kind of used to that in Pittsburgh. Just deal with the first season, win a Super Bowl, and move on. They're used to that in Pittsburgh, they totally are. Fuck our wide receiver room, man. It's always a nightmare. Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, like those two guys alone, they're not like strangers to having some personalities in that locker room. So we'll go in a Super Bowl at least. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. I don't understand. Well, they've made some moves at wide receiver. I don't remember what they are right now, but I'm not impressed. Also, DK Metcalf, how old is he? He's getting up there now. He didn't look good last season. I mean, he is the same height and weight as Donald Trump, so I feel like he's doing a little bit better. Yeah, but Donald Trump's in better shape. He's got he's got four percent body fat, I hear. Dude, I don't know. Um I don't know. I I just I I get I can I can understand the that there are other things like other um incentives for a football team to do or any sports team to do the things that they do, right? It's just for for the cash grab to for profit. They know they're not making profit off of TV rights in the playoffs, which is where most of it comes from. Um the NFL is probably like, listen, this is one of our staple franchises. Let's like put them all over TV, let's like give them a bunch of these primetime games and like get Aaron Rodgers out as much like into the public eye as possible. It's all just money for a nonprofit organization. I don't know. My last thought about that is I hope there's not a ton of primetime games because I don't want to watch it. Um, I don't think they have a ton of primetime games. Um like the the Bills have six this year, which I'm not like super thrilled about, but well, I just so the only time I can watch is when either they're like on CBS and like the Patriots are playing somewhere else or um or at a different time, or they're on prime time. Yeah, and watching them be terrible, I just it gives me a fucking heart attack. I can't do it. It it stresses me out because I just sit there wondering, why are you so bad at this? And now imagine doing that for 17 years. Yeah. Imagine doing nothing but that for 17 years. I don't like I didn't know any before Josh Allen, I didn't know anything else. I was four years old when they the like the the last time they made the playoffs. Yeah, I watched that game. I was born just after the last Super Bowl. I didn't watch that. Yeah, I didn't I just didn't I didn't I've never known anything about losing the um I remember the Kansas City uh Bills game. Was it was it the AFC it was the AFC Championship? Yep. And KC lost. I watched that game. I remember that game. Oh, nice, dude. Joe Montana with the Chiefs. Yeah, I remember watching that game because Joe Montana was my guy. Yeah, and he got destroyed that day because he never touched the field because of the K gun offense. I don't remember any of that. It is it was ingenious at the time. So the Bills figured out that you know, the in the last quarter of all these games, they would run the no huddle offense, and they're just kind of like, why don't we just make that our entire offense? Like get out there, have Jim Kelly have like a bunch of plays in a row, and then you just go, go, go. The defense never, never gets a chance to wrestle. Or substitute. So you're just running plays left and right, 10 yards, 12 yards, 8 yards, 5, like all the way down the field, and then you score. Then the offense comes onto the field, then they have a three and out because our defense hasn't touched the field yet, and you just keep running it. I want to see I want to see more of that. We don't see that these days. Was it 56 to 3? Was the AFC championship final score? Holy shit. Howie long on that defense couldn't catch his breath. They used all of their timeouts in the first and third quarter. Like wow. Yeah. And like he, you know, you you basically make the defense completely irrelevant in that kind of a game. I think the game is too complicated and too fast now for that. Um, but I don't know. I think that teams should do it more though. I think I think teams should like have an entire drive randomly in the second quarter, like with 11 minutes left to just like run the no-huddle, like in the middle of a game. I just I think there's so much advantage to it. Like if you need to score quickly, run the no-huddle in the middle of the game. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Anyways. Well, nice update. Good for the good for the Steelers. Uh I uh hear they're actually uh uh hosting that old fuck um on the history channel mostly. You can see most of the Steelers games this year. Let's hope so. Um let's get let's skip Mondani and get right into Sabres, dude. Yeah, well, speaking of uh only losing in Buffalo, um so I know this happened a while ago now, but by the time this hits YouTube and Spotify, I think you know this will be old news. Um the Sabres lose in game seven. And man, I'm so proud of them. Like there's there's a couple of angles I have here. I'm I'm so proud of the Sabres. It got me back into loving hockey again because now I have something to like look forward to and watch. Um game seven was super annoying. There was a particular play, the puck is loose under their goalie. You're allowed to poke at it when that happens, but the ref was out of position, lost sight of it, blows the whistle, and then we score. And the problem I have with it is if our guy, after poking it, a different one of our guys, put it in the net, if he doesn't touch it and the whistle blows and it goes across the line, that still counts as a goal. Because he blew the whistle and then we touched it, now it doesn't count as a goal. And I cannot make sense of that at all because you blew the whistle because you weren't behind the net where you're supposed to be, you were off to the side. And I just that that goal puts us uh well, not in the lead. It would have tied the game at the time, so who knows, I guess, what would have happened. But the game ends up going to overtime, game seven in overtime, and like amazing. That never really happens, right? Like, you never really get a game seven that goes to overtime very often. But I just knew. I knew when we went to overtime we've already lost because this is Buffalo. The game was at home in Buffalo. I just know Buffalo is never on the side of winning that game. It can't ever be us, it's never been us, and it will never be us. Josh Allen has not won a game in overtime, and he's gonna be considered one of the better quarterbacks ever. And it still hasn't happened. We will never win that game. So I just knew. And it's so hard. It is so difficult when all your city has is its sports teams. And I know people talk to me about this, and they're like, well, you guys have chicken wings. Every city has fucking wings. Like it's not it's not specific to Buffalo, but like Dallas has big oil companies, and like they, you know, they have like a whole culture about being a Texan, right? Like, there's other things outside of just sports. Detroit is the motor city, New York City, obviously, is there's a lot other a lot of other things going on in all of these other sports cities, but only thing we have in Buffalo is our sports teams, and we can never be on the winning side of that. And I can't explain how difficult it actually is. I just mentioned that there is my entire life before Josh Allen, I had never seen a playoff game that I can like recollect. I was literally alive for one of them, but I wasn't able to know what was going on. And so when that happened, there were the it was so special and it was so meaningful to us in this city. Um, I remember when they won their first playoff game. There was I'm with family members, and there's there's single tears being shed because finally we did it. Finally, we're back. Um, and so like the losses, getting all the way to the AFC championship and losing um from something stupid, right? Like the last the last AFC championship we were in against the Chiefs, uh, Josh Allen runs a couple QB sneaks, gets across the line, but in a video review, they'd say no. But but really, even before that, the tight end got across the first down, and we were in field goal range. But they it's just like nonsense bullshit, and it happens so frequently. This just as past playoffs. Was it a catch? Was it an interception? Like the key guy just can't catch the ball, and we have no one to worry about this, or like something stupid happens and we're out of the game. Like, I don't know, man. The no goal, 1999, in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was a rule at the time uh in hockey that you cannot be in the crease and score a goal. Brett Hall's entire leg is literally in the crease when he scores the goal, and they review it, and they still say that it's a good goal, and there is no making sense of it. It's just devastating. We win the Stanley Cup if that call is correct. It's I think you're fucking hard. I think you're taking the wrong perspective here because maybe that is Buffalo's thing. It's the highest sales of Zolof and Prozac in the United States. Unfortunately, it's such a blue-collar town that people are spending their entire paycheck to go to a Sabres game or to have season tickets for the bills. They can't even afford Zolof. Which is why we drink so much beer. There, there's there you there you go. Yeah. That could be a thing, too. What I love, we're so north, we might as well be Canadian. I mean, yeah. Um, like there was one cool, cool that this is my city, though, right? This is my city in a nutshell. Um, I guess it was not known around the rest of the league that for every hockey game we sing both the Canadian anthem and the US anthem. Not every city does this, but here in Buffalo, we we do that because we pay homage to our neighbors in in Canada. Um so for whatever reason, during the Boston series, that became like a big sing that you know, that like it was like viral for a minute that like we do that, which I didn't think was weird. Um, and then the next game, the microphone for the singer cuts out like some sort of malfunction during the Canadian anthem. So everyone in the arena sang the Canadian anthem, all of the fans. It was a few really powerful moment, kind of. So most in Canadian beer gave every fan at the next game a free beer because of that. You know, that's my that's my city. We when Lamar Jackson goes down in uh the an important playoff game for them, um, he gets a concussion, he's out for the rest of the game. Bill's fans immediately start donating to his charity. That will hopefully raise his spirits a little bit. Andy Dalton scores a touchdown uh to send the Bills to the playoffs. We raise a million dollars for his charity. Like look at that. Listen, that's that's what I'm proud of. That's something else. The nicest blue-collar city in America. I actually think that it is. People give me shit for living here, and obviously, right? Buffalo has a reputation. Always snowy, never nice out, all that stuff. Um, but I can't really imagine another place I'd I'd rather live. I'm so uh I'm just like I'm proud to be, I'm very proud to be a Buffalonian because of the community aspect, because it it's just like this the title is a city of good neighbors, right? That's the slogan, and I can literally tell you I've experienced that's the slogan? Yeah. But I've experienced it, man. I know you, I knew you would. God. Shut up. Man, when there when when there's a snowstorm and you know it's eight feet in the South Towns, if people can't get out of their front doors. Um, anybody with a with a snowmobile is running to Wegmans to grab groceries and bringing that to everyone in the neighborhood, dropping off milk and eggs and bread and making sure people get by. I mean, that's no one asks anyone to do that. That's just what happens. And that's you know, it's that's really it's a really cool community to be a part of. And um, it doesn't take much for us to be happy. The Sabres just made the playoffs, and all of a sudden, the ins entire city rallies around it. That's cool. That is cool. I'm I'm grateful I don't live somewhere where a snowmobile is necessary. Yeah, true. Luckily, the way it always works, if there's a mass, massive snowstorm, there's just like a wall of snow. And you can see photos of this online. Maybe we'll put one if we can figure it out in the chat. But there is just a snow wall that across Buffalo. Like it splits the city in half. All the South towns, south of the city, they all get like eight to ten feet of snow, and up here we just get a couple inches. Hey, there you go. Buffalo, the city of Lake Effect. We don't have time for that rant again. No, no, no, no. Oh man. Um I'm I'm done. Anyways, yeah. A lot of ups and downs. I'm I'm super proud of the Sabers and what they accomplished because they were in dead last in November and they make this the second round of the playoffs. Um, they were gonna get smoked by the hurricanes anyway, so I'd rather go out dominating a game, but losing it and then sending game seven overtime. So exciting, so fun to be a part of. Um, and now we're rolling into football season and let's let's see what happens. Let's get it done. Uh I'm not looking forward to it. That was Aaron Rodgers at the helm. God, no. Like we got rid of Tomlin, but we kept Rogers and we picked up McCarthy. Ugh. What a what a dumb thing. All right. Talk about 4% body fat. I don't know what that means. But I what I do know is I should have taken his advice. I should have gotten immunized. Yeah, you should have gotten immunized. Yeah. That's the cool kids are doing that. All right. Well, we spent enough time groveling in my uh my sports briefs that I'm sure I I should be medicated for. Um let me tell I want you to tell me about your weekly regrets. What is your weekly regret this week? My regret? Um, my regret is getting fat. That's my weekly regret is being such a fat fuck. You're not even fat, bro. Oh god, I'm so fat. Uh everything hurts. Loading the the laundry, I'm just out of breath. Loading the la okay. I'm I'm putting clothes in the laundry and I'm I'm out of breath. Everything hurts. And then I turn so what am I? I'm 42. Once I turn 40, it made everything worse. Oh, that I can probably understand. Yeah. So I I don't know. It just sucks. And then we got my back. And I'm just a fat ass. It fucking sucks. But you know, I like ice cream and bacon, egg, and cheeses. Well, who doesn't love a bacon, egg, and cheese? I mean, come on. You know, breakfast. If you don't like breakfast sandwiches, you should be on the no-fly list. There like there is that is crazy to me. I agree. Um, and it's so funny. I think it's like the the people on Instagram can see into my soul and know all my insecurities. Because everybody was calling me fat. If they weren't calling me gay, they were calling me fat. And and sometimes they wouldn't even just be like fat, they'd be like, shut up, tubby. And I'm like, what the fuck? All you can see is from here up. Like you, like you're not even seeing my body. How do you know I'm fat? Honestly, can I be honest with you? It's because of my big cheeks. And no, it's the Star Wars memorabilia. They're just like, there's a correlation here. But it sucks. So I'm 42, I'm balding, I'm fat, I'm always anxious, I'm neurotic, I hate myself. I am a real-life George Costanza. You actually really are a George Costanza. It's one of my favorite things about you. It's one of my favorite things. It's like hanging out with Larry David. It's so fun. That's why I love the weekends that we get together and we just like drink beers all day because of there will be a nothing thing going on in this Airbnb, and you'll notice it, and it'll be like this minute detail, and you'll hate it, and you'll have a real like solid reasons for hating it. It's so funny. You know, the worst part about this is turning into Jordan Costanza, who is my probably my favorite TV character of all time. When I was 30, ripped, people call me Schmidt. I'd rather be Schmidt than Costanza. Yeah. Yeah. I I think I'd rather be Schmidt if I had to choose. He had driving moccasins. I'm not even wearing socks right now. I don't you're not fat though, dude. You're a thick bitch. Yeah. Yeah, that's the worst part about it is yeah, okay, call me thick, sure. I got no fucking ass. Vehemently disagree. No, there's not there's nothing going on anymore because my back surgery, all the fucking muscle atrophy, it won't grow. First of all, you slit your pants at a wedding, so it's there. That's true. I did well that's a telltale sign. Hey, listen, when the song tells me to get low, I get low. Yeah. When they tell me to go from the windows to the walls, I go from the window to the wall. Yeah. Hanging from a chandelier, wearing a puffy shirt. Yes. I do come in like a wrecking ball. But that's my regret. Well, I think this is the first time you've had an invalid regret, to be honest with you. Oh. No, I think it's it's totally valid. Man, I just don't think so. This is America. You're like a you're like a you're like a soft seven. That's the pro that's that's that's a bigger issue we should talk about. Like in today's, like, I'm absolutely 30 pounds overweight. And in America, I'm just walking around. He's the average Joe. Look at him. Yeah, in America, you're about to sprint in the Olympics. Right. Yeah. Maybe I should start training for the um the enhanced games. Maybe. Those happened recently. They did happen recently. Um I I heard a non-enhanced swimmer won. Oh, wait a minute. Yeah. Um, okay. Oh, how much do I want to touch on this? The uh um, okay. So there's a comedian out there, his name is Josh Blue, and he has one of my favorite jokes that I've heard this year. I don't think it's from this year. He has one of my favorite jokes. Like, actually, the whole bit is pretty good. Um, he has cerebral palsy, and he he still gets up on stage and does the whole thing. I think it's awesome. He's really funny, but he talks about he's a part of the Special Olympics. And oh, yeah, yeah. I I think I it's just he's really uh clever in the way that he talks about it. Um, but this honestly, I don't know why Special Olympics, first of all, why we call it Special Olympics, the Enhanced Games is a much better title. Um, but why why isn't it more televised? I actually would enjoy watching. Um, I think it's really amazing that we they have those athletes. Um and I just don't know why I we don't really see more of it. I don't know. I I I'll be honest with you, I wouldn't watch it. I I I absolutely would because I I think that is a super cool thing. I don't think that's something that happens very often um for a lot of disabled people, and to be able to kind of train for it and put yourself out there and be able to compete. Like I miss it sometimes. I I I still to me to this day, I still compete in stuff. Like I, you know, it's beer league softball, but I go out there and I try, you know, and I I like like competing in sports, I play a lot of golf. Um, even where if it's like friggin' beer pong, I like being able to compete in something, and I think everyone should be able to do that. It's it's such a good thing for you to challenge yourself and be able to compete in that way. I think it's cool. Give it 10 years. I don't even try at work anymore. No, dude, I hope I'm one of the old so our softball team, it's all just like my buddies and then my one buddy's dad. And so he's like he's in his 60s, easily the best player on the team still. And I want to be him. Shout out to Kev. You know what though? When we went bowl a couple weeks ago, I was like determined that I was gonna win one of these games. And I, and everybody's like, I they could tell how much pain I was in. I was I couldn't walk, I couldn't get out of the seat. I was like, going like just struggling to get out of the seat to go bowl. And they're like, Why like you don't have to do this? And I'm like, Yes, I do. I'm gonna beat all of you motherfuckers. And I did, I was like, Yeah, dude. Yeah, yeah, but it's the spirit of competition, it's good for your soul, good to challenge yourself. Now, in your case with a bad back, maybe not the greatest activity for you, but man, I wish I could find uh like a league for fat people who play basketball. Oh, you know what we call that in Buffalo? A basketball league. Oh, really? They're all fat. Oh, we we got some chubbanuckers around here in these parts. Chubba knuckers. Wow. The the body positive people are coming after you for that one. Well, you know, we don't have a Midwest chair. Like, we don't have that. Are you familiar with this concept? I have no idea what that means. Oh, okay. Let me enlighten you. Um, in somewhere in the Midwest, let's just say Ohio, for the sake of the story. Uh, if you go to like the dentist or the doctor there, there is a chair that looks like it's two chairs. Oh. And they call it the Midwest. Midwest chair. Wow. I get it. That's really sad. Um, I mean great, it's a nice thing for a few. Yeah, it's a great for chair companies. But also, like, you're not shaming these people into losing weight, so maybe that's not so good. I mean, at the dentist, they don't need to serve you like shrimp and grits. But they could just stop doing that. They should. They don't do that, but that it would be funny. Yeah, that would be great. Um, okay, so uh let's skip ahead here. We got to move on so we can get into our big topic of the day. Oh my god. Going into the going into the deep end. This might take us the rest of the podcast. Um man, I don't even know where to go do how to do this. Yeah, man. Uh we're we want to talk about more of a serious topic here. We want to talk about voting in the U.S. Now, I recognize that this is where most of you will probably click off uh and just wait for the YouTube reels uh to come out, but I do think it's an important thing to discuss, and um I think that we have very similar viewpoints, but I think there's a few areas where we might differ. And I'm uh the type of person that wants to learn as much as I want to have an opinion on something. So um let's just start with with with like the the question of the of of this topic. Are voting rights really being attacked, or are both sides just fighting over power? Oh um that's easy. Both sides are just fighting over power, period. That's what I think. And the Republicans are doing a better job right now, although today um South Carolina Senate um rejected uh the the redic re wow sorry. Redistricting. I'm full of snot, redist redistricting. Um uh so that because it was they were gonna get rid of the one Democrat seat, um, and it was rejected, which is great. I think everybody's going after the Republicans that voted with Democrats to reject it, and I think it's a great job. Why would you want a state that the districts only represent one party? I don't understand it. I agree. It just drives me nuts. But uh, that's what I think. I think both parties are just uh are uh they're just doing this for power. Um it has nothing to do about voting rights, representation, democracy, none of that. But I think Republicans right now are playing a playing a better game. This is an interesting take. Um, I as we kind of get into this, are we talking specifically about the Save Act? Uh no, but if you want to get into the Save Act, we can. Um, yeah, I I'd like to, because I really hate it. I really hate it. All right. What do you hate about the Save Act? Because I bet you we agree. I I think that for me, in the way that I view voting, and it's a very important civic duty that we have. Any adjustment that we make to that process should make voting easier and more accurate. Both of those things. Now, I I also think the Save Act is addressing an issue that does not exist. And I I think that it's a lot of um right-wing propaganda that's making it seem like a problem. What issue is is it addressing that you don't think it exists? In in my viewpoint, uh and and I recognize that I might not have all of the facts, but from what I have noted, I don't really watch like 24-hour news. Um, I don't really pay attention to like mainstream uh news or media. Um there's like peer-reviewed or empirical data sources that I like to trust a little bit more. Um but to in my view, the Save Act is trying to address mainly uh undocumented citizens from voting. That's like the trying to limit. But I don't think that that problem actually exists based on the data from the uh the House Republican report and the Heritage Foundation. Okay. All right, let me uh So to give them a little bit more context, I guess. Well, just to give a little more context around this. Um basically through empirical data, what they have found is there's basically been about 20-ish cases of an undocumented citizen voting since the Ronald Reagan administration. Right. Where we can confirm that that that's that's happened. In this past uh presidential election, we found five, like maybe five cases of uh undocumented citizens trying to vote, of that three actually voted, and all of them were discounted once the documentation didn't match. Okay, because you have to register to vote, and you what you need in order to register to vote is your social security number, and that has to match. All right, well, I don't think that problem exists. Can I ask you a question though? Please. If the problem doesn't exist, right, what's the harm in passing the law? Um, a couple of things. Uh is in the way that I read the law. Now, that might not be the intent, but what from what the language says, it's gonna require more documentation, right? Now in New York, you already have to provide your ID, and your ID has to match your voter registration. Okay. So uh I think that is smart. I think all states should at least do that. It has to your actual ID, it gets scanned and it has to match your voter registration. That to me is common sense. Completely agree with that. Where I think it goes a little bit awry is asking for multiple pieces of documentation, such as your birth certificate. The problem with your birth certificate is the millions of women that changed their last name since their birth certificate. So then you also have to provide the documentation from the court saying that you changed your name. Now, it doesn't seem like that's a lot of hoops to jump through, but in most states and most counties, that information is not even free to get. So you have to pay to get that documentation from the county. Okay, and you have to even go through the process of acquiring all of that. I think that the millions of Americans You gotta pay to get all those things, right? Like if you're gonna go change your name, you're getting married, you go through all that, you're paying for those the the marriage license, the change of name, you're paying for it, right? Absolutely. So this is just me playing devil's advocate because I love it. I'm gonna tell you, yeah, I'm gonna I agree at the end with you, but those seem like important documents to me. You might want to hold on to them. Sure. And and we could say that. Um, however, I can tell you right now, I have no idea where my marriage certificate is. Because once it happens, it like I don't feel like I really need it again. Sam knows. I have I I promise you, she doesn't even know her own zip code. She definitely doesn't know. Really? Where I yeah, I'm not confident. Like, like if I ask you what's your zip code, you answer like that. If Paige was here, I could be like, bring it to me right now, and she went. Now that is really great. I don't talk to my wife that way. I'm just saying, like, that's what could happen. No, you no, you you you snap your fingers and you make a call or your majesty. Um the uh so so anyways, what I'm what I'm what I'm getting at here is like no even at its basic, uh it's basic level, that is now a harder step. Um to acquire those documents. People, I mean, it's like it can cost like a hundred dollars to work with your county to get those documents if you don't know where they are right now. And a lot of people don't have an extra $100 to spend, especially in our current economy. So I just I I view that as a way that makes it more difficult to vote, therefore suppressing votes for lower income people to be able to go out and do that. All right, well, here. I agree with you completely. It's making it's making it harder for people to register. It's costing them money, right? If it gets passed, if it got passed, it hasn't been passed, but sure. So I completely agree with you, but we do have a problem. Okay, and I'm gonna tell you two. All right, I was reading an article about a woman who was able to register or register her dog to vote in California. This is in California, so obviously this shit is happening because that place is fucking ridiculous. Um, but it's possible to register without a social security number, obviously. Yeah. So that's so I I think this is a great point, but well, go ahead. I'm sorry. I got another I got another issue here before we go on. I got two. Another thing is is Democrats have been quietly implying that they think that illegals should be able to vote in our elections. They're allowing them to get driver's license to drive trucks around the country, and they can't even read. Uh, they're allowing them to become police officers. I think that was in Michigan, Minnesota or Michigan. Um, so obviously the Democrats are saying we want them to, we do want them, like they're pushing that. I'm not saying they're coming out and just saying, hey, we want illegals to be able to vote, but it kind of seems like every time they're given an inch here, they're taking it further and further and further to a certain goal. I don't know if that's true or not, but it kind of seems like that to me. And if I was in power and if I was more, let's say, to the right, I guess, I'd be worried about I'd be worried about it. Yeah, I mean, I can I I think there is a lot of problems with the Democratic Party in the way that they explain things, and this is probably true for the Republican Party as well. Um God, the Republican Party has uh a huge problem with explaining themselves. They're trash. That's why everybody thinks they're racist. Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of problems with communication in general. Um I think that like for the Republican Party in general, like they just love sniffing their own farts. And so, like, that's a problem for a lot of people. Like, you have to understand where you have flaws and where you have problems, and be able to openly discuss and address those things. Like, if if Republicans have a concern about the Democratic Party, you need to be able to go directly and address that and explain exactly what the platform is. And I don't think they do a good job of that. No, they do. They don't. But also the Democrats do so Republicans don't do a good job communicating what what their fears are. But the Democrats do a wonderful job of covering up what they're actually trying to say and do. And I just gave you I just gave you two problems, right, that the SAVE Act could potentially fix. Yeah, yes. So if we're gonna fix those problems, what do we do without putting a I don't know, a burden on the American people to register to vote? What do we do? What do we do? So uh to address one of those questions, because we'll get to both. Well, to address one of those questions, um in in in what I have read and seen, and which could be different than things you've read and seen, um, I I don't know that the idea is to allow undocumented citizens to vote. What almost every Democrat that I think would be able to run for anything. Most of us prefer a pathway to amnesty for undocumented citizens that have been here and have already worked and contributed to our economy. All right. Well, we could talk about that, but I'm just saying two problems. There's two problems there that you've got people who are, I don't know, not implying is not the right word, who are suggesting maybe this is something that they want. And then two, there are cases in which people are able to register multiple times to vote using other people. I mean, that like, or their pet. So that I'm not saying on a large scale. Yeah. But it's happening. It's so the to yeah, you it should be zero. That should be, it should be happening zero times. So I can agree there that like that, you should not be able to register your dog if it's happening even once. That's a problem that needs to be addressed. If we want if we want everybody to show an ID when they go vote, because I think I think we're we're there with each other. Yes. Right. What do we do to make that happen without putting an a burden on the American people? That's that's the question. Because I agree with you. Like, yeah, are we asking like people's houses burned down, they lose all their documents, people move and they forget a box at home, they just misplace that shit because you know they're they're not good at things. I I don't know. But like I agree, if we're going to say this is how what the law is now, the government needs to be responsible for making it easier, not harder. And how do we how does how do we do that? I think I think it's relatively simple. So in New York, you have just your driver's license, that's what you provide. It has to in the computer system, it has to match your voter registration. If it does, you're good to go, you vote. It does not be more more need to be more complicated than that. So I think that at the age of 18, no matter if you go to the DMV or whatever, you are issued a identification, like some sort of picture identification issued by the government because it is your right to vote. And it should it should be automatic. On your 18th birthday, you receive that card. Okay. Then that's what you use to go vote. Huh. I think that if you're already registering to vote, upon completion of that registration, you are issued an ID that you use to vote. And that that can be your driver's license. It should be the same thing. Instead of having a bunch of separate cards or identification pieces of identification, like your driver's license at the DMV should coincide with your voter registration. It's all the same card. Okay. I just, oh, I just hit my mic. Um, I don't know. I just don't um I don't know what the answer is. I really don't. Um because I I think your idea might work, uh-huh, but who knows? I just think yeah, I still understand why we like here's my thing. So um if uh undocumented immigrant, illegal alien, whatever the fuck they're called, uh, is able to get a like a commercial driver's license to drive a tractor trailer, right? They've got that driver's license, they may be able to use that driver's license to register to vote. They would also well, they would also need the social security number. I don't know. So what's the b so what's the what's the reason for the bill then? So this is what uh the point I let off with. I think the point of the bill is to is to address and instill more fear into people about what is happening. So I don't know if it's about instilling fear. I I really don't. Um because I'm not afraid that illegal immigrants are running to the polls and and uh voting. Well fair. I um what does scare me though is uh like I said, there is a structure that leftists have created where illegal immigrants are able to receive more and more benefits without being citizens. Right. Which is which is why we are saying create a pathway to amnesty for these people so that they can pay more taxes than they already do. All right, so that they like okay. How about all right, you know what? We'll do the redistricting stuff now, because right now this is an interesting conversation. Yeah. Um I agree there should be a path to amnesty. To citizenship, not amnesty to citizenship. Um but do we just say everyone, you're good? No, I think that you I think that so like the the the truck driver that you're talking about, there's a certain number of years they've been here. And like if we were able to set up a pathway towards amnesty and citizenship, like you can take the people that have been here for you know, you'd set probably a benchmark. Has it been a year? Has it been 10 years? Like what we can discuss what that benchmark looks like. Um because to me, it's it's more about the people that are contributing to the economy. Like, let's they they've been living here, they've been working, they've been raising our GDP, they've been paying what amounts to like a hundred million dollars in taxes. Like, let's let's just do that. Because if we deport all of them, as Trump has over and over said that he wants to do, but as of late, has I guess given that up. Um it's I like there there's no financial or economic benefit to doing that. It actually makes things worse. Um the whole I if we could snap our fingers and get rid of all like the uh uh what's the number? I think it's like 20 million people. Yeah, they're on there, give or take. If I could snap my fingers tomorrow, 20 million people are deported. I think that would be a terrible thing. But these people skip the line. There's people waiting years spending tons of money to get into the United States the right way. So there's gotta be some sort of waiting period and probation. So this is my thing. I would love I Republicans are so stupid, they're so dumb, and I don't understand it because I agree with you, these are hardworking, honest people for the most part, right? Yeah. I think what should happen, and I've said I think I've told you this idea before. What should happen is let's get some some a private company involved, or a couple of them, and say, in the next three, four months, we want to we want all the undocumented immigrants in the United States to declare themselves. We want this these private companies to vet them, find out how much how much they've contributed, how much they have benefited, because they have. Yeah. Sorry, I'm starting to lose my voice. Um, how long they've been there, vet them, and then you say, okay, you get to stay, your family gets to stay, you are not citizens. You've got five, ten years probation, you have to wait, and then after those 10 years, you don't collect any any huge benefits depending on age, because obviously. Older people are gonna need more health care, that sort of thing. So you kind of figure this all out. So you get bare minimum benefits for 10 years, and then now you and your children are citizens and you can vote. Yeah, I'd have to chew on this a little bit more, but I I think that is a lot better than what we're currently doing. Like infinitely better. I completely agree. Yeah. Yeah. What we're doing right now is ridiculous. Like it's just a bunch of things. I don't see nobody solving anything. I I don't see a lot of point in making people like the vet like the vetting process, running a background check, like that is that takes minutes to actually do. Like Yeah, the IRS does that shit all the time. Yeah, it doesn't take years to do a Google search on someone or run like a background check. You can do that in literally minutes. So I don't see a ton of value in forcing people to stay in their home country until we go through that process. Like, why not do that vetting process like faster, bring them into this country, and start contributing to our economy, and then like they become a citizen, like with a waiting periods happening while they're in the country. But in the meantime, they still get all of the same like civil rights. I'm not talking about people who are immigrating. I'm talking about the 20 million that are here now. That's the process if we want amnesty. The immigration, yes, that needs to be done differently, but I don't think they should be allowed in the country until they become citizens. That's where you and I differ, I think, a little bit. Um so I I don't mind this for and like the like mass amnesty. Um, I do think that yeah, I think you know, like a probationary period or whatever, because then any people that are are criminals, we can deal with that in a safer way. Um I think the the inherent issue with with any of this now at this point is having undocumented citizens trust that this would even be the process. After everything that's been going on with with ICE and mass deportation and not just as we were saying, if you can register even one incorrect person or even a dog to vote, if that's even if that even can happen, deporting even one person that is a U.S. citizen, it like that, like how how would any of them ever even trust that coming forward and saying I'm undocumented wouldn't just get them deported? So I think that's the inherent problem we have to figure out in addition to all this. No, I completely agree with you. It's not gonna happen in the next couple of years with Trump in office, but I don't want it to happen under a Democrat Congress and I don't want to happen under a Democratic president. And I'm gonna tell you why. Interesting. Yeah. Because they're not gonna do any of the shit I said. Yeah, I mean, I don't think I don't think people who cross our border illegally lied saying they're claiming asylum when they're not really claiming asylum, and then they were freely let go into the wilds of the United States. I don't think those people just get to be citizens right away. And the Democrats will make them citizens immediately. I think you have to earn it. Those people who come here legally, they wait in line, they pay thousands and thousands of dollars to get here. There needs to be a waiting period. You want to be a citizen, declare yourself, say I want to be a citizen, and you have to wait. But it will happen. So if you are an immigrant that has been here and working undocumented for 20 years, that's not a waiting period. Don't no, it's not. You were here illegally. And now we're doing you a favor. We're not supporting you. We are giving you a path to become a citizen without you having to wait. You're here. Even though they've contributed to our society more than they've taken from it. I don't care. They're not supposed to be here. And what the point is to take care of these people and understand, yes, you have contributed, you've been good members of society, you created community here, and yes, there is a positive, there is a benefit to you being here, but I can't incentivize more people doing what you did. Yeah, so this is the part I wanted to get to as well, because Democrat or Republican, they talk about this issue with the create a pathway to amnesty, or we would need to deport everybody, but no one ever talks about reforming the system. It should not take, on average, 20 years to immigrate to this country. That to me is absolutely ridiculous. Uh, and that should be able to happen in a matter of a few weeks. We should be able to vet people, we should be able to perform background checks in a matter of weeks. It should, there's no reason for it to take longer than that. Well, I think the the biggest issue is for me, I agree with you. It shouldn't take it shouldn't take years and years. My thing is, is all right, we've we have to determine what is the good amount of people that we can bring in every year. And we do have to balance, are these people going to to be the a benefit? Are they going to like contribute in the way that our economy needs in the moment? And I do think that's more complicated than getting them in in weeks, because you do have to decide, okay, what number can I let in? And then also, what are their skills? What's their education? Do they speak English? Okay, so we so we have this amount of people, we have this amount of space for people who are low-skilled, low education. We have this amount of space, and that will always change as the economy changes, right? So I do think it should be it, it should be a long waiting period because you have to figure that out, and smarter people than me would be able to figure that out, probably, but I don't think it should just be a snap of the fingers, hey, you're in. We did a background track, you're good. Yeah. This is where I struggle with a little bit. This is the greatest country in the universe, and uh it should be kept that way. And the way we do that is bringing in the people that we need at the right time. And maybe the United States, maybe if we stop fucking with every country in the planet Earth, maybe we won't create so much destabilized areas where people are trying to mass immigrate everywhere. Donald Trump? So I think about Mexico for this. Um, the drug cartels in Mexico are uh is a threat to every single person that lives there, and they just need to get out. Now, because it's not a time of technically war, they can't always declare asylum. And so I won't I I and I start to think about like we didn't cause that problem with cartels. They are just that powerful and they run their political system. Um I I don't care if they speak English or not, they'll have to learn it when they're here. That's you know, okay, which which we have tons of data now to suggest that let like allowing people into our into our country like does not result in more crime, does not result in uh lowering GDP. It benefits both of those things. Okay, most of them that are trying to leave that situation just want to go somewhere and support their family. I'm the vast majority. Can I clarify something? Yeah. I just want to know where you're going or where what your point is. Maybe I interrupted you, but you started off saying uh in Mexico, the cartels running the show and people are leaving because of the cartels. Like like how do I say this without being rude right now? So what? Like tell me, tell me, so what? Like, like why do I care? Because there is a net benefit to them being here anyway. Right. Okay. So like I just said, do we want it to incentivize anybody to come here just because their country is garbage? Um, I think so. And then we just let everybody in. I guess this is a good question because we don't have a ton of data to actually what's up? So so this could be a good point because I don't I guess there's we've never done it before. So I guess there's really not a ton of data to suggest, like to compare the ratio of the rate of people entering and then the economic benefit. Although I guess you could probably figure that out with um how many people were coming over the border anyway, and like how GDP was increasing. Um, but I I think so. I mean, to to to address one of the things that you said as well, like, do we have the the space for these people? Do we uh are they actually going to contribute to our country? Um, the people that like built our country, that those weren't questions. I think that I think overall, when people are trying to come to this country, they're trying to they're trying to make a better life for themselves. And and I I I don't agree that it's because they're trying to drain our resources or be a drainage. I'm not saying they are benefits. I'm not saying they are they're trying. I'm not saying they're trying, but what I'm saying is it sounds to me like you're saying, well, these people don't want to be there, so they should just be allowed to come. It's gonna be great for everybody. Uh I guess to I guess to a degree that is kind of what I'm saying. Yeah, and what I'm saying is, so why have the border at all? Just let them all come. I kinda I kind of see your point too. I uh the United States is great. That's why everybody wants to come here. Uh and why all those fucking like iPhone using Starbucks drinking liberal fucks hate this country, but they won't goddamn leave. Like, because this is the greatest country ever. You're more free in this place than anywhere else in the world. And you could come here with no money and and you could succeed. Like, yeah, Nigerian immigrants are doing better, I think, than any other immigrants right now in the United States. They're coming here with nothing and they're crushing it. Like, I don't have the stats or anything, but right now the US lets in about 800,000 to 100 legal or 800,000 to a million legal immigrants every year. If we go by your saying, we're gonna we're we're gonna increase that by a lot. And you're absolutely right, they do contribute, but you know as well as I do, we have limited resources, right? I mean, they're vast, but they are limited. We can't let in 20 million a year, and if we're going to give amnesty to 20 million, or let's say 10, like let's say half of that, then our legal immigration immigration is gonna have to slow down because that's gonna upset the economy as well. I I guess it depends, right? Um so yeah, it's gonna disrupt uh wages, it's gonna put a strain on emergency rooms and urgent cares, right? Because most of those people you're saying that would be coming from Mexico, they're not gonna have money, so they're not gonna have insurance right away. They're not they're gonna have low-skilled jobs. That's gonna put a strain if we do 20 million and then also let whoever wants to come over just because they're good people. That's not gonna be good either. I think there's a case to be made here. I think I think I I can I can there's a case to be made. Well no, yeah, I mean i in honesty, like you know, these these are are I don't know. The hard part is we've never even tried anything like this. So it's hard because do you in the process do you also end up receiving uh through immigration more doctors, more lawyers, more people to support the healthcare system? Um, do we bring over more people like that are right now on just like a school visa and we're able to retain them for with that college education? Like it like what else can happen to mitigate some of these things? You're also talking about 20 million more taxpayers, which yeah, but if you're bringing over people to be doctors right from other countries, yeah, what's that gonna do to wages here for doctors in the United States who are graduating from college? Well, um, in light of most of what's happening right now, there aren't gonna be uh very many like doctors bred and raised and go to school in this country. Why is that so the the uh government has uh just as recently as last week um shut basically shut off all or most of the loan forgiveness programs. So like there's zero incentive right now for anyone to go to college or post-secondary school. Yeah. Uh all right. Well, let's not get into this discussion. Well, yeah, I guess that's a whole other topic. It's a huge thing. And but I'm just saying, you bring in those people, wages are gonna go down from people who grow because people are gonna go to school, they're gonna become doctors, wages are gonna go down because you're flooding the market, right? I'm just saying, um, I what what's the way I'm saying is if you look at it as what do we need, we have space for this many people in this category, we have space for this many people in this category, then you're still you're you're you've improved your immigration process, but also you've improved immigration by bringing the people that you need here in the country that will contribute the most in the most way. And I'm not saying don't let people in, I'm just saying, you know, there's only so many spots. Um yeah, I th but these are why I like having these discussions because like clearly we're not the ones like with the answer, um, but you're giving me a lot to think about as well. My answer is the best. I mean, maybe I mean like that it could be right. I also think that it I I if all other things stayed the same and you're importing more people that are contributing to our economy and like our doctors, lawyers, and nurses and things like that, if you're if you're bringing them at too high of a rate, that would flood the market. But if you're also bringing in everybody else, there will be a need for their position and it doesn't flood the market then. Yeah, but we don't have the infrastructure for more positions. Maybe. So if you if you reform this and you do it over the course of like a decade, perhaps that drives industry, you're able to build more hospitals. So are you saying that you have to choose how many people you let in and who you let in at a time so you can do all of this all at once? Um, I don't know, maybe. It sounds like I convinced you, but you don't want to say it. Um, I you've definitely uh convinced me that I need to like test and rethink what I think for sure, which is why I like having these discussions with you. Because I think that you offer you offer me uh uh the a different side of things. So now, because I think one of the most useful exercises in any debate is to test your logic, which is why people like to use hypotheticals, right? And that's what we're talking about here. We're talking hypothetically, we let all these people in. What are we what are we dealing with then? And does my logic still make sense in that hypothetical? And if it doesn't, and I can't justify it another way, then I need to go back and figure out can I justify it? Do I do I need to change the way I think about this? What is the what does make most sense? What is the most beneficial for the country? But you know, it's also an example of how people with perhaps differing opinions should have these conversations instead of what's happening on fucking Fox News right now. Or CNN. Or CNN MS or MSNBC. Or in some, you know, professor's classroom at some state college. Perhaps. Perhaps. I don't know. I uh listen, I don't I don't have any of the answers. I don't know what any of this means. I what I do know is it's been a huge problem since I can remember. I remember in the 80s listening to them talk about illegal immigration, the border, amnesty, and trying to figure this out, and nobody's ever done it. And there's a huge reason why. Would you like to know? Hey yeah. It's because it's a great talking point to get elected. Oh yeah, this is probably that's probably dead on accurate. That's why nothing uh none none of this shit gets done. Wait a second. You remember them talking about this in the 80s? Yeah. Holy shit. So you're both old and tubby? Yeah, I'm old and fat and bald. George Costanza. I know. I just I need I need glasses too. I looked at the microwave the other day. I was like, I can't read the numbers. Well, there's a lot more that we need to talk about um with this topic. So we should circle back around because I think it can branch off on a lot of different avenues. Um, but I always appreciate these discussions because it gives me a lot to also think about and test myself. Like, am I thinking about this the right way? And maybe my opinion needs to shift, and maybe I need to find something that's a little bit more um a little bit more like in the middle, uh, you know, and and I'll compromise in in certain ways. So um I appreciate it, man. Oh, it was a great talk. I had a lot of fun. Um man, we got to wrap up, don't we? Yeah, I don't think we have enough time uh for even the things I hate or um oh man. Give me two minutes about my last sip. Well, let's just go over a little bit because uh we're uh we're missing a whole podcast. So we've got we've got space on on uh Spotify. So can I do my things I hate real quick? All right, please do. You want to know what I hate? I do want to go to the grocery store and I'm going through the cashier, and the cashier gives me commentary on what I'm buying. Like, what thanks? What am I supposed to say? Like uh the lady's like, oh man, I like she grabs my um my cherry tomatoes, she holds them up to me like she's Vanna White, and she's like, These are these are so good. And it's like, yeah, I know, that's why I'm buying them. Like, what like shut up? Just let me get through here. I don't want to talk to you. Like, if if you wanted to do this, please put somebody in the front of the store and say, you know what, our cherry tomatoes are fucking delicious. You might have what you might want to check those out. You have anything else on your list? I'll I'll give you some advice. But instead, I've already made the decision and now you're telling me these are good thanks. Like, are you gonna tell are you gonna tell me something when I'm buying something that's shit? Or are you gonna be like, this is disgusting? You don't want this. I would actually appreciate that more. I would appreciate that more. Hey, uh, by the way, those cucumbers, gross, dude. You should go get the other ones. Yes, yes, please. Would you like the other ones? I would like the other ones. You flick your light, the guy comes over, they go get them. But dude, I I always would when I was running our stores, I always train cashiers or I would give them this advice match the customer's energy, right? You because you were They're required to say the things, right? Like, hi, you know, like thanks for shopping with us today. Um, did you find everything all right? Was anything a problem for you? Did you get everything you need? You know, like ask the basic questions. And if you answer with, I'm good. Good. You know that that customer's not into chit chatting. You go through your shit, get them out of there. That's what they want. But if they're like, if they're like, oh yeah, I found everything. I'm having a party this weekend. I'm guessing what I'm getting the stuff for, get into it with them. Now you can. You've gotten the green light. Because some customers love it. Some custom I had a I had a bunch of c uh this one time I had this customer come in and ask for all of the corn husks that we could find from people shucking their corn. They were very, very wealthy, and they were having this party with a bunch of millionaires around here where they were taking the entire tank, they purchased the entire tank of live lobsters for all of their party. And the thing was they were gonna put the corn husks over a bonfire, and everybody put their lobster on the corn husks, and that's how you cook your lobster. Like that sounds electric, and they wanted to tell us all about it. So that cashier needs to engage in that conversation. Some customers absolutely love it, but the ones that don't is just as important you recognize they don't and get them out of the store as fast as possible because that's what they want. That's good customer service. This is what I want. Hi, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you? Good. Yeah, some people that's what they want. Give the people what they want. And then they tell me that's gonna be 107.63. I pay for it, my groceries are bagged. They give me a receipt and I say, Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And I'm on my fucking way. I don't need your commentary, dude. Yeah, dude. The biggest mistake when I go to the I I hate that I'm bald because I wear a hat. But if I wear this hat, somebody's gonna be like, oh, Star Wars, that's a sweet hat. I'm like, oh fuck. I don't know. I didn't I don't know what to say. I I can't say thank you. I'm like, ugh, what do I say? I don't know what to say to you. Because if I say thank you, like maybe they're gonna say, like, where'd you get the hat? What's your favorite Star Wars movie? That's happened to me. And I'm like, fuck, I don't want to talk to you. Or if I wear a Steelers hat, some asshole is gonna be like, go Steelers, and I'm gonna be like, uh. And then they're gonna be like, what do you think about Aaron Rodgers? And I'm like, oh man, well, I'm stuck. Don't talk to me. Well, first of all, you just be like, listen to the podcast, you ass. You know exactly what I think about Aaron Rodgers. I'm gonna get cards with the QR code to our podcast, and like people try to talk to me. I'm just like, here you go. Just check that out. First of all, this is actually a great idea. We should absolutely do this. Uh secondly, uh, we can solve this the Larry David way. What's the Larry David by? Wear a MAGA hat. No one will talk to you. That's not true. I'm like, you could get attacked. Dude, so if you're unfamiliar on Curb Your Enthusiasm, there's an entire episode about this. Larry Davis out at lunch. He like, there's people that he knows that he doesn't want to sit and talk to. And if he's just out at lunch by himself, they're like, oh my god, is anyone sitting here? Let's have lunch together. And so instead, he gets a MAGA hat and puts it on so no one wants to sit with him when he's having lunch. That's so good. That's so good. Um, I mean, yeah, you should try it out. Try it out, see what happens. The QR code, I'm gonna do that. Well, yeah, I think it's a great idea. Yeah, there is um, but I I always talked about this. We're talking about customer service, it whether that's you're answering phones and like a call center, match the customer's energy. Like, if you can see they're really into being talkative and they're a chatty cafe, get into that with them, see how their weekend is. I want to know shit about the kids. Like, get like do the whole thing. But there's some people that don't want that, and the ones that don't want that, those customers are just as important, so don't do that with them. That's okay. I guess so. Yeah. I don't know. When I go into an exam room, um, like I'm super friendly, and I guess I match people's energy, but I do need something from them. Like if you're you're different. If you have no personality, I have a really hard time taking a history well. Yes, because it's a different situation. You're relying the because the client in in a veterinary setting, the client is an expert on the pet. You are an expert on the medicine. So there has to be dialogue in order for you to be able to do your job effectively. Right. But when you're just buying, when you're just buying groceries, oh yeah, you're not an expert on Rutabegas. Yeah. But I do want to clarify, I am not an expert on medicine. I'm not a very good technician at all. Um I doubt that very much. I know for a fact people ask for you by name over the doctor by name. Uh it's true. Uh it does happen. Um, but what I am good is is uh it's really strange. What I am good in the room is exactly what I'm bad at in real life. And it's explaining and talking to people and educating them in a way that they can understand, and that's why people like coming to me. Yes, dude. But I think I I literally just delivered a presentation how important this concept is. Like, that is so important. I think way too often we focus so much, like, and sometimes particularly doctors can just focus so much on the medicine, we forget the client experience aspect, which is why I think like you and and and Paige have the personalities to do this extremely well, and same with Sam. But there's so many out there that are just focused on medicine. Let me get in this room, and I think too many of them have the goal to just get out of the room as fast as possible as quickly as possible. And uh that's that's a problem. Now, if the client wants you out of the room as fast as possible, then do that. Give them the information, give them what they want to know. That's what they need. There, but there has to be dialogue because they are an expert on their pet and they have to be able to explain what's going on with them to you, just different situations. My goal is six minutes. My history should take six minutes. That's my goal to be in there, get them sat down, talk to them, be out in six minutes. But and I'm pretty good at doing the six minutes, usually I'm out in three. But if they need more stuff, like man, I'm just I can't talk anymore. Uh yeah. If they need more from me, um like I'm I'm there for it. And yeah, it's really strange. They get the the best of me and the pup the rest of the public, they are like, who's this monster? Well, I mean, if there's any place to turn it on, it's it's it's work. I guess so. Yeah. Or this is a good one. Or or Friendsgiving. Or Friendsgiving, dude. Friendsgiving. I'm already looking forward to next year. Actually, we should start talking about next year already. I agree. But you've got a you've got a last sip. I do have a last sip. Oh. We need to talk about this. Oh, we need to talk about group chats and group chat etiquette. Oh. You already know how I feel about this. Yes, I do. And I oh, I love group chats because I love the fact that when I have so many friends from out of town, we can stay in contact together. I have a group chat for my fantasy football league, I have a group chat for work, I have a group chat for my bands. Like it's all useful to spread information. And oh my good God. Uh, so my my softball team is a great example of this. And if anybody on the softball team is listening, take fucking notes right now. We need to disseminate information, and sometimes that information is you responding that you will or you will not be there. So when that is happening, please allow ample time for everyone to respond before we start sending funny gifts and all the important shit gets buried, and now we have no idea who's coming to the game. My time is precious, it is valuable. If I show up at that diamond and we don't have enough to play, Jeffy's gonna turn into a hot little potato, okay? And then do you have the you have the adverse issues with like my dad, who has no idea really how to use a group chat, he just hates the whole thing. And uh, you might see him just like ha ha something every once in a while. There's people in the group chat that have it on silence, so you're trying to communicate with them, they're not getting it at all. But like, can we just have some etiquette? I gotta be honest with you. The group chats for the most part make me so anxious. The phone just going over and over and over again. Normally, what I do is I pick it up and I see that everybody's responding in the group chat. I'm like, uh, that's the noise I make. And I I just I put the phone somewhere really far away from me because I need time. And I do I do, I need time, and a lot of times you guys have all figured it out anyway, so I don't even have to say anything. And I'm like, this is great. All right, I'm uh I'm good, I don't need to respond here. Yeah, yeah, and then and every every group chat's got like the people, right? It's everyone's got that dude that has it on silent for the most part, but every once in a while they'll just put a blurry like video of a concert they went to, and like we haven't heard from him since 2022, and like that's just all we've all we get to see, and it's like this was not helpful at all because you never responded to whether or not you're gonna be at the fantasy draft, and that's what I need to know. I like uh I like our group chat with Donnie. Oh hell yeah. Because it's a three man, it's a three guy, it's a three stone, and then I got a group chat with um Chris and Kranz. So two fucking beauties, by the way. Oh my god. I miss I was gonna see them on Friday, I hope. Oh, I'm so jealous, dude. On Friday? Yeah, can you FaceTime me? I would love to. I'd love to see those fellas. Alright. Um, yeah, group chats, they're not for me. I just we have to establish, so you know how with ice, not like the government program, but actual frozen water, we all just decide some ice is better than other ice and we all just conform to this. Can we do something with group chats where we all just get it? No, it can't happen. It can't happen because group chats are like putting like nine people in a room and just having them argue about like three different things. It's just chaos. So it's a jury. Yeah. Uh group chats are just uh, well, yeah, it's a jury. Um, it's just asked it's utter chaos in a group chat because I might be talking to you about one thing, but you're talking to one person about something, and you're talking to another person about something and me, and it's all happening. And you're like, what the fuck is this? Yeah. And then throughout it, some marine calls us gay. Yeah. Which I like. Callback. Um, although uh, best part with a lobster. That's the best thing that ever happened to a group chat. That was hilarious. That was hilarious. If you don't know what we're talking about, it's because you, like almost everyone else on earth, does not listen to this podcast. Um, yeah. I got a really good chuckle out of that. Um, the the best part is like I was responding to it and I looked at the photo more, and then I just backspaced all that because I had been to that diner with Tino and Meg. And I did not know on that menu that there was leaving lobster available. Yeah. Because I've never been to a diner where that's a thing, but it is confirmed it's a New England thing. That's a New Hampshire. Um, what was I gonna say? Oh, you said that nobody's listening to this. Um, so my work best friend, Nicole, the other day, I was like, do you listen to our podcast? And she's like, No, I don't. And I was like, what? So not even my work best friend listens. Dude, my own wife doesn't listen. I know. I know. So you know what though? Uh she will be going down to working three days a week soon. Three twelves. And so if she's got Thursday and Friday off, there's no excuses. I better know it's on Spotify. It's on Spotify, it's easy now. Yeah, she could she could listen in the gym. I I I think there's no excuses as to why I don't know exactly what's wrong with this podcast. Oh god, I know. Yeah, she's gonna tell you. Yeah, she will. And she won't just tell me, she'll put it in the group chat. Yeah. I'm gonna clip this and put it on Instagram for her. She won't see that. Yeah, tag her. Yep. I tagged, I tagged Jess in one. I can't remember because Donald was saying something, so I tagged Jess and she never responded. She was like, fuck you. Yeah, that's hilarious. Yeah. Uh Sam would check Instagram over. She's too busy buying uh shit on Amazon for our laundry room gadgets and nonsense. Oh, well, I can't fill the laundry up without getting out of breath, so there's that. Another callback. Let's go. Uh so this wasn't our best, but I'm not out of it. No, I'm sorry you're not. Yeah, I'm not, I'm sorry you're not feeling well, dude. I thought we had a great discussion. There's a lot of good things that uh that came out of this one. Um, but you know what? We can't be on Josh Allen. Doesn't win every game. He's the greatest quarterback ever. You know what I mean? Uh ever. Yeah. All right. I'll just let you have that one. You gotta you gotta you gotta win something. You gotta win something. So that's yours. All right. Yes. I think it's time to go. All right, yeah, we gotta wrap it up. Thanks for listening. Um, we know you didn't. Uh all right. All right, thanks everyone. Thanks, everyone. Boogie boogie, gold.