Welcome to the two seventeen Recovery Broadcast.
If you don't make mistakes, you won't learn.
With your host Corey Winfield, you know there was a reason why that didn't work out, and you can look back at it and go, yep, I'm glad that didn't work out how I wanted it, because that would have been horrible. And co host.
Tomorrown Winningfield fairly expensive membership to Cold Gym when I was in college, but I use that all the time.
It is August twenty eight, twenty twenty four. My name's Corey Winfield, my.
Name's Marty Winfield.
I'm Jesse Smoker, and I'm Corey Smoker.
And this is the two to seventeen Recovery podcast, broadcasting live recorded from Jackson, Michigan. And then you might think, well, Corey, what are you doing in Jackson, Michigan? What's to see there besides the old prison that they only show tours on the weekends. It's Wednesday, Like, what could you be doing in Jackson? Jesse? What is there to do in Jackson? You have family from here.
So far I've found there's nothing to do in Jackson.
They do, by the way, though, before we get to your guys's guesses, we saw the nastiest best buye we've ever seen in our lives. Oh my goodness. Like inside not too bad, I mean was the greatest. But man, walking into it, I thought, like, did Walking Dead really happen? Yeah, And we just relate to the show because I mean, there was a popcorn, there was gum, cigarette butts.
Oh it's awful.
It's like the driveway of like the parking lot they were in or whatever you want where people park parking lot.
You just park where you want.
Yeah, And I think maybe because there were so many cracks that are like, well if we get those cigarette butts and gum and popcorn and peanut butter, we can just feel that right in Jackson, Michigan.
Yeah, like a fair just left there.
Yeah. Yeah. The employees would come up to me because they weren't doing anything. They come up to be like you you'd smell I'm like, well I kind of did. When I walked in. Is any of this on my shoes? You know? Like I wanted to like say, can you get the man? Can the manager had to walk through the front door too, right, you.
Would I mean yeah, you would you would think so and.
It wasn't like all day like they had just opened like an hour and a half before we got there, So it wasn't like, oh man, that was just all day Saturday traffic.
I mean, where's the district manager at though?
At least they quit she quit? Must they quit something? It was bad? I don't know. So we did see that, but you know, it's not really exciting. How to really go see a Rundown prison but only the weekend. So what did you see? Marty? What did you guys? Do? You? And Corey?
So we came here with a purpose, Okay, So yeah, so that's that's good. So Corey and I were able to attend a training put on by m daghs and they invited two kind of keynote speakers I guess if you want to call that, who did some presentation and we did some obviously interactive training with CAA r D, which is Center for African American Recovery Development.
Yeah.
So the last two days we were we had the opportunity of being involved in that and it was put on for all the r CEOs to attend in Michigan.
Recovery Community Organizations seventeen Recovery is one of.
Them correct, correct, So not only did we have the opportunity to really like be in the same room with some of the people that work for other recovery community organizations in Michigan, which was kind of which was really cool.
I really liked that about those.
So we did you do a little bit of networking, but also kind of go over whatever topic and materials so that they have, you know, that can be presented to us for us to be better our CEOs, to be able to implement and in our organization with our staff, for the people that we serve.
Right, And we went to one last year and our friend Caitlin from the Community Recovery Alliance did a podcast with us. It was me, you, justin and her. Yeah, and that was that was fun doing the podcast with her, But yeah, it was it's different. You know, they're built as a retreat, so there's like like a ministry camp. They want you to go sleep you're in.
Yeah, so the platform is like it's like band camp and they literally do a whole band camp there in church camps.
Yeah, that's why I was like, that's why, Yeah, you and Corey can go just sent a different Corey And of course we have Parker too, so you know he's our son. For those of you this is your first time listening. He starts, he's ower three months old, so somebody's gonna watch him, you know. So Jesse and I
were like, hey, we'll do this, you know. Just he's like a lead volunteer for seventeen Recovery and you know, when I was trying to work out camera stuff which we will know talk about, Jesse was there to help, you know. So it was really very helpful. But we're talking about tech camera. What were that noise? Is that that? Ever? The roan in three was making.
The The kind of the theme of the discussion was, uh, empowering inclusive leadership for our CEOs, so basically talking about like racial equity and uh the question of kind of like who's who's in the room and who's not in the room and how can we what are what are some of the questions being asked ourselves about representing different races right different you know, being able to be available to serve individuals who you know might feel more comfortable
with their own you know, racial person representing them in the r c O. And what is that like how prepared? What do we have going on, now, what the wiser why nots?
You know that we don't.
Have people in our staff or or coming to receive services walking through our doors, right, so and just having those kind of like difficult conversations about the y's and why nots, and so it was really it was challenging. It was challenging, just like challenging talking. He's trying so hard.
If I could ask you a question, did they talk about? Because when I was talking with a man named Richard Tate, Actually I did that podcast on August eighth. I just published it like last week, but I only put like a half hour up, but we talked for like an hour, and there's some stuff that I'm just like, yeah, I don't know if people need to hear that. But he was telling me that out in California there's a new term like you're not supposed to say Hispanic or Latin. Know,
it's like a mix. And I can't remember what he told me it was, but I had never heard of it before. And I told him the story about my friend Scott, who is Native and he's he told me like, it's very offensive if you call me Native American, because I'm Native like our people were never American, like we were here, this is our lane, you know, so it kind of like, oh, okay, that makes a lot of sense.
You know a lot of people think, oh, I'm saying Native American, I'm getting it right, and that it depends on the person too, you know, but just don't assume that people throwing these words around. But he was telling me one for about Latinos, which isn't Latino. I don't even it was really of an awkward word. But I don't know if anybody knows it or anything. But did you guys talk about that kind of stuff.
Yeah, actually we talked exactly about that stuff. In fact, one of the individuals, and that was their representing I can't remember where they were from, mentioned the fact that they were they were married to a black individual and that her father in law so were her husband's dad did not like to be referred to as African American because he wasn't from Africa. He was from Ireland, right. He happened to be black right as his race. But in my career, I don't even know if I'm saying
this correctly. I apologize I'm not, but race or ethnicity or what have you? Is he was born in Ireland, right, and that was his roots, but he is not African.
American, gotcha. Yeah, that's interesting. I think Corey's on baby duty now to swap it over to get her to talk about this stuff, or she can talk about it in a minute, I guess. But that was what that was some of the things that just popped in my head. You know, it was like, are we getting that right? Because they say, and I'm gonna say Latino Hispanic they a word on the street. Is some of the last people to reach out for help. You know, you don't
see many going to treatment. And is that because they don't feel welcomed, They don't know, they don't trust the system, They have their own thing going on. You know, Like there's a huge difference just between the color of someone's skin and how they're raised. You know, my friend Tyrone, he's from Michigan. He grew up in Detroit, raised totally different than me. Kim, our friend Kim, you know, like the customs that she has and how she grew up is way different than mine, you know, and it's it
goes deeper than just like oh, different color skin. You know, there are white people from Hartford Michigan. They grew up different than me. You know, it's where are you from? And what are the cultures? You know, and stuff like that. Maybe the culture and again this is me just throwing out hypotheticals here or just questions. I guess what are the what are they you know? And what's stopping them from going to treatment? You know? Do they just take care of it in house? They just I don't know,
you know, And that's that's a huge question. I think a lot of people are going are we not informing them that there's help for them? Sure? Are they afraid that if they went to a treatment center that they would be misrepresented? And next thing you know, they're off in some other place, you know, they're I don't know's It's just a question that'll never be answered today anyway, Corey, what was your take on the retreat?
Well, going into it, I didn't because this is my first time as now becoming part of two seventeen and representing the RCO, I didn't know what to expect. So going into it, I felt a little like but when you know, it was a really nice facility that I was held at. I think that there could be a little more like togetherness and networking between the trainings. If
that's kind of what I seen. But then when the training took place, the two ladies that did that for us, Nala and doctor I don't know her name, but and I don't want to butcher it, but they were very you know, at first, sometimes you go to these trainings and you think like, oh, great, you're gonna just get all this information, and you know, sometimes I get sidetracked and I sit there and I'm like, oh, well, now.
This is boring.
But they were very good at keeping everyone engaged and giving out some information and then taking feedback. And they were also they gave some of their personal stories, which was, you know, really cool because that gets you more connected with them. I feel like and not feel so separated because like at first, you know, you go into these things and you think, oh, they're high class, they're a doctor,
they know more. But then you know, at the end of the day when we talked about it, like they put their pants on the same way we do, and they're just trying to advocate and help us with you know, learning how to advocate a little better for diversity in
the community. And you know, I just from my own situation, like it was just more validating for me, like being more aware of my language when I'm out in public and being even open in my body language, just to be approachable and always just to keep learning how to reach everybody in the community that we live in.
And that's key the community that we live in, because where I live now is nothing like where I grew up. There's different cultures there, different people. I don't fit in in Traverse City. I feel like I don't fit in in Traverse City. It's weird. I don't know. I'm not from there, you know. I go to my hometown, Coloma, I try not to fit in, you know. I'm like, I don't want to feel one of these people. No,
I don't really think that, but I don't know. I've been gone for so long that I'm like, Okay, well, I don't really have the same values these as the people that live there now, you know, and that changes over time as well. But I think that a lot of people with mistake not understanding someone's culture as racism. I take one of my family members, it'd be like, oh, man, I was friends with this guy, you know, I've worked with him, is great, and you know, I like all
colored people. And he says that to me, and I'm.
Like, whoa, whoa.
Like you say colored people like that? Huh, Yeah, you know he's colored. And I'm like, huh, but this person's also like seventy years old. He's not meaning it in any offensive way. But that's where he grew up, and that's the time he grew up, you know, Like that's that still sticks with him. Doesn't mean he's a bad person. He might not understand. I don't know, and maybe some people like to be called that. I don't know. You know, people that grew up in Detroit probably different than people
that grew up in California. I would bet you money on that one, actually, So you don't really know the people that were doing the training. They were from California. But she grew up what did you say, Like, she.
Grew up in New York City, Okay. And then the other the doctor lady, she grew up in Anne Arbor, and then she moved out to Nevada as well, and that's where she met Nala and they both had actually got sober in Las Vegas.
I knew somebody else that did that too.
See, I was opposite of that that's where I went every year to go and drink for seven to ten days straight.
Cool. Another I had a chance to move to Vegas do a radio show, and I said no because I will do so much cocaine and drinking I'll kill myself. And then I go to Forstmouth, Arkansas, where I almost drink myself to death. So it was in the car, just got aheaded that I'll set up for me. He's like, well, you want to go down this hard ass road, so you pick one. Yeah, so I did. The result was
the same. But my friend Robert Pardon, he actually has a podcast called The Recovery Guy, and that's who is from Vegas, and he was like, yeah, if I can get sober in Vegas, that should bring hope to a lot of people, you know, and for those people too, you know, to be there and to share their stories and you know, talk about diversity and an inclusion you know, I think is awesome. We need to do more of
that at the office. I think if you listen to the podcast called Lots of Laughs, well I you were part of that one too.
Yeah, shamefulabus.
Oh now you're not including me. I feel left out here.
Oh I was right there with you, laughing just as hard as you and Mitch. So I'm not going to deny that I did say that we should just pack up the podcast real quick and act like we never did this.
M h. But then my aunt wouldn't have laughed, and like everybody like people were like, man, this is the funniest pocket is heard a long time. It was.
Oh, there was a lot of people that commented and yes, send out that they got some laughs. So that was you know, if that's it, if that's what helped someone on Friday to get a good laugh, then I think, you know it helped us too, like where we were all at at the end of that week, like we needed that gut laugh and we got it and then it was shared with others and so it was a good fun Friday.
Yeah, I thought so. And we weren't being racist against Justin or anything. But I think he was hurt a little bit by it. But I told him, I was like, look, dude, you are who you are. And the fact that if somebody you made somebody people laugh, you know, like that's that's pretty cool. He made more people laugh on the episode than I did, you know, so look at it like that, you know, like people know who you are. And my aunt loves Justin. He's the he's the her.
She's like, that's my favorite character. I'm like, it's not a character, like that's Justin and it's like he's my favorite dude, you know. And she she loves him, you know. And he did sometimes and I don't think understands that, you know, but it is out of love. And yeah, we have fun sometimes, you know, and it goes back to my old radio days. But nobody likes me, made fun of in like a negative way, and we were and the thing I think that hurt the most is
he wasn't there to defend himself. So we need to have lots of last part too, I agree, so we can play out again and he can explain himself.
Yeah, he would enjoy that.
I think. I don't think you would. I think he'll turn it down.
I did want to kind of go back to something that he didn't touch on, was like you know, so that was kind of of some things that we worked through the last two days was the inclusion of everybody. So then there was like it was talked about like now, of course I can't remember the name, but like so one thing that she talked about was like, how you know,
we we might say like why not color blind? I see all colors, and so that she was like, okay, But then they turn around and then they make some racial remark or how they might appropriate some people into different class like from behaviors or colors, or sometimes they assume all black people are from African America.
Okay, Jesse Smoker, how are you doing?
I'm doing real good.
Wow, honey, is that the continent or is that a country? Yeah? I haven't heard that one before. I don't know anybody from African America. But you know what, I'll if the two seventeen recovery, I will welcome them the same if they're looking for help. And that's the beauty of being in recovery, in my opinion. I don't care what color you are, I don't care who you want to love. You walk through them doors and you're you're hurt, and you've got that addiction like I had, and you want
some help. Sit down, Let's let's let's figure some stuff out. Here's what I know, Here's what helped me, Here's what didn't help me. Here's some numbers. We can call them together. You know, like I can walk you through the steps. I had to painfully go through this. I had to get called. I had to call the PHP in Southwest Michigan SWIMBA and get be littled because I asked for help again and they told me, well, we just helped
you a month ago. What we think we're going to pay for you to go to an inpatient treatment again. It's just looking for some help. Yeah, yeah, so if we send you, there's not gonna help ov. So what are we supposed to do? And I'm like, never mind, I'll just sit here and just detox and my bad things.
I mean, that's the one thing I like about two on seven recovery. It's the open door policy. Yes, it's hoping come on in.
You can leave when you want to, you know, like I'm not judging you, like I was there right, It was right there man, And like I said, I did the hard work for you. I had to take all those phone calls. I had to get belittled by the PHP, which shouldn't And they if you call them on it, they'll be like, well, our people want to Michigan and they're a therapists. Well they shouldn't they shouldn't even talk about what college they went to because it doesn't matter.
You can read all the books you want, but until you're in our situation, right, you don't know what it's like. Man, Oh I know what it's No, you don't. You don't. You can't sit there at therapists tell me. And I told the story a million times. He was like, I relate what you're going through. Oh man, the sense of relief I had. Oh my god, finally I get a therapist. What's your drug a choice? Oh? I know, don't. I don't have a drop on No, I mean I smokes
a weed back in high school. Yeah. You lost me right there, man, And it just it pissed me off, you know.
So Yeah, And that's why I only somebody who has I should say, suffers from addiction and is now sober and is in recovery, can only really reach to other people who may not be there yet because we had only only we only know what they're going through because we've been there, hands on.
Experience with that. It's not a fun one. No, Like I'd rather went to college.
I didn't grow up wanting to be an alcoholic or a drug addict. That wasn't my goal. I think I want to be a professional baseball player or something, or maybe a firefighter. I don't know, but something not not that.
But I think that's what's good about all of us in recovery and now working in the recovery, is that we just we want to meet the people wherever they're at, and we just want to give them the hope and you know, in the validation like that we've we've been there with them, and that we're here to walk the path with them.
Yeah, and you're not alone. Like when I first started hearing that people thought the way I thought, and they could, they could voice that. That's when I was like, wow, maybe they maybe these people do know what they're talking about, because I've never ever heard anybody else ever talk about it. I mean I didn't ever talk about.
It out loud.
I thought about it like should I tell somebody this, they can lock me up? And then you know, somebody in a twelve SEP program started talking the way I was thinking. I was like, oh, okay, okay, hell yeah I can I'll listen to this. But somebody who hasn't been through it, you can't relate. You can't relate to any of it. It's just how could you How could I relate going to college? Never been to college, I
don't know. I wouldn't know what to tell you. Yeah, you know books that those cost a lot, and I know I gotta be to a lot of classes and it's overwhelming. But the experienced part of going to college, I couldn't describe that for you.
So, yeah, they can have sympathy, but they can't empathy. They weren't in the hole with us, you know, right. I think they can be like, oh, yeah, that must talk. Man. That would be horrible to tell your family that now you're never going to do it again. And then two days later you go out and do the same exact thing, and then they look at you with this look like like you're a dog they want to kick right out of the house, you know. And yeah, it's like the shame. Yeah,
I was like, oh, I did it. I cause all this my family, And then we don't even think about it at the time, the actual shame we're causing our family. You know. I didn't know this until maybe I was like six months sober, and my mom was like, because I was talking about how like I would go to the store, and I would see people like, oh man, I don't want to see nobody. Mom was like, how do you think? I feel like you were on the radio, dude, Like people know who you are and they they know
also you're not there no more. And what happened, Well, you know, Corey got a little problem and oh okay. So then my mom goes to the store and the same thing with my sister, and people like, how's Corey doing? You know, and some of them love to rub it in because it's just like Josh Hamilton, you know who Josh Hamilton is hit all them home runs and run derby. Oh yeah, man, that was a that was a I was crying. I was like, man, this is such a great story, such a would feel good story. And then
then what happens. He goes out drinking one time, gets on a bar, takes a shirt off, and then it's boo Josh Hambleton. They love a good story, but they love even more to tear it down. Oh yeah, you know, And like I told you, was p ship yep, you know. So like my mom, I think took some of that too, like oh okay, oh Cory stuff. Oh he's out there drinking, getting message, Okay, but now I think she just watching walks around, like pushing that car, Like, who's neggs? Your
son need some help over there? Yeah, because you might want to call my son because he could maybe help your son. But maybe he's busy, right, he's talking at something. But I don't know speaking of talking at something, Mitchell O'Brien, did you see that performance he did?
If I wasn't holding the microphone right now.
I would too, but I did.
He did a great job too.
I did text him right after I was done watching it. I'm like, dude, you killed it. Yeah, I don't know what you Why are you talking yourself down? You did a phenomenal job.
Yeah. There's a program called The four on the four. Yeah, as a question, four on the four. I don't watch a lot of news The four the four. I was on it like four or five years ago or three years ago, whatever it was. Yeah, but they did a story about the International Overdose Awareness State Ceremony that we're hosting, I guess you could say, or putting together our friend Nancy Diwe and Grizzle and Diane Goodyear. They started it
three years ago, four years ago something like that. They've lost family members, and so they were like, hey, let's do this on international over toast awareness state. Let's hold the ceremony. And they're like candles, play some music and it's it's a moving thing and very powerful, and they asked us to do it this year, you know, to kind of host it for him. We're like, okay, we can do that, you know, but one thing for I was like, I don't want people think we just scooped in
and just took it over. Like I'm you know, if we go on the news, because she can go on the news and talk about I'm like, how about you go on the news too, say hey, we asked two seventeen Recovery to kind of take this over for us because it was kind of overwhelming, and two seventeen Recovery puts on good events, so we figure naturally they could do it. And so her and Mitch went on there
and I told Mitch, you know, it's live. It starts at four, it's called four at four whatever he said it was, and he was supposed to be there at three forty five. I told him, like, you might want to get there a little earlier because you guys go
on at four, right, And I'm pretty sure. I told him it was live, and and then Marnie she talked to him before cause I'm like, hey, make sure Mitch knows what to stay because there was a time and I don't remember when, and Mitch, if you're listening, please remind me where He got up and he said something like, oh, yeah, well thanks for coming out. Everybody grabb a free puppy on your way out, or it was something. I don't know what exactly it was, but I was like, Mitch,
what are you doing? He was like, I don't know, man, I got nervous in my frozen. I just said that, and I'm like, that's not even cool. We don't have any free puppy. It wasn't free puppies, but it was something that he said that was like, I didn't make any sense, and I'm like, what the what are you doing? Mitch? And that's why you say he got nervous and froze.
So I was like, Marnie, will you please talk to Mitch, you know, and make sure he's kind of not gonna freeze and just start talking about puppies that were going away, and you did. And when he told them what.
That, I didn't think it was.
I didn't know it was live, and so I was just and I was like, no, I'm like, don't worry, just like ease into it. You're just get stay confident. A lot of it was just a pep talk, you know what I mean. But you'll be fine, and you know, you know your stuff. Don't try to memorize anything. Just go with the flow answer. You know, he'll kind of lead the way and prompt you, which he did. You know it just but he did a phenomenal job, like you said, he did very good, so good.
And maybe Marnie telling him that it wasn't going to be live calmed his nerves down a little bit, right, And so when he got there and he did it and found out it was live, he just carried on with it. He didn't have to remember that he had to rec hurse anything or keep that thing memorized. He just did what Mitch does.
He texted me, He's like, I found out two minutes before we had to go on live. I don't think I breathed for the whole time. I almost passed out. Well, you did phenomenal, dudes.
So you can't see him breathing hard because I think that's when he got his breathday.
It's like just I said, you'd be good to yourself because I'm proud of you. And I mean that, I really, I really am. He represented two one seven Recovery phenomenal and yeah it was a great showing.
Yeah, so good job, Mitch. If you haven't seen the video, it is on our Facebook so check it out there. We'll put it on two seventeen recovery dot com too, and probably mitches page. And the week before that, seven and four News came to to seventeen recovery and the very beautiful and very talented Marnie Winfield was a part that how'd that go?
It was great? It was great.
I mean, uh it was What was aired was actually just a you know, brief clips from a really good conversation that we had with him overall, so and I think he did a great job, you know, highlighting kind of the conversation what it was that we were trying to, you know, have everybody know that the event was happening, the overdose awareness event was happening on you know, this
coming Saturday, and what it was all about. And then Anne had a really moving part in sharing about you know, her loss and what it means to her to have this ceremony and events like this to make awareness about overdose and this you know, how serious you know this this epidemic is, and and bringing awareness to not only
overdose but also that recovery in general is possible. And that's kind of where we came in and how grateful she was that we were going to be bringing this attention to an event event like this and then also just promoting recovery overall. So it was really it was good too.
And of course the International Overdose Awareness State Ceremony is in Traverse City, the one that we're putting on six pm, f and M. Park And we're going to start out, you know, Nancy and and Diane are going to maybe say a little something, and then we're going to have Josh from Journey Church. He's going to do the opening prayer. We're going to have a little bit of music. We're going to do a candlelighting ceremony. Paula the Pinskey from
Addiction Treatment Services, she's the CEO. She's going to do a little messages that right, and then Adam Knew Andrew. There's a couple more people speaking. I think there's.
Andrew DeVore, David Cantrell, and myself.
Jesse Area of that. I was not aware. Bring your launching.
I am so excited and my video camera.
Yes, here you go.
Yeah. Are you nervous about this?
No, I'm not nervous.
Are you gonna rehearse it at all?
No, just gonna let it come from the heart. It's the best message. I might have Corey Winfield do a little uh practicing with me in the office on how you deliver a short your story condensed to have that message.
Surprise Morny. That just fought laughing and he said, Corey Winfield, short speech that is not that I mean ramble on forever. Yeah, he'll show you how to do that.
Yeah, but you're good at showing other people how to keep it in five minutes.
Yeah, you went to a whole two day training on how did you gey I.
Mean recovery story? Is you like five minutes?
Am I good at it though?
Teaching others? Yeah?
Okay.
Those who can't do teach.
Do what I do. When I say now, does that do?
That'll be? That'll be my slogan on run for governor and for president. Those who can't do teach I'm gonna teach everybody and lancing on to figure it out. That's right, common sense party doesn't need to happen. That's for another podcast though.
Well, isn't that why you always say whenever someone should have listened to you, we should need to wear the shirt.
Should have listened to Winfield? Yeah, a lot of people be wearing those right now.
I've only occurred to one.
Tyrone's got about seven, Justin's got about one hundred, Mitch is probably about fifteen.
Marnie she became a Winfield. So that's off the table, all.
Right, my mom. Anyway, we can list them all that I would take all night. The ceremony though, is going to be a lot of fun too, you know. That's that's another thing that we bring to the table. And minchments and that in his interview is we like to bring the fun part of everything too, and things don't
have to be like what was me? And I think you're going to be like a message of hope kind of like kind of like what we did with the recovery stories of hope, but probably I'm sure it'll be different, probably way different, but just to touch those people that are out there that might that might be struggling or those family members out there, and we're going to announce something pretty cool that day too, about a new meeting I guess, or a new group or whatever that we're
going to be doing, Yeah, connecting to the the community a little bit more, and we're gonna announce that. I believe that night. Is that what we had talked about. Yeah, it's good, it's fantastic. You'll probably put two and two together. It's going to equal four, but yeah, it'll be it'll be good.
Speaking of solving puzzles, m hm, did you guys talk about I stepped away for a second, but did you all talk about the escape room?
No, we haven't yet. We were waiting for you.
MVP. I would vote for Marnie probably. Corey did really solid on that last one. Yeah, the box, I mean everybody did you two are the real MVPs. Yeah. I just kept getting in the way, going let me shoe if I can find an arrow on there.
And I don't know you were counting. You were counting the bouquet to fifty.
In my head you did do that in my head? What's up?
I don't know.
I think it took all four of us I think all of us together. I mean, let's talk about that photo album.
Though in the mirror, I think I don't think we ever would have figured that out if we didn't get help on that, because I could, I couldn't see nothing.
First off, well we came the only thing that we were missing was that very last photo.
Yeah, yeah, And once we got the clue, where the where to look in that picture?
Yeah, that's all you us, right, And I said down too, because I thought there was a pizza slice of that. That's what I like. I was like, I think it's down. But then I think we tried down because there was a combination like an eddy hut up and all these photos that are like these old timey photos. One was like they had like a little arrow on it, and some of them like if they were wearing a white shirt, they would put like a little white arrow and then
they'd black shirt. They'd use a pin and draw a little air. So she had to look for it and left, so it'd be up down, left and you turn the picture and up down left right. And I swear that last one, I was like down, and it seemed like we tried it.
So I don't know if but don't forget. If we did add one extra arrow, then you got to hit the top twice and then you got to.
Start all over.
So then we have to go to the beginning, and then we're like, okay, where's the arrow at in this picture?
Again.
My disclaimer here is that if we would be able to have like a scrap piece of paper and pencil to like just jot down, it would have been process of elimination.
We would have been fine.
But like, yeah, it's it's e S i Q or something, Escape the Sky, i Q room dot com and Jackson if you want, if you're in Jackson, ever thought, man, I want to go to escape about it was all right?
It was yeah, And our host Winter phenomenal.
He was adorable.
He was very good.
Would you say that anywhere?
I wouldn't say.
Yeah.
I think we were a little too much for.
Him in one room though, but he he handled us perfectly and he was like probably he couldn't wait to lock us in that room.
Yeah, baby Parker, I mean he was a real m VP that.
Yeah.
This afternoon too, he came out showing up big.
I was singing songs to him. That's probably what Winter
was like. What is going on, and then like I had like a demon like theme to it and we had to open this like demon door, I don't know, and I had like a board on there and like devil stuff and that was a little creepy, but it was all right, and it was it wasn't one of those that you can't solve, you know, like, yeah, I think everybody wants to win at it, so like to go to one, you're like, man, I couldn't even get the because the one went to California, Martin and I did, man,
shit like it was freaking It was a nightmare. Most you know, we weren't ever gonna got there.
It was two of us, and it was like we picked the hardest difficulty level, the most difficult level, and there.
Was we couldn't make it to the Dame place on twenty.
And there was like twenty thirty puzzles within the You didn't ever wear one.
But see me and Jesse are first one we went to. It was like with ten people and that was we thought it was just too many people trying to like be all over the room. When you know they tell you in the beginning, like all these things that you got to remember, right and The one thing is is like it's one puzzle at a time to get to
the next one. So then when you have ten people in there, it's it's almost too much, right because they're trying to be over here and solve this and you see all these locks and you think that they should go in order.
They don't.
Yeah, I found a prop and I said on it. I watched every else work, you.
Know, so we should maybe we should try the Terror City one.
Yeah, I think it's definitely if you're looking for like team building exercise.
No, it was good. Yeah, the Trevors City one was good though, I mean it made you really think.
But it's definitely it's all about like like he told us, it's about the communication, everyone working together because one person's got to look at the pictures while the other person's holding the lock, and sometimes we needed two or three eyes looking at the picture.
I just thought of something that I wanted to practice inclusion on you too. Sent you just took the training to tell me this is acceptable or not. We put in the guy's Mitchell justin. They're like buddies. They got their own podcast called white Knuckling It. What if we sent them in together and they had to work together out of that room, and we took the timer and we just threw it out the window and say, it's going to take as long as it takes. You get one clue, are.
We going to be the ones we to watch them like in the cameras and be like.
We can that's incorrect, and we can request the video and then we could like put it as like a mini series, because you know it's it's gonna be a few hours, so we're gonna least get three four episodes out of it. Come back next week to see if Justin and Mitchell kill each other or get out of the room.
Oh my god.
I don't think that's a great idea.
I think it would include them into.
I'd love to see how how it would got well, not maybe exclusively just them, though maybe.
We broke him in there too.
Well, you try to see how we all do.
I think we should all go as a team in there.
Yeah, see how it goes.
Yeah, that's yeah, I mean you know, yeah, I'll be the I won't be the cameraman. Yeah, us recorded all absolutely, let's do it.
Yeah, we should see if tri City will have us. I don't know the name of that place though.
But then I feel like you're excluding yourself from the inclusion of the team building.
I'm creating opportunity for someone else.
I don't buy it.
You're you're the leader of the team.
We need you.
By me stepping down, it gives someone else a chance to step up to be leader of the team, sacrificing to record it all.
Yeah, at our expense your probably we'll manage.
We'll manage. I mean. And if somebody wants to come along, and maybe you're from Africa America, Africa in America, you're more than welcome to as well. MARTI didn't have an open door policy.
I butchered the word and then he just rolled right over me, and so then all my words just didn't make sense.
Some people don't want to be referred to as they're from African America.
They don't.
And it was talked about like how that we we sometimes assume that all are are African American and they're not.
But like, see, I got a lot of different feelings and all that. Like I think it starts with the government, like especially when they make you feel all these things out you white, Are you an African American? Are you native American.
Are you're the ones who started?
Are you Asian?
Are you this?
It don't matter me and you can choose not to answer those And me and Marny talked in the car both days on the way back here to the hotel to meet you guys in Little Parker about like that this's two day training of what four hours a day like could turn.
Into, I mean, a whole week of breaking.
It down And but do you think you'd get anywhere though? I see, and she had that's my thing.
She brought this up at the end of today and it was basically like she said, these are her words. She said, I feel like we're just now getting to a point where we're actually having these conversations, Like we're getting in a comfortable space with.
Each other right as a group to be able to.
Talk about these things and have these hard discussions and be able to like get real and have like and be open about like this is what's hard for us, this is where this is, and what about this? And well, what do you think about this? And have you ever thought about it this way?
You know what I mean? Because you kind of.
Need to be within a room with the same people to kind of get to that point to where like we can have those times.
It's kind of like Jesse so though too, it's a what we do in recovery. We walk away by, you know, like we have that bomb with somebody. But you take me, put me in a room with a bunch of rich people, I'm uncomfortable. And there's not saying all rich people hate middle class or poor people, but just saying there's some out there that do, and they look down on me, and it doesn't matter if I'm white, Black, doesn't matter. You know, there's different levels of classes, there's different levels
of culture. I mean, it's a whole different It's just a big old thing. And you can't make somebody not be racist. You can't make somebody not look down on somebody.
No, but it's just about and so it was like coming back into just the conversations within the r CEOs of how how can we as a team handle them situations when they are walking into our door, like are we you know, because sometimes it might be that a different race than who we are, right but come into our building and say that we don't have nothing to offer them because we're not black or we're not Mexicans. So we don't understand their culture. So it was then
how do we, as our CEO like handle that. Do we just let them walk back out the door.
We can put them in a different direction if they're not comfortable. But I mean, I'm saying, like we do the best that we can to welcome. Then is as somebody in recovery, I don't I don't care where you're from. Like we have that bond, and Kim and I have talked about it many times. And Kim is from Africa American or no, no, Kim is from African America, and
I gotta get a drop of that. So but Kim and I have talked about him many times, you know, and it's like she agrees with me too, Like we have a bond that goes beyond racism, it goes beyond culture. I love hearing about Kim and her culture in her fish and I give her such a hard time about it because fish is gross. But like just like how she grew up, where she grew up, how she used to clean fish, and so that's interesting to me. I
never had to do that. I never would want to do that, but that's what she did and it was fun for her, and you know, like getting to know somebody on that level is what I can do. But I don't I don't think we're ever turning people away as somebody ever came through and been like, oh man, you guys don't go mudding. You got nothing to offer me. They could because I don't go mudding, you know.
But but I think it's just also too. It's where we're located, is that we are located in such a non diverse community, m that we don't see a lot of things that sag and all our CEOs are facing or flint In is facing. And then it was also like empower I mean it was also like empowering, like the the leaders of different race and you know, then it was how some of them come, like even when
you go at someone with a different race. There was an RCO that had a recovery coach and he wasn't doing his job and he wasn't helping the white people, and so they had to discuss with him about him not doing his job, and he instantly called them racists, and so a lot of the conversation was around like how do you handle that? Were you treating him equally? Were you know? But it was at the end of the day, it was about him not doing his job.
And he should be fired, right.
And and so then you have they have to know that it was just about his job. And now he wants to go out and he wants to bad mouth him to other people that they hit they're racist. Then I know you knew about that, that's right, but they were they were asking like, is there something different they could have done?
I don't know. There's dude ring around telling people try to say, oh, Corey's been drinking this whole time, the whole time he started too. Sentient recovery, and I think.
A lot of it was just b is about about having awareness, right and recognizing like implicit bias, which everybody has, you know, no matter what. Yeah, and it was about kind of Also, the old school color blind thing is ridiculous because if you are culturally competent and culturally aware, that means it's celebrating and recognizing that, yeah, people are African American people are black, people are indigen and you know bipoc people right, people of color, Mexican, Arabic, whatever
it is, Wraith ethnicity. It's recognizing that and saying, okay, that is your culture. That is you know your community, that is what you know, and.
I see it.
I might not be able to know about I might not know about it, but I'm willing to learn about it. And I support that, and I recognize it and celebrate it. Right, And we're here about substance use disorder, and I can speak to that on whatever level that I can from myself and my own experience, and I'll meet you where you're at and help you best I can with what I know about you. And if I don't, I'm willing to learn about it or hear about it.
Yeah, but I can't personally. I use Kim as an example. We'll go back to her. I think it would be the service to her if I just started pretending like I knew her culture or pretending like, oh yeah, we're going to have fish fry Fridays just for Kim, you know, like, oh.
Absolutely, But I think that'd be awesome if if that's important, that's important to her and how she celebrates her culture, practices, you know, whatever it is that's important to her, right, then then we could be a part of that or hold that right, hold that space for her and what's important.
Right, And I made her a shirt we had a playoff the Lions from the playoffs last year and they were playing San Francisco. We threw a party at the two seventeen Recovery Center and I walked by the meeting room wherever I was in, and I hear Kim say, what, there's no chicken. I only came for the fried chicken. And I immediately made her a shirt with pieces of fried chicken on it. And some people could look at that and go a cord, that's so racist, But I
wasn't being a racist. She said it, and it was just so comical the way she said it that I just instantly made her a shirt. But now she wears her shirt around town. People would see that and go, oh my god, what is that? You know, and she lasts and she thinks it's pretty damn funny. And she showed it to her brother and her family and they thought it was hilarious too, because that's just what she said.
Now she happens to be black, you know, but that doesn't have anything to do with it, you know, it's just more of she said that. She could have been like, I came for the crackers. Well, well that could be racist, I guess, but I came for the cheese. Okay, there we go. Came for the cheese, and I would have made her sure that that I only came for the cheese.
But that's just it. And that was another thing we talked about is that sometimes in a situation or where we're at or we're in public, like all of a sudden, we're being so mindful of what we're gonna say because we don't want it to be culturally disrespectful or racist and affect anybody. And so it's we talked about that and how do we how do we remove that and how do you know? So sometimes it's just about the language.
Like my language has to change a little bit because sometimes I let things fly out of my mouth that's not appropriate. And so I'm practicing my my language a little better. And another thing I wanted to say is that we were really encouraged two when we come across a diverse culture that we're not used to asking questions why right? Or tell me more, tell me more?
But what does that have to do with recovery?
Why here it has to do with rec I think what they're trying to pull into recovery is that that people are feeling some sort of way are feeling separated and not feeling included?
Tell me more.
It's like for me, it's real simple. I work a twelve step program that I'm a part of, and that's what.
I do that works for me.
And and part of that program is that we we find something that we believe in that's you know, not us. So it could be God, it could be the Devil if you want it to be, could be a cup, it could be it could be all these things. You could not believe in anything, you could believe in something whatever. But the bottom line is is do you want to be a drunk Jehovah's Witness or do you want to be a sober Jehovah's Witness? Like, don't care.
I think it was. I think what it kind of circles back around to as being an r CEO, as being people who were representing a recovery community. So it's just opening our eyes to what is happening around us and then having them network areas or finding them materials for people that feel diversed or feel like it's only one way.
All I see that is going on in today's world of sobriety and meetings is the lack of people not delivering the message. They're worried about everything else. Or you can't come here because you're part of that organization, you can't do this because you go to that meaning downtown, or that was discussed too, or you can't do this because you know you're employed over here. Dude, I've earned my seat. And all I'm saying is it's like Jewish Muslim hahmn nah whatever, it don't matter to me.
So that was talked about, like the unity of the of the.
Recovery, because all we have to relate to really in life, all we have is our addiction. Just because I've been sober doesn't mean I'm not an alcoholic. I'm going to be an alcoholic till the day I die. I never am not going to be an alcoholic. I'm never not going to be a drug addict either. So all I'm saying is, I don't give a shit if you're purple, if you're blue, if you're Chinese, it doesn't matter to me. I don't feel like I need to learn the Chinese
calendar because I want to feel closer to you. I have a way of showing you a better way of living, and you can believe in everything, you still want to believe it.
Yeah, I think.
I think some of what was brought up was like that our experiences of what we have been through from our past, right, and what let's say, some of the barriers that stand in our way are different for different people in different cultures. I think is one of the points that they were trying to make, you know what I mean? And I think that that can be set on all of our levels because there are assumptions too, Like Corey and I were talking about.
Is we could go round and round and round and round on some.
Of this stuff, because like people make assumptions about white people all the time and what we have or what we don't have in our privileges that are presented to us. Some of that is untrue. There are mistruths to that all the time, right, Like what's in our invisible knapsack?
Right?
What are some of the things that are automatically assumed, Like Corey's white male, So when you go into a used parking lot, they automatically show you something that's you know, sixty five thousand dollars. It's like, you don't know that we had afford sixty five thousand dollars car right right, Like, why are we automatically look at that.
Two of them?
Why do you say, hey, I only I can afford something that's fifteen.
What do you got one hundred and fifteen?
That's mine. That's what I'm looking at right now.
And I think, Jesse, I I see where you're at. But we're talking more of a bigger picture of not just getting sober, because I think also two and we also see it in some like even some meetings, like how people feel sometimes they're controlled and if you're not in that click, then you're not welcomed, right. So that's that's where kind of the conversation was going, is about how do we remove that barrier so all are welcomed.
Okay, here's one for you guys. Then we had at one point a meeting at two seventeen Recovery that was led by a gay person. He was like, he actually wanted to call it the gay meeting, and I was like, Okay, well, I can see my mom looking on the website seeing the gay meeting and she would be like, Corey, what are you doing? You making fun of people? And I'm like, that's what he wanted to call it mom, you know. So I'm like, may we should call some else. We
called it something else. Then people that normally came to that meeting before was the gay meeting stopped coming because they felt like it was only for gay people. And so like, here we are trying to include somebody, but what now we're doing is excluding people. Now they still could come, and I think they were told that some of them maybe weren't, and they thought, oh, this, this meeting is not for me cause I'm like gay, you know,
and I don't know. So it's just like you can go out of your way to kind of, hey, this meeting, and then if we had a fish fry Friday, I wouldn't be there. Nope, So you're excluding me because aunty fish things gross. So it's like you can go out of your way to do something because you think you're doing the right thing, but actually you're you're kind of
hurting yourself a little bit by pigeonholing just this one community. Hey, we're doing this, we're doing this, we're doing this, we're doing this, and so I don't know, but we welcome everybody, you know, Like I don't know what it's like to be a gay man. I talked to a guy about it and he's like, man, it's so hard to find love out there. And I'll tell you what, You're not going to find it if if you're doing math, I guarantee you. I'll tell you that. So we'll start there,
you know. And I'm not going to pretend I know what's up on grinder or how to get a man. I'm not going to I'm not going to do that. But I do know the fact that if he's getting messed up, he's not going to find love. I mean, I can guarantee him, you will find love if you stop doing that, right, it's going to happen. Yeah.
Great, So it's just I think at the end of the day, it was just about advocating our CEOs about that there is this these barriers up in educating us on how to remove them barriers or how to have the right language and conversations to get the people to the right sources.
Yeah, I'm glad you guys had a good time and it seems like you guys learned a lot and sure it'll help the office out. Yeah, I'll bet all right. Well we're gonna wrap it up, Parker, he say he's needing to talk to us about something. He's in there screaming, So we're gonna wrap it up. But thank you for listening. And it was a fun little podcast tonight. We got some serious stuff. We got to joke around a little bit, got to include some people, to exclude some people who
all limit the animal. But now thanks for listening, and we will talk to you again at the time of my choosing.
Hey, yeah, have a good night, have a good one.
Thank you, good night, folks. Thanks for listening to the two seventeen Recovery podcast. Listen to over nine undred episodes on the two seventeen Recovery app that's free in your app store or online at two seventeen recovery dot com.