INVISIBLE LINES - MUG MONEY - WANKSTERS 🇺🇸

Hello, welcome back to the American English Conversation. This is Joe English, and we're back after a long hiatus, and we are recording again. So here's an update. This is going to be an update episode. And then at the end, the second half, I'll talk about traveling within the United States a little bit. So... The first thing is that I started a new business, and it really has nothing to do with this show.

It's, you know, most of the work I do has really not much to do with, well, that's not entirely true because in my business, I do some communications. And I'm realizing the importance of communication in business. And this is, I think, a service I might start offering because it is so complicated. Everyone has a different communication style. And if you're not communicating really clearly and if you're not able to understand what people are saying or you're not able to get...

the information you need from that person, you might lose your business contract. So your ability to communicate it is critical for your survival, really, if you're running a business. But anyway, I got off on a tangent. What I'm trying to say is that I started a new business and this business... is taking more of my time and attention. And I was thinking, well, I don't, maybe my business is more important than this podcast. Even though this podcast is growing, I have over a thousand views.

I was thinking maybe I should stop doing this show and maybe change the name of it over to the name of my business. But then I thought, you know, this podcast is growing. People seem interested as far as I can tell. I'm not really sure yet, but it seems like people are interested. And we're getting people listening from all over the world. And then I had an epiphany.

A few days ago, I was thinking, you know, maybe the reason why people like this show is because they trust me to provide information. That's not, that's not.

untrue or biased so i think right now we're finding out that there are a lot of companies that are trying to manipulate people And maybe they're trying to use English education as a way to brainwash people and to provide them with bad... or biased or incorrect information and an attempt to maybe sway their political opinions before they even get to this country. Or maybe you just want to learn English and you don't plan on coming to the United States. I don't really have an opinion.

on whether or not you're coming here or not. Maybe you still want to learn American English regardless. But, you know... I'm definitely trying to learn who the target market is for this podcast. I'm not really sure yet. However... Like I think I've said before, I see this podcast show expanding into... I see it becoming more than just a podcast about phrases. And I think maybe we could have guests on the show. And maybe we could even have a co-host at some point if we find the right person.

But I like that American English Conversation is a broad enough title for a show that we can try different things. And it's not just about phrases. It doesn't have to be just about business. It doesn't have to be just about any one particular thing. We're just having a conversation. So I think that makes the show. really flexible, and I like that aspect of the name of the show, so I think I'm going to stick with the show, and I can always...

My business can always be a sponsor of the show, so it's not like I'm totally wasting my time by doing this. And I think it's, for me, it's fun to... I like to create content for the internet, especially when people are interested in it and downloading it. And it's really hard to find content that people are interested in. I've been publishing content on the internet for over a decade. And I can tell you, you can go years without finding something that people are interested in.

So, to me, it's exciting that there's this, that people are finding this show interesting. So...

Yeah, I think that pretty much explains that. I have been researching microphones. Last week I was researching microphones. I was testing out some Bluetooth microphones. And I bought an external microphone for my phone. And then I did some testing where I compared the audio samples from my phone. And then from the external microphone. And what I found was that the external microphone sound was really, I would say, I'm not an audio expert, but I would say the sound was brighter and louder.

and clearer the problem oh and it also captured a lot more of the bass from my voice this microphone It doesn't capture the bass of my voice and it's also quieter. But the advantage of this microphone is that it cancels out a lot of the... the noise of my car like my car is running right now because i have my air conditioner running because this time of year in texas it gets very hot and i can't

Right now, I just don't have a recording studio. So that's, in any case, I didn't really need to do all that research because it turned out that my phone had the best microphone. So, I think going forward, for the immediate future, I'll just be recording this on my phone in my car. So, I don't have, I have a whole bunch of phrases.

in the telegram that i haven't talked about yet and i might get to those next time but this episode i didn't really feel like doing phrases i just wanted to talk about traveling in the united states and i think this is a something that people might be thinking about now because, you know, we have lots of immigrants that are coming to the United States. And maybe, and even people that... already live here, I think they're moving around a lot because...

The employment situation is always changing up. It used to be in the United States when you found a job, you could keep that job for a long time. and maybe work there for the rest of your life, and then maybe you would have some benefits after you retired. But now, most jobs I've applied for, there's no... There's no retirement plan. And there's really no loyalty. So I've heard on average in the tech industry, the average employee stays between...

two and three years. That's considered a long time to stay. I think the average is probably just around two years. staying with the tech company. So that's a very short turnaround if you think about it. And so let's say you find a job in one state. And then, you know, you find another job in another state. Moving across the country, it's quite expensive, and I would say it's dangerous in a lot of ways. Traveling around...

you could get yourself into trouble pretty easily. And that's what I want to emphasize is that if you're going to travel somewhere, I would say do as much research as you can. Maybe find some online forums and talk to people that live there and they could tell you maybe some tips about neighborhoods to avoid. and what, you know, maybe certain places you shouldn't go at night, or just, you know, the locals will know these things.

And very often you won't find this information in books. And people a lot of times won't talk about the bad parts of where they live.

Or they might not even know. For instance, for example, when I lived in Florida, I lived two blocks from the University of Florida, which is a very nice school with a very nice campus.

I lived there for about five years before, you know, I didn't even know that there was this really bad neighborhood that was behind me. And I... like I just said, I lived there for five years before I knew about how bad this neighborhood was, so I was living in this house, like I said, near the University of Florida, very nice house, and...

Um, someone, one of my friends brought his friend over to my house and he, and he was saying, Hey, did you know that there's a crack house, two houses behind you? And I said, no, I didn't know that. I had no idea. So, and this neighborhood, one time I was driving through it because it was like a block of homes.

right in the middle of town and this particular neighborhood i mean i wouldn't say it was uh really dangerous i mean i i don't know but um You know, it's all relative, but one time I was driving through there and a police car pulled me over and I rolled down my window and he said, hey, I just want to let you know. Just a friendly warning that this neighborhood is not safe for you. Meaning, you know, not safe for a white guy. So...

These neighborhoods still exist in the United States. You know, people, you don't see it on TV. And maybe people think that... The United States is integrated, where everyone gets along. Fine, and that's true in a lot of places, but there are still a lot of places in the United States that are... I guess you could say the families have passed these neighborhoods on from generation to generation, and maybe they don't want to integrate with people.

that are of a different culture. So I'm surprised that the news is not reporting this. Why doesn't the news report? about these kinds of unsafe neighborhoods in the United States where you're not allowed to go if you don't have the right, you know, if you're not of the right culture, why doesn't... the news report that. And I think it's something that people just don't want to talk about. But if you're moving somewhere, let's say you're moving to a new city or a new town, you should...

You should be aware of these little invisible, I call them invisible lines. Well, I didn't come up with that name. One of the guys from Florida was telling me, he said, you know, there's invisible lines here. There's lines here where it's not on the map. Nobody talks about it, but he's told me, he said, I can't cross this street because it's unsafe for me to go across this street. So, yeah, I mean, the people, okay, that was probably, that was in 2000, around 2003. So it wasn't that long ago.

And I'm not saying all of the United States is like this. But the important point is that every different state has different little quirks.

So, you know, for example, in New York, in New York, I heard that you shouldn't be near, you shouldn't be outside in the... in the early evening, that's the time where you're most likely to get mugged by, um, you know, these gangs because, um, and a lot of times the street gangs are, you know, young kids because. They're not old enough to be put in prison or to be prosecuted as an adult. So these kids can get away with pretty much whatever they want. And I think the older...

Gang members used the kids to get away with things because they know that the kids won't have to go to prison. But in any case, you don't want to go, in New York at least, the early evening is the most dangerous time because that's when the gangs are looking for people that are getting off from work. And, you know, maybe they just got out of school, these little gangsters, and their parents haven't, you know, called them home yet. So I knew a guy.

I knew a guy, he called them, he said, they're not gangsters, they're wangsters. He said, you're not a gangster, you're a wangster. Anyway, my point is that... every place in the united states the united states is a big place so you want to do some as much research as you can and preferably

know some people that live there and know the area really well. Because there are a lot of people that live somewhere, but they don't really know what's going on. They don't really know what's going on in that place. So talk to someone that knows what's happening in that area. Someone that's maybe spent some time exploring, walking around. And if you want just a good...

maybe a place to start, there's a book series called The Rough Guides. I don't know if they still publish these rough guides, but I would say The Rough Guide saved my life one time. Because when I traveled to New York... For the first time, I read the rough guide. It's really interesting, the rough guides. I mean, the writing is good, and they tell you about the different neighborhoods, and they tell you different places that you can go, and they...

They tell you, you know, what the neighborhood is like. Like, this neighborhood has, you know, this type of vibe to it or whatever. Whatever you're interested in, the rough guides, I think, will help you get a feeling for what this place is. is like. And when I moved to Brooklyn one time, the rough guide said you should carry mug money. So mug money is some money that, you know, some...

Some gangsters grabbed you and they, you know, said, you know, give us your wallet or whatever. This happened to me and they took my cell phone. They took my money. Luckily, I was unharmed. But if I didn't have the mug money in my wallet, it's possible they would have killed me. So, the rough guide maybe saved my life because they said, you know, I always carry mug money with you in your wallet if you're in Brooklyn.

I've told this story to people and they say, well, you know, Brooklyn's better now. It's more gentrified. But I'm, you know, I was there maybe in 2003. So. Maybe it's better now. I don't know. But that's why you need to talk to people to find out what the story is in that place. And that applies to everyone. No matter who you are. You really should do as much research as you can before you get yourself into maybe a bad situation and you don't necessarily know.

what to do in a certain situation. So if you have any questions about certain situations, maybe if you have certain questions about certain things that could happen. I've, you know, I've explored Florida and Texas and California and New York a little bit. There are certain places that I won't go. Like, I wouldn't go to Chicago. Um, now at least, I mean, I might've explored Chicago maybe 10 years ago, but now I don't think I would want to go there. Um, but it.

you know the more that you talk to people the more you learn and one thing that I've learned from talking to people is to just be a little more observant and to be a little more careful you know, for instance, here's a, here's a tip I got from an older man and, um, This is something I've always thought about ever since. And it's just a little tip. It's not really a big tip or anything. But let's say you're crossing the street. A lot of times you'll see light poles.

around. There's all kinds of poles, utility poles for, you know, electricity or crosswalk poles. There's poles for the lights. the traffic lights. So when you're waiting to cross the street, a good strategy, he said, was just stand behind the pole. That way, if a car... were to veer off the road and, you know, sometimes people fall asleep at the wheel or they just, you know, this occasionally happens where some old person maybe just...

Maybe their drugs, the medication that they're on has a side effect, and people go off the road. So if you're standing behind a pole, that's a good way to protect yourself from getting run over. by a car. And a lot of people don't think about this. You know, if you can just look at people crossing the street, a lot of them don't stand behind the pole. But ever since he told me that now I, now I stand behind the pole because I'm, I'm thinking about what he said. So, um,

Yeah, there's, you can, it's just, I think it pays to be observant. That's one thing that he taught me. In any case, on that uplifting note, I will... let you go and i hope if you have any uh questions um subscribe to the to the telegram channel and the the description And that way I can talk to you. All right. Thanks for listening. And we'll talk to you soon.