CALLING FROM REHAB

Hey, folks, it's Lyle. Before we get into the episode, I wanted to talk to you guys about a new thing I'm doing where you can help support my lizard endeavors by becoming a premium member of this podcast over at Therapy Gecko dot supercast dot com. Premium members, or gek Legends, as I call them, we'll be able to get every new and existing episode of Therapy Gecko completely

All from Benjamin.

Hello, Hello, what's going on?

Not much? I'm calling you from rehab. Oh really, yeah, I'm two months in, two months sober as a last Friday.

What's what's rehab like?

Oh?

It's been good so far. I mean, I've got an eight month old daughter, so it's pretty hard being here away from her. But it feels good to have been sober for her for the last two months. That's been awesome.

What is this alcohol that we're talking or something else?

It was alcohol, and like copious amounts of pot, like insane marathon smoker's amount of pot. Interesting, for about five years, I smoked like an ounce to two ounces a day.

You smoked an ounce of pot a day for five years. Sorry, I'm out too, that's crazy.

It's all good. Yeah, it was nuts. Again, it was not good for.

An ounce of pot a day. Oh my god. Sorry. I mean yeah, I feel like I'm making fun to read. But I mean no, I mean no, I'm I don't. I'm I mean, that's under that's that's that's a lot. That's wild. Yeah, that is because when you said pot, I was like, I don't. I've never heard of someone in real I mean, obviously alcohol people are going to be have for it all the time, but I've never heard somebody in rehab for for pot. And I mean an ounce is how do you afford that? Holy shit,

Well, yeah, it's just here amount. I grew a lot of it myself. I'm in Canada, so it's pretty easy to grow it and get away with it. And yeah, a lot of it. I just I made money, like I was in school for a while, but I was also making money on the side. I had a lot of savings, so I kind of just burned through a lot of money really could have.

Mm okay, so what were you were you were you selling what you grew or I mean, you know, you can plead the fifth on that if you want. Oh wait, you guys don't have the fit, you don't have the fit?

Yeah, fat no, No, I was. I was selling it, not super not legally, but I definitely was, and that helps fund a lot of it. And then you know, I have buddies. I went through a couple of jobs where I like use my job as leverage to get pot. I managed at campground for a while and doing that, like it was near a bunch of indigenous dispensaries, so I'd let the indigenous guys come in and use the boat launch for free and they give me like that's pretty cool. Now it's a pot a day.

Look forgive me for my ignorance. But does Canada even have laws and jail?

And yes, yeah we have laws. There are like a lot of laws around weeds. Like right now, if you buy edibles at a dispenser, you can't get a single edible over like ten milligrams. Really there are there's weird Yeah, there's really weird laws. But you could buy like two ounces weed.

Okay, weird, so you can you can buy for you a two days supply of weed.

Oh yeah, easily. Yeah. And if I like, you can go to multiple dispensers, you could have like ten ounces by the end of the day if you wanted to.

Where is that what you were doing?

Yeah? Sometimes yeah wow.

Throw a bomb?

Yeah yeah, like hard and like near the end, I started doing diamonds. So I'd like heat up a spoon with a buttane torch until it got cherry red and then like drop diamonds onto the spoon and then in hail that to like a milk jump that I'd cut half off, like a way half gram at a time.

What was it? What's the diamond?

It's like ninety pc distilled into a crystal. It's hardcore.

That you know what's hilarious is like they you can't overdose on weed, but it's you are proof that you cannot overdose on weed.

Yeah, basically if you could.

You would have. You would have been super dead.

Yeah, no, no kidding, I would have. And I mean, like I had other crazy times when I did tons of weed, Like one day I took a thousand mili rams of edibles at once and like that felt like I was gonna die. That was nuts.

One thousand milligrams of I would feel like for you, after all this smoking, your tolerance would be such that a thousand milligrams would be like if I took fucking ten.

Yeah, Like, well I also took two tabs of acid at the same time.

That.

Yeah, it was a it was a wombo combo.

So what was the what? Why? Why why were you? Why were you smoking an ounce of we to day? If you even have an answer to that question, Oh.

Yeah, I definitely do. Like, Okay, I'm gonna go back a little bit. I've always been addicted to something Like even when I was a little kid, I like my parents were very much like they didn't allow me to have video games, they didn't allow me to eat sugar, all sorts of stuff, So I like I didn't know how to regulate my own dopamine kind of.

Yeah.

So like I remember, even at like five or six years old, I'd read a book and I like try to reread the book to get the same enjoyment out of it, but of course you wouldn't. I get frustrated and angry at the book. Or like when I did finally start being able to play video games, I get really angry when a video game didn't satisfy me the same way. And I didn't start drinking and smoking until

M and you've been here for two months.

Yeah, I've been sober for two months. Yeah, a year long program. Uh, I'm feeling pretty good, Like I'm definitely used to being sober. Now, I kind of worry that I've just transferred to other addictions because like I've started going to the gym like two hours a day to fill up my time, and that kind of worries me that when I get out, I'm just going to work out constantly just to stave off with the anxiety. But I've only two men too.

You're you're worried that you're gonna fucking get jacked.

Like my goal while I'm being here is to get to the point where I'm not addicted to anything. Like there's not one thing that I just have to do every day or I'll go absolutely nuts. So, like I want to be able to exercise and work out, and I don't want it to like if I miss a day, I don't want to like freak out and get crazy anxiety or something.

I'm sorry, I'm stupid. Is anyone not addicted to any like anything? Like, is there anyone out there who has no addictions at all? Even if we can consider we can consider going to the gym and addiction.

Yeah, yeah, no, you're right, You're right, Like everybody has something that they just have to do, just like everything I've done in my life has God, I've gotten crazy compulsive about like I used to. I used to also go to the gym a ton when I was nineteen or twenty, and I would go like two hours a day, six days a week. And then I finally like one night I arm wrestled fourteen guys in a row with both arms. When I got up the next morning, I'd blown out both my shoulders and I couldn't work out

You know, wait, you you hola, you are I I You ended that talking about how depressed and low self esteem you were, but I was I didn't catch that part because I was trying to like you arm wrestled fourteen guys with both like you were, like they like seven guys in each a line, and You're like, what is what is that?

Yeah? Yeah, no, it was my It was my first So I did a year of Bible college before I went to university, and we had like this first men's getting to know each other retreat type thing. We all decided to arm wrestle and just nobody could beat me because it was like two hundred and ten pounds at the time. I just arm wrestled like fourteen people because

You got like arm russel gang banged.

Literally huh So, Yeah, I'm just super obsessive of everything, and that's that's one of the reasons I'm rehab and I'm trying to trying to get that in order.

When your daughter was born eight months ago, yep, yep, how and okay, and so in this this is a year long program, and so are you what's the deal with it? Is it?

Like?

Okay, I'm how do I say this? Are you? So it's like is it like a sleep away camp type of vibe or like are you what are you doing for this whole year?

Yeah, It's it's kind of unique. It's not like a lot of rehab centers. It's actually a working farm. So I'm on this giant farm and I'm here for a year, and they kind of split it up into three quarters, so the first or four quarters. So the first quarter is just like getting your health in order, getting back into exercising, trying to eat well. The second quarter you do a lot of like AA style stuff therapy. The third quarter you can start to like work again and

Interesting, and do you have a job while you're doing this? Are you working?

I work in the kitchen here, so I work like twenty five to three hours a week just cooking for all the other guys here and.

They and do they pay you on top of like how does how does that work?

No, we pay to be here and get we don't get paid for our work here. But luckily in Canada, in the province, I mean actually you can claim EI like employment insurance for medical causes for substance abuse. So my doctor just signed off saying that, like I needed rehab and the government pays me, Like I think it's like twenty three hundred bucks a month just to be here, so it completely covers the cost of rehab plus more.

So you're not going out of out of you're not losing you. So the government basically paid for you to get a reheab.

Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty sweet.

Fucking ten points for Canada. God damn right.

And it's not in every province either. I'm lucky. I'm in British Columbia, so they were one of the few provinces that does that. Are you near Vancouver, Yeah, I'm coming to your show in June. Was gonna I'm gonna wear all greens, so if you see me in the audience, I'm in green sweat fans, green hoodie, green two green everything.

Fuck. Yeah, Well look here's the thing. You're not gonna need all that weed anymore. So if you want to bring into the show and give it to me, I would gladly accept it.

I threw out all my wheed a long time ago, but I'm not gonna let myself go near it again.

Okay, So, how what do you actually do every day?

Yeah? Well, like so it's a kind of a weekly schedule, so Mondays and Fridays. In the mornings, we have classes can range from anything from like I've done relaxation therapy, We've done anger management courses, We've done something called smart Recovery, which is kind of like AA. And then for in the evenings you do some kind of like group therapy or like class. So tonight we had a sharing group where we just get together with a couple of guys that are in the rooms around us and talk to

Huh are you what? Now? What did you do for work before you went to rehab? Oh?

Man, I did a lot of stuff. Like I said, I was in a PhD in experimental psychology for a year, realized I hated that. I dropped out of that, and that's where I met my partner who I would later have a daughter with. So we moved back to BC. I started working at a campground for a while when we were living out of my truck camper, like with solar pannels and the whole thing at this campground. I did that for about a year, and then we found out she was pregnant, so I quit that because we

Do you have what is your Do you have like a plan for the future of like what you want to do when you get out.

Yeah, I'm not sure yet. I've only been here a couple of months, so I'm kind of just stabilizing right now, and I don't really figure out exactly what I want to do. My partner is good school right now, and she we're kind of we're kind of opposite. She loves having a job and working and I mean the same sort of routine every day and I hate that. So what we're actually hoping in the future is I'd love to be a stay at home dad, and we both want to have like a little farm one day where

M m hmmm. So what what does she do again?

She is a student right now. She's actually Indigenous, so while she's in school, she's getting funding from her band and from the government to go to school. So she's basically get she's basically getting paid to go to school. She gets like four grand in the month.

So the Canadian government pays for her to go to school and stuff.

Well, they don't pay her directly. They like give her band money, like her specific indigenous group, and then that they give her money out of that. And because she's going to school full time and she has a kid, they've basically just decided to give her four grand a month. Oh so yeah, we're we're doing pretty good. Like financially, we're okay. Neither of us have to work. She just

When you said doing pretty good, I finally heard your Canadian accent.

Yeah, yeah, it doesn't come out as much on the West coast, but I guess yeah, m hmm.

So are you making Are you making friends in rehab? The way that you described it as like kind of a commune farm, it sounds like a place that would foster, you know, connections of some kind. Are you finding that to be true totally?

Yeah. Yeah, It's definitely way different from other rehabs around here, where it's kind of just lock you up and get sober kind of thing. Honestly, Like if you wanted to get drugs here, it'd be super super easy. They don't search you or anything, and like people can go home on the weekend. So it's more of a place that guys come to who like really really are committed to staying sober and working out things in their lives and

Yeah, everybody's order type of place.

Not at all, not at all. I've broken down crying in front of guys here multiple times, and everybody's just like super supportive and like right there for you. It's really awesome.

Yeah, you know, I always sorry I'm complaining, but I've always I wish I could go to rehab for like sugar that probably exists. Is this that exists, rehab being addicted to Reese's Cups? Is there a rehab? Rehab is the rehab you could come?

You can come here. They have they have people who come in for like sugar addictions. Like there's one guy who's just here because he was depressed. He just he just came here and they took him. Really, it's pretty open. Yeah, it's pretty open to interpretation.

Can now I now will his did his Do you think his doctor, let like wrote him a note saying you can you're the government can pay for you to go to this commune to be not depressed. Or do you think he just went out of pocket? Uh?

I don't know. In his case, I I I don't think he could qualify. Like if you get fired from your job, you can qualify for e I too, So if he just got himself fired, maybe he's maybe he's getting EI through that. And if those fail, you can also you can also try to apply for like social assistance or disability if you can prove you of some kind of disability to, but some guys do just pay out of pocket. It's only like twelve hundred bucks a month,

I'm about to move to Canada, get a job, and get my ass fired. That sounds awesome to do it.

But you can do rehab together, it'd be awesome.

I would love to you're I would love to go to rehab with you. That would be great. That would be great. Well, although I will say I will say, you know, go karting and skill. You know what sucks though, is that go karting and skiing so much more fun while you're high.

You're absolutely right, you're one hundred, that's right off.

But huh, so you're feeling good? Are you feeling good about sobriety? You feel like you're gonna be able to do the month? I mean that's the year of the year.

Yeah, totally, Like honestly, I feel healthier and happier than I have for like the past five years. I've also I've given up a lot of like my misplaced ambition too, which has been kind of freeing in a way. Like when I was when I was in my PhD, it wasn't because I wanted to do it, it was just because I felt like I had to do it because I had all these expectations that I placed on myself

Yeah, that's wonderful. I'm not a real therapist, but judging off the information that you gave me about you getting arm Russell gang banged by fourteen guys, you do you definitely seem to have misplaced ambitions.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I agree.

That's beautiful. Man. Fuck, it sounds like you're cured now, but you got to do the whole year just to make sure.

Yeah.

Well, like everybody has rough moments and rough days too. Like I'm only talking about the good stuff, but I mean I have days where like all I can think about is pot too, and I just have to really struggle through it. Or like I'm invc. So when you're driving around, you smell pot like every five minutes and just the smell comes into your car. So like when that happens, it's tough. And like I've been, like every time I leave, my partner's there with me and she's

It's not all sunshine, roses and go karting.

Yeah, go karting for sure, but.

It's at least a little bit go karting. That's what we know. Yeah, what the hell? Oh did you ever have a time in your life where you were able to like to smoke casually or was it always fucking nuts?

Uh? Yeah, Well, like I kind of transitioned from drinking super heavily to smoking super heavily. So when I was drinking super heavily, I would smoke maybe like once a month, and I was okay. But I was also drinking like fifty sixty seventy drinks a week, like just just pounding them down. And then like my liver started to go a little bit, so I quit drinking and went to smoking,

What is we do you? How is are there any did your doctor tell you about any of the long term effects of the ounce of whea today?

Well, it messes up your lungs, that's for sure. We couldn't go up a flight of stairs without feeling like crapped. And like when I quit, I coughed up and resin from my lungs for about two weeks. My spit was just brown, like packing up phlegm. And like when I quit, it was like hardcore withdrawal. Hardcore withdrawal, I was like, because I was smoking like over and now it's the day through a bong. I didn't eat for like three weeks because I couldn't. I would throw up every time

Damn you know. I was gonna fucking take a rip of my dad pan after this, but now I'm not sure.

Well, like anything like anything can be used in moderation, But my problem is I'm really good at manipulating myself. So I cannot have one rip. I can convince myself that the next day I can have another rip and it's not a problem. And then I could convince myself that I can have two rips in a day and it's not a problem. And then I just spialed down from there. It's all about like, if you have the mindset for moderation, it makes all the difference. I almost

You don't think weed and small amounts are there? Well, I guess. I mean I assume most I don't know. Most people who like you know, get addicted, are like our a people or like have struggle with addiction. I think most of them usually quit cold turkey for the rest of their lives rather than reintegrate it.

I assume, yeah, And that's what I want to do, like, especially with my daughter, Like my parents didn't do the best job raising me and my Like my biggest goal in life has been to be a good parent because I want to be able to really succeed in some of the places they failed. And when I couldn't quit when my daughter was born, that was really scary. And I never want to go back to that kind of fear of not being able to take care of someone.

Like, god da, do I sell all the time?

No?

I had a call once with the I feel bad that I say that all the time. I fucking say things on this podcast and then people are like, remember when you said that. I'm like, I forgot anyone was listening to this. What was I gonna say? No, I don't think you're screwed. You sound very not screwed.

Oh yeah, No, she changed my life for the better by far. She gets me going every day. Yeah, twenty six and my partner is twenty twenty one or twenty two, so we're really young, okay to have a kid and we've only known each other two years.

Okay, Well sounds like it's been in an eventful two years.

Yeah you could say that.

Okay, m And now you have your daughter and you're excited too. Oh I remember I was gonna ask me, you're you said your parents raised you in ways that you're not cool with. What do you want to share any like, uh, the things you've learned from their mistakes that you're hoping to not you're hoping to correct in your raising of your own daughter.

Yeah. Sure. My parents were super super legalistic religious growing up, like like really hardcore. So like one example I can give is pretty much my earliest memory from childhood. I was maybe four or five years old and I was at church. I still remember like I was in the pews and I couldn't sit still because I was four or five years old. He can't sit still in church when you're that young. My dad was getting so ticked off at me. Then when we got home, he had

Yeah, what's your relationship with the parents, Like now.

It's a bit better my dad, Like, my parents had three kids after me, and they did a much better job with those kids. They were also like nineteen and twenty when they had me, and they came from super religious homes who like R really came down on them for having a kid that young and not in marriage, so they had their own issues to work out. So like, my relationship with them is a little bit better now that now as a parent, Like they come and visit

So that's good. It's kind it's kind of interesting that you get older and you're and then you have that thing of like, oh that was fucked up that my parents did that, But also they were probably also had just had no fucking idea what they were doing.

Yeah, I know.

And also the fact that you you recognize it as some kind of like cycle that you are now have the have the glorious opportunity to break.

Absolutely that's like my biggest goal right now.

Mm hmm. Do you think what if they come out with a like an like weed too? Would you try weed too if they if there was a sequel to weed, or would you be like No.

I'm no, I'd want to. I definitely want to do it, but I wouldn't like I even I gave up like everything when I came here. I don't even drink coffee anymore because I don't want to be on any substance whatsoever, Like I really just want to be able to get through my day on my own power, just enjoy things without any kind of substance. I don't even drink like pop anymore. So I don't think We'd two would draw me back in as much as I would love to try it, But We'd.

Too would be like a combination of all those things. It combines. It's like weed infused with soda and infused with alcohol, infused with Reese's pieces, and you feel all those things I.

Mean, I've had we'd infused alcoholic drinks before, and those were pretty dope.

But what is you've had? What you had? You've had? Okay, hold on, just really, though I made I made my own, you made, Okay, alcol we'd infused alcohol makes sense logistically, But how the fuck do you make alcohol infuse weed?

Oh? Okay, Okay, No, I haven't made alcohol infuse weed. Yeah I didn't. I didn't think to that, but I have made weed infused alcohol.

Okay.

I thought you used weed into I infused weed into ever Clear, and then I would take shots of that.

I'm glad you're in rehab.

Man, me too, Man.

God damn well, you know, I'm I'm the Lord has given you another chance after your weed infused ever Clear. I'm glad to see you taking and I'm glad to see that you're doing well. I'm massively impressed with you that. I mean, it sounds like it was a hellish road to get there, but uh, just yeah, I mean, going from five years of daily you know, craziness to uh, you know, it sounds like you're in a really good place right now after only two months. I mean, that's

I appreciate that. It'll make it easier for me.

What's your name again?

Thanks?

Ben, Ben? Ben? It was a pleasure talking man. Is there anything else you want to say to me or the people at the computer before we go?

I'd love to show my partner she's watching. I love you so much. You are everything to me. And I listened to your podcast religiously, so I'm excited for the next episode. I listened to it while I'm in rehab cooking.

Fuck yeah, fuck yeah, I'm glad to hear that. Man.

You take care you two man, Ben forever, Lile forever.

Oh that was a great call. Oh that was a great call. I love that guy that was. That was fascinating to me because yeah, I coulda talk to that guy forever. That was fascinating to me because after five I mean that was some heavy, fucking heavy, serious crazy thing like an ounce of weed a day for five years, fucking infusing weed into every clear I mean, that's crazy to me to be on that high level of addiction and then only after two months be talking the way that.

Okay, thanks Paul from Amy, Hello, Hello is this Lyle?

Yes? It is.

Oh my goodness, there's no one forwarding your call this time.

What's going on?

Well, there's several things, okay, one of them being my dad wants me to start a food truck.

Okay, your dad wants you to start a what kind of food truck? Are we talking taco funnel cakes, Sega.

It's a snow cone truck.

Your dad wants you to start a snow cone truck. Is do you have a family snow cone business that he wants you to take over?

No, it's a franchise.

It's a franchise. Is it his franchise?

He has some in Virginia, but I'm in Denver and he wants me to get one here.

Okay, how do you How do you feel about the prospect of starting a snow cone business.

It's not my dream, all right, but it might get me to my dreams.

What's your dream?

I would like to start a farm.

You like to start a farm? Okay? Well, I mean, look, you could start the snowball business and think about it like it's a snowball farm. You start with snowball and then eventually you know dogs and shit.

That's one way to look at it.

Well, I'm you said that this that this snowball machine will this snowball truck can get you closer to your farm dreams. How do you think it will do that?

From everything that I've heard from other franchise you use, it seems like a good way to make money and I'm pretty young, so I don't really need to be on any kind of fast track. But I will say I also get some like climate anxiety, so I feel like I need to do things quickly.

You get climate exiet, like oh, that the world is going to freeze over and.

We're all going to die stuff like that.

Yeah.

I don't think it's going to be one event that. I think a lot of different events might culminate into like something not great.

Well, I'll say this, if the climate changes and things start getting like obscenely hot, great time to own a snowball truck.

You know what. I didn't actually think about it that way. That's a good point, lin. I don't thank you.

Mm hmmmm. And you know, I feel like you could. You'll you'll be able to provide people a lot of uh, you know, serenity before this comet hits us or whatever the fuck's gonna happen. That's that's not a bad way to die, hit by a meteor while eating a skylight snow cone.

I would love for it to be a quick impact.

Yeah, uh okay, So are I are you?

Like?

So you're a right? So your dreams start a farm and you're aware that that has some amount of like upkeep costs, and you want to try to raise those with the snow cone machine place.

Yeah exactly, Okay, And.

Hell was I gonna say, are you like weighing this snow cone thing against like another way to make money?

Yeah, I am doing an IT certification right now, so that's one option. But I don't know, then people are gonna yell at me. It seems nicer to like hand out snowcunes and not get yelled at.

Ah, you're afraid that people are gonna yell at you while you're handing out snow cones.

Well, no, if I did, like it help desk, then probably people would call me all day and I don't want that.

Oh yeah it well it support It's true because here's the thing is, people will probably only be calling you if they are in a bad mood or if they have a problem that's been frustrating them for a while, and so you're going to get them in that mood.

Well, and the thing is, like, originally, when I was younger, and for the longest time, I wanted to be a therapist or counseling psychologist. Yeah, I am really good at having patience and communicating with people who are in that kind of state. But I do think it might be more taxing than like manipulating children into eating sugar.

Ice. Do you look at uh, do you look at a snow cone truck as manipulating children into eating sugar?

Yes, it's hard not to because my dad is the kind of guy to read like how to win friends and influence people, and he's like, you need to compliment the children's shoes and then they'll want your snow cone, or like you need flashing lights, And I'm like, that doesn't sound very ethical to me. But also, yeah, that's the whole.

Thing I would stay for. You know, if I went up to a snowball truck and there was you know, an old man in it giving me complements on my outfit, I'd probably walk away.

Well, children don't know any better.

What do you have a favorite kind of snow cone?

You know what? I'm not gonna lie. I haven't had many of the flavors. I haven't really done a lot of the like I'm in Denver, so I haven't worked on my dad's talk very much.

But you don't sound like you like snow cones at all.

I don't know what I like. I'm gen z, so I'm just kind of hate everything.

Okay, what job do you work now?

I'm in between jobs. I just got fired from a cafe because I was it was it was that was a different story.

But yeah, okay, I'm gonna look, I kind of look. Here's here's what I'll say before we go. If you need a mascot for your snowball machine, I'm down. I don't know how. I don't know if I inspire people to want to eat sugar. People actually people might look at me and go like, I don't I don't want to end up like that and avoid the sugar. But who knows. You call them get cones.

We could do that for a day if you have a back in Denver. I actually saw your live show when you.

Were here last So if oh hell.

Yeah, hell yeah my snowcone truck and watch kids play soccer or whatever it is they do, I would love that.

By the way, what kind of farm do you want? It? Is it like a dog? Is like an animal farm or like a weed farm or like a I mean what kind of crops are we talking?

Yeah? I would love to have like community supported agriculture. So whatever crops are in season. I would love to share with the community for like a membership price, and then I would love to have a dairy with like healthy cows and potentially that we would also grow weed. Who knows, But my main thing is like I want to be self sustained and I want to be able to have a parallel structure to other things.

Well, look, if you do this, you could just pretend like snowballs are in season. They're the in season crop and you're sharing them with your sharing the snowballs with the community.

I think I might be able to do that.

What is your name again, Amy? Right? Yes, well I am a good luck on your dream. Is there anything that you want to say to the people of the computer before we go?

I just would rather say to you. I've been trying to get on your line for like two years now. I remember watching you as parking of COVID and it's really exciting to talk to you. So thank you for your time.

Thank you, Amy, I appreciate you. Have a good night.

Thanks you too.

All From Seth.

Hello, Hi, Hello, Hey is this Seth?

This is Seth? Yes, Hello, Hi Harriet.

I'm all right, Seth. What well, what's going on with you.

Oh not much. I'm severing my first year anniversary at my first big boy corporate job tomorrow. That's pretty exciting.

Okay, well, this is the first year anniversary of the whole time you've been at your job.

Yeah. Yeah, I got the job last March seventh.

All right, do you like it?

I do for the most part. I like it's customer support, like online, but it's kind of turning into more so managing, like the automation of customer support. So it can be fun. But people can be really rude sometimes even well it'sally online, but yeah.

What's the what's the rudest thing somebody has said to you on this job?

They I don't get as bad as my coworkers do, but I've definitely been told like that I'm a fucking idiot a lot, which is just funny. Usually it's not true, which it's usually on them. But I mean, what do I know?

Well, okay, I mean, be honest with me. Have you ever had somebody yell at you? You ever have you had somebody yell at you and call you a fucking idiot? And you were like that was mean? But no, you were right. I was. I was I was being stupid.

There there's been moments where I'm like, yo, I definitely did not know what this Like, I definitely messed up. I've definitely had messed up moments, but never with the people. It's always like really nice people. When I make a mistake, whenever they're me and I'm usually right. They're just usually mad about like refunds. They're usually they're pretty silly. So like I tell them to do something three times in

Now, why do you think these people are upset? What do you think happened to them in their lives to make them want to yell at you.

I'm gonna be honest. I think they just went through a whole lot of nothing in their life. And I think they're very bored, and so I think they just chat based so just on a website. So I think they get very very bored and they just want to go pick a fight with someone.

Yeah, well it's also the chat thing is is interesting because you know it's cathartic, Like you know, you had a bad like you had a bad day in your life, maybe you maybe every day of your life has been a bad day, and then you know they can take it out on you by typing fuck you into a chat and they don't even have to see how you

But I guess it works out then really well because usually it doesn't affect us because it's like I'm sitting at home, working from home, just vibing, like I literally just click off in the chat and go watch a movie, so we're both spying. I guess I think it's the relief I get to chill, you know, so be it right.

All right, So I'm listen. From what you're telling me, it sounds like getting yelled at on the internet has is a beautiful experience for everyone involved.

I think it depends on the position you're in. I think if you're if you have to be like like you know, it could have been your in your area of expertise, so it wouldn't be as beneficial for everyone. But I'm behind a computer screen as well, and like they don't interact with me, and I can. I can very easily. I mean, it doesn't something affect me as much as it could affect someone that's in the lime light more so.

Well, how do you don't know who I am?

Like?

They don't know who I am? Like they can't go to like all my different socials and just consistently blow me up for like years on end. They have one route of getting to me, and so I've blocked into the one route. They kind of can't do anything.

That's true, But can I ask, does any part of you like have you have you ever tried going into this like you know, honored to get yelled at? You know what I'm saying, Like, like you're you're making these people happy by letting them brate you on the computer.

I don't think it's an honored situation. There's some that I like go in because like my only other coworker who handles them. She's a like middle aged woman and a lot of people we get called into. And there's this one guy who calls in a lot who's very creepy to her, And so I take the honor of taking his phone calls every time and dealing with him because he's just creepy to me. But if I can spend happening to her, you know.

So you help your coworker and this this phone call guy, you give him someone to talk to.

Yeah, and I try to deflect him. I mean he literally asked like meet up with her and asked her what she's doing and how she's like just everything about her. So we just tried not to talk to him. But he has been paying our company for like five years, so it's a give and take, you know.

Okay, Yeah, well I don't know. I don't I don't know what his life is. I don't know what any of you guys' lives are, Like really.

I mean, yeah, I well, right now I'm to give you into my life. I'm living at home with my parents. How to move back in a year ago last January. Yeah, well it is. I'm excited to move out again, but it's it's been fun.

What do you like your parents?

I do you like my parents? Yes?

I got lucky.

Do you like What do you do you spend time with them while you're at home or do you try to avoid them to play computer game?

I wouldn't say I tried to avoid them, but there's not much to do. I live in a we live in a very small town. Uh, and so I just do spend a lot of time in my room, just because if I were to interact with them all the time, we'd go crazy again, you know, mm hmmm hm, that's fair.

Yeah, uh, you know I I I came back home recently and it's been nice. I was on a walk with my mom today and I was like, you know, fuck me, I'm over here trying to like travel the whole world and do all this to do a big fucking podcast thing.

And I'm like, yeah, oh no.

I was on a walk with my mom that it was nice outside and my there was a dog and I was like, you know, this is this is enough? Really, this is plenty, This is good. This. I don't think this needs you know, I don't think I need. You know, hookers in ecstasy, maybe hookers next you would have would make it nicer. I don't. I haven't. Yeah, don't go.

Ahead, like don't knock and you try it? Is that kind of what you're getting at?

Sure i've tried ecstasy.

Oh okay, well then maybe you would know. Do you think adding the hooker part would make it exponentially better?

I don't know. I have no idea, that's the thing, but I really felt like it was it was everything you were going to say something.

Well, I you know, I'm just gonna ask, like being home, you know, if I if I can take over here for a second, do you think being home?

For me?

Being home has been in a small town, it's been kind of like pausing, you know. I know I've been here for much longer than you've been moved back home I think, or living back home or whatever you doing back and you're going to tour soon as you're probably staying with them, But have you kind of like been at a pause and like realize that you don't need to be kind of go go go all the time.

Since Yeah, I think, yeah, I think a pause is good. I'm I don't know. I think I don't know. I I actually can I tell you something. The other day I googled. I typed in what Seth? Your name is Seth? I typed into Google how to be happy. I swear to God, I did this in full earnest. I swear to God, I did it in full earnest because I

Happiness is hard to achieve, yeah, for everyone, sure, But I think there's some basic like ground building block to happiness that everyone can like rely on.

Sure, Like for some people, what really truly brings them joy and happiness in life is to go on to chat rooms and yell at the people. YEA work in customer service, and and you and so you provide them, you know, with that happiness for a brief moment of time, and I.

Get to have a pretty easy job and take a pretty easy, you know, sensible paycheck, which makes me happy.

Yeah, next time. So have you ever tried sending back a frowning emoji and seeing if they make they go like? Ah, Man, I made them feel bad? I should stand.

I haven't sent back a frowning emoji, but I have sent that word for words the response I sent and made them angry because it was just the correct response. And I don't think that necessarily helps.

M Well, I'm inspired. I'm gonna go yell at somebody in a customer service chat room and see how that makes me feel. Okay, yeah, give, I might be what was missing in my life.

Honestly, these people never come back, so they have to be like good then, right, they healed in a way, I guess.

Right right right? You know you healed these You healed these people. I like the way you're looking at it like that.

I crying for the positive.

Then, Seth, is there anything you want to say to the people of the computer before we go?

You know, be honest, I found you in this podcast not even five hours ago. So it just pleasure to meet everyone, and uh, good luck on the tour. Man, I hope you kill it.

Thanks man, how'd you find this? By the way, I'm just curious.

I was looking on Spotify for a new podcast and I was like twenty. I was like two three rows, like twenty different podcasts, and on the comedy podcast and I saw this. I was like, you know what, I think I saw a short or an Instagram reel or something of you a year ago maybe, and I was like, I remember just being kind of fun. So I just tapped and listened to the most recent podcast you had with the demon guy.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, I hope he's.

Not something demons. I hope he's given a break for now, at least just a nice week's break.

Thanks for calling, Seth.

You're welcome. Have a good day.

Some people like going on walks. Some people yell at folks in chat rooms. Some people summon demons. There's no wrong answers. There's no wrong answers. Beacon goes on the line making your phone calls.

Every night.

Every Beacon goes to his hide. He's teaching you aloud in the mid of your life. But he's not really an expert.