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Hey there folks, welcome to episode 7 of A Pebble in a Pond Podcast.

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John Steinbeck once said, if a story is not about the hearer, he or she will not listen.

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A great lasting story is about everyone, or it will not last.

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The strange and foreign is not interesting, only the deeply personal and familiar.

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I always planned on making multiple episodes like this one.

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When I thought about the podcast, this is kind of what I originally envisioned.

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At some point in time I'd like to do entire episodes of listener submitted stories.

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We're still not there yet.

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They're still trickling in, but I really would like to be able to just sit here and tell

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people's stories.

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And anyone that heard the podcast would start to get a feel for the kind of people that

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were listening and the stories that they all had to tell.

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We're not there yet, but I am going to tell a few of my own stories of things that have

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happened in my life and moments that changed me and the people involved forever.

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I also have a short story that was submitted by somebody that listens to the podcast apparently.

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And I'm going to give that a quick read as well.

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Now let me be really clear about this.

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I had a lot to think about for this episode.

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And I was really, even now I'm kind of going back and forth in my mind over the order that

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I want to tell these in and how exactly I want to do this.

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Because it really does matter how you format these stories.

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But what I've decided to do is I'm going to start with a more serious and honestly kind

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of a disturbing story.

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That's not one that I'm thinking about that I don't think I've ever told anybody the entire

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story.

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And part of that is because I had kind of blocked out parts of it.

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And it wasn't until a conversation just a few months ago that I started to remember

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like key pieces of it.

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And now I feel like I have the whole story.

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There may be some stuff that I'm still not able to remember.

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But I'm going to do my best to tell this story because I know that it is a disturbing and

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unhappy story that ends in the best way possible.

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So I'm going to warn everybody now that there could be or there probably should be a trigger

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warning for the first story that I'm going to tell.

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And that story will involve some violence and an attempted I guess I can say it on the podcast,

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right?

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Attempted rape and some underage drinking and possible drug use.

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Now that all sounds horrible when I say it all like that.

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But trust me when I tell you this is not a story that ends badly for everybody.

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So just trust me when I tell you, you know, just suffer through the bad parts to get to

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the good part.

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It's all important.

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And honestly I feel good about telling the story.

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So then like I said I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to read a user submitted story.

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It's a short one but it does have some meat to it.

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So I'll go ahead and read that and then we'll talk about it real briefly and then we'll

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finish up with a positive story, a happy story.

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And that's what we have.

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We're just going to do story time and that's why the episode is called Story Time.

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So let's get started.

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Okay.

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So how do we start the first story?

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I guess we start near the beginning.

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If some of you have arrived here from TikTok then you'll know that I've told a story that

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kind of ties into this on TikTok.

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This is about a particular point in my life that I am at the same time very proud of but

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also very regretful of.

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And you're going to understand that pretty quickly here.

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When I was, I don't even really know the particular age range but let's just say 20ish or young

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20, early 20.

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My friend and I, well actually my two friends and I were very very much driven by thoughts

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of justice and stopping crime and things like that.

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Now part of it was we were still coming out of our kid phase where we had all wanted to

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be superheroes but other parts of it were where we grew up and how we grew up.

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It wasn't hard.

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We grew up in the suburbs but we saw a lot of the kind of, the way that some people would

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just get away with so much and other people would have their entire lives ruined by a

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simple mistake.

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And it just didn't sit right.

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We went to a relatively affluent high school and there were kids that would literally walk

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through the high school halls selling drugs to teachers and nobody would say anything

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and nobody would stop them.

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And then at the same time there would be a kid that would be caught with a bag of pot

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and he would be expelled.

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And it just didn't make sense.

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It really, at the time it really bothered us a lot.

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It still bothers me to this day to just see how unfair the system seemed to be to a lot

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of people and how some people just got away with whatever they wanted to.

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So this all kind of culminated, there were a lot of things that we did.

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I have stories that I could tell for days about that and different things that we did

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to try to I guess meet out our own justice if you will.

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But it ends with us joining the Guardian Angels in the city that we live in.

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There was a downtown chapter of the Guardian Angels.

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For those that aren't aware of what the Guardian Angels are, and I don't know if too many people

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listening to this are painfully unaware of that, but the Guardian Angels are a group

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of, they call this visual deterrence.

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That's what we were.

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We were a group of people that started in New York City and I would say the name of

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the guy that started it and all that stuff, but there's just no reason to get into that

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because he's kind of a jerk.

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I mean, allegedly, obviously.

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But I had joined this group because I had seen them out in the streets and I had heard

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about them and I read about them and I decided that if I couldn't go put on a mask and be

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a superhero that at the very least I could go help somebody.

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And I knew that that's what they were trying to do.

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They were trying to weed out some of the drug problems.

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They were trying to help people that needed it.

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They were trying to, in general, just clean up the city a little bit and do it in a way

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that was positive.

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It was not a, I guess you could say it was a little bit of a shock once my friends and

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I joined because in your head you get this kind of romanticized idea of what these crime

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stoppers are like and when you get into, when the first time you roll up to meet them all

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is the middle of a park and they've got literal just a rope on the ground set up as your sparring

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area and there's just, it was literally the most rag tag collection of people you could

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imagine.

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And one thing that I would like to point out is that when we trained, the man that trained

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us was a former Marine and he took it very seriously.

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And at the time I didn't really understand it.

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Now just as a side note here before I continue with that, it's important to understand that

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when I was, I want to say 10, 10 or 11, I started taking Kung Fu.

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Now the particular form of Kung Fu that I took was not one that could be competitive.

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You couldn't enter into tournaments because you didn't learn how to fight for points.

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You learned how to fight for real.

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So a lot of the stuff that I learned to do were throat strikes and eye strikes and sweeping

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people's legs out and things like that.

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Like it's just not stuff that you did in tournaments.

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So I never really got into that part of the martial arts community.

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I was just learning how to fight.

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And then we moved away a couple of years later and when I moved, the interest was still there.

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The desire was still there, but I was nervous and anxious about meeting new people and things

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like that.

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So it took me some years after that to kind of get my bearings and get, you know, understood

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what I was doing.

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And then I started to meet some people that were doing some martial arts and some people

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that I ended up hooking up with people that were actually very well known.

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And I'm not going to name names here, but very well known in the martial arts community.

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And I ended up going and doing some of their classes and some of their camps and things

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like that.

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And it really did encourage a spark in me to continue to learn to fight and to take

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care of myself.

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So I have a little bit of a background.

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Usually I don't have the background of a Marine who's training people how to fight, which

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ties us back to the original story again.

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But I did know how to fight.

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So when we show up at the very first meeting, I wasn't completely out of my element.

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I now granted, like I said, I hadn't done tournament fighting, but I had done fighting.

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I had learned to fight.

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So when we get in and they give us some gloves and some headgear and we get in and we start

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fighting, sparring it with each other.

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This is the first time we literally show up, introduce ourselves, and just start fighting

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each other.

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That's how that story starts really, is just us fighting each other.

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And one of the things that I learned very quickly is that I can really take a punch.

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I really, really can take a punch.

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And I don't mean just one.

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I mean, I get into the ring, I say with quote fingers, like I said, it's just a rope on

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the ground.

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And I get in and we stand there and I start sparring with this Marine.

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And he just obliterates me, but I don't fall down.

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I mean, he hits me probably six times right across the head, but I don't fall down.

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And I'm not really able, I'm not fast enough at the time to really return any punches.

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I'm just guarding myself.

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And so he starts to punch, he starts to try to get in and start trying to work my body

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a little bit and trying to, he wants me to fall.

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He wants me to fall down.

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He's trying to, I guess that's the Marine in him trying to break me, trying to make

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me fall down.

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And he just couldn't do it.

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And I just sat there and I took every punch that he had.

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And I couldn't, like I said, I couldn't really return.

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I couldn't really counterpunch because he was just too fast for me.

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But I knew that, I also knew that he couldn't knock me down.

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I knew that he was never going to get me down.

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So that was kind of the start of what people started to know about me.

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Like that was, nobody had ever stood in the ring with him.

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Nobody had ever stayed up.

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Nobody.

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And that goes back to his, when he was active military, this is a guy that knew how to fight.

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This was a guy that knew how to kill.

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And even he said afterwards, nobody's ever stood up for as long as you did against me.

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He's like, I don't know what you did.

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I don't know if your head gear was on wrong and you just couldn't feel the punches, but

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nobody's ever stayed up.

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And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I don't feel pain.

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Getting hit by that guy hurt.

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But I just knew that if I fell, that people would, I guess you shouldn't say knew that.

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I thought that.

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I thought that if I fell, that people would think less of me.

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And the idea that these people that I just met and these people that I was trying to

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be on their team and join up, the idea that they would think less of me was enough to

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just, I would have ran through a wall at that point in time.

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And there wasn't going to be much of anything that was going to stop me.

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So that's the start of the story.

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And the reason I wanted to bring that up, you'll see.

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I've always been pretty resilient.

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I've always had a decent amount of endurance.

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And not endurance in the sense that I can run far distances for a long period of time,

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not that kind of endurance, but endurance in the sense that I can really take a punishment.

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So as time goes on, we end up patrolling and joining and patrolling and doing all the things.

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And at first we just went downtown and we just wandered around on the streets on nights

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like Fridays and Saturday nights and things like that.

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But as we kind of branched out, people started to recognize us, people started to know us.

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So as we branched out, we started to go into some of the worst and worst parts of the city.

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One particular patrol point that we would have is my partner and I, which everybody

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had a partner.

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Now, my partner was not one of my friends.

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My friends partnered up on their own.

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The other two guys that joined with me, they have their own stories.

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And I joined up with one of the other guys.

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Now, the guy that was my partner, I won't say his name because his, we all had street

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names, we all had call signs basically.

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And his call sign was actually his last name.

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So I'm not going to say his name, but I will tell you that his name was Mike.

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So Mike and I, we were partners.

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And we were in pretty much constant contact with each other.

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This was when beepers were really popular.

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He had a cell phone, but I did not.

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And so I just had a pager.

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And he used to hit me on that pager like multiple times a day with like all sorts of cryptic

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number messages and things like that that I'd have to decipher.

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But he and I used to patrol out at a club.

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Now this was not a club that was downtown.

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This club was a little ways removed from downtown, but it had become synonymous with sexual assault

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cases and rapes.

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And what would happen was these club organizers would have a, they had a night where it was

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17 and up with ID, but nobody ever checked the ID.

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And so you'd get these girls that were 15 and 16 that were showing up and going to this

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club.

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You know, obviously for a lot of girls that are 15, they look 17, they look 25.

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You know, it's just, it's just a matter of, you know, how they do their makeup and how

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time has affected them.

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So a lot of, a lot of those situations ended really badly because these were young, young

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girls that were showing up to go to a club and didn't have the, the wherewithal and the

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understanding of what they were walking into.

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Now you do that a couple of nights and sooner or later, that's going to start to draw the

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predators, the men that are there to take advantage of that.

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Now those men, you know, some of those men were there all the time, but, but a lot of

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00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:15,320
them, when they, when, when they started to realize what the club was doing and what the

229
00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:23,080
club was promoting, it, it proliferated in a way that was not just disturbing, but, um,

230
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:27,800
you know, the quote from Star Wars, you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and

231
00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:29,340
villainy.

232
00:19:29,340 --> 00:19:30,800
That's kind of what this club was like.

233
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:40,320
So with that in mind, um, I want to say that we patrolled on, uh, Tuesdays and Thursdays

234
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:41,400
primarily.

235
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:47,360
They had, uh, the club had a, did a decent job of keeping off duty police people there,

236
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:53,120
um, on like Friday and Saturday, which those are the big like normal club nights.

237
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,680
So they did a good job of keeping that patrolled there.

238
00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,200
But during those weekdays where they would have, and these are school nights too, keep

239
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:01,200
that in mind.

240
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,760
So you've got 15, 16 year old girls going out on school nights.

241
00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,920
Um, not that, you know, I care that much about school nights, but I'm just saying that's

242
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,600
something, you know, something to keep in mind is how scummy these promoters were.

243
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:18,080
But uh, Mike and I, we used to go out there on, of our own volition.

244
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:23,160
This was not something that was like a, a guardian angel sanctioned patrol necessarily.

245
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:29,800
I mean, it was because our leader knew that we were doing it, but it was also not like,

246
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,400
like the whole team wasn't out there.

247
00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,000
It was just Mike and I, and we did it kind of as, you know, volunteer service.

248
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,000
Really?

249
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,720
We were just going out there because the cops weren't out there.

250
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:46,320
So uh, in that period of time, it was probably a, uh, I want to say 10 month period of time

251
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,120
that we patrolled there.

252
00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:54,320
Um, I saw, I saw a lot, I experienced a lot.

253
00:20:54,320 --> 00:21:02,200
I am not going to lie to you and tell you that, uh, most of mo let's, let's put it this

254
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:03,200
way.

255
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:10,400
Most of the memories of that, uh, those interactions are, um, disturbing to me.

256
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:19,520
Uh, I saw women at their absolutely most terrified at the worst point in of their life.

257
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:28,600
And the only thing that stopped it from, for at least nine women, the only thing that stopped

258
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:34,900
it from becoming the actual worst moment of their entire existence was me and my partner.

259
00:21:34,900 --> 00:21:43,600
And I know that, um, now the story I'm going to tell you here is, um, I guess you could

260
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,080
say nine and a half, and this is the story of the half.

261
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:51,760
And it's like I said, this is not a great story to tell, uh, but it is a story that

262
00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:53,400
has a happy ending.

263
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,480
So just, just stay with me.

264
00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:00,400
I know I've had a long intro to this, but I wanted to make sure that you had context

265
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,960
for what I was doing and why I was there.

266
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:10,480
So we're going to, I'm going to set this up here and then we'll get to the part that I,

267
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,600
I know is going to be a little disturbing.

268
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:18,680
So this was a Thursday night and, uh, Mike and I had been out on patrol.

269
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:24,160
Now, when I say we'd been out on patrol, uh, at this place, basically the club was set

270
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:31,000
inside of a strip mall and the, the nights that they would do their big events and, you

271
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,080
know, the weekends, things like that, this, this, the parking lot of the strip mall would

272
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,280
fill with cars.

273
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,400
And I mean, this is a large parking lot and it was completely full of cars.

274
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,400
This place was, was just killing it.

275
00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:48,440
They just were making so much money because they were the only club in town that was doing

276
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,480
these like underage nights, basically.

277
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:59,160
Now I, you know, just saying that, uh, especially now in today's world gives me a like visceral

278
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,160
ick feeling.

279
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:04,640
Um, but this was, you know, this was back then and that's what people did.

280
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,160
Uh, that's what some, you know, some clubs at least thought it was a good idea to have

281
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,380
an underage night.

282
00:23:10,380 --> 00:23:15,760
So Mike and I had been out patrolling for, I would say probably about an hour.

283
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:21,300
Um, we got there right around, I think it was about 9 PM.

284
00:23:21,300 --> 00:23:25,560
It could have been a little bit earlier because we, we wanted to get set up and, uh, usually

285
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,640
we would get there and we would set up a, uh, a patrol point.

286
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:35,520
We would start, um, from basically just outside of the entrance of the club.

287
00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:37,160
The club owners knew we were out there.

288
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,440
So we would start just outside the entrance of the club and we would keep like, we had

289
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,160
a couple of radios and we had like bottles of water and stuff like that, like refills

290
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:48,280
and stuff that we would set up there so that we could, you know, we would basically do

291
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:54,440
a couple of laps and then we would, uh, go there and replenish or take a break or whatever

292
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:55,440
for a few minutes.

293
00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:01,140
Uh, so we would set up our, our, our patrol point and then we would, um, we would basically

294
00:24:01,140 --> 00:24:02,400
just start patrolling.

295
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,980
Now what was interesting about this, and I know that this is, you know, maybe this is

296
00:24:06,980 --> 00:24:10,880
too much information for some folks, but what's interesting about it is that we would like,

297
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,520
if we were patrolling in a city street, we would just walk down the sidewalk.

298
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:20,040
And the whole point was for us to be visually there and people see us and know that we were

299
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:25,080
essentially as they call us vigilantes and not to, you know, not to do stuff.

300
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:26,440
Don't do the crime, right?

301
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,920
Like you see the people there to stop the crime, don't do the crime.

302
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:37,040
But, uh, we were, um, in this case we weren't, we weren't necessarily trying to be visual

303
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:38,040
deterrents.

304
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:43,400
Um, we, we understood the people that we were dealing with, right?

305
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,320
Like they're, these are, these are men that are, you know, they're not, they're not going

306
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:53,720
to stop their behavior because they see a couple of dudes in red berets walking around.

307
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,480
That's just not how these, these kind of men work.

308
00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,160
So we weren't so much there to be visual deterrents.

309
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:04,200
We were still wearing our, you know, our shirts and our berets and everything, and we were

310
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:05,760
still there to be prominent.

311
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,400
Um, but we weren't, we also weren't trying to be prominent.

312
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:14,800
We knew that, uh, these men were, you know, scumbags.

313
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:20,360
They were sneaky and, uh, they would get these girls out in their cars and, you know, do

314
00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:22,440
whatever they wanted with them.

315
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:28,400
So, um, we, we were actively trying to, you know, essentially hunt.

316
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,320
I mean, I hate to use that word, but that's what we were doing.

317
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,160
We were trying to find these people.

318
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,160
We're trying to find these men that were doing these things.

319
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:41,480
And so we would oftentimes, we would split up, but we would always maintain visual contact.

320
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:48,080
We would, we would see each other and we would basically comb through rows of cars.

321
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,960
And you know, there were plenty of nights.

322
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,560
We did this for, like I said, like 10 months.

323
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,560
Uh, there were plenty of nights where we never found anything.

324
00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,400
Uh, there was, you know, it was everything for the most part was on the up and up or

325
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,440
we just had really poor timing.

326
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,960
Uh, but there were also plenty of nights where we, we did find stuff.

327
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:15,000
And this particular night, um, like I said, we got there around nine 30, uh, we'd been

328
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:16,680
there about an hour.

329
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,240
The underage stuff, uh, usually went for about two and a half hours.

330
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:25,520
They usually wrapped it up, uh, around 11, 11 30.

331
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:33,560
Um, so, uh, people would, you know, start to file out into the parking lot around, well,

332
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,520
I guess not all people, but a good portion of the people, the, the underage crowd and

333
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:43,240
stuff like that, uh, would, would file out, um, around midnight.

334
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:44,920
They'd all be going to their cars.

335
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,200
Now here's one of the really scummy things about these promoters that I actually just

336
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:53,400
thought of is that these were underage nights, but they were only underage for girls.

337
00:26:53,400 --> 00:27:01,640
So if you were 17, which meant 15 or 16, um, if you were 17 and a girl, you could get in

338
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:02,640
for free.

339
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,240
Obviously they didn't serve you drinks.

340
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:09,480
Um, I don't think they even served alcohol those nights, which is one of the ways that

341
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:11,560
guys would get girls into their cars.

342
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:15,640
They would tell them, Oh, I've got some, something to drink in the car.

343
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,560
And the girls would go out there to drink with them.

344
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:25,400
But, um, they, you, it wasn't, it wasn't open for young men, right?

345
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:29,640
Like, so you had to be 21 and up to be a man to get in.

346
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:31,560
It wasn't, it wasn't even 18 and up.

347
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,960
It was 21 and up to go hang out with 15 year old girls.

348
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,600
That's how scummy these people were.

349
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:43,840
And what, what's so disturbing about it was, like I said already, these parking lots were

350
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:45,920
full of cars.

351
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,040
And what's even worse about it now that I really am thinking about it is what kind of

352
00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,520
parent drops your daughter off there?

353
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:53,200
Like, who thinks that's okay?

354
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:58,360
Like, I know that this was a different time, but even, even like I lived through it.

355
00:27:58,360 --> 00:27:59,360
I don't know.

356
00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:00,360
Maybe it's just me.

357
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:01,840
I, I, I couldn't have done that.

358
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:05,920
Uh, if it, if it had been my daughter, I couldn't have dropped her off there.

359
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,720
But then I kind of saw what was happening there.

360
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,440
So, so anyway, we had been there about an hour.

361
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,080
We knew that they were going to be, people were going to start filing out.

362
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,120
You know, we had about an hour and a half or so before people started filing out.

363
00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:23,360
So we were midway through a patrol.

364
00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:28,360
Now it's hard for me to really describe the parking lot and the way it was set up this

365
00:28:28,360 --> 00:28:29,360
way.

366
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:30,880
I would have to draw it out and that's not really worth it.

367
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:37,000
But there was basically a building that was in the middle of the parking lot.

368
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:44,160
And at the time it was, I think it was a, I want to say like a auto shop of some sort.

369
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:50,240
But anyway, the behind the building was one of the places where we would most often find

370
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,120
people fooling around.

371
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:57,280
Now here's a little insight into the mind of some of these sickos.

372
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:04,760
They intentionally would go to this place because they knew the people that were legitimately

373
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:09,640
like adults would go fool around behind this building.

374
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:13,800
And they knew that if they were just back there with these girls and they could get

375
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:19,880
the girls high enough or drunk enough that the girls wouldn't, you know, any of their

376
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:25,560
protestations would not be necessarily thought of as anything out of the ordinary because

377
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,920
that's where people were going to fool around.

378
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:33,960
So these guys, these were like, I mean, these weren't smart guys, but they were literal

379
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:34,960
predators, right?

380
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:36,160
Like they knew what they were doing.

381
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:43,640
They were going there to take advantage of young girls in, you know, a situation that

382
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:47,040
these girls should never have been in because of these promoters.

383
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:52,160
So as we get through this particular night on the patrol, we start to get back to where

384
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:56,000
this area is behind this building.

385
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,840
Now it's really important to understand the reason I tell you all that is because we knew

386
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:06,520
that people legitimately went back there to fool around after going to the club, you know,

387
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,720
everybody's dressed sexy, everybody's, and you know, we're not trying to stop people

388
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:11,560
from having a good time.

389
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:12,560
That's not what we were there for.

390
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,840
We were there to protect people.

391
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:22,560
And so we had to be very careful in this particular area because it would have been just catastrophic

392
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:30,480
if we would have busted up people that were legitimately just doing the do and, you know,

393
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:35,800
started to rough up some guy that was, you know, him and his girlfriend were just having

394
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:36,800
a good time.

395
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:38,720
Like that would have been catastrophic for us.

396
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,160
That's not something that we could have ever allowed.

397
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:41,880
So we had to be very careful.

398
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,920
And not only that, but, you know, we also didn't want to be creeps.

399
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,920
These are people that are making out in their cars that are getting pretty hot and heavy

400
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:50,400
in their cars.

401
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:55,160
And we didn't want to be the guys that were like creeping around the cars, like looking

402
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:56,360
in windows and stuff.

403
00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,360
So we had to be very careful in this scenario.

404
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,600
So what we would often do is Mike would go around one way and I would go around the other

405
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,880
way and we would just stand on the corners of the building.

406
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:14,040
We could still see each other, but it was, you know, it was probably, I would say, 50

407
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,520
yards maybe wide.

408
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,720
And we would stand and we would just kind of, you know, scan the cars that were parked

409
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:21,720
there.

410
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:26,960
And obviously, you know, without getting too graphic, you know, some cars were a rockin'.

411
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:32,240
So we didn't, you know, just like I said, this happened multiple nights and this wasn't

412
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:33,240
a big deal to us.

413
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,040
This was something that we were used to seeing and something that we knew we had to tread

414
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:37,780
carefully with.

415
00:31:37,780 --> 00:31:43,480
One of the things that we had learned, and this was after a few other scenarios that

416
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:51,360
I won't get into now, but one of the things that we had learned was in general, couples

417
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:58,200
used the back seat, people that didn't know each other used the front seat.

418
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:04,400
So I know that's kind of a weird thing to think about, but if you're comfortable and

419
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,480
you know you're going to go back there and do what you're going to do, you want to be

420
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:11,800
as, you know, you want to have as much room as you possibly can, I guess.

421
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,480
And so couples would just be like, all right, let's jump in the back seat.

422
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,400
And people that didn't know each other, people that were uncomfortable with each other, they

423
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,000
would sit in the front seat.

424
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:25,320
And that's one of the ways that we had kind of figured out to tell like what to look for.

425
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:31,880
So on this night, I'm standing on the right side of the building.

426
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:37,960
I look over and Mike motions to me that he thinks he sees something.

427
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:46,080
So I'm sorry, if I stammer a little bit, this is kind of like, it rushes back to me when

428
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,000
I start talking about it.

429
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:56,000
So he motions that he sees something and I start to head towards him.

430
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:01,280
But like I said, being careful not to intimidate or scare anybody that may be, you know, legitimately

431
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,640
there to just have a good time.

432
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:10,800
And I see the car that he's pointing to.

433
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,240
And it's, I'm really not good with cars.

434
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,080
I'm really not.

435
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:22,600
I know that it was a red, like with chipped paint on the front end.

436
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,240
I'll say like a Pontiac of some sort.

437
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,360
I mean, don't be mad at me car makers.

438
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:31,240
I don't remember.

439
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:41,200
But you could see this girl in the front seat and there was a dude in the driver's side.

440
00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:51,000
And she was, I want to say, she wasn't completely out cold, but she was not, she was not aware.

441
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:57,220
She was not, you know, she didn't have her awareness and her faculties about her.

442
00:33:57,220 --> 00:34:02,880
She was obviously very messed up and he was leaning over towards her.

443
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:07,680
You couldn't see what he was doing, but he was obviously touching her in some way.

444
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:16,120
So we sat for a few moments, not even a minute, but it seemed like a long time to us.

445
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:23,080
And we sat and we just observed because once again, we didn't want to bust in on anybody

446
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,440
that was legitimately having a good time.

447
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:30,700
And what was really surreal about this moment was that he was parked at the end of this

448
00:34:30,700 --> 00:34:37,600
row of cars and right next to him, the car literally right next to him was shaking.

449
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,600
It was bouncing.

450
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:47,080
It was really funny now that I think about it, just the image of it.

451
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:52,600
But obviously what was happening was not funny, but the image of this guy and then the car

452
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:57,880
next to him just like basically lifting off its tires from its shaking.

453
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:01,440
Somebody was having a very good night that night.

454
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:09,840
Anyway, so we moved, well, kind of a pincer movement around the front of the car.

455
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:16,080
I was on the driver's side and Mike was on the passenger side.

456
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:19,920
And the guy was completely oblivious to us even existing at that point in time.

457
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,120
He was completely focused on this girl.

458
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:31,360
So as I moved, I was standing to where I was a little bit behind the driver's side door

459
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:35,440
to where I could open the door and get out of the way if I needed to.

460
00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,840
So Mike used to carry large mag light flashlights.

461
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:45,520
And so Mike takes his flashlight out and taps on the window, on the passenger side window.

462
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:50,680
And the guy jumps and the girl kind of like, he tapped loud and it was right next to her

463
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:54,920
head, so she kind of starts to kind of wake up and she's blurry eyed and she starts to

464
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:56,820
cover herself.

465
00:35:56,820 --> 00:36:02,280
This guy had started to take her top off and who knows what else.

466
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,040
So she starts to cover herself.

467
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:09,160
She wasn't showing anything, but you could tell that her top was loose.

468
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:20,000
So Mike asked the guy to roll down the window and the car was on.

469
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,520
So if the guy really wanted to, he could have just taken off.

470
00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:25,320
I mean he could have tried.

471
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,840
So Mike asked the guy to roll down the window and the guy's like, who are you?

472
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:33,180
I'm not rolling down the fricking window.

473
00:36:33,180 --> 00:36:35,440
So Mike's like, please sir, roll down the window.

474
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,840
We're just trying to check, make sure everybody's having a good time.

475
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,760
And then what was interesting is the car next to us that was doing all the rocking had actually

476
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:42,760
stopped.

477
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:47,840
So they got a show.

478
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:54,560
So Mike, and I'm trying to remember exactly the order of the phrasing here, but Mike basically

479
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:59,120
tells the guy, you know, you need to open the window or I'm going to break the window

480
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:00,120
in.

481
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:05,720
And the guy's like, you know, you don't you touch my car and blah, blah, blah.

482
00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:09,360
Well this guy still hasn't recognized the fact that I'm there.

483
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:20,120
So I very deliberately and trying to be as careful and cautious as I can put my hand

484
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:24,460
in the door handle to lift it and the door wasn't locked.

485
00:37:24,460 --> 00:37:26,600
So I'm able to just lift the door and I don't open it.

486
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:27,800
I just have the door.

487
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:35,560
So I give Mike a head nod to let him know that I have position basically.

488
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:40,120
And so Mike taps again really, really hard and almost almost hard enough to break the

489
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:45,040
glass, you know, and tells the guy, you know, you need to you need to open the window or

490
00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,120
step out of the car.

491
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:48,600
And it's becoming very obvious.

492
00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:49,680
I couldn't see her.

493
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:54,520
But according to Mike, it's becoming very obvious this girl had no idea where she was.

494
00:37:54,520 --> 00:38:02,560
She was completely and totally, you know, she was grabbing clothes and like putting

495
00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:07,760
things over her and was scared, like immediately scared.

496
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,440
I did not did not know what was going on.

497
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:19,440
So oh, sorry, I just just thinking about it just makes me so angry.

498
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:26,320
So Mike tells this guy, you know, I'm going to I'm going to bust in the window.

499
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:34,320
And the guy goes to like he's leaning, like looking out the passenger window.

500
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:41,280
And when Mike wraps on the on the window, the guy turns and starts to engage the car

501
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,000
like he's going to take off.

502
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:44,160
So I already had the door open.

503
00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:45,160
So I open up the door.

504
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:46,160
I grabbed the guy.

505
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:48,000
He didn't have a seatbelt on, obviously.

506
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,680
So I just grabbed the guy and I go to pull him out.

507
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:59,160
Well, and this is where the the the training montage that you imagined earlier came in.

508
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:06,440
The guy is in a really odd position because I'm basically standing behind and to his left.

509
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:13,320
And as I grab him, he turns and starts to swing his arm.

510
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:16,300
I don't imagine he knew I was there.

511
00:39:16,300 --> 00:39:18,500
And I don't know who he thought he was swinging at.

512
00:39:18,500 --> 00:39:21,920
But I promise you, he didn't think it was me.

513
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:24,960
So I'm grabbing him to pull him out of the car.

514
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,680
And that's when I realized that it wasn't her top.

515
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:30,240
I mean, her top was off.

516
00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:38,080
But she was she was basically naked from like the down from the top down.

517
00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:42,920
And she had you know, this guy had been taking advantage over this whole time and she was

518
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:44,120
out.

519
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:45,880
Like she had no concept of it.

520
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:51,120
So she's, you know, trying to cover herself up and put whatever clothes she can find on.

521
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,680
She couldn't find her underwear and things like that.

522
00:39:53,680 --> 00:40:00,400
But she was trying to cover herself because there's just two men now or assaulting them.

523
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:02,300
And so I grabbed this guy and I'm pulling him out.

524
00:40:02,300 --> 00:40:07,160
And I'm I'm kind of stunned because I you know, that's not something you expect to see

525
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:08,820
when you open the car door.

526
00:40:08,820 --> 00:40:10,400
So this guy hits me.

527
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:16,760
And he got me real good right across the lower my lower left jaw.

528
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:18,840
He was so with his right hand.

529
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:22,160
And he hit me right along lower left jaw.

530
00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:26,440
If if I hadn't been somebody that could take a punch, this would have knocked me out.

531
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:27,480
I know it would have.

532
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:29,720
It was definitely rung my bell.

533
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:33,360
I could hear my like literally you can hear when you don't know if you've ever been punched

534
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:34,360
or not.

535
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:38,040
But when you get punched across the face or in the jaw, it makes your ears ring.

536
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:40,680
And immediately, that's what I'm hearing.

537
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:44,360
And so he starts wailing on the side of my head.

538
00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:47,640
But after the first punch, I was able to get my head down.

539
00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:49,320
So he's basically hitting me.

540
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:54,560
And I just I just moved my head away from the mic when I said that.

541
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,440
It's funny.

542
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,080
He's hitting me in the top of the head, which does nothing like is it doesn't there's no

543
00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:02,080
point in that.

544
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:08,480
So he's just hitting him hitting his fist on my skull, which, you know, I'm sorry for

545
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:10,160
your fist, buddy.

546
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:15,400
But in general, something that you need to understand from this point is that in general,

547
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:23,000
if somebody starts striking at me or anybody that that gives me fair game.

548
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,000
Right.

549
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:25,000
Like I can I can respond.

550
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,840
Now, I'm not in a position to be able to do anything.

551
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:29,480
I'm just pulling this guy out of the car.

552
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:30,480
So I pull him out.

553
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:31,840
I finally get him out.

554
00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:32,840
It's kind of tough.

555
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:37,280
He's he's not big, but he's a little bit stronger than I am.

556
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:43,320
And so he he kind of comes out of the car and and I'm his feet are still in the car,

557
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:44,740
but I'm pulling him.

558
00:41:44,740 --> 00:41:50,480
So he kind of doesn't have the ability to catch his feet and he fall, fall, falls out

559
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:56,680
and actually falls into the car that was rocking.

560
00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:59,240
And I don't I don't want this guy to get his bearings.

561
00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:00,980
I don't want him to be able to stand on his feet.

562
00:42:00,980 --> 00:42:04,960
I don't want him to be able to, you know, hit me anymore.

563
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:12,140
So realizing that he's starting to fall, I stomp on the back of his ankle.

564
00:42:12,140 --> 00:42:20,000
As somebody who's dealt with a broken ankle, I from from that point on, I've always thought

565
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:26,360
of whenever I've gotten into any sort of physical altercations, I've always thought of take

566
00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:29,680
their ankles, take, you know, take them out there because I know what it's like.

567
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:33,760
It's you know, there's nothing that will affect your mind more than not being able to move

568
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,320
your ankle.

569
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,040
So I stomp on his ankle.

570
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:40,340
Now, obviously, this is extremely painful.

571
00:42:40,340 --> 00:42:44,720
I didn't break anything, but it you know, it hurts real bad.

572
00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:47,200
And so this guy can't get up.

573
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:51,520
Now it's important to understand not only has he, you know, assaulted me multiple times.

574
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:57,840
Now granted, I was grabbing him out of his car, but I knew like I knew what had happened.

575
00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:03,200
There's no way that this girl was aware of what had happened to her.

576
00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:07,840
And this guy had got some sort of drug in her and was taking advantage of her.

577
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,280
So I didn't there was no there was not even a second of doubt.

578
00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:12,800
I knew exactly what I was doing.

579
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:14,400
And I knew exactly who this guy was.

580
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:17,800
And I knew exactly what he had been doing to this girl.

581
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,240
And so I never I never there was never a moment where I hesitated or I thought, oh, this guy

582
00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:23,440
doesn't deserve this.

583
00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:25,160
So this is where it gets a little graphic.

584
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:31,360
And I want to make sure that I warn everybody because this is, you know, more graphic than

585
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,400
before.

586
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:42,680
So so he screams a little bit and, you know, like kind of grunts and starts to stand up.

587
00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:44,920
And then he this happened all the time.

588
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,840
Like these guys, when you would catch them doing these things, they go from being, you

589
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:54,640
know, Billy Badass, where they're taking advantage of 15 year old girls and they think they're,

590
00:43:54,640 --> 00:44:03,560
you know, Don Juan Casanova to just, you know, not really crying, but they they realize that

591
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:04,560
they're caught.

592
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:05,560
Right.

593
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:09,440
Like, like, it's kind of like the Chris Hansen, you know, stuff where these guys start, they

594
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:10,760
start like blubbering.

595
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:13,960
Well, this guy didn't quite get there yet.

596
00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,760
He he was indignant.

597
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:20,440
And he just started saying, like, just really horrible shit.

598
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:22,640
Like, oh, this.

599
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:26,280
And I'm going to say the stuff he said, please, please don't be upset.

600
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:29,120
But he's like, oh, that bitch deserves it.

601
00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:30,120
Oh, she loved it.

602
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:34,600
Oh, she, you know, and he's saying all this stuff, you know, like almost bargaining with

603
00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:35,600
me.

604
00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:40,080
Like, like, I don't know what saying this kind of stuff is supposed to do, like to save

605
00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,640
his ass at that point in time.

606
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:47,360
But you know, that wasn't that wasn't the way to go.

607
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:52,720
So he started saying, you know, oh, she she loved it or she she was, you know, this and

608
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:53,720
that.

609
00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:56,840
And talking about her, how she I don't want to say it.

610
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:59,960
He was saying some really crude, horrible stuff.

611
00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:06,640
And so I told him, you know, at this point in time, I basically I'm I'm standing holding

612
00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:14,520
him so that he's not bashing his head against the the car next to me.

613
00:45:14,520 --> 00:45:18,560
And I've got him from behind, like his leg is behind me.

614
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:19,960
I've got my foot on it.

615
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,120
And he's just he's kind of looking up at me.

616
00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:30,080
And at this point in time, Mike is starting to he has opened up the other door.

617
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:31,360
I guess she may have opened it.

618
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:33,060
I didn't see.

619
00:45:33,060 --> 00:45:38,240
And he's starting to check on her and make sure she's secure and, you know, try to talk

620
00:45:38,240 --> 00:45:39,240
to her.

621
00:45:39,240 --> 00:45:43,400
And so I'm basically on my own with this guy.

622
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:45,080
And I don't know what's going on in this other car.

623
00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:46,080
It stopped rocking.

624
00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:50,160
They're just getting a front row seat to an ass whooping.

625
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:54,920
So this guy's talking to me, looking straight up at me.

626
00:45:54,920 --> 00:46:03,920
And he I couldn't I saw his left hand because I had his I was on his left side and I saw

627
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:09,000
his I saw his left hand, but I couldn't see his right hand.

628
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:14,680
And I, you know, I was on his ankle, so he wasn't going anywhere.

629
00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:20,680
So as I'm as he's saying this stuff, I see him kind of twist his body kind of twists

630
00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:23,040
in a weird way.

631
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:26,840
And I don't know if I wouldn't say I was trained for this.

632
00:46:26,840 --> 00:46:29,000
I wouldn't say that I necessarily expected it.

633
00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:32,400
I just had a feeling, I guess you could say.

634
00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:40,080
And in that feeling, like I said, I was I was holding his his left shoulder so I could

635
00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:43,640
see his left arm and I was holding him back so that with my foot on his ankle.

636
00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:48,560
So I'm trying to describe this so that you can kind of imagine it a little bit better.

637
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:54,160
But he had a knife and I don't I didn't see it.

638
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:55,720
I didn't even think about it.

639
00:46:55,720 --> 00:46:56,720
But he had a knife.

640
00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:01,560
I don't know if it was in his belt or if his pocket or what the situation was, but he did

641
00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:02,560
have a knife.

642
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:10,440
And as I kind of anticipated it, he reaches, you know, he I see his body twist.

643
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:12,800
I anticipate whatever he's doing.

644
00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:16,800
And he pulls the knife out and he kind of goes up over his like in an arching motion

645
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:18,520
over his own right shoulder.

646
00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:22,260
And he's basically trying to stab me in the face with this knife.

647
00:47:22,260 --> 00:47:23,260
It wasn't a big knife.

648
00:47:23,260 --> 00:47:24,260
It was like a pocket knife.

649
00:47:24,260 --> 00:47:31,360
And he's he's coming up in this like arching motion over his own head and shoulder.

650
00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:35,440
And I don't think I knew to do was just get out of the way.

651
00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:36,440
Right.

652
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:38,660
Like I don't I'm not going to try to stop him with a knife in his hand.

653
00:47:38,660 --> 00:47:41,000
So I just let him go.

654
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:46,200
And because I was on his ankle and he was trying to move and get up, he couldn't.

655
00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:50,040
And he just fell right into the car.

656
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:56,200
And he hits his face and that wrenches his body a little bit so he can't.

657
00:47:56,200 --> 00:48:00,240
But he's he's also now moving in a way that I can't really stand on his ankle.

658
00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:05,540
So I move and he starts to get up and he has this knife in his hand.

659
00:48:05,540 --> 00:48:11,320
And I see him start to get up and he's like he's he's kind of on all fours, but getting

660
00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:12,920
up.

661
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:19,360
So I just did the only thing I knew to do when I essentially tackled him up against

662
00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:22,560
this this person's car.

663
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:25,800
And I don't know.

664
00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,000
I don't know what happened, really.

665
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:31,320
I don't really remember the series of events after that.

666
00:48:31,320 --> 00:48:33,240
I kind of blanked out.

667
00:48:33,240 --> 00:48:43,320
And I do know that he still had the knife in his hand and he was trying his best to

668
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:44,600
get me with it.

669
00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:51,320
And I was able to disable his his right right arm.

670
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:56,360
And I just hit him and I kept hitting him.

671
00:48:56,360 --> 00:49:01,560
And it was it was the one of the only times that I remember in that entire period where

672
00:49:01,560 --> 00:49:04,400
I kind of lost myself.

673
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:08,360
And that's one of the reasons why I tell you that this story is disturbing to me is because

674
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:11,280
I did I did lose my I did lose my temper.

675
00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:18,360
I lost my my ability to kind of call myself a protector because at that point in time

676
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:24,040
I just wanted this guy to feel pain.

677
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:30,880
So I'm going to spare the details from this point on on what happened to this guy.

678
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:38,200
But let's I will say that he did end up having to go to the hospital.

679
00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:46,560
He did end up having to have some reconstructive surgery on his face.

680
00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:49,040
I'm not like I said, this is not something I'm proud of.

681
00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:50,600
And this is not something that I'm telling.

682
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:54,440
I don't story I don't tell this to sound like a like I'm some sort of big bad ass.

683
00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:56,800
I wish that I never had to do any of this stuff.

684
00:49:56,800 --> 00:49:58,960
I never would have wanted to do that.

685
00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:03,640
But I just kept thinking about the state this girl was in.

686
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:06,760
And like I said, you know, we had we'd saved a couple of different girls at that point

687
00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:07,760
in time.

688
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:12,360
And we'd you know, but they were always this was always a situation where we'd walk up

689
00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:14,120
on them and they were struggling.

690
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:16,400
You know, this was a fight.

691
00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:22,640
And this was a situation where this was the first situation where I knew we had gotten

692
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:24,200
there too late.

693
00:50:24,200 --> 00:50:29,160
Like this guy had definitely done something to this girl.

694
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:32,240
And I was just so angry.

695
00:50:32,240 --> 00:50:40,120
I was so I felt like a failure because we weren't there in time.

696
00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:50,440
And it's really hard to think about and to talk about because while there's nothing I

697
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:56,360
could have done to change it unnecessarily, you know, we got there when we got there and

698
00:50:56,360 --> 00:51:00,960
there was nothing I could have done to be there sooner.

699
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:09,680
It's really hard to know that, you know, had I had I been there, you know, 10 minutes earlier,

700
00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:12,280
it wouldn't have happened.

701
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:18,560
So anyway, Mike had been attending to her.

702
00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:23,080
Her name was I don't want to say her name.

703
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:24,760
Let's call her Amber.

704
00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:25,760
Let's call her.

705
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:26,760
Her name was Amber.

706
00:51:26,760 --> 00:51:30,120
Let's say that.

707
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:32,840
I have to pause recording for a second.

708
00:51:32,840 --> 00:51:33,840
Sorry about that.

709
00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:35,080
A little weird edit there.

710
00:51:35,080 --> 00:51:40,360
I just that was a little was a little rough.

711
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:42,640
Amber didn't remember any of it.

712
00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:43,640
Amber doesn't.

713
00:51:43,640 --> 00:51:48,680
Well, she did end up some years later.

714
00:51:48,680 --> 00:51:53,600
Anyway, so Mike takes her.

715
00:51:53,600 --> 00:51:55,560
We were able to get some of her clothes on.

716
00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:56,560
We're able to get her.

717
00:51:56,560 --> 00:52:06,160
We have some blankets that I ran back to the to the

718
00:52:06,160 --> 00:52:07,160
the club.

719
00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:08,160
Sorry.

720
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:10,960
And got a blanket for her.

721
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:14,680
And this actually what's crazy about it is that this spot that these guys would go to

722
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:17,920
that these couples would go to was not that far from the entrance.

723
00:52:17,920 --> 00:52:20,920
It was, you know, maybe another 50 yards to the entrance.

724
00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:22,800
So they didn't go very far.

725
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:24,780
I didn't have to run very far.

726
00:52:24,780 --> 00:52:28,640
So I ran run over, grab a blanket, we get it wrapped up, we get her, we call the cops,

727
00:52:28,640 --> 00:52:35,480
the cops come out, bring out an ambulance, end up filing multiple police reports over

728
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:41,080
multiple incidences that have happened now.

729
00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:48,240
So I said this story had a happy ending, and I'm getting to that now.

730
00:52:48,240 --> 00:52:52,400
So this guy ends up going to hospital.

731
00:52:52,400 --> 00:52:57,440
Like I said, he had to have multiple surgeries.

732
00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:01,880
The happy ending part of it is that well, there's two happy endings really, that this

733
00:53:01,880 --> 00:53:13,280
guy actually had multiple warrants out for his arrest for sexual assault and for alleged

734
00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:14,280
rape.

735
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:18,780
Apparently his then well, I guess she was his ex girlfriend at that point in time had

736
00:53:18,780 --> 00:53:21,520
filed multiple police reports.

737
00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:25,200
And I mean, if there's nothing else that infuriates you in this whole story, this should be the

738
00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:28,360
thing.

739
00:53:28,360 --> 00:53:31,860
She had filed multiple police reports and nothing had been done to stop this guy.

740
00:53:31,860 --> 00:53:36,840
But she had she had literally complained multiple times and this guy had, you know, raped her

741
00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:43,800
and had brutalized her and nobody had done anything.

742
00:53:43,800 --> 00:53:45,080
Nobody had stopped him.

743
00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:47,000
The cops didn't do anything.

744
00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:53,660
So in this one moment, I beat the living piss out of this guy and get him where they can

745
00:53:53,660 --> 00:53:55,360
catch him.

746
00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:58,760
And they're like, oh, yeah, we have multiple complaints and multiple warrants out for this

747
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:00,720
guy's arrest.

748
00:54:00,720 --> 00:54:03,220
So that's one one good thing.

749
00:54:03,220 --> 00:54:05,760
This guy actually went to jail for life.

750
00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:08,080
As far as I know, he's still in jail.

751
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:13,680
And because he had so many and they were these were all like provable offenses, like these

752
00:54:13,680 --> 00:54:15,600
weren't these weren't like he said she said things.

753
00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:19,680
These are like he had multiple witnesses, multiple women that came forth.

754
00:54:19,680 --> 00:54:24,440
And this this actually went on for some, I want to say, like a year and a half afterwards

755
00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:27,680
where they were still finding evidence of this guy.

756
00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:32,440
I wouldn't say he was a serial rapist, but he was you know, this was something that he

757
00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:34,540
had done multiple, multiple times.

758
00:54:34,540 --> 00:54:41,120
And there were girls that that would come forth that that had actually been assaulted

759
00:54:41,120 --> 00:54:43,480
by him in that parking lot that we were in.

760
00:54:43,480 --> 00:54:48,920
And, you know, like before we ever started patrolling there, he was doing this.

761
00:54:48,920 --> 00:54:54,960
So that's one good thing is that we were able to get this guy the life that he deserved.

762
00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:56,880
And I hope that was awful.

763
00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:02,160
And I don't regret I don't regret any of the pain that I caused this man.

764
00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:08,160
I regret that I lost I lost my temper and that I let I let it get the best of me.

765
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:14,960
But I know that in the end, what I did is the reason why he wasn't able to hurt anybody

766
00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:16,800
else.

767
00:55:16,800 --> 00:55:25,040
So the other good thing about it was this girl, I almost said her name, Amber.

768
00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:31,000
She stayed in contact with Mike and I, and her and Mike actually became very, very close.

769
00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:32,320
They didn't it wasn't like that.

770
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:33,960
They didn't have a relationship or anything.

771
00:55:33,960 --> 00:55:37,220
But he basically started to mentor her.

772
00:55:37,220 --> 00:55:39,320
She was 16.

773
00:55:39,320 --> 00:55:43,480
And she had gone to the club.

774
00:55:43,480 --> 00:55:46,240
Her parents had dropped her and her friend off.

775
00:55:46,240 --> 00:55:49,160
And her friend had left her.

776
00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:56,160
Her friend, there were two guys that came up and started hitting on her friend and her

777
00:55:56,160 --> 00:55:57,760
friend left her.

778
00:55:57,760 --> 00:56:00,640
And so she was kind of a wallflower.

779
00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:02,040
And she didn't feel very pretty.

780
00:56:02,040 --> 00:56:07,320
And she all of these different things that kind of are the ultimate recipe for a predator.

781
00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:16,240
And he this guy saw her and knew who she was and knew what he was looking for and got her.

782
00:56:16,240 --> 00:56:19,800
And you know, we know how it ended.

783
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:26,160
But I I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I ever really understood exactly

784
00:56:26,160 --> 00:56:29,760
what happened to her that night.

785
00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:32,720
I Mike and her were very close.

786
00:56:32,720 --> 00:56:36,600
And I know I'm sure she told Mike what she could remember.

787
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:38,760
But I I don't know.

788
00:56:38,760 --> 00:56:41,140
I don't know what exactly happened.

789
00:56:41,140 --> 00:56:43,320
I don't know what this guy did to her.

790
00:56:43,320 --> 00:56:47,520
And honestly, I don't know if I want to know.

791
00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:54,400
But I do know that, you know, she went on.

792
00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:57,520
She had to go through lots of therapy.

793
00:56:57,520 --> 00:57:03,120
And like I said, Mike ended up mentoring her and actually teaching her how to fight.

794
00:57:03,120 --> 00:57:08,000
He actually trained her for a few years.

795
00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:13,720
Mike had a very serious girlfriend at the time, and they lived together.

796
00:57:13,720 --> 00:57:20,900
And this girl ended up basically like coming over to Mike's house and having like his girlfriend

797
00:57:20,900 --> 00:57:21,900
and him.

798
00:57:21,900 --> 00:57:25,320
They would make dinner and they would train and do all this stuff.

799
00:57:25,320 --> 00:57:31,680
And it's actually, you know, despite how dark that story starts, it's actually a very, very

800
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:37,360
good ending because and this is I haven't heard about any of that for literally years

801
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:38,360
now.

802
00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:41,400
It's been at least 15 years since I heard from them.

803
00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:45,160
But well, 12 years, 12 years.

804
00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:51,200
But last I heard Mike and her were still in contact.

805
00:57:51,200 --> 00:57:59,680
She had started a job at a doctor's office or a dentist's office.

806
00:57:59,680 --> 00:58:04,760
I'm not sure which, but she was doing really well.

807
00:58:04,760 --> 00:58:11,520
She had had a relatively high paying job and was, you know, she was still in therapy and

808
00:58:11,520 --> 00:58:12,520
she was still going through.

809
00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:13,520
She still had a lot of issues.

810
00:58:13,520 --> 00:58:16,560
I guess her family life was not great.

811
00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:20,160
And that's one of the reasons why she ended up in this club was, you know, her mom just

812
00:58:20,160 --> 00:58:23,800
was an absentee mother, just did whatever.

813
00:58:23,800 --> 00:58:29,840
But with Mike's help and with my help a little bit, this girl ended up having, well, last

814
00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:35,400
I heard, a very, very good life and was able to take that one moment that could have turned

815
00:58:35,400 --> 00:58:41,880
into the darkest thing that had ever happened to her and maybe very, quite possibly could

816
00:58:41,880 --> 00:58:44,360
have been.

817
00:58:44,360 --> 00:58:54,840
That was able to be transformed by the actions of my partner and I on that, in that evening.

818
00:58:54,840 --> 00:59:03,800
And the last thing I'll say about this is I'm not really proud to look back on the violence

819
00:59:03,800 --> 00:59:13,880
that came with what I did, but I am extremely proud of the fact that for that entire period

820
00:59:13,880 --> 00:59:26,400
of my life, when these women or girls would be at their worst point, when there was not

821
00:59:26,400 --> 00:59:30,760
a face that they could have seen, a man's face that they could have seen that they would

822
00:59:30,760 --> 00:59:33,360
have been happy about.

823
00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:41,960
I know that in those moments that my face and the actions that I took renewed some of

824
00:59:41,960 --> 00:59:46,440
their faith and made them feel better.

825
00:59:46,440 --> 00:59:52,680
And if I have nothing else to take with me to the grave, it's that for those nine and

826
00:59:52,680 --> 01:00:03,440
a half women, I was the difference and I was the face and they found comfort knowing that

827
01:00:03,440 --> 01:00:07,080
I was there to protect them.

828
01:00:07,080 --> 01:00:16,560
And that means everything to me and that is the essence of what I want to do here.

829
01:00:16,560 --> 01:00:20,800
I want to help people and I want to protect people.

830
01:00:20,800 --> 01:00:28,040
I want the world to be a better place and I want people to be more involved and I think

831
01:00:28,040 --> 01:00:31,680
that's where I'm going to end that story.

832
01:00:31,680 --> 01:00:34,920
I don't know if you can tell or not, there was a hard edit there because I needed to

833
01:00:34,920 --> 01:00:42,720
take a few minutes telling stories about that period of time is difficult for me because

834
01:00:42,720 --> 01:00:51,040
like I said, there was a lot of fear and anger that I saw and I dealt with.

835
01:00:51,040 --> 01:00:57,160
I know what I did was good and I know that in a lot of those situations I was a good

836
01:00:57,160 --> 01:01:04,200
guy for those people but it's still difficult to think about.

837
01:01:04,200 --> 01:01:11,440
When you've looked into the heart of evil and that's what I really do consider men like

838
01:01:11,440 --> 01:01:19,560
that, it can be difficult to find your way back out of it.

839
01:01:19,560 --> 01:01:25,680
I think that it's important to tell those stories as dark and as scary and horrifying

840
01:01:25,680 --> 01:01:27,080
as they are.

841
01:01:27,080 --> 01:01:32,800
They are a reality of our world and the reason why I want to tell those stories is because

842
01:01:32,800 --> 01:01:41,640
I think that as long as we are able to stay one foot in reality and understand that these

843
01:01:41,640 --> 01:01:47,320
things happen and that there are people like this in the world, that it makes it that much

844
01:01:47,320 --> 01:01:53,400
more important for people to not be like that, to be the counter to that.

845
01:01:53,400 --> 01:01:57,800
For every man that there is like that, that is out there willing to take advantage of

846
01:01:57,800 --> 01:02:05,800
and to hurt innocent people, innocent women and innocent girls, there needs to be ten

847
01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:12,640
that are willing to fight and willing to stop it.

848
01:02:12,640 --> 01:02:21,080
If we can get to that point where men and women alike are willing to defend and willing

849
01:02:21,080 --> 01:02:27,440
to protect each other, then we're well on our way to a better world.

850
01:02:27,440 --> 01:02:30,160
We're going to shift gears now, like I said.

851
01:02:30,160 --> 01:02:31,680
I'm going to read this quick story.

852
01:02:31,680 --> 01:02:36,240
This is a story that was submitted online.

853
01:02:36,240 --> 01:02:40,240
It was not actually an email, it was a message.

854
01:02:40,240 --> 01:02:45,560
So it is relatively short but I want to read it.

855
01:02:45,560 --> 01:02:48,880
I think that it's a good story.

856
01:02:48,880 --> 01:02:54,960
Also just keep in mind, anybody that listens to this, you can submit stories.

857
01:02:54,960 --> 01:03:01,040
They don't have to necessarily be great uplifting stories, but they can be just stories that

858
01:03:01,040 --> 01:03:06,640
have lessons in them and stories of a point in your life or stories of something like

859
01:03:06,640 --> 01:03:11,680
that that will let other people listen, know who you are and know something about you.

860
01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:13,200
I think this is a good example of that.

861
01:03:13,200 --> 01:03:21,280
This is not a story that necessarily has a ringing, uplifting message, but it is uplifting

862
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:24,920
and it is great to hear stories like this.

863
01:03:24,920 --> 01:03:28,560
So here we go.

864
01:03:28,560 --> 01:03:32,480
I've been listening to a pebble on a pond and when he asked listeners to share stories,

865
01:03:32,480 --> 01:03:38,400
I decided to share a little of my story as it relates to his messages.

866
01:03:38,400 --> 01:03:40,440
My parents had seven children.

867
01:03:40,440 --> 01:03:42,440
I was the middle child.

868
01:03:42,440 --> 01:03:45,120
They did the best they could with what they had.

869
01:03:45,120 --> 01:03:51,160
My mother always seemed stressed raising a brood of kids, doing household work and usually

870
01:03:51,160 --> 01:03:53,720
holding down a full-time job.

871
01:03:53,720 --> 01:03:58,800
My father was an amazing man, but he was an alcoholic.

872
01:03:58,800 --> 01:04:05,600
We never knew if he would be happy or mean when he was drunk, so when he drank, which

873
01:04:05,600 --> 01:04:11,840
was every weekend, we walked on eggshells, never knowing who he would go after if he

874
01:04:11,840 --> 01:04:14,320
was pissed.

875
01:04:14,320 --> 01:04:16,160
I was married twice.

876
01:04:16,160 --> 01:04:21,800
Both men were alcoholics, mental and physical abusers, liars and cheaters.

877
01:04:21,800 --> 01:04:26,480
I've skipped a lot of details, but suffice it to say these situations left me scarred,

878
01:04:26,480 --> 01:04:28,480
mostly from the husbands.

879
01:04:28,480 --> 01:04:31,760
After living with them, I had absolutely no self-esteem.

880
01:04:31,760 --> 01:04:38,440
I was told I was crazy, stupid, boring, ugly and worthless.

881
01:04:38,440 --> 01:04:43,880
I believed it had to be true, otherwise why would they cheat on me and treat me so horribly?

882
01:04:43,880 --> 01:04:48,760
I didn't cheat on them, although I was accused of it a lot.

883
01:04:48,760 --> 01:04:54,960
The podcasts talking about being nice and kind, honest and empathetic got me thinking

884
01:04:54,960 --> 01:04:59,760
that I was all of those things most of the time and still am.

885
01:04:59,760 --> 01:05:04,520
I believe I was that way because those traits attracted attention to me, and as a middle

886
01:05:04,520 --> 01:05:11,480
child and neglected wife, I really needed attention.

887
01:05:11,480 --> 01:05:15,560
I didn't love myself, though.

888
01:05:15,560 --> 01:05:22,320
That's a really hard one to do, even for people who portray themselves as egomaniacs.

889
01:05:22,320 --> 01:05:29,040
The catalyst to get to a point of caring about myself was my children and music.

890
01:05:29,040 --> 01:05:33,000
Nothing in my life has brought me as much joy as those two things.

891
01:05:33,000 --> 01:05:38,680
Now I have to note here that my kids weren't always perfect angels, far from it, but we've

892
01:05:38,680 --> 01:05:45,040
had some good times, like Music Sundays, where we'd play just a few notes of a song using

893
01:05:45,040 --> 01:05:51,680
a turntable and actual vinyl records, and we'd see who could guess the song the fastest.

894
01:05:51,680 --> 01:05:56,080
One of us would man the turntable while the others would do the guessing.

895
01:05:56,080 --> 01:05:58,480
That would go on for hours.

896
01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:03,840
We went to a lot of concerts and movies, we played with our dogs and cats together, and

897
01:06:03,840 --> 01:06:05,980
we laughed until we cried.

898
01:06:05,980 --> 01:06:10,160
That joy made me understand that I was a good person.

899
01:06:10,160 --> 01:06:15,800
I was worthwhile, and I could love myself and take care of myself so I could keep enjoying

900
01:06:15,800 --> 01:06:17,920
what inspires me.

901
01:06:17,920 --> 01:06:24,840
I look forward to more podcasts, more inspiration, straight talk, and more love.

902
01:06:24,840 --> 01:06:32,680
That is a very good thing to read for me.

903
01:06:32,680 --> 01:06:36,360
I very much appreciate that.

904
01:06:36,360 --> 01:06:45,840
It makes me proud and happy to know that these couple of episodes that I've done have at

905
01:06:45,840 --> 01:06:55,280
least touched somebody enough that they took the time to write that and share their story.

906
01:06:55,280 --> 01:06:58,520
It's difficult to hear.

907
01:06:58,520 --> 01:07:04,120
We all know everybody that hears this, everybody that follows me on TikTok, everybody knows

908
01:07:04,120 --> 01:07:08,760
that we're all going through some shit.

909
01:07:08,760 --> 01:07:11,960
The world is not always great.

910
01:07:11,960 --> 01:07:19,160
We're always going through some sort of really bad shit in our lives.

911
01:07:19,160 --> 01:07:27,880
When you read that or when you hear that, you realize that a lot of times the pain and

912
01:07:27,880 --> 01:07:35,960
the anguish that we feel is something that is dropped on us by other people.

913
01:07:35,960 --> 01:07:41,920
There are many people in this world that go through life living...

914
01:07:41,920 --> 01:07:47,560
I don't want to say the right way because that sounds pompous, but living the way that

915
01:07:47,560 --> 01:07:50,720
you would hope most people would want to live.

916
01:07:50,720 --> 01:07:58,000
Living a life that is peaceful and full of love and light.

917
01:07:58,000 --> 01:08:07,440
Those people oftentimes are the magnets that draw the worst out of people.

918
01:08:07,440 --> 01:08:08,440
That's not fair.

919
01:08:08,440 --> 01:08:10,360
It certainly isn't right.

920
01:08:10,360 --> 01:08:15,840
Unfortunately, they say hurt people hurt people.

921
01:08:15,840 --> 01:08:24,600
It's very hard for somebody that is damaged and really fucked up in the head to hurt somebody

922
01:08:24,600 --> 01:08:26,680
who's already damaged.

923
01:08:26,680 --> 01:08:32,560
They need to find these good people and ruin them.

924
01:08:32,560 --> 01:08:36,020
I believe that that's the situation there.

925
01:08:36,020 --> 01:08:44,600
You have somebody that genuinely just had a love for life and saw the good in people.

926
01:08:44,600 --> 01:08:57,960
That's what ended up allowing these two husbands to not take advantage of, but to put her in

927
01:08:57,960 --> 01:09:03,880
a position to be abused really.

928
01:09:03,880 --> 01:09:11,640
She just wanted to believe so much in the goodness of these men and she saw what they

929
01:09:11,640 --> 01:09:12,640
could be.

930
01:09:12,640 --> 01:09:15,000
She saw potential.

931
01:09:15,000 --> 01:09:22,480
At some point in time, that potential got to the point where it was never going to be

932
01:09:22,480 --> 01:09:23,640
realized.

933
01:09:23,640 --> 01:09:32,560
All of the burden that she had bared in service of that potential just became that much heavier

934
01:09:32,560 --> 01:09:37,520
because she knew that they were never going to reach that potential.

935
01:09:37,520 --> 01:09:40,360
I think that a lot of people can relate to that.

936
01:09:40,360 --> 01:09:46,880
I think a lot of people can speak to that and say, I really thought that this person

937
01:09:46,880 --> 01:09:48,720
was going to be better.

938
01:09:48,720 --> 01:09:56,560
I really thought that this person was going to be the light in my life and that they were

939
01:09:56,560 --> 01:09:57,700
going to be there forever.

940
01:09:57,700 --> 01:10:03,000
They were going to be there next to me on my dying day.

941
01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:10,280
That's the kind of thing that you think about when you love somebody.

942
01:10:10,280 --> 01:10:13,440
Even when they're mean to you and even when they hurt you and even when they cheat on

943
01:10:13,440 --> 01:10:20,760
you and even when they treat you badly, you hold onto that and you try to fight through

944
01:10:20,760 --> 01:10:25,400
it until you can't anymore.

945
01:10:25,400 --> 01:10:31,720
The reality is that we all are trying to hold onto these people.

946
01:10:31,720 --> 01:10:36,760
We're trying to make them achieve what we know they can be.

947
01:10:36,760 --> 01:10:44,120
Unfortunately, especially in this case with this particular letter, those reclamation

948
01:10:44,120 --> 01:10:53,360
projects of trying to bring those men into the light, that's not a one person job.

949
01:10:53,360 --> 01:10:58,320
If they have no interest in getting better, if they have no interest in healing and growing

950
01:10:58,320 --> 01:11:05,320
and being better people and better men, then there's nothing that any woman can do to help

951
01:11:05,320 --> 01:11:06,400
them.

952
01:11:06,400 --> 01:11:09,160
That goes the other way as well.

953
01:11:09,160 --> 01:11:12,840
Personally, I've seen it as a man.

954
01:11:12,840 --> 01:11:15,560
I have seen it up close and personal.

955
01:11:15,560 --> 01:11:18,560
Women aren't exactly immune from this.

956
01:11:18,560 --> 01:11:21,840
Men are just a little bit more self-absorbed usually.

957
01:11:21,840 --> 01:11:26,680
A lot of times they're too stupid to realize that they're doing anything wrong and that's

958
01:11:26,680 --> 01:11:28,860
why some of them can be saved.

959
01:11:28,860 --> 01:11:32,200
That's why some of them can be changed and some of them, their eyes can be opened to

960
01:11:32,200 --> 01:11:33,880
the damage that they're causing.

961
01:11:33,880 --> 01:11:37,480
I speak from personal experience.

962
01:11:37,480 --> 01:11:43,640
You can spend years hurting somebody and not even realize you're doing it as a man because

963
01:11:43,640 --> 01:11:49,840
if somebody doesn't come right out and tell you that you're doing it, you'll never know.

964
01:11:49,840 --> 01:11:51,320
This is coming from a man.

965
01:11:51,320 --> 01:11:55,640
I am not a typical man in most regards.

966
01:11:55,640 --> 01:12:02,040
I am extremely emotional and extremely in touch with the people around me and extremely

967
01:12:02,040 --> 01:12:09,920
empathetic but even me, if I feel something and then I go to you and you say, are you

968
01:12:09,920 --> 01:12:16,840
okay and you shrug and say, yes, I'm okay or I say, is this a problem and then you say,

969
01:12:16,840 --> 01:12:21,120
yes or no, that's not a problem, then I'm going to believe you because I'm going to

970
01:12:21,120 --> 01:12:27,240
always believe the person that I love over whatever this gut feeling is.

971
01:12:27,240 --> 01:12:31,960
That's my fault and that's something that I've got to work on following my instincts.

972
01:12:31,960 --> 01:12:39,560
That when you're with somebody like this letter describes that is a liar and a cheater and

973
01:12:39,560 --> 01:12:50,080
a swindler, I can't say that because I'm kind of a swindler, but when you're talking about

974
01:12:50,080 --> 01:12:58,540
people like that, the mistake that we all make at the end of the day is trusting and

975
01:12:58,540 --> 01:13:05,840
believing in people that have not earned or have proven that you should not trust those

976
01:13:05,840 --> 01:13:07,840
people.

977
01:13:07,840 --> 01:13:10,920
So that's that story.

978
01:13:10,920 --> 01:13:13,920
We're going to move into a happy one.

979
01:13:13,920 --> 01:13:20,800
I know that both of those were a little weighty and I apologize for that, but sometimes storytime

980
01:13:20,800 --> 01:13:29,800
is a great epic of knights and dragons and sometimes it's just a simple story of what

981
01:13:29,800 --> 01:13:33,920
really happens in the real world and how we deal with it.

982
01:13:33,920 --> 01:13:36,760
Before we start with this next one, and this is going to be a quick one because I'm already

983
01:13:36,760 --> 01:13:41,520
way over time where I wanted to be, but before we start the next one, I do want to share

984
01:13:41,520 --> 01:13:49,000
this quote because this made me feel really good about doing these storytime episodes.

985
01:13:49,000 --> 01:13:54,520
I don't know this person, I don't know who she is, but this is from Lisa Kron who wrote

986
01:13:54,520 --> 01:13:59,440
an article for the magazine Wired and she said,

987
01:13:59,440 --> 01:14:06,600
Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution, more so than opposable thumbs.

988
01:14:06,600 --> 01:14:13,840
Opposable thumbs let us hang on, but story told us what to hang on to.

989
01:14:13,840 --> 01:14:21,680
I think that that's a beautifully, well if I read it better, beautifully illustrated

990
01:14:21,680 --> 01:14:25,200
point about how important it is to tell these stories.

991
01:14:25,200 --> 01:14:31,360
One of the reasons why I'm trying desperately to get people to send me stories is because

992
01:14:31,360 --> 01:14:38,540
it's really easy to lose sight of what we've done in our lives and it's really easy to

993
01:14:38,540 --> 01:14:42,600
forget that each of us is a story.

994
01:14:42,600 --> 01:14:45,280
Each of us has a story to tell.

995
01:14:45,280 --> 01:14:50,800
Going back to the previous episode about the main character, one of the points that I tried

996
01:14:50,800 --> 01:14:53,720
to make in that episode, and I hope that if you've listened to it, you took away from

997
01:14:53,720 --> 01:14:58,160
that, is that we really are all main characters in our own stories.

998
01:14:58,160 --> 01:15:01,520
Now does that mean that you're the only one that matters?

999
01:15:01,520 --> 01:15:02,520
Absolutely not.

1000
01:15:02,520 --> 01:15:11,280
Don't be like that, but it does mean that someday we're all going to die and our story

1001
01:15:11,280 --> 01:15:13,840
is what's going to be left of us.

1002
01:15:13,840 --> 01:15:16,000
So tell it.

1003
01:15:16,000 --> 01:15:17,400
Tell your story.

1004
01:15:17,400 --> 01:15:19,640
And it doesn't really matter what it is.

1005
01:15:19,640 --> 01:15:26,380
Sometimes it can be a 40 minute tale of having to stop sexual predators, and sometimes it

1006
01:15:26,380 --> 01:15:32,320
can just be a quick story detailing who you are and where you came from.

1007
01:15:32,320 --> 01:15:35,360
It doesn't have to be, there's no one way of doing it.

1008
01:15:35,360 --> 01:15:40,640
There's no one method of getting your story out into the world, but it is important to

1009
01:15:40,640 --> 01:15:41,640
tell it.

1010
01:15:41,640 --> 01:15:44,920
And it is important that people know who you are.

1011
01:15:44,920 --> 01:15:49,960
Even if they don't know your name, speak your story, tell your truth.

1012
01:15:49,960 --> 01:15:53,960
I think that that's the way that we are remembered.

1013
01:15:53,960 --> 01:15:59,560
And that is the thing, like she says in this quote, that's the thing that we hold onto.

1014
01:15:59,560 --> 01:16:04,520
That's the reason why we are who we are as a people.

1015
01:16:04,520 --> 01:16:07,240
We move forward.

1016
01:16:07,240 --> 01:16:11,520
Even was possible because of our storytelling.

1017
01:16:11,520 --> 01:16:13,920
It gave us a reason to keep going in the night.

1018
01:16:13,920 --> 01:16:17,560
So just remember that.

1019
01:16:17,560 --> 01:16:19,360
Now this next story is a quick one.

1020
01:16:19,360 --> 01:16:24,680
I'm not going to hold you up for too long, but this is a story of one of the greatest

1021
01:16:24,680 --> 01:16:28,480
kindnesses that anyone has ever shown me.

1022
01:16:28,480 --> 01:16:37,560
And I'm not going to give full details on this whole thing because some of the people,

1023
01:16:37,560 --> 01:16:45,080
well, one of the people involved in this story is, let's just say not happy with me.

1024
01:16:45,080 --> 01:16:50,000
So I'm going to try to keep it a little loosey goosey.

1025
01:16:50,000 --> 01:17:01,600
But let's just say that some years ago I was in a pretty dark place as detailed in my TikTok.

1026
01:17:01,600 --> 01:17:06,400
And I'm sure you guys have picked up on some of my stories here.

1027
01:17:06,400 --> 01:17:16,360
I have suffered from really, really like powerful depression for the greater part of two decades.

1028
01:17:16,360 --> 01:17:21,040
And while I am on the other side of it, I am not completely out of it, but I do feel

1029
01:17:21,040 --> 01:17:25,920
better now than I have in a long, long time.

1030
01:17:25,920 --> 01:17:36,420
About I want to say about 15 or 16 years ago, I had a person come into my life that was

1031
01:17:36,420 --> 01:17:42,280
what I needed at that point in time was a beacon of light in my life.

1032
01:17:42,280 --> 01:17:48,440
And one of the reasons why that person was so important to me was the fact that they

1033
01:17:48,440 --> 01:17:55,240
were so giving and so warm.

1034
01:17:55,240 --> 01:18:01,680
And like every regard just was always there with a hug or a kind of word or whatever it

1035
01:18:01,680 --> 01:18:05,360
was that I needed at the time.

1036
01:18:05,360 --> 01:18:14,480
And I was, like I said, I was extremely depressed and wasn't really getting that feeling from

1037
01:18:14,480 --> 01:18:17,080
anyone else in my life at the time.

1038
01:18:17,080 --> 01:18:27,040
So this person came into my life and for many months was this beacon of hope and inspiration

1039
01:18:27,040 --> 01:18:28,320
for me.

1040
01:18:28,320 --> 01:18:36,760
Little did I know that that emotion and that love and that warmth that I felt would end

1041
01:18:36,760 --> 01:18:41,640
up having a very physical representation.

1042
01:18:41,640 --> 01:18:46,640
And what I mean by that is I don't remember, it was in October and I don't remember the

1043
01:18:46,640 --> 01:18:52,820
year exactly, but it was in October and my daughter had wanted to go to the pet store

1044
01:18:52,820 --> 01:18:55,240
to get some fish.

1045
01:18:55,240 --> 01:18:59,120
We had recently got her a fish tank.

1046
01:18:59,120 --> 01:19:01,920
In September we had gotten her a fish tank and she wanted to get some more fish for the

1047
01:19:01,920 --> 01:19:03,320
fish tank.

1048
01:19:03,320 --> 01:19:12,080
So we went to this pet store and we basically just let her go find stuff.

1049
01:19:12,080 --> 01:19:19,160
And in the process of that I was just walking around the pet store.

1050
01:19:19,160 --> 01:19:23,900
And they had, this was a pet store that doesn't exist anymore, but they did do like the puppies

1051
01:19:23,900 --> 01:19:26,960
and the kittens and all that stuff.

1052
01:19:26,960 --> 01:19:31,240
So I would sit there and I would look at the puppies and play with the kittens and stuff.

1053
01:19:31,240 --> 01:19:40,240
Well I come across this one little glass box and there's, I think there were three kittens

1054
01:19:40,240 --> 01:19:41,240
in it.

1055
01:19:41,240 --> 01:19:44,480
Well, you know, they were ragdolls.

1056
01:19:44,480 --> 01:19:46,200
They were little baby ragdoll kittens.

1057
01:19:46,200 --> 01:19:51,240
And they were, when I tell you they were the most stinking adorable things on the planet,

1058
01:19:51,240 --> 01:19:52,240
I can't possibly.

1059
01:19:52,240 --> 01:19:55,240
I mean, I just wanted to kiss them.

1060
01:19:55,240 --> 01:19:59,640
And so I'm sitting there playing with one.

1061
01:19:59,640 --> 01:20:02,200
They had little holes, like little air holes in the side of the glass.

1062
01:20:02,200 --> 01:20:05,120
And so I'm sitting there putting my finger in playing with the one.

1063
01:20:05,120 --> 01:20:10,480
And then I see, I could only see two at the time.

1064
01:20:10,480 --> 01:20:12,720
And there was like a little blanket or something in there.

1065
01:20:12,720 --> 01:20:14,200
And I see this blanket kind of moving.

1066
01:20:14,200 --> 01:20:15,860
I'm like, oh, there's another one in there.

1067
01:20:15,860 --> 01:20:20,200
And I see this little head poke up and look at me.

1068
01:20:20,200 --> 01:20:30,680
And in that instant, it's hard to describe, there was almost more than immediate.

1069
01:20:30,680 --> 01:20:37,380
Instantaneously, I knew that that kitten was my kitten.

1070
01:20:37,380 --> 01:20:41,240
And I really do believe that that kitten knew that I was its human.

1071
01:20:41,240 --> 01:20:46,880
It really was that quick.

1072
01:20:46,880 --> 01:20:49,560
And I just, I fell, I was completely and totally in love.

1073
01:20:49,560 --> 01:20:52,600
There was just no, no ifs, ands or buts.

1074
01:20:52,600 --> 01:20:56,760
I had to have this kitten in my life.

1075
01:20:56,760 --> 01:21:03,620
And as I sat there looking at him, I put my finger through the little hole and he immediately

1076
01:21:03,620 --> 01:21:04,620
comes running up.

1077
01:21:04,620 --> 01:21:10,080
I mean, he's just come out of a full sleep, little kitten sleep and comes running up and

1078
01:21:10,080 --> 01:21:14,640
was so excited and rubbing and loving.

1079
01:21:14,640 --> 01:21:20,280
I couldn't have been more in love with anything or anyone at that point in time.

1080
01:21:20,280 --> 01:21:27,760
And that's when the reality of the situation hits me square in the face, which was, this

1081
01:21:27,760 --> 01:21:30,680
was a $600 cat.

1082
01:21:30,680 --> 01:21:38,360
Now before anybody gets upset, I am very much a, you know, don't buy pets at a pet store

1083
01:21:38,360 --> 01:21:39,360
person.

1084
01:21:39,360 --> 01:21:45,320
I have, I have very many cats, I have very many dogs and none of them were purchased.

1085
01:21:45,320 --> 01:21:47,440
All of them were rescues.

1086
01:21:47,440 --> 01:21:55,380
That being said, none of them ever meant as much to me as this cat did in that moment.

1087
01:21:55,380 --> 01:21:58,400
So I don't have $600.

1088
01:21:58,400 --> 01:22:04,500
I didn't, I, at the time I was, I was trying to run my business and it wasn't succeeding

1089
01:22:04,500 --> 01:22:08,760
and I was just didn't, I didn't have that money and I was heartbroken.

1090
01:22:08,760 --> 01:22:11,640
I just was just destroyed.

1091
01:22:11,640 --> 01:22:16,760
Well as I said, we were there to get fish for my daughter and this person that I had

1092
01:22:16,760 --> 01:22:22,600
mentioned before, she was there and she, she was actually, it was actually her idea.

1093
01:22:22,600 --> 01:22:24,960
She was going to buy the fish for her.

1094
01:22:24,960 --> 01:22:30,600
And she, you know, I went up to her and I was like, you have to see this cat, you have

1095
01:22:30,600 --> 01:22:33,660
to see this cat, you know, oh my God, you know, you've got to see him.

1096
01:22:33,660 --> 01:22:45,400
So I go over and so I bring her and everybody else over to see this cat.

1097
01:22:45,400 --> 01:22:49,340
And I mean, obviously they're not, they're not picking up the vibe, right?

1098
01:22:49,340 --> 01:22:53,400
They know that I want this kitten and they know that I, you know, I'm really excited

1099
01:22:53,400 --> 01:22:58,940
about him, but like they're not getting the same feeling that I am from this kitten.

1100
01:22:58,940 --> 01:22:59,940
But I'm, I'm desperate.

1101
01:22:59,940 --> 01:23:01,280
I'm like, we got to find a way.

1102
01:23:01,280 --> 01:23:02,520
I've got to, I've got to get this cat.

1103
01:23:02,520 --> 01:23:11,680
I've got to, so this person, um, she, she, I don't, I can't really say I understand it

1104
01:23:11,680 --> 01:23:12,680
at the time.

1105
01:23:12,680 --> 01:23:14,760
She wasn't, you know, rich or anything like that.

1106
01:23:14,760 --> 01:23:22,080
She didn't have a lot of money, but she just knew that I needed this kitten.

1107
01:23:22,080 --> 01:23:23,920
Like she understood what I was saying.

1108
01:23:23,920 --> 01:23:29,400
I don't know if she necessarily believed the way that I did, but she knew what I was saying.

1109
01:23:29,400 --> 01:23:33,320
She believed in what I was saying and she said, you know, well, let me see what I can

1110
01:23:33,320 --> 01:23:34,320
do.

1111
01:23:34,320 --> 01:23:37,120
Now, this is a person that at the time was like waitressing, right?

1112
01:23:37,120 --> 01:23:44,920
Like she didn't, she didn't have a lot of money, but, um, she, I just thinking about

1113
01:23:44,920 --> 01:23:47,680
it just, you know, it kind of makes me emotional just thinking about it.

1114
01:23:47,680 --> 01:23:55,360
But um, she basically went and talked to the people and they said, well, the, this, this

1115
01:23:55,360 --> 01:23:58,920
pet store, you can get, you know, a credit card for this pet store or whatever.

1116
01:23:58,920 --> 01:24:01,080
It was a national chain at the time.

1117
01:24:01,080 --> 01:24:07,320
I don't think they exist anymore, but, um, you could, you could get a credit card and

1118
01:24:07,320 --> 01:24:09,640
I guess she had good enough credit that she qualified.

1119
01:24:09,640 --> 01:24:14,160
So she actually ended up taking out, like getting a credit card for this pet store.

1120
01:24:14,160 --> 01:24:22,120
Um, and like putting herself in credit debt basically to be able to buy me this $600 pure

1121
01:24:22,120 --> 01:24:31,520
bread ragdoll kitten that I, you know, had had this religious experience with.

1122
01:24:31,520 --> 01:24:36,280
And I remember them coming over and being like, well, do you want to take him out of

1123
01:24:36,280 --> 01:24:37,560
the thing and hold him and stuff like that?

1124
01:24:37,560 --> 01:24:40,360
And I was like, well, yes, of course I do, but I don't need to.

1125
01:24:40,360 --> 01:24:42,120
Like I already know that this is my cat.

1126
01:24:42,120 --> 01:24:43,720
Like you don't, and they're like, okay.

1127
01:24:43,720 --> 01:24:47,360
And I thought it was kind of weird, but you know, they, they took him out of the little

1128
01:24:47,360 --> 01:24:55,120
thing and they brought him to me and he immediately curled up on my shoulder and, uh, really just

1129
01:24:55,120 --> 01:24:57,120
never left.

1130
01:24:57,120 --> 01:25:07,000
Um, so, uh, she, she goes ahead and she takes out the credit card and they end up putting

1131
01:25:07,000 --> 01:25:10,400
him on this line of credit that she ended up having to pay off over the course of like

1132
01:25:10,400 --> 01:25:11,880
a year or something like that.

1133
01:25:11,880 --> 01:25:15,080
She didn't, I mean, like I said, she wasn't making a whole lot of money, but this was

1134
01:25:15,080 --> 01:25:18,340
one of the greatest gifts that anyone has ever given me and one of the greatest kindness

1135
01:25:18,340 --> 01:25:20,360
that anyone has ever shown me.

1136
01:25:20,360 --> 01:25:29,160
She really put herself out there and in doing that, I, it's hard to, it's hard to describe

1137
01:25:29,160 --> 01:25:32,460
how much of a difference this made in my life.

1138
01:25:32,460 --> 01:25:37,480
Like it literally changed everything in my life from that point forward.

1139
01:25:37,480 --> 01:25:46,960
I ended up going through quite a bit, uh, over the next so, so many years and there

1140
01:25:46,960 --> 01:25:54,840
were plenty of times where that little cat who I ended up naming Yoda, where that little

1141
01:25:54,840 --> 01:26:01,120
Yoda literally saved my life over and over and over again.

1142
01:26:01,120 --> 01:26:06,040
And the, the, the really beautiful thing about that was that every time I would have that

1143
01:26:06,040 --> 01:26:11,080
moment or there would be a moment with him, which was every day, uh, because every moment

1144
01:26:11,080 --> 01:26:13,960
we spent together was magical for me.

1145
01:26:13,960 --> 01:26:18,840
Like I literally had a familiar that I, you know, he never left my side.

1146
01:26:18,840 --> 01:26:19,840
He was always with me.

1147
01:26:19,840 --> 01:26:20,840
He would be on my shoulder.

1148
01:26:20,840 --> 01:26:22,320
He would go get in the car with me.

1149
01:26:22,320 --> 01:26:23,320
I would take him to work.

1150
01:26:23,320 --> 01:26:25,400
Like this was a cat that was with me all the time.

1151
01:26:25,400 --> 01:26:28,920
This wasn't just like a pet that I kept at home.

1152
01:26:28,920 --> 01:26:35,360
And uh, every single time that I would have to go through something bad or there would

1153
01:26:35,360 --> 01:26:38,560
be a dark point, he would be there with me.

1154
01:26:38,560 --> 01:26:43,560
And in a way that meant that she was there with me.

1155
01:26:43,560 --> 01:26:54,640
And that, that really was a very, very, very special, uh, gift and a very special way of

1156
01:26:54,640 --> 01:27:00,560
conveying like love and, and what somebody means to you.

1157
01:27:00,560 --> 01:27:04,280
And I know obviously there's a dollar sign attached to that, so maybe it cheapens it

1158
01:27:04,280 --> 01:27:09,160
a little bit, but you're talking about a life, like literally bringing a life into my, into

1159
01:27:09,160 --> 01:27:10,160
my world.

1160
01:27:10,160 --> 01:27:13,120
I mean, Yoda was my baby.

1161
01:27:13,120 --> 01:27:21,400
Um, and literally was the most important thing to me, um, for a long time.

1162
01:27:21,400 --> 01:27:24,280
And my kids, you know, maybe that fucked them up a little bit.

1163
01:27:24,280 --> 01:27:27,060
My kids knew like Yoda was number one.

1164
01:27:27,060 --> 01:27:28,060
He was my baby.

1165
01:27:28,060 --> 01:27:32,480
Now, obviously that doesn't mean I would throw my kids under a bus for Yoda, but it doesn't

1166
01:27:32,480 --> 01:27:37,800
mean that, you know, they knew that if Yoda wasn't comfortable, nobody got to be comfortable.

1167
01:27:37,800 --> 01:27:42,520
So that was, that was just one of the, one of the rules.

1168
01:27:42,520 --> 01:27:45,920
I ended up, ended up losing Yoda some years ago.

1169
01:27:45,920 --> 01:27:55,480
Um, so it's not all, you know, happy endings and the loss of him echoes even now, but,

1170
01:27:55,480 --> 01:28:06,840
uh, the time that we did have as short as it was, um, it was beautiful and wonderful

1171
01:28:06,840 --> 01:28:14,080
and tragic and everything that a good love story should be.

1172
01:28:14,080 --> 01:28:20,760
And as much as, you know, as much as I want to say that it was just about this kitten,

1173
01:28:20,760 --> 01:28:27,640
when a lot of it was, it was also, you know, the story of me and this person.

1174
01:28:27,640 --> 01:28:30,780
Because when you show somebody that kind of kindness, when you show somebody that kind

1175
01:28:30,780 --> 01:28:38,280
of care and that kind of concern, it will echo for eternity.

1176
01:28:38,280 --> 01:28:41,880
And they'll always remember that.

1177
01:28:41,880 --> 01:28:48,880
So just remember that as you move through life, sometimes it's a grand gesture, like

1178
01:28:48,880 --> 01:28:51,600
bringing a kitten into somebody's life.

1179
01:28:51,600 --> 01:28:54,600
Sometimes it's as simple as holding somebody's door.

1180
01:28:54,600 --> 01:28:59,320
But all of these things that we do and all of these choices that we make have a long

1181
01:28:59,320 --> 01:29:05,480
lasting impact and will cause ripples that change everything in the world around us.

1182
01:29:05,480 --> 01:29:09,520
So there's a reason why we call it a pebble in a pond.

1183
01:29:09,520 --> 01:29:14,320
And there's a reason why I really do believe that if I can get enough people on board with

1184
01:29:14,320 --> 01:29:17,600
this, that we can really make a difference in this world.

1185
01:29:17,600 --> 01:29:23,680
And it's because I can't sit here and tell this story about my cat without getting emotional,

1186
01:29:23,680 --> 01:29:26,400
without tears coming to my eyes.

1187
01:29:26,400 --> 01:29:34,480
And when I think about the cat, I think about that person and the level of kindness and

1188
01:29:34,480 --> 01:29:42,120
compassion and care that goes into taking on a financial burden like that.

1189
01:29:42,120 --> 01:29:47,040
Just because somebody says, I feel connected to this kitten.

1190
01:29:47,040 --> 01:29:49,720
I need this kitten in my life.

1191
01:29:49,720 --> 01:29:51,760
There's not a lot of people out there that would have done that.

1192
01:29:51,760 --> 01:29:56,660
Actually, I don't know anybody else that would have done that.

1193
01:29:56,660 --> 01:30:01,200
So just remember that you don't have to have that grand gesture to make a difference in

1194
01:30:01,200 --> 01:30:03,240
somebody's life.

1195
01:30:03,240 --> 01:30:07,320
But if you can, you should.

1196
01:30:07,320 --> 01:30:11,600
Because you could very well be changing the course of not just that person's life, but

1197
01:30:11,600 --> 01:30:13,860
the course of all history.

1198
01:30:13,860 --> 01:30:15,240
You just don't know.

1199
01:30:15,240 --> 01:30:20,680
You don't know what your kindness and what your love can do.

1200
01:30:20,680 --> 01:30:25,880
But it will move mountains and it will change the world.

1201
01:30:25,880 --> 01:30:32,760
I think it was Anne Frank that said, no one has ever become poor by giving.

1202
01:30:32,760 --> 01:30:39,920
And I think that that's what we're going to leave this episode on.

1203
01:30:39,920 --> 01:30:46,680
Our next episode is actually going to come out on Christmas Eve, if everything goes right

1204
01:30:46,680 --> 01:30:48,080
this weekend.

1205
01:30:48,080 --> 01:30:49,640
And I think we're going to talk about Christmas.

1206
01:30:49,640 --> 01:30:57,840
I think that's going to be the topic of that episode.

1207
01:30:57,840 --> 01:31:05,400
Not just Christmas, but what the Christmas season means to people, both good and bad.

1208
01:31:05,400 --> 01:31:12,320
I do want to keep this on a positive note, but we also need to discuss, as somebody who's

1209
01:31:12,320 --> 01:31:17,680
dealt with depression and things like that, we do need to discuss that part of it.

1210
01:31:17,680 --> 01:31:18,680
So we will.

1211
01:31:18,680 --> 01:31:19,680
We'll touch on that.

1212
01:31:19,680 --> 01:31:25,440
And maybe we'll tell a couple of Christmas stories that will give some people some positive

1213
01:31:25,440 --> 01:31:29,200
feelings going into their Christmas day.

1214
01:31:29,200 --> 01:31:32,120
Anyway, that's where we are, folks.

1215
01:31:32,120 --> 01:31:35,600
Thanks for coming along for story time, and I really do appreciate those of you that have

1216
01:31:35,600 --> 01:31:41,240
listened and continue to listen to all of the episodes.

1217
01:31:41,240 --> 01:31:43,200
I don't necessarily see all the analytics.

1218
01:31:43,200 --> 01:31:45,840
I don't necessarily know who's listening to what.

1219
01:31:45,840 --> 01:31:51,200
But I'm building this thing from the ground up, and I'm trying to learn every step of

1220
01:31:51,200 --> 01:31:52,200
the way.

1221
01:31:52,200 --> 01:32:00,120
And so whatever feedback or criticism or words of encouragement and advice you may have, I

1222
01:32:00,120 --> 01:32:02,600
appreciate all of them.

1223
01:32:02,600 --> 01:32:08,480
If you haven't followed me on TikTok yet, it's Pebble in a Pond podcast on TikTok.

1224
01:32:08,480 --> 01:32:10,360
I invite you to follow me there.

1225
01:32:10,360 --> 01:32:15,480
We also have a link tree, which I think is posted on most of our pages.

1226
01:32:15,480 --> 01:32:19,120
But that should point you to any of the other socials we have.

1227
01:32:19,120 --> 01:32:22,120
We do have an Instagram that I'm still building.

1228
01:32:22,120 --> 01:32:25,720
We have a YouTube channel, which I'm still working on.

1229
01:32:25,720 --> 01:32:28,780
All of these things are works in progress, but we are trying to get out there.

1230
01:32:28,780 --> 01:32:32,520
We're trying to get the message out there of what I'm trying to build here and what

1231
01:32:32,520 --> 01:32:33,520
we're trying to do.

1232
01:32:33,520 --> 01:32:39,480
This community that I really do want to build and engage with and start to really make some

1233
01:32:39,480 --> 01:32:41,920
big changes.

1234
01:32:41,920 --> 01:32:43,720
So there you have it.

1235
01:32:43,720 --> 01:32:44,720
Thanks again.

1236
01:32:44,720 --> 01:32:49,760
And y'all, take care of yourselves and take care of each other.

1237
01:32:49,760 --> 01:33:13,240
Have a good day.