Yeah. Hi, I'm Travis. And I'm Taylor. And this
is Bestie Approved. So this is a fun switch up
because Taylor, my cousin, is coming on. Because
Emma is seconds away from having baby August.
And she's miserable. Yeah, the poor thing. The
last episode we recorded, she's like, I don't
know if I can do anymore until August is here.
I'm so happy for her and I miss her. I love her
so much. Um, but yeah, I, I'm, we're, we're excited
to, to do a little, a few more collabs. I, uh,
I had a couple of meetings with, actually we'll
get into it before we do anything else. Um, what's
the last song you listened to? I'm so happy you
asked. First of all, I'm so excited to be asked
that question on this podcast. Anyways, the last
song that I listened to is called The Wall by
Yana. I absolutely love that artist. I found
her on TikTok. And she's been around for at least
a couple of years, but I'm obsessed with her.
And I'm currently learning the song in sign language
because that's my current hyper fixation right
now is sign language. I love that. It's something
I'm trying really hard at, but it's really it's
really fun to learn, but obviously very hard.
So I love that. What was the last song you listened
to? Love on the Dance Floor by Vince Palmieri.
Palmer Palmieri. I don't know. It's something
I also found on TikTok. And it's like one of
those songs that was like, oh, pre save now because
it. That has to be a new thing that artists are
doing on TikTok, but it's a very good song. I'm
very into it. You know, on TikTok right now,
I think the genre is called house music. Is that
what it is? Go on, tell me about house music
of all people. Yeah, don't ask me a single thing
about house music except for the fact that I
think that you would love house music and house
music is trending right now. You know what I
mean? House music has been trending for 20 years.
Right. Okay. I've loved house music for my entire
life. Well, lucky for you, it is trending on
TikTok right now. Thank God. And everybody's
doing funny little TikToks of like one particular
song. What's the song? I don't even know. I forget
what it's called, but it's like... I know exactly
what you're talking about. And thank God you
do. Cause I wouldn't know the rest of a little
bit closer to you. I'm listening. Sorry. So yeah,
it's trending and I love that for you. Thank
you. I love that for me too. Yeah. Um, so this
is the first of several collabs. Taylor's going
to be on, um, several times, but I've had a couple
of meetings with podcast friends. Um, One is
I had a meeting with her today. She's so cool.
And like, I can't I'm gonna I'm gonna edit this
later. But I one of them is a fellow housewife
watcher. And we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna
do a collab for the for one of the most iconic
episodes of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake
City. I'm very excited about that. Yes, I'm really
excited. Incredible. Josh is going to be on several
times. And for those of you who don't know, my
cousin Taylor is Josh. And I'm doing husbands
watching housewives for the real housewives of
Beverly Hills for me. You can be on for that,
too, if you want to. Maybe I've really been enjoying
those episodes with those husbands. They're really
funny and really like charismatic. And I'm really
enjoying your guys's interaction with them. So
I like them a lot. They're very fun. Like I wasn't
so like I met with them. It was before I went
to Dallas, like forever ago. I was a little bit
nervous because I was like Emma and I are so
Emma's not as bad about it but I'm very like
I I know what I know about these housewives and
like I've I've I've I'm obsessed with them and
like I'm very I mean you know this better than
anyone I'm very opinionated yeah and Scott and
Jeff also are opinionated and they like some
of the housewives that i don't believe have shined
as brightly as they could but i i also think
they're willing to listen which is what i really
really like about them i think they're just they're
fun people i really love doing the episodes with
scott and jeff they're very fun good i like those
episodes as well so you keep them coming That's
the plan. Keep them coming for the people. Because,
dear listeners, I don't know if you understand
this, but I've literally listened to every single
episode of this podcast. And I can say this genuinely
and sincerely because I do love very specific
podcasts. But I would not. listen to my own cousin's
podcast if i didn't actually like it i've listened
to every single episode and i enjoy every single
episode and might i also take the mic for a second
longer and please by all means and i will thank
you and i knew i would without or with your permission
um guys for like literally years travis has said
whether it was just him or whether it was me
and him he was going to be on a podcast or he
was going to have a podcast and so I did want
to steal the mic and say I am so proud of you
and I love what you're doing and it's really
fun getting to hear you outside of a phone call
or outside of in person interacting with other
people that you love and that you share like
commonalities with. And it's very endearing.
It's very special to me. So this also like me
being here is very special because it's very
much full circle. So I love you too. Thank you.
I love you so much. That was. Thank you. Why
was I nervous to say that? I don't know. I could,
like, my chest was tight. No, go on, keep going.
You can say whatever you want. Yeah, so that's
just that. I love that. Thank you so much. That
was very sweet. I'm also very proud of you. I
think you know this. You know that I'm proud
of you. I've been proud of you my whole life.
You're a teacher, and, like, we're going to get
into this, but, like, that's... the most thankless
job on god's green earth and like you are so
not good at good at it doesn't begin to explain
it you are so passionate about it and like you're
you care about the people you're teaching and
you you put a lot of work in where I know every
teacher puts in a lot of work, but like the the
level of care that you put into that is so impressive
to me. And I've just I'm very proud of you and
I love you. And thank you, Josh. Thank you for
being here today. This is going to be so cool.
Thank me. Thank us. Thank everybody. Thank you.
That is very sweet. I it's like you said, it
is a thankless job. I am lucky that, you know,
I have people that support me in. the profession
itself not just like with my admin because that's
very few and far between to have support from
your own administrators and other people in your
school but my mom loves what Bailey and I do
Bailey's my sister and she's also a teacher on
the opposite end of the spectrum she does like
kindergarten first and I'm in high school always
um but also you know like my boyfriend wants
me to have everything in my classroom that I
want and need and that's one thing about me I
do not love spending money on my classroom so
like I have so many people that do share the
love and share their support with me in this
endeavor which is very nice because that doesn't
happen very often for everybody else no it doesn't
and like I I've always or I guess we're just
gonna jump right into the teaching thing because
like this is something that I think people do
need to hear whether or not they have kids I
I've when Bailey it was she was going into her
first year teaching and she like shared the uh
the like wish list with uh with all of us of
like oh this is like what I need for my classroom
and I was like what are you talking about like
I didn't realize and Em and I have talked about
this before I didn't realize like you don't just
get a budget to do that like you don't have like
Like a corporate credit card from the district.
Oh, I would do anything. The amount of money
that I would be spending on things like air purifiers
or air fresheners or tissue boxes. It's so desperately
needed. Now, nothing like that happens where
there's like a corporate credit card. That would
be so lovely and so fun and special. Sometimes.
um, either like in the middle of the year or
at the end of the year before the school year
even ends, sometimes you'll get some sort of
budget, like $50 or $100. Or I think last year,
my school in the middle of the school year was
like, Hey, we're gifting like, you know, some
other entity gives the school a certain amount
of money where teachers can get like 50 to $150
each. to spend on whatever they want for their
classroom. So like, I use that money on a couple
of posters for my room. I bought like a 1000
pack of pre sharpened pencils, like wooden pencils
in a huge box. Post -it notes, highlighters,
because I make my kids highlight and annotate
things all the time. And a lot of the times they
don't. By their own. But like what you're saying
out loud right now is wild to me that there's
not just a closet that you can go to and like
obtain these items from. Sometimes there is.
A lot of times there's not. That's insane to
me. Yeah. Like also part of that, I had to buy
folders and notebooks and like loose leaf paper
because there isn't enough supply in the school
itself. And kids are constantly. ripping their
folders don't have folders at all i just this
week two kids asked for folders and thankfully
i had them because i was given a budget at the
end of last school year that i spent on like
30 folders 30 just like cheapo i'm gonna go to
meyer and just like buy you a ton of folders
and stuff the kids need it well i don't know
what to do with that and emma and i have talked
about this where it's like the the discourse
on tiktok before the beginning of the school
year this year was I can't believe I have to
buy school supplies for my kid. And I'm like,
I don't know how we got to this place of like,
I don't want to buy school supplies for my kid.
Cause like, I mean, when you and I were growing
up, it was a big deal to go to school supply
shopping. And like, I don't remember. It was
the best part of going back to school. Yeah.
And just like. No, it was so incredibly fun.
And I don't I also don't know where the expectation
shifted from what we are used to to what people
are used to now. But there's very much been a
shift and it's embarrassing in a way now. And
that's coming from a privileged place where like
I know that if I had kids and they were going
to school, I would be able to buy them school
supplies. So there's that. But it's it doesn't
seem like it's coming from a place of not being
able to. It seems like it's coming from a place
of this is. Someone else's job or like whatever
the case may be. And I I have a hard time with
that because I'm I'm just like, how did we get
here? I don't know. I don't know. I was looking
at a couple of the TikToks that you had put in
our notes and I forget which one that I'm about
to refer to. But someone was talking about the
No Child Left Behind Act and everything really
did go downhill when it. I am extremely passionate.
Dear listener, think what you want about me,
but keep the children accountable. Keep them
held back if they deserve it. Keep keep them
like hold them back a grade level if they don't
meet those standards, don't meet those expectations.
And if you don't feel that they are ready to
move on to the next grade level, I think that
it is done. so much damage for children to graduate
high school without being able to read at a 12th
grade level i mean my kids currently i thankfully
i have two pre -ap classes so those kids are
very smart very capable my english 10 kids are
probably reading at a fifth grade reading level
sixth grade reading level do you think that was
covet or do you think that's like Do you think
that's like the technology in the classrooms
or like what do you think? How do you think we
got here? I think it's a combination of a lot
of things. I think that it is a combination of
COVID and the technology that we have. I also
think that this is kind of a generation where
parents are way more hands off, way more. uninvested
in their children's lives, whether that be because
they don't have the energy due to like, maybe
they're working, maybe there's something going
on in their life, or some people and Bailey,
my sister can also account to this, that some
people just shouldn't be parents. Some people
shouldn't have kids if they're not ready to take
on that challenge, because It is a challenge,
not just from a newborn to an 18 year old, but
beyond that, too. So some parents are just not
they're not present in their kids lives. And
for a lot of my kids in the area that I'm in,
some parents are on drugs. Some parents are dead.
Some are just not. very good people, let alone
parents. So it's hard for children to meet expectations
when those expectations aren't modeled in other
aspects of their life, like at home. That's hard.
That's really hard. Yeah. But that's also despite
all of that, despite all of those different factors,
it is hard for a teacher or for an administrator.
To keep up with all of the needs of a school
when nobody else is willing to help. And so it's
crazy when, you know, like a parent on TikTok
that's wearing like full Lululemon and driving
like a Range Rover is saying that I didn't know
it was expected of me to buy my children crayons.
What? This is a weird thing that I'm like, it's
a weird trend that I'm noticing because it's
like, I know growing up, like. I was conscious
of the fact that like there were things that
were expected that like our granny and papal
just had to like write a check for sometimes
or whatever. And like I knew that I knew this.
So like were other people just like not as aware
as like we were of these things growing up? Or
like do you think that like something in society
has shifted to like almost more of a selfish
place? Or like I guess I don't know where that's
coming from. students and their parents are inherently
very selfish. And obviously there's a good side
to that and a very bad side to it. So I think
it's a lot of things. And I think that we also,
I think there's a lot of factors in our family
that we saw that things cost money. Are we able
to access them? Are we able to not access them?
All these things. I think that as children of
divorce, That's just a thing because all of a
sudden, if you are living in one single household
with a parent that had a partner to help out
with things up until a certain moment, that's
one aspect. And then, of course, we did have
Granny and Papa who blessed us in a million ways
and was able to get us whatever we needed if
our parents couldn't do it. So I think that.
That's something. But the selfishness and the
apathy in this time that we're in is really poisoning
the learning environment and the educational
landscape. It's crazy. I would like to devote
like an entire episode to like just what it's
like to be a teacher today, because I think that.
I think there's a lot there. And like, I don't
know how I ended up on teacher TikTok. But like,
I feel like I'm constantly seeing teachers be
like, you don't understand what it's like. It's
like it is like they're going to war. And I.
It's what it feels like sometimes. I can't imagine
what it's like, because it's like, I don't want
kids. I don't have kids. Like, my only interaction
with kids is like some of our cousins, like in
their kids or Emma and Jack. So I'm just like.
I want nothing to do with it. Like, I want I
don't know. But yeah. But yeah, well, I do want
to dive into that. Like, and there's we have
a lot of like of just stuff that like comes from
like on a political level, like how much I hate
Linda McMahon and like what's going on with the
the Department of Education in the United States
today. But we'll get into all that. Like we've.
We've got time. We've got time. But I do want
to, like, I want to let people know. I want to
give people a picture of, like, what it was like
growing up with the two of us. Yeah, for sure.
The lore. The lore. So. Shivers down my spine.
I have my favorite story on this list of, like,
taking. Taking you to an establishment that I
don't shop at anymore, but Target. And I hate
us and Target. I do hate us and Target. But I
want to talk about how you and I were. I don't
remember why we were in the feminine care aisle,
but like we were we were by the pharmacy at Target
and you picked up a. What I can only describe
as. a silicone cup and you said they have diva
cups here yeah and I said what's a diva cup and
there was another family in this aisle with us
and you proceeded to explain to me what a diva
cup was and that family was just entirely uncomfortable
with that entire concept and I said well that's
what a diva cup is and there you go what is your
favorite story about growing up with me well
I actually would love To discuss. So after my
mother divorced, after my mother and father divorced,
we lived in Shelbyville in a house. Yes. In a
house in Shelbyville. In a house in Shelbyville.
That's the first mistake, really. Yes, for sure.
Travis Michael here would sometimes babysit me
when my mom would go out with her friends or
go out on a date or whatever. Now, there's. bits
and pieces it all it's all flashes to me um my
first i wouldn't call it sexual awakening because
it wasn't that but my first experience with seeing
sex on a screen was you forcing sex in the city
onto me at the age of i could only imagine to
be eight nine ten which you were like 10 and
i was probably 14 or 15. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. And
what a good time that was. I actually didn't
hate it at all. I just didn't know what was going
on. I don't think that I actually knew. I obviously
did not know the premise of the show. I didn't
know anything about it. But that was my first
like on screen experience. And I have. I only
remember this from my mom telling me this, where
my mom wanted to go out with her friend, Brianne.
Are you going to tell the story about the knockdown
drag out fight? Probably. Go on. Okay, great.
So my mom was going out with her friend, Brianne,
just a night on the town with the girls. They
were being girls together. And my mom explains
this to me like today, as in. she was just one
second she was having a good time I don't know
where she was maybe broad ripple I don't know
but then all of a sudden she just had a horrible
gut feeling and she immediately just thought
I have to go home I have to go home I don't even
she told Brianne she's like I've got a horrible
feeling right now I have to go home she goes
home and she this is the funniest part because
I genuinely don't remember it but I she said
that she pulled into the driveway and she was
looking out the window. She said, I remember
this like it was yesterday. I'm looking out the
window like longingly as if I'm just trapped
in there or something. I'm like sitting at my
desk against the window. And my mom was just
worried sick about me. She opens the door and
I think she sees your friend Lindsay absolutely
canoodling the boots down with some other guy
on the couch. Yes. And then you're in her bedroom.
You're on my mother's bed, also canoodling the
boots down. And she was, from her side of the
story, mortified. She was like, and thank God
I had that horrible gut feeling no wonder. So
and thankfully, I actually don't remember this
day at all. So I I'd say you managed it pretty
well because I don't remember anybody being in
that house. Yeah, because you were in bed. Taylor,
you were in bed. Allegedly, I was at the window.
You were dead asleep. I made sure you were asleep
before we invited the guys over. I would imagine.
I would imagine because I don't remember a thing
about this. So my mom's probably making half
of it up. I'm going to let her have her experience.
I won't take her experience away from her. But
when she does tell that story, she loves to make
sure that I look as bad as I possibly can in
that story. Like, she hasn't had guys over before.
Right, of course. Anyway. So, yeah, it's things
like that, like us, like you babysitting me.
I loved when you had Lindsay around me because
she was so hot. Biggest boobs in the whole world.
Natural, too. Natural. And that was incredible
to see as like a 10 year old. Yeah. So you just
always had beautiful people around you. You wanted.
me to be cool like I would wear my zip up jackets
all the way up top and you'd like zip it back
down halfway because that's how they did it at
Hollister when you worked there like all these
things it's just really fun I love that yeah
um yeah I think my other favorite story from
our childhood is dear listener you might know
this about me I'll fly off the handle about anything
um literally anything And Josh and I were at,
it had to have been the target in Plainfield.
And someone cut us off in the parking lot and
almost hit us. And I decided I would not let
that injustice stand. I rolled down the window.
My window. Your window. Yes. I followed this
woman through the parking lot and I let her know
how badly she had messed up that day. Yeah. Now.
Yeah. To be fair, she had cut you off in a way
that like you're not supposed to drive that way
in the parking lot. Like you were going down
a lane of the parking lot and she was going horizontally
at a stupid speed and genuinely cut you off.
Like we were both frightened by it. But I need
to let her know. Dear listener. One thing about
Travis Michael is he's going to let you know.
And especially during that time, I was so shy.
I was so in my little cocoon. I'm not, you know,
I can hold my own now for sure. But back then
I was not confrontational. I didn't want to make
any waves. So the fact that I am in the same
car. With a tsunami that makes waves for sure.
That's what really frightened me. I made waves
for both of us, if you will. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So that is one that I look back on not fondly,
but in the space that I am in now, I would also
do the same. I see what you saw and you walked
so I could run. And I appreciate that. I really
laid the groundwork. Yeah. What else? What else
is on it? What do you want to get into? We have
a lot on our list, but I'm down for whatever.
What's on your mind? If we want to get into some
teacher things, we totally can. Let's do it.
What should we start with? Anything in particular?
Do you want to just like hear me complain about
what's up with these days? Actually, you know
what? Let's do complaining. Complain about what's
going on these days. And then before you get
into complaining, have you watched any of The
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City? No. Okay.
And I know that that's pretty blasphemous for
me to say on this podcast. It's okay. We can...
We can do... You know what? Let's just get it.
Let's let's get into teacher things today and
then we'll do a reality roundup next week. Sure.
OK. OK. Beautiful. Anyway, if you want to hear
just like some random things that I'm dealing
with just this week and then we can get into
specifics if we want. This week, something that
really annoys me. I said it in our notes, like
some kids will just literally say anything. And
it's like. What gives you the gall? and the right
to just sound like the world's biggest idiot.
Like it's really hard as a professional in a
classroom setting to handle that professionally.
Like for instance, on Monday, we had an e -learning
day. Sometimes e -learning is very much scheduled
out. There's usually at least one e -learning
day per quarter and that's synchronous work.
You have to have like 25 minutes per period on
like a live, basically a Zoom. So 99 % of the
time, the kids do not interact during that time.
The cameras are off. They're muted. I'm just
spewing whatever I want to spew. And then I give
them something to do just to say that we did
it. For my E10 kids, my English 10 kids, all
they had to do was listen to me yap about chapter
two of Of Mice and Men. And then they had to
take a quiz, a chapter two quiz. It took probably
15, 20 minutes total. And I even let them off
early. Like, you're welcome. It's a gift from
me to you. And then the next day, one of my students
who has been a menace since day one or whatever,
he comes up to me and he goes, Miss Ramseyer,
Miss Ramseyer, what did we do yesterday? And
I'm like. Why are you asking me? I took attendance.
You were there the entire time on the Zoom. What
do you mean? What did we do? He's like, well,
obviously I wasn't listening. I was playing Fortnite
the whole time. Why would you do that? Why would
you do that? And also, why would you say that?
Do you think they think it's like a cutesy little
thing? Yeah. It's so annoying. And guess what
it is? What? Ugly. It's ugly. It's ugly and I
hate it. And in very... In much more professional
terms, I said, get the fuck out of my face and
leave my room. Like, you're not even in this
period. And don't come at me saying this. Obviously,
I didn't say that. But I basically said, you
know good and well to not sound this way to me.
You know what's on my Canvas page. You can go
check it out yourself if you didn't want to listen
yesterday. Goodbye. And then why are they being
a little demon monster, though? Like, I don't
I don't get it annoying because that's like what
it is. Like some of them think that it's funny.
And I'm like, do I look like I'm laughing? Do
I look like I think you're cute and funny? No.
It's literally embarrassing these days. Like
the the things that kids will say, like I had
to get a kid kicked out of my class on the last
day of the first quarter because. My mistake,
I had to talk to a kid privately out in the hallway
for one minute. And in that minute, that kid
was running around my room acting a menace and
said crazy wild things. So I've had to get kids
kicked out for just saying this, just the most
foul, horrific, disgusting things. Because like,
what are you doing being 14, 15 years old and
saying that in front of 25 other kids? You're
embarrassing. I hate that. Isn't it ugly? It
is ugly. And, like, this is something where I
think that, like, I don't know if parents aren't
holding kids accountable anymore or, like, because,
like, I know that there were certain things I
could get away with saying when I was growing
up, but there were other things where, like,
I would have been beaten within an inch of my
life. Uh -huh. And. For sure. I don't know where
that's gone. Well, here's what it is. Half of
it is parents are holding their kids accountable
and the kids genuinely don't care. And then the
other half of it is the parents are not holding
the kids accountable. And so they're not getting
any consequences. They think that they can do
anything and not be touched. The kids that are
being held accountable at home, they are being
held accountable. But 99 % of the time, those
kids are so apathetic that. They don't care if
things get taken away. They don't care if they
get in trouble. They don't care if they get their
door taken off its hinges. They don't care. They
literally don't care about consequences or how
they make other people feel. Because, I mean,
imagine the 25 other kids in that room, like
hearing such uncomfortable words coming from
a 15 year old. That kid doesn't care. He likes
to make people uncomfortable. And it's. Very
scary. That's very weird. It's very weird, very
gross and very scary because that kid is probably
going to turn into an adult that is just as bad.
I do have a theory about this where like I do
wonder if. Like because I don't think kids get
enough credit for like how smart and like how
observant they are sometimes. Yeah. And like
I wonder if there is some level of like. Well,
a literal felon can find his way into the White
House. So like, why can't I like, why can't I
do that? Like so. And especially being a teacher
during both of those elections. A lot of kids
did have that mindset of like, I can truly get
away with anything and it doesn't matter. I hate
that. Anyway, what else? What else about being
a teacher? Um, I'm really, I mean, old news,
like literally every teacher on the planet is
saying this. I'm really tired. I'm really tired
and burnt out. Yeah. And I think that now I've
been a teacher for six years. This is my sixth
year. And I've really laid my own groundwork
to make my job as easy as it can be. But it's
the other aspects of it that are harder. Like
lesson planning isn't very hard for me. I I'm
lucky enough to where I teach generally the same
grade levels every year. And I know what my sweet
spot is in particular. Like I love teaching freshmen
and sophomores. And thankfully, nobody else does.
Everybody hates freshmen and sophomores. You've
always been the person that like takes on the
roles that everyone else like. either hates or
like doesn't want to do isn't that sad kind of
like but you've also like you're very good at
that though i feel like yeah um i think that
i'm still young enough to where they are very
comfortable with me um i'm gonna be 28 in december
but that's so weird because i'm gonna be 29 in
april Isn't that so funny? Isn't that so funny
how that works? Age is just a number. Somehow
I was four years older than you when we were
kids. Yeah, it's so funny. It's like someone's
math is off. Is the math in the room with us?
I don't know. I don't know. Anyway. But when
I, like my first year teaching, I was freshly
22, basically. And I was teaching juniors and
they're 17. And so that was a very not. incredible
dynamic especially being a brand new teacher
also in the middle of covid like my first year
of teaching was um 2020 so oh yeah it was wasn't
it yeah it was right because i graduated i had
to graduate at home i didn't have like a graduation
or anything like that school for me basically
stopped in march and i was able to do a little
bit of things for maybe about a month on zoom
with like the school that I was student teaching
at. And then the president of Ball State was
like, hey, you can just stop early. We'll send
you your diploma in June or something like that.
And then I was a teacher for that school year
starting in August of 2020. So that was really
hard. That was a weird age dynamic teaching juniors
as a 22 year old, especially with. covid and
all that stuff and just being a first year teacher
but i'm in a really comfortable place now where
i can be fun and goofy with my kids while also
really setting solid expectations and expecting
them to meet them and at this point they're 15
16 years old and so I always say that my job
is very different and a lot easier than my sister's
job because she does kindergarten and first grade.
She has to not only teach the expectations, but
teach them how to meet the expectations. And
that's not something I really have a patience
for. Whereas right now, like with me. teaching
15 and 16 year olds, I'll set the expectations,
I expect them to meet them. And if they're being
out of their minds, crazy, weird and annoying,
then I get to be like, you're being crazy, weird
and annoying. And that's not the kind of learning
environment I'm trying to cultivate here. So
you can go to the office if you're not gonna
chill out. Do you feel like that? Like that's
more helpful than like pulling them aside because
it's not like public shaming. It's just being
like, hey, what are you doing? Now, I do my very,
very best to squash the problem with the child
individually. I don't ever mean to embarrass.
I don't ever mean to shame, for lack of a better
word. There's also a point where if I've tried
my very best to meet a person where it's at and
they're not going to work with me and they want
to continue to be a menace to me and 25 other
kids in the room, then if they want to be embarrassing
in front of the whole class, I'll embarrass them
in front of the whole class. I think that's fine.
Yeah. I mean, it's genuinely only when it gets
to the point where it's a distraction to myself
and others. Yeah. Because I. Very much. I'm very
passionate about the space that I'm in, like
my classroom specifically. I love my classroom.
I try to make it a place where I want to be in.
I make it cute. I make it nice looking. And I
also want to make sure that I have a safe environment
for students to learn, grow, make mistakes, have
fun and do something good in their lives. If
somebody is messing that up for me, I don't want
you in my room. I don't want that. And you're
going to make other people in my classroom uncomfortable
to your peers. That's weird. Like you're doing
way too much. And if I've told them in five,
six other ways that you are doing too much and
you cannot be in here, if you're going to continue
to act this way, then guess what? If you're going
to continue to do it, I'm going to say in front
of your 25 other peers. You are doing way too
much. Get out. I'm going to call the administrator
and let them know you're on your way. I had to
do that multiple times this year, which honestly
is better than past experiences. I love that.
Yeah. We've got a lot on the teacher list, but
one thing I do want to get into is AI and academia.
Yeah, for sure. Emma and I have talked a lot
about artificial intelligence and large language
models on this podcast because I'm in a weird
middle space where, like, I, like, I think a
lot of you remember our Uncle Roy. I think about
Roy a lot who, like. If you would have introduced
him to chat GPT, that would have become his best
friend. Like, yeah, I don't know if you remember
him in this way, but like he had to have the
newest of everything. And he loved technology.
He loved, loved computers, loved like he was
the first person. I mean, like I remember when
dial up Internet was first becoming a thing,
even though I'm not that old. I don't remember
dial up, but like I remember when he like first.
Got a hold of like that America Online CD that
they would send you in the mail. And you couldn't
tell him that he was not like you couldn't tell
him he wasn't Steve Jobs. And then like he got
he had the first iPhone. He had the first like
I remember the first iPod. He had all of it.
So I think like I took a little bit of that from
him because Papo's kind of been similar in that
we're like he has always been very encouraging
of us like learning. about technology right yeah
so I think about AI and I'm like oh the the the
possibilities are limitless right where it's
like there there are there are real applications
to like teaching there are real applications
to problem solving but like when it becomes a
crutch that's where I've started to like I've
started to open my eyes a little bit where Emma
from the beginning has been like I don't like
it I want nothing to do with it I hate it and
I support her in that But like I've in this podcast,
I've like stopped using AI to like write the
show notes like I do that all myself now. And
I think that because I think when you start using
it in place of creativity, that's where your
mind starts to like just get really lazy. Absolutely.
But I I don't I don't know what it's like for
kids now who. They've just had chat GPT for the
last three years. I'm like, how does that look
for them? What does that look like? Oh, let me
tell you what it looks like. It's from the teacher's
perspective. It is nothing short of a boldface
nightmare because it's like what you said. There's
there's no creativity. There's no critical thinking.
There's no practical problem solving when students
are truly and sincerely using this. any way that
they can in the school setting. And at my school,
we have like school issued Chromebooks. So each
student has their own Chromebook computer and
chat GPT and things like that are blocked. Well,
even if they're blocked, students are either
students can either use it on their phones, use
it on their iPads, or they can find, you know,
like little firewalls and stuff like that. Yeah.
And so it's always, always a problem. And even
if none of that is true they have a computer
at home and they're using it there like I obviously
I'm an English teacher I'm gonna make a kid write
an essay one thing I love is teaching how to
write essays you've loved writing your whole
life oh I love writing everything creative not
creative essays research personal narrative everything
I love it so I love teaching that and What's
really annoying to me is I will put in so much
time, so much work, so much notes, so much modeling,
so much effort into giving them a week to two
weeks to write, say, a five paragraph essay.
And I think the first essay of this school year,
I gave like 10 kids zeros without the option
to resubmit because there was evidence of. ai
and stuff like that and i know that that you
know what grammarly is it's my personal hell
i hate grammarly it doesn't even work half the
time it's not that it doesn't work it's that
like grammarly was the really one of the first
um first applications like one of the first apps
To force AI into every facet of what you were
trying to do. Absolutely. And it's like, okay,
so you open up the extension to, like, add itself
to Microsoft Word or to Chrome or to Gmail. I
think were the first three places you could use
it. And, like, it was in my undergrad at IU,
it was we got it all for free. Like, Graham really
had to have come to IU and said, hey, we want.
you to be early adopters of this. And the way
that it was so aggressively like, like, I'm gonna
get in here and I'm gonna like, I'm gonna recorrect
what you're doing. I hate Grammarly. Absolutely.
And like you said, that's it, it uses AI to help
you with that. So when I use my own AI detectors,
when assessing essays, I go into it with the
expectation of they are told to use Grammarly.
I tell them, hey, if you want to use Grammarly
to, you know, edit and revise your work, go for
it. So I know that if one of my AI detectors
says, oh, 12 % of this essay is AI generated,
then I'll be like, okay, maybe it was just Grammarly.
I'm talking 60, 80, 95, 100%. of a child's essay
is AI generated. And it was even embarrassing
recently. And this is actually funny to talk
about because recently my school has been issued
a grant for this AI program called Magic School
AI. And that's specifically for schools, for
students and for teachers. So I was also part
of a like a committee where I had to be a part
of like an all day professional development about
how to use it, how to utilize it in the classroom,
how I can use it as a teacher, how students can
use it on their end. And I was supposed to make
a lesson involving Magic School AI. So essentially
what I did. I know this is a long story, but
essentially what I did was I have a question
in one second. Don't let me forget that. I have
a question very specifically about magic school.
I have a go ahead. OK, so essentially. What I
wanted to do for my kids was I wanted them to
take what they learned from George and Lenny
of Mice and Men chapter one. And I wanted them
to write a diary entry in one of their perspectives.
And in order to do that, because we had just
met those characters, we only read one chapter.
I made a custom chat bot in Magic School AI that
was specifically going to help them with this
assignment, give them ideas, offer them guidance.
check their work, give them feedback, give them
an estimated score based on a rubric I made and
uploaded to this chatbot. And thankfully, with
Magic School AI, it specifically will never write
anything for a student. Which as far as I know,
that that is the whole truth. And that's great.
I had a student come up to me on day two of this
assignment, being like, Mr. Ramsey. Your chatbot's
not helping me. I don't know. I don't know what
I'm doing. And I'm like, okay, well, let me see
what you've got so far. She had a fully written
diary entry and it looked good. I'm like, what
do you mean? You did a really great diary entry.
Mind you, she's showing me this on her personal
iPad. Okay. So. And I'm very comfortable with
this student. I've been on her iPad once or twice.
So what I do is she's showing me this on like
her notes app, like she's typing it on her notes
app. I'm like, well, let's see what your conversation
with the chatbot was. So I went ahead and like
scrolled up to see her open tabs. The latest
open tab was ChatGPT. And I go, and she goes.
I said, I said, Miss girl, there's no way. She
said, that wasn't me. What? What do you mean?
What do you mean? I fear that you're a liar.
So I immediately click on it. I mean, I said,
well, let's see what ChatGPT has to say. This
girl said, write me a diary entry and George's
perspective from chapter one of myself. You're
sick. I gave you an AI chatbot. What do you mean?
She thought so boldly that my issued chatbot
would write the whole thing for her. And when
it didn't, she was mad and went to chat GPT.
I said, you're getting a zero and I promptly
need you to get out of my face. She walked away.
And mind you, she got a zero on her huge essay
because she also used chat GPT and admitted it.
Are we ever going to learn? No, I fear we're
not. And like this is this is the problem for
me. I want to come back to this magic school,
I think. You say your school received a grant.
Yes, a two -year grant. My question is, did this
grant come from the Department of Education or
did this grant come from the parent company of
Magic School AI? I actually couldn't tell you.
I don't know. I'm going to do digging into this.
I'm going to do a mama list research because
this scares me when you have these companies.
Because I'll tell you our pretty close experience
with this. Zachary, my brother, your cousin,
he was in high school at Triton Central after
I graduated. And there was a corporation called
New Tech Corporation or something like it was
they were the initiative was New Tech. And it
was all owned by this corporation who said, we're
going to make these schools technology first
schools. Right. They came in. They it was it.
I think it was two years after I graduated high
school because Zachary was two or three years
behind me. He would have been a junior or a senior.
And I guess they came in, they took complete
control of the curriculum and said, you will
teach this way. This is how your classrooms will
be structured. They like paired teachers together.
Like it became a thing where they. The idea was
you'll be more ready to go into the workforce
if college isn't for you, because I think that
was where that was where like the data was trending
was like some kids coming out of Triton just
didn't go to college. And that's fine. If you
don't go to college, like it's not for everyone.
And like, I'm not going to be the person that's
like, no, every kid needs to go to college because
I don't I wholeheartedly don't believe that.
But what it did is it ruined. That, like, I mean,
I'm telling you, like, the amount of money that
taxpayers had to pay to get Triton Syndrome out
of that contract, because it was a complete and
total disaster for, I think it was two years
that they were at Triton. And when these companies
come in and kind of... push their technology
push their product push whatever in the schools
that kind of stuff scares me because i'm like
what's the ulterior motive here because like
if it's a for -profit thing i don't want it i
want it to have no involvement in the schools
yeah and i that the first question i have After
hearing that is did every single teacher quit?
Because if somebody if I'm teaching the way that
I've been teaching for six plus years, and then
all of a sudden someone comes in and says, you're
going to revamp everything you've ever done,
and everything that you will do for the next
one, two years, and you will do things this way.
And if not, they were going to have issues, I
would be so gone if i had the means and wherewithal
they did lose a few teachers and i have a feeling
that like you had um mr mendenhall like i like
the teachers like mr mendenhall do you remember
mr mendenhall from you might have been i don't
think you would have you wouldn't i don't think
you ever would have had him but like there were
teachers like mr mendenhall who like rebuked
the idea of a computer in his classroom like
if he showed us movies like he would pull out
like and i'm not joking like the the big tv on
the big thing like there was never any use of
of um like computer like he didn't know how to
turn on the computer at his desk like and he
never used it like it was all graded with like
red pen and paper yeah and like probably the
literal grade book yeah he he had a little like
he had all of it and like i mean he was i mean
he was a world war ii vet like he was old when
i was in school so like if he's still around
like i'd be astonished but like i know he was
still teaching when zachary was there and i have
a feeling like he never instituted those things
in his classroom and like i would imagine because
he was I will tell you, he was an advocate for
his students. And, like, he was one of these
people that if he didn't agree with something,
he would just close his classroom door. And he'd
be like, you can come in between classes. Like,
that's the end of that conversation. Wonderful.
But, like, I mean, they did lose a fair amount
of teachers. And I have a feeling that's why
they had to pair teachers up. Because I know
they were pairing classes together to use in,
like, those big classrooms that we had. So. Yeah,
I imagine that. I mean, we lost the guidance
counselor. We lost a fair amount of teachers
there. Well, I'm starting to realize now I am.
I don't know if it's due to my age or due to
like me just being a teacher in this time, but
I am loving. Loving it when students have their
personal devices, like a school issued device,
like a Chromebook or like I taught at a Catholic
school for two years in Tampa. And that was and
they had personal iPads for classes. And I love
it. I love technology in the room because my
work is so accessible that way. And my lessons
are so accessible that way. And also handwriting
is crazy. So I love it when they type essays.
But now I'm starting to see that there are potentially
detrimental. um, consequences to 100 % technology
in the classroom. Like, I think, I don't know
if it was a TikTok that I saw randomly on my
For You page or one that you had linked in our
notes, but a teacher had mentioned, these kids
don't know how to hold pencils anymore. Don't
know how to hold pencils? What are we talking
about? That's crazy. And of course, like, as
a lover of cursive, Nobody knows how to do cursive.
Nobody knows how to do anything like that. Did
you learn how to write in cursive? I did. I did.
I didn't. They taught it to us in like second
or third grade. And that was the last time we
ever used it. Like Mrs. Doss was the last time
that I ever remember seeing cursive. Absolutely.
I don't. I was never taught it like in consecutive
years or anything like that. But yes, around
like second grade, we probably learned cursive.
I don't think that I actually used it often until
probably the end of high school and going into
college. In college, I was really passionate
about trying to write in cursive all the time.
And I like writing in cursive now. I do both.
It's kind of half and half for me. It just depends
on the vibe, I guess. But I would never. I don't
think I think the only taught us for one year.
So I don't. cursive for me you know your mom
has like an insane like conspiracy theory about
cursive but have we talked about those no i don't
know what you're talking about tanya when she
found out that schools weren't because cassie
doesn't know how to read cursive like this is
something that tanya like has a bone to pick
with well she has very beautiful cursive my mom
your mom does have very beautiful like she's
she ought to be passionate about it yes but um
she wholeheartedly believes That the reason they
don't teach cursive in schools anymore, it's
a liberal conspiracy that they don't want kids
to be able to read the Constitution anymore so
they can change whatever they want. It's the
most insane thing I've ever heard in my life.
Dear listeners, I literally can't believe the
words that I'm hearing. Yeah, Tanya wholeheartedly
believes. Dear listeners, this is the first time
I'm hearing about my mother in this light. All
I have to say is no comment. That's crazy. No,
that's an absolutely wild thing to say. But yeah,
it is sad. But there are I I would do anything
for to have like a whole unit where we don't
touch a phone. We don't touch an iPad. We don't
touch a Chromebook. We don't touch a smart board
that we literally do something like pen, paper,
book. Anything like that. No technology whatsoever.
I'd even have the lights off if that's. Do you
not have the option to do that? Do you not have
the option just to say, put it all away? We're
going to I'm going to write on the board. You're
going to take out a piece of paper and that's
how it's going to be for this period. I have
every right to do that. Yes, I can. But these
kids and I don't mean to sound 60 years old and
senile when I say this. Kids these days. will
not survive without their phone, like, within
arm's reach. It's embarrassing and weird. Like,
I can take their phones. They'll literally go
hysteric, like, into hysterics if they don't
have it. Can I just tell you something? And this
is something that, like, truly, like, I've stayed
up at night about this before. So, like. Our
cousin and this is not this is not a knock on
Logan's parenting. Right. Our cousin Logan has
two wonderful kids. Wonderful. Yes. I have watched
the iPad be taken away from one of them and the
meltdown that followed. Yes. Like because I.
And they have done studies about like the way
technology does really rewire your brain. That's
why there should be a limit on screen time. That's
like there's like the blue light like does something
to your brain. It's like it's a thing. And I'm
I'm I fear and I I'm sure that she's like reeled
it in. But like I fear that like they're. could
be an addiction there and i'm like it's it's
wild to talk about a four -year -old and say
like he's addicted to something but like what
do you do with that it's i'm telling you i think
that a lot of you know the last generation of
parents and this current generation of parents
have really lost the plot when it comes to things
like that where you know if if they Didn't want
to deal with a tantrum if they didn't want to
deal with something hard. I mean, I as someone
who is not a parent, I will say that being a
parent is probably the hardest job in the world.
Oh, 100 percent. There's not a doubt in my mind.
Of course. Yeah. But parents will just throw
a screen in front of a kid in order to shut them
up or to make a hard situation end or whatever.
And we really screwed it up in that way. I I
truly don't know what it will take now for a
child who I mean, I mean, let's think about it.
I have I have 16 year olds in my room. They have
now they were born in like 2009, 2010. That's
insane. Isn't that disgusting? That's insane.
That's crazy. But yeah, most of their birthdays
fall in 2009, 2010. I mean, were iPhones a thing
back then? The first iPhone was launched in 2008,
I think. Yeah, so there's always been iPhones,
always been iPods, always been YouTube. I'm pretty
sure YouTube has been around that long. YouTube's
been around since 2005, I think. Now, for me,
being almost 28, I remember my childhood, in
regards to technology, mostly consisted of just
TV. I don't even, like, but... I you say that
and like I don't even think you had cable at
the house in Shelbyville. Like I I think we watched
like exclusively DVDs. Yes. And I think back
to that and like and I I don't think this was
on purpose by any stretch of the imagination.
Like I genuinely think this is just something
where like if you guys did have cable, it was
like the six channel cable. Yeah. And. But, like,
the amount of access that we did not have. Like,
I mean, at Granny and Papel's, we always had,
like, whatever. It was Dish Network or whatever
it was. And, like, Huck let me watch Sex and
the City growing up. But, like, I, like, even
that, there was, like, some level of control
over, like, what we, not control, but, like,
there was some monitoring over, like, what we
had access to. Absolutely. And, like, the amount
of access that kids have today, like. It's unprecedented.
And I think that's why a really big issue is
like that even I struggle with is that we are
not meant to have this much information accessible
to us at any given point. And at the drop of
a hat, because I always think back to it as like
200 years ago, we would never know. unless somebody
else went to the town over what was happening
in that town we would never know unless we visited
that town itself or somebody that we know visits
and then tells us like word for word like oh
my gosh you'll never believe the the thing at
the saloon that happened in the town of her but
we know the most horrendous absolutely unbelievable
information that happens all across the world
and not only that but we are seeing things that
no regular human actually has the capacity to
understand and on one side of the coin it's good
to know things it's good to be aware and it's
good to be conscious of all of the bad things
that are happening around us but on the other
side of the coin it's literally rotting brains
like these these kids are so It's either people
are traumatized or kids are now apathetic to
it because that's all they've known. They've
always, always, always had a phone, had an iPad,
had a computer, had a TV. And all of that was
so easily accessible to them. Whereas when we
were kids, yeah, we had TV. Yeah, we had DVDs.
We had the VCRs. What is that? The big block
videos? Yeah, like VCRs. I don't. Did we have
VCRs? We had like. We had them at Granny's house.
Yes, at Granny's. Yeah. But at the same time,
we had such a fun time playing outside, jumping
on the trampolines, like Bailey and Zachary playing
army outside the backyard. This is something
really interesting. We're like, I, I remember
like Papa built that like tree house thing for
us. And like, I remember like that was like.
You couldn't tell me that was not like I wasn't
the king of the castle there. And it's like,
I feel like kids don't have that anymore. And
it's like, on some level, I feel kind of bad
because I'm just like that. We had good childhoods.
It's like as messed up as things got, like just
with family stuff or whatever. We still had incredible
childhoods that I wouldn't have traded for anything
in the world. I don't think. I hope that kids
still have that level of imagination that you
and I were able to have. I don't know. Well,
it's exactly what you said earlier, that AI itself
is cutting off all the creativity. I even had,
you know, in my pre -AP class, part of the unit
has to do with analyzing arguments being made
in editorial cartoons. An editorial cartoon that
I showed on Monday on e -learning day was like
a big robot arm holding a pair of scissors to
this one thread that represents creativity of
the human body. And like it's about to cut the
single thread. And I mean, that's what everybody
knows. And it's so acknowledged yet AI is so
deeply ingrained. Like the. The reason why we
got this grant for Magic School AI in the first
place is because my principal had to tell it
to us, like the people as part of the all day
PD about it was, yeah, we know that AI is a problem
in schools, yada, yada, yada. We're too deep
into it now and we might as well embrace it.
The genie's out of the bottle like that. Yeah.
And like I get both sides of it. Like I know
that it's not something that we can escape anymore,
but also why? Do we have to feed into something
if it's only going to do absolutely nothing to
enrich these kids? Now, I'll say magic school
AI as somebody who, you know, has had professional
development about it, has used it. That's definitely
the best use of AI in a school because it's specifically
made for a school setting where it will not let
students. have it written for them which is great
um it's supposed to be used as tools as resources
as guidance um whereas the kids have to create
the end product whether it be like some sort
of written response or whatever but i i'm just
i am certainly at my wits end when it comes to
chat gpt and stuff like that i'm even trying
to stop using it in my personal life because
I don't want to be saying, oh, AI is bad, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, and then use it to be
like, what's a recipe I can, what's a salad that
I can make with pecans and cranberries? I'll
figure that out myself like I used to in the
good old days. Are you kidding? Not the good
old days. In the good old days. Josh, do you
believe in horoscopes? I'm so glad you asked.
I'm so glad you asked this question. Used to
be really passionate about it, but let me tell
you about my sun sign. I'm a Sagittarius. I don't
align with any, anything regarding a Sagittarius.
Sagittariuses are, um, they're, um, what's the
word I'm looking for? What's the, what's the
words where it's like, I'm in, uh, not outspoken.
Introverted? Yes. OK, I'm looking for those.
So cut all that thinking. So for Sagittarius,
they're supposed to be very extroverted and very
like whimsical and all these things. And in some
cases I can be extroverted. I find myself to
be a little, you know, a lover of whimsy, but
I'm not as busy. I'm not as like. I find myself
to be a lover of whimsy. I find myself to be
a lover of whimsy. That's the episode title.
I want you to know that. For sure. I find myself
to be a lover of whimsy. I do. I love whimsy,
but not in the way that Sagittarius people do.
Like, I also, I'm very much a homebody. I'm very
introverted in a lot of ways, which obviously,
why am I a teacher? You know what I mean? I can
fake it till I make it for sure. And I do it
well. But I'm very introverted at heart. I'm
very much a homebody, all these things. Now,
if you asked me about like my moon sign, which
is a Capricorn, I align with almost all aspects
of Capricorn. So some of it I do believe and
some of it I really don't. What are you thinking
about horoscopes? Well, you mentioned it earlier,
and that's the only reason I added it to the
list. I know. So the whole thing with horoscopes,
I believe that, like, some of this stuff is so
broadly written that, like, anyone can see a
little bit of themselves in anything. But I will
tell you, like, any time someone finds out that
I'm an Aries, like, they're like, yes, you are.
And I'm like... I don't even know the first thing
about an Aries. What's the deal with Aries? Okay,
so according to CoStar, the app, Sun and Aries,
the Sun determines your ego, identity, and role
in life. It's the core of who you are, and it's
the sign you're most likely to already know.
I don't know what that means. Your Sun is an
Aries, so you are fundamentally assertive and
persistent and courageous. I hate that they put
assertive and persistent. And courageous. Some
very hard hitting in your face things. So naturally
competitive and fiercely independent. You push
things forward with energy and enthusiasm and
persevere through anything. You need to learn
to understand other people as complex holes.
That's a lot of word salad, I feel like. Do you
know what I mean? It's like, yeah, like I'm loud
and aggressive, but like I don't. Think that
I could be wrong. I don't know. Well, when you
say some of those things, I can see that in you.
But like you said, like that can be said about
all kinds of people with all kinds of signs.
And I I think that I like horoscopes for people
who like them because it's kind of similar to
like when you get a tarot reading where a lot
of it can be very general and. that it can apply
to anyone but if they genuinely need that message
and they needed that verbalized in some sort
of way whether it be from costar or from a tarot
card i think that that's great and you heard
what you have to hear and i used to be a little
woo -woo when it comes to like crystals and stuff
like that and i think that at that time i genuinely
needed to be a little woo -woo And I'm really
happy to have had those experiences because I
also learned a lot. I feel very smart learning
about different minerals and not just like their
metaphysical properties, but other properties
as well. I think it's all very fun to learn about
and it's very fascinating. And I think that a
lot of people get that out of horoscopes as well.
But my honest question is, do you. Did you then
or do. And or do you now truly believe that like
different rocks have like different powers? No,
I don't think that they have powers. But I but
what I do believe then and what I what I did
believe then and what I do believe now is certain
rocks, minerals, crystals represent something
that maybe you want to manifest and they can
be a visual. reminder of what you're trying to
manifest and what you want to be and accomplish.
So it only has the power you give it. Yes. Okay.
I believe that. That's fair. Like, I believe
that about any number of things. Like, I, I don't
know. I like, I mean, I, the Harry Potter one
that I have, like that I, the elder one, like
I am like, Oh, well that obviously it's not like
a real thing, but like, I'm like, Oh, this represents
like me wanting to. I'm going to cut this because
I have no idea where I'm going with it. But it
only has the power you give it. OK, that's whatever.
Yeah. Do you have anything to complain about
to close this out? Oh, my God. You know what
I have to complain about? Tell me, tell me, tell
me. If I see one more useless, ugly husband in
a grocery store, I'm going to lose my marbles.
Tell me everything. So. Recently, I went to a
Meijer. I love a Meijer. I love Meijer. Oh, I
love Meijer. It's my favorite now. I don't go
to Walmart anymore. I especially don't go to
Target for groceries very, very often. I know.
Cut that out. Cut that out. I don't go to Target
anymore. I don't go to Walmart anymore. I love
grocery shopping at Meijer. Oh, I love to put.
Let me just tell you, like Emma and I have talked
a lot about this. We're like, you remember you
and I used to do this. Target used to be like
our church, like where we would go. And like
it was you, me, Tanya. And you had to lock in
for like three and a half hours. And you were
not leaving that store for three and a half hours.
And you would go in and you would get a cart.
You would get Starbucks. You'd put the Starbucks
in the cup holder in the cart. You would silence
your phone and you would say, we're going to
talk for three and a half hours and we're going
to be here together. And we're going to go through
every single. I don't care if you don't need
tampons. I don't care if you don't need condoms.
We're going through those aisles. My mouth is
watering at the idea of salivating. But like
after Target, I pulled their games in our faces.
I did that at Meijer. And let me tell you, I
like it better at Meijer. Perfect. Well, I love
going to Meijer specifically for groceries. There's
something like if I need something, then absolutely.
I'll be going through all the like the like the
kitchen aisles. And sometimes I rummage the tchotchkes
and the little things. Please. Yes. Well, one
time recently, I wanted to specifically make
some sort of recipe. So I was grabbing things.
I knew exactly where I was going. Grabbing things,
grabbing things. From the moment I walked in
to the mire, I saw this woman. on the phone with
what sounded like a doctor. And she had a cart,
her cart was half full by this time. We were
like in the produce, she was already in the produce,
I was walking up to the produce. And I'm like,
what a busy woman, look at her go. I grab all
of my things. And I go to the self checkout.
I see this woman, her cart is now full. She's
still on the phone with what I believe to be
a doctor. And she's scanning things with one
hand. She's got a full cart in the self checkout.
Okay. And then all of a sudden, to my demise,
I see a man on his phone walking slowly into
the checkout and he stands in the middle. And
I, you know, like at Meijer, it's kind of like
a big square situation. I hate when people do
that. Yeah. And so he's in the middle and he's
on his phone. And I'm like, who's this man? Like,
what a creep. What a weirdo. That's just how
I think of 99 % of men these days anyways. And
he's literally in the way where like women. it's
basically all women with all these carts. They're
trying to get around him to go to an open register.
And they're like, excuse me, excuse me. Finally,
he moves over, but then he gets in the way of
somebody else. And so then he moves over again.
And then this woman, I I'm in the, I'm on the
register next to her. And then she, she goes,
sweetie, sweetie, please come here. I go, oh,
he's yours. Oh, my God. He's yours. Oh, my God.
That's yours. Oh, what a nightmare. So he's still
on his phone. She's scanning every single item
while on the phone with her doctor. And he's
not helping. And I'm like, what? And he's like,
got the flat slides where like he's worn them
down so much. That's what he's wearing. No socks.
Right. And just looks like he hasn't showered.
Looks like he hasn't shaved. Nothing of the sort.
And I'm like, why do we let them out of the house?
I wanted to be like, are you okay, Blink, twice
if you need help? Like, you let this one out
of the house? What's going on? And why is he
not helping? Why is he not scanning the groceries
while you're on the phone with your doctor? Guess
what I have to complain about? Men. Men in a
grocery store. Men in a grocery store. Ew. If
you're not going to help, don't go. I agree.
Yeah. So that's what I have. What are you complaining
about these days? What am I complaining about?
What did I have to complain about this week?
I feel like... Guys that are too into the cold
plunge at Lifetime... Ew. What a nightmare. Please,
tell me. I... At the Lifetime in Castleton, they...
So they had two hot tubs at one point. They replaced
one of the hot tubs with a cold plunge pool.
Great. Cool. It has amazing health benefits.
Love that for everyone. The issue that I have
is like... This is one of these health movements
that like a lot of these like alpha bros have
have adopted that is like, I can stay in the
cold plants for seven minutes. You don't understand.
And I'm like, and they're just talking about
it and talking and talking and talking and talking.
And like when I asked. No one. Yeah. No one on
God's green earth asked. And. I think it's amazing
that you are taking charge of your health. You're
like resetting your like nerve. I don't know
what you're doing. Whatever it is. I know that
I can get into my belly button and then I'm like
I promptly get out. So you're doing more than
I can and I love that so much for you. Good for
you. I don't want to hear. I don't care. And
like this is something that Emma and I have talked
about on the podcast. We're like. This is this
is the thing. I don't I don't think it's specific
to Lifetime because they used to do this when
I worked out at L .A. Fitness, too. But like
it is guys need everyone in the locker room to
know everything going on in their lives. Like
they're going through a divorce. They're like
whatever the case may be. And I'm like, babe,
I don't care. I swear to God, I don't care. And
they've got to have so much confidence to do
that. Whereas it sounds like I was going to say
it's got to come from a place of severe insecurity
where they have to share everything with everyone
because maybe they're lonely elsewhere. But it's
also if I'm in a locker room, I better not hear
a word in my direction. I don't want anybody
to talk to me. No one. And so it's crazy that
a stranger just wants to open up. And I think
that. I don't know. Do you have that kind of
personality where people will just spew things
at you because they feel like you're you've got
this aura about you that makes people feel open
and vulnerable and they want to be that way?
And I'm happy to talk to anyone like, you know,
I'll talk to any stranger on the street. I don't
care. But like when I'm. I'm in I'm locked in
at the gym, I'm like my pre workouts kicking
in or I've got my headphones in or. I have my
eyes closed in a steam room or in the sauna.
I don't know what about me gives the signal of
like, hey, buddy, what's a good restaurant around
here? Literally. See, because I have the same
problem, too, where. And I think that this is
an issue where there's not a lot of social awareness
anymore. People aren't very keen on social cues
like you with your headphones on you with your
eyes closed. That doesn't say interrupt what
is going on and say something because people
do that to me, too. And I try to be as nice as
I possibly can, while also being assertive in
my own comfort to where, like, I'm not going
to continue to initiate a conversation if I don't
want to. So don't talk to me. You know what I
mean? And this is the thing is, like, I say this
knowing full well, I have sparked up conversations
with guys at the gym where, like, if I am in
a place where I want to talk, great. But, like,
I think you've always had this problem where
you're, like, nice to your own detriment. Yes.
I am mean to people. Incredible. And I've burned
a few bridges at Lifetime Fitness. Yeah? Yeah,
where I'm just, like, where I've fully been,
like, the worst of it is, like, when they want
to bring up politics in the locker room. I swear
to God, there's a guy that works at Lifetime
who drives a Cybertruck who is from Russia. Like,
he's been here since. He's 10 years old, but,
like, he... holds on to a lot of those values
and he brought up one time he's like all right
sometimes you just gotta keep these women in
line and like let them know you're gonna move
right on to the next one and i looked him dead
in the face because like he had very clearly
done three lines of coke in the locker room like
right before he got in the sauna and it was me
and like three other guys and like you know how
like my liberal mind will not let it stop and
like everyone else in there was just like oh
my god like just let it come to it and let it
come to it i got to the point where i was like
This is not a conversation any of us are willing
to participate in. You need to stop. Like, I
swear to God, I don't care who you voted for.
I don't care who you don't want to have rights.
At the gym, this is not a place for that. Like,
shut your mouth. And he was like, uh, uh, uh.
And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I said shut.
This wasn't an invitation for a conversation.
Nope. This is not a conversation I'm willing
to participate in. We're done here. Shut your
mouth. Yeah. Like. I. And maybe that's got something
to do with the male loneliness epidemic where
like they if they don't have any. Be lonely.
Be lonely. Be lonely. Maybe there's a reason
you're lonely. Hmm. Have we ever considered maybe
you're lonely for a good reason? Perhaps. Keep
men lonely. Keep men lonely. I I should be more
lonely. I would argue. Well, thankfully, there
are. I could probably count on. less than two
hands good men who don't deserve to be lonely
who don't deserve to be lonely and you are One
of them. Thank you. You don't deserve to be lonely.
And I think that's because you are a genuinely
good person and you make meaningful connections
with others that don't involve you spewing politics
in the sauna at a lifetime fitness. And I don't
see politics anywhere else. But like the gym
in my mind is a sacred place. I'm like, you go
in there and you shut your mouth. Well, people
literally need that for their mental health.
Yes. Half the time. Like, so don't mess that
up and make people uncomfortable. Exactly. People
need that for their. mental health or their physical
health. And sometimes both of those things are
very vulnerable. So do not mess it up by being
a douchebag. Don't be weird at the gym. You're
messing everything up for everybody else. It's
so embarrassing. I can't stand it. I can't stand
that for you. Keep men lonely in the sauna. Keep
men lonely, period. Judge, thank you for being
here. I am ecstatic to be here and to have been
here. Did you have a good time? I had the best
time. Do you want to do this again next week?
I would literally love to do it next week. Same
time, same place. Will you, um, I'm going to
have you watch the hip hop and heartbreak episode
of the real house as a Salt Lake city season
one. Oh my God. Um, that's the episode we're
going to talk about next time for reality roundup.
Incredible. Should I probably watch everything
else before that? Well, it's only, it's only
nine episodes. So watch the first nine episodes,
right? Is it? Hang on. Let me make sure. Um,
yeah that's season one episode nine so like it
gives you a good foundation for like where where
everyone's at right now um we'll do that I'm
so excited thank you for being here this is really
great thank you so much for having me thanks
for wanting me to be here I love you and I love
Emma and while I'm kind of sitting in her seat
I'm I'm wishing her all the best I know that
I know that she's having a terrible time, but
it's not terrible. I think I think the last couple
of weeks of pregnancy for anyone are like extremely
difficult, exceedingly miserable. Yeah, for sure.
So I love you. I love her. I love this. I'm so
excited to be back. And this is going to be like
my first real. housewives watch i can't so i
can't wait to talk to you about it next week
i'm so excited okay love you so much love you
bye