EP. 160 — Kaleidoscope of Danger

[00:00:00] CHRIS: Struggling to find the perfect vacation home, you keep getting lost online, going down these rabbit holes like, hey, do you like surfing dog videos, Wikipedia, things about stuff you don’t care about, all sorts of stuff to get lost in online. Guess what you need VRBO. They do the hard work for you, matching you to the perfect place to stay every time, from condos to cabins, places with yards, grills or hot tubs, they’ve got it all. Search VRBO in the App store to download the VRBO app today and put a stop to frustrating vacation searches. Let VRBO find a home that matches you. The creators of the podcast, Mitching… sorry, Jared, the creators of the podcast, Mitch. Oh, my God. Mitching… I’m… Jared, I’m so sorry, but I’m also so tired. Okay, one more try… before I delete this file. And you never know this happened. The creators of the podcasts Missing Richard Simmons and Surviving Y2K are back with a new story. It’s called Running from Cops. We all know cops. Everybody remembers that show Cops? It’s the show that films the worst days of people’s lives. Remember that one? Turns it into hit television. Since the 90s, this show, it’s on a loop. No one really wants to seem… seems to want to talk about this show, though, right? Guess what? Dante Taberski tracked those people down. You remember Dan? Missing Richard Simmons made such a splash.  Dan Taberski tracked down the people from cops. He recorded their side of the story, uncovered the darker side, the making of cops. This is fascinating to me. I’m sure it’s fascinating to you too. What a good idea. Running from Cops explores how much cops have shaped our criminal justice system and the public opinion of the police. Listen and subscribe to Running from Cops right now in your podcast app.

[00:01:48] CHRIS: Hello to everybody who has conflicted feelings about karaoke. Beautiful Anonymous one hour, one phone call, no names, no holds barred.

[00:02:00] THEME MUSIC: I’d rather go one-on-one. I think it’ll be more fun and I’ll get to know you and you’ll get to know me.

[00:02:13] CHRIS: Hi, everybody. It’s Chris. Probably gonna be able to tell that the audio quality of this intro and the ads today are a little different from recording from home. Hey, the intro to this one might be slightly longer than usual in show, but I think you’re all going to like why. So don’t use that 30 second skip on today. First, I want to say thanks to everybody who left ratings and reviews, who subscribed on Tuesday. You could all see we started out like between 120 and 130 on the comedy podcast charts. Got up to number 50 in a day. I said I bet we can break the top 50 and very on brand, we came in right…right there, right at the bottom of that ladder. But we did it! It was awesome. It’s all thanks to you guys. Thanks for doing that. Did make me laugh hard, someone in the Beautiful Anonymous Facebook group said why is this in comedy podcasts? which brings me back to the old days when we launched the show as a comedy podcast. And sometimes it’s still funny, but it’s gone in so many different directions. And man, am I proud of it. Proud of that. Now, this was supposed to be like a Jerry Lewis telethon type thing. I had all these posts planned, where I was gonna plug it throughout the day and do Facebook lives and really try to rally the troops. Bet we could have gone up way better than 50. But everybody knows, I think, that Beautiful Anonymous posts at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. That’s what time the episodes get uploaded. That’s when they’re available for you guys to download. Well, guess what? Round 2:30 Eastern time Tuesday morning, my wife’s water broke and I’m not going to… it’s funny, I’m sure I’ll be talking a lot about being a dad on the show and I already have. I’m really protective of this little guy. I don’t want to make him a spectacle. But so many listeners have reached out and been so nice and talked to me in person at my live shows. I just wanna let guys know baby has arrived. Caleb David Gethard is here. 3:38 a.m. on April 17th, he showed up. I was cradling Howie’s head while he emerged into the world. It was probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. And that’s no exaggeration. It was shockingly amazing and beautiful and my wife is so incredible. My wife is healthy, up walking around and the whole thing was amazing and now this little dude is here and I’ve never been more tired than I am right now. And I once walked across the country as part of a comedy stunt, once walked across America. This is more exhausting. I’m five days in. This is more exhausting. It’s wild. But he’s so perfect and so incredible and I thank everybody who has sent their well wishes and I thank so many people. I was out at these live shows and people were knitting hats and booties and giving me gift certificates and I am not asking for that. I’m just saying thank you, because this community is a strong one and amazing. It’s just so amazing. I get to look this little kid in the eye. Right before I recorded this intro, he took a poop on me. He did take a poop on me right before I enjoyed it. And I loved it. I loved it so much. It was so cool, OK? This week’s episode was really fun. Really eye opening. It is someone calling from outside of the borders of America, which I always love when that happens. I’m not going to say where in the intro because the caller challenges me to play a game of guess the accent. So, I’ll let you do the same thing along with me when we get there. It’s a very cool country. A country. It’s funny, especially being an American, I feel like there are huge communities of people who are from this country, either immigrated directly or first generation. I have many, many friends of this background and I’ve heard so much about this place. I know some of the more popular figures in culture who come from this place, but I didn’t really know much about it as I thought I knew. It’s complex, it’s layered, it’s religious, it’s conservative. The caller is not, caller has to kind of reconcile those worlds. It’s such a cool call, such a cool call, such a glimpse into yet another corner of the world. Beautiful Anonymous. We take you to every corner of the goddamn world, one human being at a time. Tell everybody. All right. Enjoy the call. Thanks for the well wishes. Love you guys. I’ve never said love you guys as part of an intro. But you know what? I stand by.

[00:06:35] PHONE ROBOT: Thank you for calling Beautiful Anonymous a beeping noise will indicate when you are on the show with the host. [Beep]

[00:06:43] CHRIS: Hello?

[00:06:44] CALLER: Hello. Hi. Hey. How are you? Oh, hold on, my mum’s coming out. Yes? Ok, ok, ok. Get the Grab. I want to call. You got me. Hello.

[00:07:00] CHRIS: Hi. That was the best start-up call ever.

[00:07:05] CALLER: I’m glad I made a good first impression. Yeah. It should be with you mum. Yeah. Hello?

[00:07:18] CHRIS: Hello. Hi. So, your mom’s breathing down your neck right out of the gate. Your mom won’t get off your back.

[00:07:25] CALLER: She’s in a hurry. She’s leaving for work. And I’m just chilling.

[00:07:30] CHRIS: You’re just chilling. Okay. Yeah, that’s cool. 

[00:07:35] CALLER: How are you?

[00:07:36] CHRIS: How am I? I’ll be very honest. I’m doing pretty good. This is the second call we’re recording today and the first one made me cry so hard. 

[00:07:50] CALLER: Aw, yeah. 

[00:07:51] CHRIS: I’m a little rattled and I’m a little mad at Harry and Jared, more Harry for picking it. But it’s OK. No, it was actually a really beautiful thing. It’s OK. How are you?

[00:08:02] CALLER: I’m fine. My mum’s still worried about her phone and because she’s kind of late.

[00:08:12] CHRIS: Do you have to go take care, like, do you have your mom’s phone? Like, is that why she said, give me my phone back? And you’re like, no, I need it for an hour.

[00:08:21] CALLER: Oh, no, no. I’m using a telephone. My mum’s looking for her cell phone.

[00:08:26] CHRIS: Got it. OK, got it. All right.

[00:08:30] CALLER: I mean. I know it sounds like very hectic right now, but also even more hectic is that I just started my job three days ago, my very first job.

[00:08:42] CHRIS: Your very first job? What type of job are you working in?

[00:08:48] CALLER: Marketing assistant. Hold on. I’m fine to look for the phone with my mom now because I know she gave it to you. It should be here.

[00:09:14] CHRIS: Oh, good. Just take your time.

[00:09:22] CALLER: OK. I’m so sorry. Can you use my cell phone instead?

[00:09:35] CHRIS: This is the best start to call. It’s incredible. Nice slice of life is what they call this. Yes. Nice slice of life.

[00:09:45]: CALLER: My mum’s going to kill me.

[00:09:47] CHRIS: I get the sense that being on this call is already leading to a massive amount of frustration for your family situation.

[00:09:53] CALLER: I explain my mum. I’m gonna explain to my mom late at night. I’m going to say sorry to her. 

[00:09:57]: CHRIS: That’s fair. That’s fair. 

[00:10:00] CALLER: Although I started my job three days ago, literally three days ago, as in I handed over my contract and I was like, great. See you tomorrow. And they’re like, oh no you’re starting today. I’m like, OK, I guess. OK. So. So as a marketing assistant. But it’s not my cup of tea. For like the first two days, I was basically thrown into the mix of like meetings, trainings and I did not understand a thing. It was like I was basically asked during the job interview. They’re like, oh, you can do graphics, right? And I’m like, yeah, I can do graphics. And then I feel like, I’ll just probably make something special for her.

[00:10:52] CHRIS: Before, hold on, we can’t talk about that. Explain to me what exactly is happening… so your mom needs her cell phone, can’t find it and wants you to help find it and you just won’t. And you can’t really explain why.

[00:11:04] CALLER: I’ve been trying to tell her that I’m calling you and that I can’t let go of the telephone. But I’ve been helping her look around. But I know I gave her the phone. I gave her phone to tell her that, hey, mum, phone’s here. You’ve probably misplaced it while she was sleeping. And I was, you know, busy with the computer. The house is a mess.

[00:11:38] CHRIS: And wait, so does she need to make a phone call and you’re on the landline? Did she find it?

[00:11:51] CALLER: No, she’s borrowed my cell phone.

[00:11:52] CHRIS: She borrowed your cell. So, she just needs to make a phone call and you’re dominating the phone line. Is that the general issue?

[00:11:58] CALLER: The telephone is different. She’s using my cell phone myself. I cannot afford this phone call if I use the cell phone. I know this is such a hectic thing. And I know people are going to be judging me, cause I’m not helping my mom. But I promise.

[00:12:20] CHRIS: I feel like people are probably getting a lot of warmth and probably giggling hearing you and your mom have an argument that sounds akin to an argument many of us have had with our parents or loved ones where it’s just, you know, that household tension argument. I do feel like people are listening and probably going, what is the first seven, these first seven minutes of this is just like eavesdropping on a on a mother and daughter as they hash out a cell phone fight.

[00:12:53] CALLER: Yeah, I think that’s basically my life, I guess.

[00:12:59] CHRIS: So, you live at home with your mom, it sounds like.

[00:13:02] CALLER: Yeah. And with other relatives.

[00:13:04] CHRIS: Other relatives? Yeah. OK. 

[00:13:11] CALLER: I know. It’s seven minutes in? 

[00:13:12] CHRIS: Uh-huh, yes, seven minutes. 

[00:13:13] CALLER: It has been a whirlwind riot. 

[00:13:15] CHRIS: Real roller coaster. 

[00:13:17] CALLER: OK, can you guess where I’m from?

[00:13:20] CHRIS: I’ve been trying in my head. I just want to be clear, too. So, and you’re not in America, you’re not someone who’s moved to American calling me from there. You’re in another country right now where you grew up?

[00:13:35] CALLER: Yep. 

[00:13:36] CHRIS: K let’s see. Let me tell you my thought process. So, you initially said mum and I said, okay, is this is this someplace that has at some point been colonized by the British because of the use of mom? That was my initial thought. Is it? Am I on target there?

[00:13:55] CALLER: Yes. But you’d be surprised as to why? 

[00:13:59] CHRIS: Be surprised as to why? Okay. Because I will tell you initially, I was almost wondering if we were in the South Asian part of the world, someplace near India. What’s that?

[00:14:13] CALLER: Oh, no, no.

[00:14:16] CHRIS: And then I then I was thinking Europe. Then I almost, I have a friend, someone I’m friendly with, a comedian named Sophie Hagan who I’m a fan of. I met her in Edinburgh and she’s from more someplace a little more northern Europe. And then I started to feel like you almost sounded like her. Are you in northern Europe?

[00:14:35] CALLER: No, I’m in Asia man.

[00:14:37] CHRIS: You’re in Asia. So, my initial Asia instinct, but not South Asia. You said not South Asia. Are we talking Singapore? 

[00:14:49] CALLER: No, but near.

[00:14:50] CHRIS: Hong Kong, we talking Hong Kong?

[00:14:52] CALLER: Okay, final clue. My country has been briefly mentioned in Beautiful Anonymous multiple times, but no one has been there. No one has been the first caller. And I am so glad to be the first caller.

[00:15:05] CHRIS: OK, do not tell me, Jared and Harry, put our heads together. Oh, you know. So, it’s a country that’s been mentioned multiple times on the show, but no one’s called from. And it’s Asia. We’ve had people call from Japan.

[00:15:23] CALLER: No, not Japan.

[00:15:25] CHRIS: You’re not in China, are you in China? 

[00:15:30] CALLER: God, no. 

[00:15:31] CHRIS: God, no. That’s an interesting thing to note down. Then I need to follow by your why you had such a, OK. What other country has been mentioned so often? Not really often, but it has been mentioned.

[00:15:42] CHRIS: It has been mentioned multiple times. Harry. Harry and Jared just let me know that they do not remember it being referenced on the show.

[00:15:55] CALLER: Probably it’s in the older, older, older episodes.

[00:15:57] CHRIS: In the older episodes. And you said I was onto something when I said that some British, there’s some British affectations. Right. 

[00:16:09] CALLER: You’d be surprised.

[00:16:10] CHRIS: So, I’d be surprised, so, not one of the obviously British. So, we’re not talking India, Sri Lanka. Some of the ones in Pakistan, Egypt. No, no. Egypt? No. Egypt’s an Africa. Yes. Egypt’s in Africa.

[00:16:23] CALLER: You were thinking too far.

[00:16:26] CHRIS: Singapore, near Singapore. Burma? Malaysia? Tibet!

[00:16:38] CALLER: No, nearly there.

[00:16:40] CHRIS: Malaysia. I’m also demonstrating my severe lack of spatial awareness as far as the globe. Singapore, Malaysia? Some British influence, but surprising. Micronesia. Now I’m just guessing random Asian country. But we’re gonna nail this! I want another clue. I don’t want to know if all the next 40-

[00:17:07] CALLER: You invaded us.

[00:17:20] CHRIS: Yeah. Okay. Let me think. Because. All right. Because I would love it if the first seven minutes of this call was you bickering with your mom and then 53 minutes of me unsuccessfully guessing. Yes, I would love that. So Okay. Countries that America has occupied. The Philippines.

[00:17:38] CALLER: Yes.

[00:17:39] CHRIS: The Philippines. OK.

[00:17:40] CALLER: Yes. The British have occupied the Philippines for two years.

[00:17:45] CHRIS: Okay. And also the Spanish.

[00:17:51] CALLER: For 333 years.

[00:17:52] CHRIS: For 333 yeah, much more affiliated with the Spanish. And then what? And then was it the Americans pulled some bullshit, if I remember? Was it that we helped?

[00:18:01] CALLER: Yeah. 

[00:18:02] CHRIS: It was like we helped liberate you from the Spanish. And then we were like, and now you’ve got to deal with us. Right. And there’s some I think there’s some anger over that.

[00:18:11] CALLER: It’s like separated but it’s more that you’ve outlived your usefulness. 

[00:18:23] CHRIS: Okay. And I will say now I can hear you. I lived in do you know, Queens? Do you know the neighbourhood, Woodside? Woodside, New York. Woodside in Queens is the part of New York that’s known as Little Manila. And I lived there for six or seven years.

[00:18:41] CALLER: Oh, that’s so cool. Have you tried any food there? 

[00:18:45] CHRIS: Yes! You and I got a lot to talk about now cause I’m gonna tell you something.

[00:18:47] CALLER: Oh, my God.

[00:18:48] CHRIS: I’m gonna tell you something that’s gonna make you flip out. And we’re gonna have to explain this to our listeners. I had the pleasure and the privilege of the joyful experience of living in Woodside, which is the home of Little Manila in New York. On the day, I got to walk past it on the day that the first Jollibee was opened on the East Coast of America. The line was three blocks long. I’ve never seen anything like when Jollibee opened. And every, I feel like everyone in the entire northeast of Philippine heritage showed up because they wanted to get that Jollibee going. Is it fair to say that it’s almost like the McDonald’s of the Philippines?

[00:19:34] CALLER: Oh, yeah. Yes. It is. You order anything there?

[00:19:40] CHRIS: I’ve gone there. You know what? I’ll tell you. Okay. You and I are going to have to connect about. My favourite Filipino food and my wife’s favourite Filipino food is shared. It is a dessert. It is delicious. It is known as Halo Halo. Let’s talk about the halo halo. Am I pronouncing that correctly?

[00:20:00] CALLER: Yes. Yes, you are. Halo halo. Yes. 

[00:20:02] CHRIS: Halo halo. It’s an ice. It’s basically ice, condensed milk and then a bunch of random shit flown in there. That’s kind of it. Yeah. Jelly, beans.

[00:20:13] CALLER: Maybe segue a bit, but I’ve heard some someplace like Coachella was like putting like an energy drink and that’s just, just an abomination, man.

[00:20:22] CHRIS: People have put in energy drinks in their halo halo?

[00:20:25] CALLER: I don’t know. I just read some article, I heard or read in some article and it’s just like, what’s going on, why are you doing this? Why do you hate yourself? The most controversial thing you’ll probably put in there is probably extra red beans or chickpeas.

[00:20:41] CHRIS: Yeah, you’ve got to put the red beans. I love the red beans and then the little gummy squares.

[00:20:48] CALLER: Nata de coco. I think those are nata de coco. They’re chewy and really good.

[00:20:53] CHRIS: Now I’m gonna tell you I stopped eating meat. But even when I did, I found that a lot of Filipino food was very pork driven and chicken driven and a lot of vinegary, here’s the thing. Here’s a thing that I tell you what, I had a Jollibee and I didn’t know what to make of it with my American palate. The banana ketchup, the spaghetti with the banana ketchup.

[00:21:19] CALLER: After that, I had an interesting history as to why I don’t have ketchup. So, I’m not the best girl for that. But like, we always have banana ketchup. It’s along tomato ketchup but we always go for banana ketchup and banana ketchup is very sweet.

[00:21:35] CHRIS: Extremely sweet. And I have a problem with liking sweet food too much. And even I had some trouble handling the banana ketchup.

[00:21:43] CALLER: Well, here’s the thing. During the Spanish era, they used to be basically one of the main crops with sugar. So, it just kind of implemented into our culture and diet. That’s the reason why it’s very sweet. If you ask me, the base culture, the base palate of Filipino food is sour.

[00:22:09] CHRIS: OK. 

[00:22:11] CALLER: And that’s also the reason why, if you tried the spaghetti in Jollibee, it tastes sweet. 

[00:22:18] CHRIS: Very sweet. 

[00:22:19] CALLER: Most of the food, like a good portion of the food in the Philippines is sweet. But mostly what we pride ourselves in is adobo and vinegar.

[00:22:30] CHRIS: Yeah. The pork adobo. Chicken adobo.

[00:22:32] CALLER: Oh, my God. I’ve made a really good pork adobo.

[00:22:35] CHRIS: You do? Wow. I love this conversation. It’s just us chit chatting about food now. I’ll tell you some. There’s a restaurant that, Woodside, I lived there for six or seven years. Now I live in Jackson Heights. Next neighbourhood over. There’s a restaurant that just moved from Woodside to Jackson Heights. It’s called Papa’s Kitchen, Filipino food. And it’s famous because while you eat, while you’re eating, you can also do karaoke.

[00:22:59] CALLER: Oh, yeah. Yeah. We are well-known for karaoke.

[00:23:03] CHRIS: I will say this is one of, I would say this is one of the stereotypes known worldwide is the idea that people of Filipino background love karaoke. Is this true or false? Does karaoke have the iron grip on your culture that we all have been led to believe?

[00:23:20] CALLER: You know Manny Pacquiao? 

[00:23:23] CHRIS: I’m well aware, a big fan of Manny Pacquiao. 

[00:23:26] CALLER: I am not to be honest.

[00:23:28] CHRIS: Really? Well, because he’s gotten very political over there. I just know him as a boxer, but he’s also a – 

[00:23:35] CALLER: That he’s a piece of the politics of the Philippines, is like Pandora’s box, especially when it comes, for instance, next month May, is election month for senators. And honestly, he’s there. He has made plenty of plans that are questionable. But let’s not go. Let’s not let’s not focus on that for a bit. But he, I remember him endorsing karaoke and usually he sings karaoke. And I don’t know if this is like the people, the mainstream people, basically like his singing. But I find it atrocious. But the thing is, even you singing karaoke, atrocious or not, you’re there, you’re there to laugh with each other and you’ll laugh at each other singing terribly. I don’t like karaoke myself which is probably like a big credibility question with my Filipino-ness, I guess. But I would sing, I would sing along with my friends and it’s usually better if you sing it with friends rather than sing it alone. And we’re also well known for another incident that happened like a few, like a last decade which is called the My Way Killings.

[00:25:06] CHRIS: OK.

[00:25:09] CALLER: And it’s because it’s well known because people end up in gunfights, or suicides, because of singing the song My Way.

[00:25:20] CHRIS: Wait, My Way by Frank Sinatra?

[00:25:24] CALLER: Yeah!

[00:25:25] CHRIS: Gunfights break? People there have been gunned, there’s been famous killings because the Frank Sinatra song has caused such passion that people have shot guns.

[00:25:33] CALLER: Yes. Yeah. It was well known. It was even when I was a kid, I would read like comedy comics. And they would poke fun at how people would sing it so badly that they would end up having a gunfight about it or that, you know, it’s a well-known suicide song that apparently that they remove it. I am so sorry, it’s a very grim topic.

[00:25:59] CHRIS: Let’s go ahead and pause right there. I just want to say that I want to apologise for giggling over a story about people dying due to Frank Sinatra songs. It’s not a funny thing. I was just overwhelmed. I couldn’t process what I was hearing. I have stopped the momentum right in its tracks. Let’s get the ads out of the way. We got advertisers. They got promo codes. Use them. Helps show when you do. We’ll be right back.

[00:26:26] [AD BREAK]

[00:27:55] CALLER: You know, it’s a well-known song, that apparently that they remove it. I am so sorry, it’s a very grim topic.

[00:28:05] CHRIS: I don’t mean to laugh, but that’s the first I’ve heard of it. That song is just kind of like a, sort of like a well-known beloved standard over here, but not something that incites such passion.

[00:28:16] CALLER: Yeah, we’re very passionate people.

[00:28:19] CHRIS: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:20] CALLER: We really are. I’m actually sweet in in my circles. I’m actually the more intense person in the group because I am very overly protective of my friends and I have like really strong moral standards. So, when it crosses my line, I immediately say, what’s going on? So, we Filipinos are kind of like that. But also, and ironically, we’re very complacent.

[00:28:49] CHRIS: In what way?

[00:28:50] CALLER: I feel like. Oh, my gosh. Just gosh. This country is very religious –

[00:29:03] CHRIS: Very Catholic, right?

[00:29:04] CALLER: Roman Catholic. So, when you mentioned Roman Catholic guilt, when you mentioned Catholic guilt specifically.

[00:29:12] CHRIS: Yes. Which I do. 

[00:29:13] CALLER: I feel the Catholic guilt.

[00:29:15] CHRIS: All the time.

[00:29:15] CALLER: I feel the guilt even though I kind of left the church spiritually and my mom doesn’t know about that, too. Don’t tell my mum.

[00:29:25] CHRIS: I won’t. I won’t. And I know she’s literally right behind you based on the first seven minutes of this call. So, we’ll keep that quiet.

[00:29:34] CALLER: No, she already left.

[00:29:34] CHRIS: Now because I’ve read it, I believe it’s the Philippines where Catholicism gets very, very intense, right? Is the Philippines the place where they do Easter parades, where people actually nail themselves to crosses?

[00:29:49] CALLER: Oh, yeah. That’s coming off around next week. Yeah. Ah. This soon.

[00:29:56] CHRIS: Is that a common thing where men will actually nail themselves to a cross? Does that happen every year?

[00:30:00] CALLER: Yes, yeah, it’s called a procession and I don’t think it’s right. But it’s a type of procession wherein they would sacrifice themselves through harming themselves. Like nailing to the cross, whipping themselves and to the point there’s blood and it’s not all for show, it’s really for devotion of Christ. There’s even like the one for Nazarene wherein they would fling themselves to the to the to the moving vehicle where the statue is held, because they would parade it in Manila and they would throw towelettes, and then to people who are guarding the statue so that the people who are guarding the statue would wipe the statue with the towelette and then show the towelettes back so that they’ll have the blessing of Nazarene. We’re intense with our religion.

[00:31:07] CHRIS: This type of stuff you’re describing, is this on the extreme end, is this like fringe?

[00:31:18] CALLER: The Nazarene part is like, a lot of people go there, it’s like basic tradition. The whipping and the cross thing, I remember that the archbishop, his name is Cardinal Sin, which is very ironic.

[00:31:33] CHRIS: His name is Cardinal Sin? 

[00:31:36] CALLER: Cardinal Sin. I know what it’s like the pinnacle cherry on top of irony in the Philippines, but I think he’s good, I don’t know. I’m not updated in that part. But anyway, while the church authorities basically said, we understand your devotion, but please know that, proceed with caution. And, you know, your devotion, it’s noted.

[00:32:07] CHRIS: Yeah. So, they basically said, everybody, you know, we get what you’re going for here. But you could chill, everybody could chill out a little bit.

[00:32:16] CALLER: Which is really weird because the Philippines is really conservative. Yeah. It’s really fascinating. Yes. If you want to find a place that is filled with cognitive dissonance, you can go to the Philippines.

[00:32:29] CHRIS: OK. I also want to say too, you mentioned it’s conservative. I want to be clear. I’ve said before, I’m a big Manny Pacquiao fan. I want to say that that was as a boxing fan. Because I do like boxing. But I’ve heard, if I remember – 

[00:32:42] CALLER: We cheered on him when he’s a boxer. You know how popular he is in the Philippines back then? But he was only a boxer. On Boxing Day, the streets are clean. There is no traffic. You can go anywhere because no one’s leaving their house because they’re watching the match.

[00:33:02] CHRIS: And I heard that the crime rate during his fights were dropped to almost zero because –

[00:33:08] CALLER: Exactly! Because it’s so like, because they’re betting on his game.

[00:33:12] CHRIS: Yeah. But I do want to say I, as we talked about and you mentioned the conservatism, I do believe he made a bunch of comments that were very anti-LGBTQ political, to say the least. I want to say I’m far from a fan of that, obviously. So, I should I should also temper my love of his fights that I got to watch over the years with the idea that he said some stuff very concerning to me in that sense.

[00:33:40] CALLER: Yeah. Because it’s as a bisexual woman in the Philippines, it’s hard to be LGBTQ+ in the Philippines because it’s because you being tolerated and they don’t understand the continuance of love. I cite from the Deviant Act of Sex in the Philippines because they think it’s a weird lifestyle choice, even though they’re like, oh, I have gay friends or I have, you know, transgendered friends, it’s more of like an accessory rather than an understanding us as an individual. Like literally in my in the first three days in my office, my office mate of mine got a haircut and she’s a woman. I have long hair myself. And naturally, you guys are like on the verge of spring and they’re enjoying it. We’re dying in summer. And it was hot. It would rain, but it would make things worse because it’s humid. But the thing is, since going back to the main, the main topic, it’s hot. So, you know, most people have haircuts. And like the thing is, though most people be like, oh, you’ve cut your hair. Are you LGBT already? Or are you turning butch? And you know, I am not flamboyantly gay, and I’m not judging anyone who is, and I am very happy that they show who they are. And, you know. Everything else and showing all of their pride for who they are. I’m actually very reserved because I feel like I would like my love to come naturally, naturally blossoming like I am not forcing myself to be who I am outside immediately because I have so many walls that it takes years of understanding a friend or a person to melt the way those walls. And I feel like it kind of has gone to the part of, I need an access clearance for to know I’m bisexual, like those NPCs that are really hard to unlock in the game.

[00:36:23] CHRIS: Oh, God. Initially, I thought there was some sort of like actual licensing system in the Philippines where you had to get clearances from the government. So, you’re just making a reference to the gaming culture.

[00:36:36] CALLER: I’m just giving like metaphors. I just I’m a very reserved and guarded person.

[00:36:43] CHRIS: Yeah. So it’s what you did say that there’s a lot of people who say, I have gay friends or that people live flamboyantly, so it’s not a situation where people are still sort of forced to live underground in the face of a very fervent religious conservative culture.

[00:37:03] CALLER: It’s difficult to say because I am privileged to live a life where I can show my truth to people. Like, for example, I came out to my dad. He’s like, OK. I’m like, dad, but I’m bisexual. Well, that’s fine. When I came out to my mom, even until now actually, I don’t know if I can bring home a girlfriend because I think she’s in denial that I might fall in love with a woman or someone in between or someone who doesn’t live within that spectrum. Because for her, she’s still deep into her religion of man and woman and that homosexuality is a sin and, or bisexuality is a face.

[00:38:03] CHRIS: Wow. Wow, what an interesting life you found yourself in. I’m really glad I get to hear about.

[00:38:12] CALLER: I am, I am really glad as well. I’m very glad I can blow your mind.

[00:38:20] CHRIS: Yeah. 

[00:38:26] CALLER: So, yeah, I have actually I could sense I said, you know, I live a privileged life wherein I went to schools that are LGBT friendly and I also partake in those activities. I keep it as big as possible. But the thing is, there’s so much traction because the private schools are Catholic schools. And though they want to show their progressiveness how far does their progressiveness go? Then you’re also relying on the needs of the church. Yeah. So cognitive dissonance.

[00:39:08] CHRIS: Yeah. 

[00:39:10] CALLER: That hasn’t been like not only my school I’ve been in and certain in like a certain level, but also in previous levels as well. I will be vague that way. Man, OK. So, you were saying?

[00:39:27] CHRIS: Yes. I was going to ask on this topic. There’s something we haven’t mentioned that I would have to imagine you might not want to talk about, but I have to. I do have to ask. I do know that; I believe your leader’s the president, right? Is a president or does he have a different name?

[00:39:43] CALLER: Yeah, president. 

[00:39:46] CHRIS: He’s known to worldwide, known to be very a very, very extreme person. And very volatile opinions. Is there fear in the LGBTQ community that, has he said anything there? Is there any fear that he will?

[00:40:02] CALLER: Cognitive dissonance, man, if people are going to walk away with phone call is me panicking to look for my mom’s cell phone and cognitive dissonances. So basically. So basically, a lot of people voted for him because they want an iron fisted rule for the Philippines, and I understand where they’re coming from because they wanted discipline and order and things to be done quickly. But the thing is, there are so many layers to politics in the Philippines that I can’t unravel because I’m not experienced. I’m not, I don’t have the authority, I don’t have the capabilities to explain the many layers and facets of it. But the thing is, he would say one thing and then do the other thing, which is quite similar to your president. So, imagine, say imagine, like the Western looking Filipinos who are like, oh god, that sucks. Well, let’s take a look at the US. We’re going to the US because of this. And then what happens to your country? And they’re like, oh, oh, oh, this is a bad year. Kinda like that.

[00:41:24] CHRIS: Yeah.

[00:41:25] CALLER: There’s also territory problems in China and that he claims, he has lots of claims that I will get our island from China and I will claim it as our own and then he didn’t do that. He said, I love the LGBT community, but his way of talking about us is very disruptive as though we are a step stool. I don’t know the exact words, but the thing is, it’s you know, we’re looked down upon. We’re just accessories. And most, the things that Filipinos see us in terms of LGBT communities is, it’s mostly gay men. Gay men who are very effeminate, feminine. Rather than a person like me who is bisexual, I don’t care for a masculine or feminine spectrum. I just want to be who I am, which is I like wearing dresses. I like wearing pants. I don’t really care. I don’t really care who I end up with for as long as they love me. But the thing is, what they always focus on is that it’s a sin to be with the same gender and same sex and that the only people who are actually gay are the gay men. And you know, there is the underlying sexism as well. And there’s also that layer and then there’s another layer of other things. You doing okay?

[00:43:15] CHRIS: I’m just learning over and over again in the course of this call that the Philippines is a far more complicated place than I ever knew.

[00:43:23] CALLER: Yes, it’s colourful. It’s beautiful, but we’re a kaleidoscope of danger.

[00:43:31] CHRIS: A kaleidoscope of danger.

[00:43:34] CALLER: Yes. Beautiful. Colourful. But by the end of the day, we kind of don’t know where to look at as all we’re seeing is pretty colours. You don’t know where which is safe, and which is not.

[00:43:57] CHRIS: Wow. Now, can I ask you what is, what is the average Filipinos relationship with the United States because there’s a very strong population here. I’ve heard rumours – 

[00:43:17] CALLER: Oh, we love you man.

[00:44:17] CHRIS Yeah, that’s good. Not everybody does these days.

[00:44:22] CALLER: Not as often as today. Not, not very recently. But that’s my side of the coin, though. Although the thing is part of my family actually lives in America.

[00:44:38] CHRIS: Well, this is a pretty common thing, right? That there’s a lot of families. Yeah, I know that. I have a very good friend who, one of my very good friends in this world, his mother is from the Philippines and I visit his house and visit his family, great people and they had a woman who lived with them who I thought was his grandmother’s great aunt, but it turned out – 

[00:45:04] CALLER: It’s actually a maid.

[00:45:05] CHRIS: A domestic worker and it sounded like this is a very strong thing in this bridge between Filipino and Filipino American culture these days. The sense that what I understood was that the exchange was that she lived with this family and, you know, had all of her needs provided and was paid. But all the money she was making was being sent back to her home village and she eventually moved back there towards the end of her life, this was a very common thing.

[00:45:36] CALLER: It is a very common thing. It’s very tragic because also like the pinnacle of our OFW and when I was taught in high school, it’s called brain drain because all of our skilled workers are going abroad and if they don’t come back until they retire, which is far too late for further, more innovation. But what can you do? You need to send the money. And most of the people who are who are domestic helpers or OFW, overseas Filipino workers, who will go to different countries. My mom used to be an OFW.

[00:46:16] CHRIS: I’m not sure what an OFW?

[00:46:20] CALLER: Overseas Filipino worker.

[00:46:21] CHRIS: Overseas Filipino worker, oh that’s an official designation. I have never heard that. 

[00:46:27] CALLER: Yeah, yeah. They’re usually the breadwinner for the family. Like my mom when she used to work in Dubai. She supported me throughout my entire education just by being an OFW in Dubai.

[00:46:50] CHRIS: So, there’s a lot of families where the person who’s doing the most to pay the rent, put food on the table is not present for years.

[00:46:59] CALLER: Yes. And it’s a strain to the family. I could tell because this is first-hand experience for me because I, my mom ended her work in Dubai and in bad terms, and she had to arrive to the Philippines unexpectedly. And the thing is, me and my mum couldn’t see eye to eye until family tragedy happened and that we had to, I had to sit down and realize that my mom needs me as much as, she needs me right now. And I have and I have to take care of her as much as she took care of me.

[00:47:45] CHRIS: I think we can take a break, and everybody take a deep breath, think about the ways you can split your mind and the loved ones in your life. This calls really putting a spotlight on that. We got advertisers who got promo codes. Use the promo codes. It really does help the show when you do listen to what these people have to offer. And we’ll be right back after this.

[00:48:05] [AD BREAK]

[00:49:32] CALLER: Me and my mom couldn’t see eye to eye until a family tragedy happened and that we had to sit down and realize that my mom needs me as much, as she needs me right now. And I have to take care of her as much as she took care of me. And I can do it naturally, but I will have to do it emotionally because she doesn’t understand the emotional welfare that she needs right now.

[00:50:02] CHRIS: Wow. And you mentioned Dubai. Am I remembering correctly? Is it Dubai or Abu Dhabi? Is there not a nation in that region that kind of famously –

[00:50:15] CALLER: UAE. The country UAE. United Arab Emirates. I’ve been there a couple of times.

[00:50:21] CHRIS: Is there not a thing that there’s been a ton of Filipino workers brought there for jobs? Who then don’t have the means to get home. Am I remembering this correctly?

[00:50:31] CALLER: It could happen in UAE, but I think it’s more common in Kuwait and Pakistan. I’m not so sure in Pakistan, but I know recently and currently Kuwait.

[00:51:42] CHRIS: Where there’s large neighbourhoods and camps of Filipino workers who aren’t being employed anymore but have nowhere to go. Am I remembering that right? I might be misremembering that.

[00:50:52] CALLER: I’m not so sure. But I don’t think that maybe could have been my mom’s experience. And I’m glad she got home safely. I honestly don’t know what I would do without her because she, I don’t think we truly understood how much we need each other right now and why I immediately took the job I got that’s not three days fresh because of her.

[00:51:23] CHRIS: So, you can try and help provide financially as well a little bit.

[00:51:27] CALLER: Yeah. God, this is gonna be a road trip man. My mom’s currently working in a BPO. 

[00:51:36] CHRIS: What’s that? 

[00:51:37] CALLER: I don’t know what BPO means. It’s a call centre job. OK. How many minutes do we have left?

[00:51:42] CHRIS: Seventeen and a half minutes.

[00:51:45] CALLER: Seventeen and a half. Holy shit. Okay. This is very, very important. I need to tell this to your audience now. Because it will help my mom. Okay. In her work. Okay. So, call centre jobs are a huge business in the Philippines. Here’s the thing. For them to be paid more, you guys have to answer the service that tell them, how was the customer service? Was this satisfactory or not? Don’t drop the phone. Fury like the customer service. She really like the people who are helping you. You fill up the service and say they’re doing great because they’ll get paid more. I am begging you, because they rely on customer satisfaction to get more money. And that’s how my mom’s getting her money right now.

[00:52:43] CHRIS: So, you’re talking about this thing where, like I call because my dishwasher is messed up. And at the beginning it says after your call, stay on the line for a short survey. I hang up literally every time. I hang up, every single time. You’re telling me that I’m taking money out of the pockets of the people on the ground level employment.

[00:53:03] CALLER: Potentially, yes.

[00:53:05] CHRIS: Oh, well, I feel retroactively bad for literally every customer service experience I’ve ever had on telephone. Wow. So, everybody listen and Beautiful Anonymous stay on the phone and just give glowing remarks if you want to help the working class.

[00:53:19] CALLER: Holy shit. Oh, my mum’s phone is here. Oh, shit. I owe her big time. 

[00:53:26] CHRIS: I hear it ringing. 

[00:53:29] CALLER: That’s my mum’s phone! I owe her big time. OK. So, it’s a good thing I gave you guys that tip because my mom’s going to kill me now.

[00:53:41] CHRIS: Wait why? Because you told her to get out of here, the phone’s not here, you’re being crazy and then the phone was there?

[00:53:46] CALLER: No, I thought. I thought I put it in her bag and now I have a legitimate receipt that says, no, you did not, you doofus. I thought I gave it to her. Oh, my God.

[00:53:57] CHRIS: But if she called, if she borrowed your cell phone, why didn’t you just use your cell phone to call her phone? And then you would have figured this out at the beginning of the call.

[00:54:05] CALLER: Oh. Good point. Yes. So, you were panicking. And my mom was looking for her Grab. And I thought the phone was in her bag. So that’s my case. I understand. I am guilty now. I rest my case. I am guilty as charged. 

[00:54:24] CHRIS: Everything’s OK. Everything’s OK. Your mom’s gonna forgive you. As you tell, because, you know, our show Beautiful Anonymous has a pretty big audience. You just told about one hundred thousand Americans to fill out the surveys if you want to help people who need it. It’s gonna go a long way. I’m never gonna hang up again. It’s like three buttons takes like 40 seconds, tops.

[00:54:45] CALLER: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God, my mom’s is here.

[00:54:52] CHRIS: Correct me if I’m wrong. A lot of cruise ships. Tons and tons of Filipino workers, right?

[00:54:59] CALLER: Yeah, I don’t know much about that.

[00:55:02] CHRIS: Can I say something? I don’t know what your opinion is. This idea of OFWs that you’ve mentioned, you have a phrase for it. I’ve always gotten a very unsettling feeling that it’s, I hate to be blunt, but you correct me if I’m wrong. It seems to exist in a state between employment and slavery, almost to a strange degree.

[00:55:34] CALLER: Yeah. Oh, I’m very liberal in terms of my thinking. But the thing is, it kind of is because the amount of knowledge that they’re taking from different countries, it doesn’t go back to us. It doesn’t go back to the Philippines. And the thing is we’re doing this out of survival. We need the money. We need the currency in the other country to improve people’s life in our country. Now the thing is, before you say something like that, I have to tell you that we are technically the most common, one of the most common, more common immigrants in different countries. The thing is, we were looking for places that will treat us better and your country or other countries treat us better even though it will mean that you have to do the nitty gritty work and seeing as if our country were doing any better, we would have, you know, you know, paid us better. We will have stayed in our country, but the thing is, it doesn’t matter where we go. What matters to us is that what we’re concerned about is our family and we are taking care of our family. And everybody in the world knows and knows truly that one of the top priorities for human beings is connection and one of them is family and we would do anything, anything for family. And that’s the reason I know we will be an OFW worker or, you know, we would take call centre jobs because we need the job and we are willing to do the job. We are willing to learn English to partake in call centre jobs, which you need basic English to do the call centre jobs. But the thing is, we have also this cognitive dissonance with our culture we’re in. We must understand for the Pinoy and Tagalog, and every dialect in the Philippines to understand our culture. And then we snob people who understand and are very fluent in English because they’re not in love with our culture but at the same time, English is an evolving language. And the thing is, we can adapt to it but also, it’s profitable, considering how the world is globalizing and it’s weird because by the end of the day we are just working, we’re just working to keep each other alive.

[00:58:09] CHRIS: Yeah, right. Yeah. And that’s what I’m saying. Like, there is an unsettling idea to me of someone who has to travel thousands of miles from their home. And then every dollar they spend gets sent back and they wind up existing in this almost, almost purgatory where there they are making money, but it’s all filtering directly out of their lives in the service of others and that leaves them with a hard life with a lot of work ahead.

[00:58:38] CALLER: And it’s so frustrating that, you know, our government prides themselves on OFW and when you know, they shouldn’t, because that means that resources going away to different countries rather than working within the country to improve the welfare and the structures in the country rather than, you know, other countries benefiting from it. We’re not supposed to, people aren’t supposed to be exported. They should be tapped into and used to its fullest potential, and I feel like our country doesn’t understand that. It hurts so much because we’re so resilient, we care about a lot of people. When there are floods in the Philippines, when the people are neck deep in the water, they would look at the cameras and say, go over there to someone who is drowning right now. We’re that kind of people. We’re prioritizing people who are in need. But also, we don’t understand that we’re also drowning. You got me?

[00:59:46] CHRIS: Yeah. Yeah. I think you’re doing such a good job of sort of verbalizing a culture that we only see the surface level of, from my vantage point.

[01:00:03] CALLER: Yeah, because most people see Filipinos as domestic worker, the campy gay guy or very subservient. We’re not. We’re feisty, we want things in life. We want to be better in things, we have dreams, too. But the thing is, we don’t know how to get there. And it’s really frustrating.

[01:00:33] CHRIS: Those call centre jobs must be particularly frustrating because I would imagine you get a lot of people calling up and it’s like, you know, to me, I associate call centres with like electronics and so it must be like you get someone calling up who’s like, hey, I just bought a big screen TV. I spent twelve hundred bucks on it, and I can’t even get it to connect to my Xbox. And then the person on the phone walking them through it is like, yeah, you sound like you have a real hard, you must have to bite your tongue, oh really, you can’t get your 600 dollar gaming system to connect to your twelve hundred dollar TV. Yeah. I get your frustration and then you’re yelling at the call centre person and they’re in a country where they’re scrambling and hustling to put food on the table. And then I’m sitting here. I’m sitting here. You know, I spent so much money on this, they don’t put me on hold.

[01:01:25] CALLER: Or worse? They’ll say, I want to talk to an American.

[01:01:33] CHRIS: And is there that immediate, I’m in trouble type feeling?

[01:01:37] CALLER: Oh, no. They’re just some people are just like, oh, I know you’re an outsourced company. I want to talk to an American.

[01:01:44] CHRIS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s weird. This is a weird world. Weird world we live in where people are commodities. People are commodities. I don’t get it. I understand.

[01:01:57] CALLER: It’s weird. You see how people can grind themselves to show so much potential, so many resources. And you just see them as, you know, inventory. It’s not fair.

[01:02:13] CHRIS: It’s very strange that we now have a shared global economy and no shared global labour laws or labour standards. You know, like an American company couldn’t work people for 16 hours in a row. But then we can contract. We can contract work. We can contract companies that do that in other countries. And that’s fine. That seems like a loophole that we should just close like.

[01:02:39] CALLER: Yeah. And it’s been terribly abused in the Philippines and other, you know, other countries like that, because certain precedents back then, you know, allowed that loophole because we needed the resources from other countries. But the thing is, right now, I don’t know what resources we have. We’re actually good. We are so good with natural resource that we’re being plundered by it. But I don’t know that there’s so many things that, they’re just you know, I know I’m being very political. But God, you can’t help it considering its next much.

[01:03:17] CHRIS: No, it’s good to hear about. It’s good because I do think you’re right that there is maybe a perception of like I think maybe in my country there is a perception that the Filipino community is like, oh, those are like a very fun, smiling people. Like you said, yeah. But then also hear, like. No. But there’s also like a real foundation of need. It’s really interesting. It’s good to hear. No, I mean, can I ask you, I once read a book on Manny Pacquiao and it brought up a detail that I would love to know if this is true in your experience. This book sort of had the premise that in the Philippines, fighting is a pretty strong part of the culture, that there’s a lot of a lot of reverence given towards fighting and like also with cockfighting. Cockfighting is a big part, even said that, but it said people bet on horse fighting. Is this true that there’s horse fights in the Philippines?

[01:04:22] CALLER: Animal gambling’s technically not allowed anymore, as I know but the thing is, you know, technically, right.

[01:04:33] CHRIS: So, there’s underground horse fights. You’re telling me that there is not, you do have some –  

[01:04:37] CALLER: Probably, probably, probably.

[01:04:39] CHRIS: You would assume that there are underground horse fights. Well, OK, now that I’ve asked my dumb question, let me get back. This generation of OFW workers that has taken to the world to send the money back. Do you think it will affect permanent change? Do you think your generation will have a better life or is this going to become a cycle? What’s the sense?

[01:05:04] CALLER: Here’s the thing. You know how, like you guys, your college tuition fee and you guys have like college tuition fee loans and you’re trying to pay that back. So, our parents of the Philippines will most likely pay our college tuition fee. But the thing is, the way we’re going to be paying back our college tuition fees to our parents is through emotional support and emotional guilt.

[01:05:30] CHRIS: Right. Right. Right. Right.

[01:05:34] CALLER: Yeah, so it’s a different kind of economy. I don’t know because most people, most people in my generation, they seek out different opportunities abroad because they want to get out of the country. And even my father’s been telling me, get out of the country. Even though ever since I was little and I’m just like, why would I want to get out of this country? Well, you know, there’s so much culture, there’s so much identity. I want to stay here because it’s who I am. Everybody will wander away from their country. I will come back to it because they want, because it is who they are, and they want to know who they are. And as an artist, as a writer, I feel like I need to understand my country and myself to do that.

[01:06:35] CHRIS: You’re kind of a badass. I’m going to tell you something, I’m be honest and be honest, those first seven minutes that was just you and your mom snapping at each other about a phone. I would not have predicted that you’re such a deep thinker and a bad ass. And now we’ve got two minutes left and I’m realizing that you, you think hard about yourself and how to be who you are and how to represent your nation and embrace the values it gives you. I didn’t see that coming. Based on those first seven kind of disastrous minutes.

[01:07:08] CALLER: Yeah. That’s the interesting thing is like in these last few minutes, you don’t really know much about me.

[01:07:16] CHRIS: Yeah. You’ve told me a lot about the world and your country and everything. And now you’re dropping in that you’re an artist. I know that you’re someone who lives. As an LGBTQ artist in a place that doesn’t necessarily embrace those values, we’ve got a minute left. OK, minute breakdown. You say, I don’t know much about you. What are the bullet points? I need to know in one minute.

[01:07:41] CALLER: I love my friends deeply. I kissed. I kissed among binary preference, just enough just to know kind of how to feel a kiss and how to find love. I have fallen in love but got turned down by a transgendered man and I’m still in love with him. But, you know, in a familial way. I have a dog named Andy and I am not a dog person, but I care for him deeply. I have a bunch of work to do. And once I went to a national hero cult religion and took pictures there and I will send you pictures too.

[01:08:30] CHRIS: Of a cult? You once visited a cult? And you’ll send me pictures of a cult?

[01:08:34] CALLER: Yeah. Yeah, I will. And then going there was basically like a B rated horror movie. My entire trip there, it was just a wild trip of am I going to be haunted? Am I going to be possessed? But that is sound, right? I’m kind of an atheist, but now I feel like I need to go and see God. I am scared out of my wits. 

[01:09:00] CHRIS: This was an amazing phone call and I hope we get to speak again because we’re clearly just scratching the surface.

[01:09:05] CALLER: Yeah man. See you in Halloween at probably.

[01:09:15] CHRIS: That last minute was just a barrage of teasers of things that I wish we’d done. I hope that you and I get a chance to talk again someday because we could clearly gone for a long time. Thank you so much for calling in. And I hope, everybody, what a concrete thing. Guys don’t hang up on those phone service. Who knew? Never hang up on one of us again. Do the right thing by somebody else. Caller, thanks for calling, Jared O’Connell. Harry Nelson Booth. Thank you so much. Justin Lingo. Thank you so much. Shellshack. Thank you so much. Wanna know about me? Chrisgeth.com. Rate, review, subscribe. Helps when you do. See you next time.

[NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW]

[01:10:26] CALLER: First of all, being on the show was definitely a major turning point. I would say in. In my life in general. 

[01:10:30] CHRIS: OK. That could be good or bad. 

[01:10:32] CALLER: No, it was good. Yes. Yes. It was a very good thing. It was a turning point in my grief even I would say. I have friends who I made after the tragedy or whatever, who also lost children or husbands and things. And they would say things to me that at the time I didn’t understand. Like they would say that eventually, like the grief becomes part of you. Or they would say, like, lean into the grief. And I didn’t really understand what they meant by it. And I think what they meant by it is it’s kind of like acceptance. And by being on the show, I think I’m just telling my story, which I was so afraid to do. It led me to like a path of acceptance, I think. 

[01:11:12] CHRIS: That’s next time on Beautiful Anonymous.