Explicit Episode 13: Navigating Life's Unexpected Turns
Ep. 13

Episode 13: Navigating Life's Unexpected Turns

Episode description

In this episode, Luke offers advice to callers facing a range of challenges, from a partner's infidelity and a daughter's sneaking out, to a remote work dilemma and the return of a deceased father's belongings. The callers' stories provide a poignant glimpse into the complexities of life, leaving listeners engaged and inspired to tackle their own obstacles.

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0:00

LUKE: All right, welcome back. It's Luke at the Roost. This is the radio show

0:06

where I take your calls and give you real-world advice. If you'd like to call

0:13

in, the numbers 208-439-58-3-3. That's 208-439 Luke. And we have a new feature to the

0:19

show. Now, if you call in and we're not recording, you can leave a voicemail.

0:26

And if your voicemail is funny enough, I will play it on the next episode.

0:32

If we all, we all, we are, you all. We are, you all, you can

0:39

leave a voicemail. If we are, you call in, we are, if you can leave

0:45

a voicemail. If we are, if you are, if you can leave you can recording

0:52

and you call in now, you'll be placed into a queue, and I can take

0:58

your call, and we'll talk to you live on the air. Today is Sunday, February

1:05

15th. It's about 10.30, and our phones are already lighting up, as they usually are

1:11

around now. And first up on the show, we have Phil. Phil, welcome to the

1:18

show. What would you like to talk about tonight?

1:24

PHIL: Oh, man, Luke, thanks for taking my call. So I'm sitting in my truck

1:30

right now, because Three hours ago, my brother sent me a screenshot of my partner's

1:35

Tinder profile, and I can't go home yet.

1:41

LUKE: Oh, what was the screenshot? Was it a picture you're familiar with?

1:47

PHIL: Yeah, it's this photo from last month. We went up to Sedona. I paid

1:52

for the whole trip, and Marcus bought this ridiculous cowboy hat at some tourist shop.

1:57

We were laughing about it, you know, like it was this inside joke between us.

2:03

Tinder photo.

2:08

LUKE: So what are you going to do? Do you have a Tinder profile as

2:13

well? Are you going to match with them?

2:18

PHIL: Oh, Jesus. I haven't even thought about that. No, I don't have one. I

2:24

mean, I thought we were past all that. But that's kind of genius in a

2:30

horrible way, right? Just swipe right. See what happens?

2:36

LUKE: Yeah, maybe you've got something in common and it's worth getting together and having

2:41

a little date or some type thing.

2:46

PHIL: Yeah. Hey, you look familiar. God, that's... I don't know if I'm more pissed

2:51

off or if I just want to understand what the hell he's thinking. Like we've

2:57

been together two years. I lost my first husband to cancer six years back, and

3:03

I really thought Marcus got that... got how big a deal it was for me

3:08

to do this again.

3:14

LUKE: Yeah, that sounds unfortunate. You should probably maybe confront Marcus about that and be

3:20

like, hey, saw your Tinder profile. What's this about? How long you've been stepping? out,

3:25

um, then make sure that whatever it is he's doing, he's doing in a protected

3:30

manner, you know?

3:36

PHIL: Yeah, you're right. I mean, that's the thing that's actually making me sick right

3:42

now. Like, I haven't even let myself go there yet. The health stuff.

3:48

LUKE: Well, that's the important stuff. And you might want to get yourself checked out

3:54

and all that, uh, before anything becomes an issue. But talk to, talk to, talk

4:00

to your partner. And, uh, maybe you've found, um, you've found, out the hard way

4:06

that he's not the right partner for you.

4:12

PHIL: Yeah. Yeah. I think I already know he's not, you know? Like the second

4:17

I saw that screenshot, it wasn't even shock. It was just this feeling of, oh,

4:23

there it is. Like I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop this whole

4:28

time and now it has. The thing is, I keep thinking about my first husband,

4:34

Tom.

4:39

LUKE: And what happened with your first husband? answer? Did I get that right?

4:46

PHIL: Yeah, pancreatic. It was eight months from diagnosis to the end. And the whole

4:52

time, even when he couldn't get out of bed, even when he was so sick,

4:59

there was never a question, you know, never a doubt about us. And I guess

5:05

I thought that's what love was supposed to look like. That's the bar.

5:11

LUKE: Hey, man, I'm sorry to hear that. And, uh, you know, some people get

5:18

that once in their life. Some people get it more than once. Uh, the thing

5:25

is you've got to be, You got to be all right by yourself and worry

5:31

about love second. So how are you feeling individually as yourself? Do you need your

5:38

partner to feel whole or would you be all right on your own?

5:44

PHIL: Man, that's the question, isn't it? I don't know. I thought I was good

5:51

on my own after Tom died. I did the work, you know. Went to the

5:57

grief group, got back into my photography, managed the bar, saw my friends.

6:03

LUKE: sound like it's a good idea to hang out with a dude that is

6:10

seeing other people on the side without telling you. So it might be time to

6:16

break up that relationship. I don't know. You should have that conversation with him. And

6:23

if you've got a strike out on your own again, then do that. Get back

6:29

to the photography and your friends and move on with your life.

6:36

PHIL: You're right. You're absolutely right. I just... I keep thinking about how I'm going

6:40

to tell my brother

6:44

LUKE: Why is your brother in this picture? It sounds like that's none of his

6:48

business.

6:51

PHIL: No, you're right, it's just he's the one who sent me the screenshot. He

6:57

found Marcus on Tinder and took the screenshot and sent it to me. So now

7:03

he's going to want to know what I did about it. And Eddie's got this

7:10

way of making everything feel like a test I'm failing, you know? Like he's keeping

7:16

score of whether I'm handling my life right.

7:22

LUKE: whatever, let him keep score. You don't have to care about what his score

7:28

is. Just sit down with your partner and talk it out. If you got to

7:33

break up, break up and move on. And I wish you only happiness going forward.

7:39

Okay, sir. Thank you for the call.

7:45

PHIL: Yeah, yeah, okay. Thanks, Luke.

7:48

LUKE: All right. Good luck to you and your brother and your husband or whatever.

7:53

Hope everything works out there. Looks like next up we've got Lori. Welcome to the

7:58

show. How are you doing tonight?

8:04

LORI: Oh, man, I'm not great, Luke. I've been sitting in my truck at a

8:09

flying J for 20 minutes trying to figure out if I'm about to blow up

8:14

my whole life here.

8:19

LUKE: Why are you thinking about blowing up your life?

8:24

LORI: So my 14-year-old daughter's been playing me and her dad against each other for

8:30

God knows how long. Telling him, she's at my place on weekends. Telling me she's

8:36

with him. And actually, she's been out in the desert somewhere with friends doing who

8:42

the hell knows what. He just called me back about it 20 minutes ago. And

8:48

here's the thing. I'm hauling refrigerated goods. I'm six days into this route. I've got

8:54

a load that needs to be in Tucson by tomorrow morning. But I'm four hours

9:00

from home right now. And I know, I know I need to turn this rig

9:07

around and deal with this.

9:13

LUKE: Well, think this one through. What happens if you do turn the rig around?

9:18

What are you going to do when you get there? How are you going to

9:23

deal with it?

9:28

LORI: That's the problem, Luke. I don't know. I mean, what am I going to

9:34

do? Ground her. She's already been sneaking out for weeks, maybe months, show up and

9:41

yell at her. That's just going to make her better at lying. Her dad and

9:48

I, we can barely have a conversation without it turning into whose fault everything is.

9:54

LUKE: All right? Well, it sounds like that makes your decision, right? If there's no

10:00

action for you to take if you were to go back, then don't go back.

10:06

You've got work to do. You've got to take care of your responsibilities to your

10:12

job too. And then you can deal with this when you're get back. Kids do

10:18

do this. Kids go out and party in the woods and play their parents off

10:24

each other. It's a very normal thing for a teenage kid to do. It's not

10:30

that, not that life-shattering.

10:36

LORI: Yeah, but okay, you're right. It's normal, but Luke, she's 14. And I don't

10:43

even know where she's going or who she's with. Her dad won't tell me the

10:49

names of these friends because apparently she made him promised not to.

10:55

LUKE: Well, it doesn't sound like it really matters what their names are, right? She's

11:01

out doing her thing. I don't see a problem here. Do your job. Talk to

11:07

your family when you get home. And if you don't want her out partying at

11:14

14 out in the desert, then maybe think about a different profession where you can

11:20

be around to be involved in her life more than being on the road for

11:26

six days at a time, you know?

11:32

LORI: Wow. Okay. Yeah, no. You're that's exactly what my ex said when I took

11:38

this job. that I was choosing the road over her.

11:43

LUKE: And here's the thing that pisses me off about that. I took this job

11:47

because of the divorce.

11:52

LORI: Hey, I'm not trying to ideologically say that it's right or wrong for you

11:58

to have taken the job. I don't care. I'm just saying if you're a long-haul

12:04

trucker and you're gone for weeks at a time, then you're not particularly invested in

12:10

your teenage daughter's life. And you're only going to show up once in a while

12:17

to scold her for doing something wrong and acting out direction or guidance from our

12:23

parent in her life. And that's not unusual. I'm not saying it's even wrong. I

12:29

mean, you want her to be safe and you want to do this job and

12:36

both those things can happen, but you need to sit down with her and talk

12:42

to her about safety, make sure that she's letting you know what's going on because

12:48

you care. If you do care, if not, then you just want to be controlling

12:54

and punish her for doing, you know, stuff behind your back, which is, I don't

13:01

think that's fair.

13:07

LUKE: No, you're right. I, God, I do care. I care so much it's making

13:13

me sick right now sitting here. And you know what the worst part is? My

13:18

dispatcher, Karen, has been so good to me since the divorce. She worked out this

13:24

schedule where I could do shorter halls, be home more often, and I still manage

13:30

to screw it up.

13:36

LORI: I don't know if you screwed it up or not, but the fact remains,

13:42

you're away from home a lot. your daughter's home, and she's out doing stuff. You

13:48

know, if you're not going to be around, she's going to live her life. And

13:54

that might not be in a way that you appreciate. But you're making that choice,

14:01

and it could be the right choice or the wrong choice for you. But you've

14:07

got to decide. You can't have it both ways.

14:13

LUKE: You're absolutely right. I can't. And sitting here trying to figure out if I

14:20

blow this contract and turn around or keep going, I'm just avoiding the real decision.

14:26

aren't I? The thing is, Luke, when I lost the house and the divorce, when

14:33

everything fell apart, this job felt like the one thing I could actually control.

14:40

LORI: Well, maybe it is. Maybe the job's a great thing for you and your

14:46

family and it's providing for you, but you have to then give your daughter the

14:52

grace to be her own person early because you're not there to give her that

14:59

traditional upbringing that she otherwise would have got. It doesn't mean she's going to turn

15:05

into a mom. her in adulthood. She's just going to have a different road. And

15:11

that can be okay, but you should talk about it.

15:18

LUKE: Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I need to actually talk to her, not at her.

15:24

LORI: That's right. And it sounds like you've got a job to do. So get

15:31

back on the road, finish out your obligation. And when you get back, sit her

15:37

down and have a conversation that's not accusatory and you're not mad at her or

15:43

punishing her, but talk to her. And let her, know what's going on in your

15:49

life, why you've made the decisions that you've made, and what you expect out of

15:56

her, and come to a compromise, an agreement. Talk to her like she's an adult,

16:02

because at this point, she kind of is.

16:08

LUKE: She kind of is. God, that's terrifying. All right. All right. I'm going to

16:14

finish the route. I'm going to get home Tuesday. And I'm going to sit down

16:19

with her. Not with her dad there. Not making it this big intervention thing. Just

16:24

me and her.

16:30

LORI: it sounds like a good plan.

16:33

LUKE: I hope it all works out. But, you know, I was in a similar

16:39

situation as a teenager. I was your daughter in this scenario. And I was out

16:46

with people I shouldn't have been with doing things I shouldn't have done. And there's

16:52

lots of reasons for that. But it's not because my parents didn't love me. It's

16:58

not because I was a piece of shit. It's, we're not going to get into

17:05

it all right now. But over the course of the show, we'll probably learn a

17:11

little bit more about that. For now, though, we have to go to our sponsor.

17:17

So please stay tuned for a word from our sponsors. Life is hard. You're listening

17:24

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still more than your friends are doing. Better maybe. It's better than nothing. And that's

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not nothing. Okay. Better maybe. Give them a call. Maybe they can help some of

18:15

our callers. That's why I'm not. they reached out to us so they could get

18:21

their product to you. Okay, Roland, Roland, welcome to the show. What's going on tonight,

18:28

sir?

18:34

ROLAND: Oh, man. So I've been working from home for UPS for four years now,

18:40

routing, logistics, all that. And Friday, they dropped the email, back to the Albuquerque office

18:45

by March 1st, or I'm out. Three hours of driving every day, Luke, six hours

18:51

round trip. And the thing is, I finally got my life set up exactly how

18:57

I wanted it.

19:02

LUKE: Well, it sounds like maybe you've got to let that job go then. I

19:09

mean, a six-hour round-trip commute to work for UPS doesn't sound reasonable to me.

19:15

ROLAND: Yeah, but it's 16 years total with the company, you know? The benefits, the

19:22

retirement, are not starting over at 43, and the pay's solid. But, man, I finally

19:29

set up my grandfather's old workbench in the garage, been restoring furniture at night, and

19:35

I'm actually at it. My neighbor Gary caught me sanding at midnight Friday with every

19:42

light on. asked what was eating me, and I couldn't even explain it to him.

19:49

LUKE: Yeah, well, the pay may be solid, but now subtract six hours of commuting

19:55

expenses and mileage on your vehicle. Retirement doesn't just start over if you go to

20:01

another company. Like, I assume you've got an IRA or a 401K type situation with

20:08

them. That's going to roll over into your next position. It's not like you forfeit

20:14

it. You might forfeit whatever pension it is you got, but you got, what, 45

20:20

years more to work? Come on, man. You can't just deal with that for another

20:27

40 years because you're holding onto a pension. That's silly. If you've got to let

20:33

it go, you've got to let it go.

20:39

ROLAND: No, you're right. You're right. I know you're right. It's just, okay. So here's

20:45

the real thing. I spent the first 12 years on the road, delivering packages, breaking

20:51

my back in the heat. When they finally moved me to remote work during COVID,

20:57

it felt like I'd made it, you know?

21:03

LUKE: I do know. I remember back when I demanded to work remote, I would

21:09

not go into an office anymore. And everybody told me that was a mistake and

21:16

that you can't do that. This was pre-COVID. And I said, I can do whatever

21:22

I want. You know, I'm going to do what I'm going to do. And I

21:28

don't have to do anything I don't want to do. And I don't want to

21:35

go into an office, so I'm not going to do it. And then I never

21:41

went back into an office again. You can absolutely do that. There's plenty of ways

21:47

to make money. You don't have to work for UPS. You can start your own

21:54

company. You can start your own company. find another job that offers you remote work.

22:00

You can, I don't know, play the stock market. There's plenty of ways that people

22:06

make money without going in an office. And if you really don't want to go

22:12

into an office, don't.

22:19

ROLAND: You know what? You're making it sound simpler than it feels, but okay, I've

22:25

been reading about these CEOs running remote first companies. No plans to bring people back.

22:30

And I keep thinking, why can't UPS figure this out? I've been more productive at

22:36

home, six new hires over Zoom last year, never missed a deadline. But I think

22:42

what's really getting me is,

22:48

LUKE: Well, before you get to that, I think a lot of companies and a

22:54

lot of research has proven that people are generally very productive at home, and in

23:00

a lot of cases more so than an office.

23:05

TERRY: Oh, man, Luke. So my best friend since third grade just told me she's

23:12

been sleeping with my ex-husband since literally the week our divorce was finalized. Like, Michelle

23:19

was at my wedding. She helped me move my stuff out of the house six

23:25

months ago. she's been with David this whole time. And when I got upset about

23:32

it tonight, because, yeah, I'm upset, she hit me with, it's been six months, you

23:39

should be over it. Like I'm being dramatic for caring that she's been lying to

23:45

my face for half a year while I'm crying to her about the divorce.

23:52

LUKE: Yeah, that's messed up. I think she's not your friend, and it's time to

23:56

let go of that relationship.

24:01

TERRY: I mean, yeah, you're right. I know you're right. But Luke, 30 years. 30

24:07

years. We learned to drive together. We got matching tattoos when we turned 20. One,

24:13

stupid little stars on our ankles. Her mom was like my second mom growing up.

24:19

And it's not even just about David, you know?

24:25

LUKE: No, I don't know, but the whole David thing tells me that this chick

24:30

needs to go. She doesn't care about you. Whether you've known her for 30 years

24:36

or 300 years, Fuck this chick.

24:41

TERRY: You're not wrong. God, you're not wrong. It's just... Okay, so here's the thing

24:47

that's really messing with me. I'm sitting here in my uncle's laundromat, at 11 o'clock

24:52

on a Sunday night, with a warm beer, and I'm realizing I'm more hurt about

24:58

Michelle than I ever was about David. Like the divorce sucked, but I saw that

25:04

coming for a while, you know? We've been going through the motions for like two

25:09

years.

25:15

LUKE: Yeah, that's a hard thing. I understand. And, you know, you've got that much

25:22

history with somebody. It sucks to lose it, but it's, uh, it sounds like it's

25:28

not you that has made this decision. And this person isn't somebody that's got your

25:35

back that you can trust. So if you thought you had a great friend, maybe

25:42

you did it once, but people change. And it sounds like she changed. And maybe

25:48

some day she'll change again. But for now, let that chick go. She sucks.

25:55

TERRY: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She does suck. You know what the worst part is? I

26:01

called her first when I found out David was seeing someone. Like two weeks ago,

26:07

I saw his truck at the Applebee's with some woman, and I was all worked

26:14

up about it, called Michelle literally crying in the parking lot. And she was like,

26:20

oh, honey, you got to let him go. He's moved on. The whole time knowing

26:26

it was her. That's that sociopath behavior, right?

26:32

LUKE: It sure is. And it's not what you would expect about a friend of

26:39

30 years. So my advice to you is just stop talking to that chick. Let

26:45

her go. Let her have the dude. And, uh, move on with your life.

26:52

TERRY: You're right. I know you're right. It's just, God. It's pathetic, but I'm sitting

26:57

here thinking about who I'm going to call now when stuff goes wrong. You know,

27:02

like she was that person.

27:07

LUKE: Well, it sounds like you're going to call Luke at the Roost, the, uh,

27:14

call in radio show where we help you out with your real world problems.

27:20

TERRY: Ha. Yeah. Well, you're doing better than she did tonight. That's for sure. I

27:27

just... Okay. Real talk, though. Am I crazy for still being hurt about David?

27:33

LUKE: No, you're not crazy.

27:36

LUKE: You're hurt when you're hurt, and you've got good reason to be hurt here,

27:42

and you've got some grief going on, and it's big life changes, and there's lots

27:48

of reasons to be hurt. But you don't have to continue to stay that way.

27:54

If you don't want to, you can decide to not be hurt and move on.

28:00

And I think that's what you need to. to do. It's easier said than done,

28:06

but it can be done. So just every day, wake up and be grateful to

28:12

be here and say, hey, you know, I don't have the life that I had

28:19

yesterday, but I've got the life that I have today, and it can still be

28:25

pretty fucking cool.

28:31

TERRY: You know what? You're right. And honestly, and this is going to sound terrible.

28:37

But I think I've been more hung up on the idea of David than actual

28:44

David for a while now. Like we got married at 23, Luke. 23.

28:50

LUKE: Yep, that happens. That is young, and it explains a lot. So, um, you

28:56

know, I wish you the best of luck. We're going to move on on the

29:01

show now, unless you have some other point to bring up. I'll give you one

29:07

more chance to respond. But otherwise, I'm going to say, uh, let go with the

29:13

chick, let go to the dude, move on with your life, and everything's going to

29:19

be fine.

29:24

TERRY: No, you're good. I appreciate you letting me vent. And hey, I heard Roland,

29:29

earlier? The UPS guy?

29:33

LUKE: Yeah, what about him?

29:35

TERRY: You got a job for Roland? No, but his wife definitely sucks too. That

29:41

whole thing about her wanting him out of the house? Come on. That man needs

29:46

to check the credit card statements.

29:51

LUKE: That is absolutely true. I didn't want to say that to him at the

29:58

time, but he absolutely should check the credit card statements. And maybe the little internal

30:04

camera that he's got in the fucking teddy bear And now, now folks, you know

30:11

what? Actually, she's already gone, but Terry, that was the smartest thing you sent that

30:17

whole call. All right. Now it's time for a word from our sponsors. I'm not

30:24

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Forever. They are a proud sponsor of the Luke at the Roo Show, and we

31:23

appreciate them. Now let's get to, uh, let's get back to the phones. Chester, Chester,

31:30

welcome to the show. What's on your mind, sir?

31:36

CHESTER: Luke, hey, so I almost killed my kid this morning. Not on purpose, I

31:42

mean. I didn't. I showed up to get her from her ex-wife's place, custody Sunday,

31:48

and the second I rolled down the window, I could smell the whiskey coming off

31:54

me. Hands still shaking. I'd been drinking until like four in the morning, and it

32:00

was eight o'clock. And I'm sitting there with the engine running, thinking, well, I'm sitting

32:06

there with the engine running, thinking, well, What the hell am I doing? She's seven.

32:12

Her name's Daisy.

32:18

LUKE: Oh man, yeah. You can't, you can't do that, man. If you've got a

32:23

drinking problem, then you're going to have to take, you're going to have to take

32:29

care of that because you could kill your kid and or you could kill someone

32:34

else's kid and it's really not okay. It's, it's irresponsible and it's not good for

32:40

anybody.

32:45

CHESTER: No, you're right. You're absolutely right. I didn't drive. I mean, I sat there

32:50

for maybe 30 seconds. And then I shut the truck off and I called her

32:56

mom and told her I was sick, food poisoning or something, which is bullshit. She

33:01

probably knew.

33:06

LUKE: How long have you known you've had a problem with the drinking?

33:12

CHESTER: I mean, that's the thing, Luke. I don't drink every day. I work at

33:18

Desert Star Pond, been there six years. I show up on time. I do my

33:25

job. It's just when I get home and Daisy's not there. When it's those empty

33:31

nights, I'll start with one beer. And then it's three I'm watching Civil War documentaries

33:38

with a bottle of Jim Beam. And I can tell you the exact date of

33:44

Antietam, but I can't tell you when it got like this.

33:50

LUKE: Well, are you, uh, are you tired of it yet? Or it sounds like

33:56

maybe this is a moment of clarity where you're recognizing the situation and, and thinking

34:02

about taking accountability for it. Is that true?

34:07

CHESTER: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think. I mean, my dad, Big Jim, he ran cattle

34:13

for years. Never missed a day. Never touched the stuff.

34:19

LUKE: Well, you know, they have support group meetings. It can help you out in

34:25

these situations. You can go to after work. Lots of cool people there that are

34:31

trying to live sober, not pick up the drink and end up in situations like

34:38

you're finding yourself in now. It is possible. You don't have to get drunk by

34:44

yourself at night watching Civil War documentaries. You can just watch the Civil War documentary

34:50

without they're getting drunk bit. then when you get up in the morning and pick

34:57

up your kid, you're not going to be drunk.

35:03

CHESTER: I know. You're right. It's just, the house is so damn quiet, you know?

35:09

And I keep thinking about what kind of example I'm setting.

35:14

LUKE: Well, it's good that you figure it out now when you're at a spot

35:21

where you can still do something about it. And what I recommend is when you

35:27

get home, next time you get home, do something else. Instead of cracking that beer,

35:33

just do anything else. You can play a video game or you could, uh, go

35:39

for a walk or you could read or play on the internet, whatever it is,

35:45

just break that habit of having that first beer. Because if you don't pick up

35:51

the first one, you're not going to end up drunk. Isn't it funny how that

35:57

works? If you don't pick up the first one, you're not going to end up

36:03

drunk.

36:09

CHESTER: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. I heard Lori earlier, the trucker lady with the

36:14

daughter sneaking out, and I kept thinking at least she's got a reason she's not

36:19

around, you know?

36:23

LUKE: No, what do you mean by that?

36:27

CHESTER: I mean, she's working. She's on the road providing for her kid. Me, I'm

36:32

just, I'm home and Daisy's at her moms. And I'm choosing to sit there with

36:38

a bottle instead of, I don't know, calling her reading her a bedtime story over

36:43

the phone. Something.

36:48

LUKE: Well, yeah. And, uh, you know, sometimes you just have to say that to

36:55

a radio host at midnight to, uh, to hear yourself say it. So hopefully you

37:01

can snap out of your, uh, your, your situation. Don't pick up the beer next

37:07

time. And instead, call your daughter and read her a story.

37:14

CHESTER: You're right. I actually. I got this book about Gettysburg I was going to

37:20

show her. She's been asking about it because we drove through Pennsylvania last summer. And

37:26

she saw the signs. Smart kid. Smarter than me, that's for sure.

37:32

LUKE: Well, you sound pretty smart today. You know you get a problem and you're

37:39

going to do stuff to take care of it. So if you need help, then

37:45

I recommend that you find your your local neighborhood at AA or NA meetings, depending

37:51

on what type of situation you're dealing with. And just go check it out. And

37:58

have an open mind and maybe you find a new way of life. Okay, Dolores.

38:04

Delores, welcome to the radio show. How can we help?

38:10

DELORES: Hey, Luke. Yeah. So, okay. I got recognized today at an open house and

38:15

I kind of panicked. And now sitting in a circle K parking lot feeling like

38:20

a complete idiot.

38:25

LUKE: Well, all of us get recognized several times a day. So why is it,

38:31

what is it about this particular recognition that's got you up in arms?

38:38

DELORES: Because I've been going to open houses every weekend for like eight months and

38:44

I'm not actually buying anything. This realtor, Patricia, she remembered me from a showing last

38:50

spring, and she just asked me you actually planning to buy a house and I

38:56

froze. I told her my financing fell through, but that's not even true because I've

39:02

never applied for a loan in the first place.

39:09

LUKE: Okay. Next up on the radio show, we have Marvin. Marvin, thanks for calling

39:13

in. What's happening tonight?

39:17

MARVIN: Hey, Luke. Yeah, thanks for taking the call. So I got home for my

39:23

shift tonight and there's this cardboard box sitting on my porch. No note, nothing. And

39:29

it's full of stuff from my dad's house. Stuff I haven't seen since he died

39:35

11 years ago. His Bolo tie. This pocket knife I thought I lost senior year.

39:41

Photos of my uncle's old place.

39:47

LUKE: What's a Bolo tie?

39:49

MARVIN: Oh, it's that Western Thai thing. You know, the braided leather cord with the

39:54

silver clasp that slides up and down. My dad wore one to every wedding, every

40:00

funeral, every time he needed to look respectable. His had this. This turquoise stone in

40:05

the middle, real heavy.

40:11

LUKE: Okay, well, that's cool. Somebody dropped off some of your dead dad's belongings, and

40:18

what are they bringing up inside? They bring it up memories? Is this got you

40:24

upset? Are you concerned? Like, what's, what feeling is this bringing up inside of you?

40:31

MARVIN: I mean, yeah, memories. But more than that, I'm sitting here like, who the

40:37

hell had this stuff? my dad's been gone 11 years. Where has this box been?

40:43

And why now? Why tonight? What's in the box? Why no explanation? Like, someone just

40:50

decided, oh, time for Marvin to deal with this and left it there like a

40:56

package from Amazon. And honestly, I opened it and just...

41:02

LUKE: All right. Well, congratulations for, uh, the... safe return of your dad's belongings. I

41:09

hope that you wear them in good health. Next on the radio show, oh, before,

41:15

no, oh, Luke, you almost, come on, come on, I'm fucking amateur here. It is

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sponsoring the show today. I think we're probably running a little bit late. These have

42:28

been some decent calls. They're going a little long. So I'm just going to take

42:34

one more for tonight's show. And next up to the line, we have Francine. Francine,

42:41

you're going to be our last caller of the night.

42:47

LUKE: What's on your mind?

42:50

CALLER: Luke, I just had a deer on the 11, and it's still alive, and

42:56

I don't know what the hell I'm playing. supposed to do about it. I've been

43:03

sitting here with my hazards on for like 20 minutes. Just, it's looking at me.

43:10

When if its legs is completely shattered, it's on the shoulder. And I can't tell

43:16

if I'm supposed to call someone, or if I'm supposed to, I don't know, put

43:23

it out of its misery myself? Which I don't even know how I do that.

43:29

I'm a nurse. I work on people, not my ex would have known. He grew

43:36

up out here, hunted with his dad. He would have just handled it.

43:43

LUKE: Yeah, that sounds like a. less than ideal situation. I would call the police

43:49

first, call 911, and let them know that there's been an accident and there's an

43:56

animal, I assume, still in the road. If you have a gun, then I think

44:02

you know what you have to do. If you don't have a gun, I would

44:09

probably refrain from doing anything hasty with like a tire iron or a rock.

44:16

CALLER: No, I don't have a gun. It's off the road. It's on the shoulder.

44:22

So nobody's going to hit it. I just, I'll call. I didn't know if this

44:28

was even a 911 thing or if there was like animal control or something, but

44:34

out here at midnight on a Sunday, I guess there's not exactly a whole directory

44:39

of options. The stupid thing is, I've been driving the same loop between Deming and

44:45

Los Cruces for six months now. Three different clinics, and this is the first time

44:51

I've hit anything.

44:57

LUKE: Well, you know what I always say? 911 was an inside job. So I

45:03

don't actually know who you're supposed to call in this situation. I would call 911

45:10

and ask the them and they'll let you know or send out animal control or

45:16

whoever comes out of the sheriff's office. Who knows out here especially? But, you know,

45:22

it happens. There's wild animals out here. They run in the road. Sometimes we hit

45:28

them. It's probably not your fault unless you were playing with your phone, and in

45:34

which case it was your fault. And just do the best you can do. It's

45:40

unfortunate that the animal's suffering right now, but if you don't have a way to

45:46

humanely end it, then you got to just get somebody out there as soon. as

45:52

you can.

45:59

CALLER: I wasn't on my phone. I was just tired. Just came off a double.

46:05

Wasn't paying attention like I should have been. You're right, though. I'll call.

46:11

LUKE: All right. Well, get off the line with me and get on the line

46:17

with 911. And that is the conclusion of our show for tonight. Thanks everybody for

46:23

tuning in, and we'll talk to you again tomorrow. Thank you.