Explicit Episode 9: Spilled Juice and Ghostly Visions
Ep. 09

Episode 9: Spilled Juice and Ghostly Visions

Episode description

Luke takes calls from a stressed father, a teacher pondering existential questions, and a man dealing with an impersonation video. Listeners share embarrassing stories and advice on moving forward. This episode explores the challenges of parenting, grief, and addiction recovery in a thoughtful and humorous way.

Download transcript (.srt)
0:00

LUKE: Alright, welcome back to the show. This is Luke at the Roost, the late-night

0:04

call in radio show where I, Luke, take your calls and give you real-world advice

0:09

on whatever might be bothering you tonight. So it is Wednesday, February 11th, it's about

0:14

9.18 pm, if you're around, you can give us a call. The number is 208-439-5853,

0:19

that's 208-439-Luke, so give us a call and we'll get you on the air and

0:24

talk about whatever is bothering you. Okay, so tonight we're going to go to the

0:29

phones here, we've got, they're already lighting up as they always are, and we're going

0:33

to talk to Keith, Keith, welcome to the show. What has you calling in tonight?

0:38

KEITH: Yeah, hey Luke, thanks for taking my call, so I work at the hospital,

0:43

right? And I'm usually pretty good at keeping my cool, it's kind of what I

0:47

do all day, you know, staying calm when everything's falling apart.

0:52

LUKE: I would hope so with all the panic and triage and crises that happen

0:55

in a hospital. What's on your mind?

0:59

KEITH: Well, last night I completely lost it on my daughter. She's seven, she knocked

1:03

over a glass of juice at dinner and I just screamed at her Luke, like

1:07

really screamed, over some goddamn juice on the table, and the way her face just

1:11

crumpled, man, I can still see it.

1:16

LUKE: Oh man, that's pretty rough, yeah, it sucks to be a kid and when

1:20

your parents are stressed out, they take that pretty hard, I've heard, I'm not a

1:24

parent myself, but it seems like a difficult situation to navigate, so I certainly feel

1:29

for you, what are you going to do about that?

1:33

KEITH: I apologized to her this morning before school, told her daddy was tired and

1:37

shouldn't have yelled like that. She said it was okay, but she was still kind

1:41

of quiet around me.

1:44

LUKE: Is this something that happens all the time? Is this a recurring problem? Do

1:48

you often snap at your seven-year-old daughter because of your shitty day at work or

1:52

is this a one-time occurrence?

1:56

KEITH: No, no, this was the first time I really went off like that. I

2:00

mean, I've been short with her before, you know, not now daddy's tired kind of

2:04

stuff, but nothing like this, this was different.

2:08

LUKE: Well, you meant no harm by it, even if a little bit of harm

2:12

was done, and she'll recover, she'll get over it, just make sure that she knows

2:17

it wasn't really her fault, it was a mistake, and you were having a bad

2:21

day, and daddy's human too, because you are. So you can forgive yourself and just

2:25

try to make it up to her the best way you can without going overboard

2:29

in the other direction.

2:34

KEITH: Yeah, you're right, I appreciate that. The thing is though, Luke, I think what's

2:38

eating at me is I've been running on fumes for a while now.

2:43

LUKE: Yeah, and what are you going to do about that? You're going to take

2:47

a little nap, do some yoga, to take off on a silent retreat with some

2:52

Buddhist monks into bed, and what can you do to resolve that issue?

2:57

KEITH: I don't know, man, that's kind of why I called. I can't exactly take

3:01

time off. We're short staffed as it is. My wife's got her own stuff going

3:06

on, her sister's always got some drama she needs to help with.

3:10

LUKE: Yeah, but you know, you're an adult and you have to take care of

3:15

yourself first. That's what I always say. So if you've got to take the time

3:20

off, you can't really be concerned about being short staffed. You just got to take

3:25

the time off, and if they have a problem with that, then maybe you need

3:30

a new job. You can only do the best you can do, and you have

3:34

to make sure that your own health, physical and mental health is in order. Otherwise,

3:39

you're of no use to anybody, and you're going to snap at seven year olds.

3:44

KEITH: You're not wrong. I guess I just, I've always been the guy people lean

3:47

on, you know, at work, at home. And saying no feels like I'm letting everybody

3:51

down.

3:54

LUKE: Well, sometimes leaders have to let people down. If you're going to be the

3:59

leader in the head of the household and a man, then sometimes you're going to

4:04

stand up for yourself and not please everybody. You can't please everybody all the time,

4:08

and you could try, you're just going to burn yourself out. So, I recommend not

4:13

doing that, and take whatever time you need to take to get yourself under control

4:18

so that you can be the best version of yourself for your kid and your

4:22

patience and your wife, and anybody that meets you in daily life.

4:27

KEITH: Yeah, I hear you. I think part of me knows that, but hearing someone

4:31

else say it, it helps. I've got like two weeks of PTO I haven't touched

4:35

in over a year.

4:38

LUKE: Well, there you go. I think it's time to take it. Keith, I've got

4:42

a question for you. Are you ready for my question?

4:46

KEITH: Yeah, shoot.

4:47

LUKE: I want to know, what's your most embarrassing bathroom story? Tell me a story

4:51

about a time you get stuck driving or what happened.

4:55

KEITH: Oh, Jesus, Luke. Okay, so a few years back, I was driving back from

5:00

Flagstaff after visiting my brother, and I stopped at this gas station outside of Prescott.

5:05

I go in to use the bathroom and the lock on the stall is busted,

5:10

right? So I'm in there doing my business, and some guy just swings the door

5:15

open, doesn't knock or anything, and we just lock eyes for like three full seconds.

5:20

LUKE: Oh, man, during that three seconds was there like a plop?

5:23

KEITH: Ha, yeah, actually, right as he opened the door, perfect timing. The guy just

5:28

goes, oh shit, sorry, man. And backs out, but I swear I saw him laughing

5:33

when I came out to wash my hands. I couldn't even look at him.

5:38

LUKE: Oh, man. All right, well thank you for the call. I wish you the

5:42

best of luck with your daughter and your work. Take some time off and get

5:46

back at it when you're a hundred percent. Okay, Megan, Megan, welcome to the show.

5:50

What has your call on in tonight?

5:55

MEGAN: Hey, Luke, thanks for taking my call. So I teach kindergarten down here in

5:59

the boot heel. And today, during story time, one of my five-year-olds, this little boy

6:02

named David. He looks up at the ceiling and asks me if the stars know

6:06

we're looking at them.

6:10

LUKE: Wow, that's a pretty loaded question. What did you tell him?

6:14

MEGAN: I told him I didn't know, but that it was a really good question,

6:19

and maybe they do. And honestly, it stuck with me all day because I just

6:24

got off the phone with my sister, Crystal, who moved up to Flagstaff a few

6:29

years back. And she spent 20 minutes bitching about traffic and how long the lines

6:33

were at the grocery store. And I tried to tell her about David's question. I

6:38

tried to get her to remember how we used to drive out past the ranch

6:43

roads and just sit on the tailgate, watching the Milky Way, you know?

6:48

LUKE: Yeah, I do that all the time. I'm always out in the wilderness looking

6:52

at the Milky Way. And I wonder things like that myself. What's your take on

6:56

it, though? Do you think it's possible that the stars could know or that the

7:01

universe is one universal organism that's just watching itself?

7:05

MEGAN: Oh man, I don't know about all that. I'm not that deep blue. But

7:09

what gets me is that Crystal didn't even seem to care anymore.

7:14

LUKE: Care about what? And what is the Crystal didn't care about?

7:18

MEGAN: About the sky. About what we're missing when we can't see it. She lives

7:22

in Flagstaff now and there's so much light pollution. She says she hasn't seen a

7:26

truly dark sky in years. And when I brought it up tonight, she just kind

7:31

of brushed it off like it didn't matter.

7:35

LUKE: Well, that's not entirely true. I was just up in Flagstaff. Actually, Flagstaff is

7:39

one of the first places I ever got a picture of the Milky Way. It's

7:43

pretty dark up there. There's the low observatory. And a lot of night sky activity.

7:48

So I wouldn't say that Flagstaff has too much light pollution. It's one of the

7:52

darker places in the country.

7:56

MEGAN: Really? Well, shit. Maybe she's just not going out to look anymore then. That

7:59

actually makes it worse, doesn't it? I mean, she's got access to it and she's

8:03

just...

8:06

LUKE: I understand. I mean, I grew up on the East Coast and the Milky

8:11

Way isn't a thing that you can really see there. So when I came to

8:15

the West Coast, the West Side, and got an opportunity to see the Milky Way

8:20

just when I walk outside my door, it's a very different experience. And I think

8:25

most people, almost all people, have never even seen the Milky Way.

8:29

MEGAN: So they don't know what they're missing and they don't care. But once you

8:34

get out here and you have those experiences and start thinking those philosophical questions about,

8:39

you know, do the stars know you're looking at them? It becomes a more important

8:44

part of your life. And people go through different stages in their lives. Sometimes the

8:49

sky is important, and existential questions are important. And other times they're just busy doing

8:54

work and life and watching TV. Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm being unfair to

8:58

her. She's got two kids now and works crazy hours at the hospital up there.

9:03

LUKE: Well, I hope that you enjoy watching the night sky and maybe sometime later

9:08

on in life you can do that again with your sister. I've got a question

9:12

for you, though. Are you ready for my question, Megan?

9:16

MEGAN: Yeah, go ahead.

9:17

LUKE: What is the grossest habit that you have that you would never admit in

9:20

person?

9:23

MEGAN: Oh, Jesus, Luke. Where did that come from? Um, okay, I guess.

9:27

LUKE: Come on, we're waiting. You're on the air.

9:30

MEGAN: All right, all right. I eat cereal dry straight from the box while standing

9:34

at the counter after the kids go to bed. Like, I'll just grab the cinnamon

9:39

toast crunch and shove handfuls in my mouth over the sink.

9:43

LUKE: Nope, I'm not letting you get away with that one. Everybody does that. That's

9:47

not gross. I want to hear about the gross thing that you do that you

9:50

don't want to admit.

9:54

MEGAN: Oh, God, okay. Fine.

9:56

LUKE: Let's go. Let's go. What is it? Come on.

9:59

MEGAN: I pick at the dry skin on my feet while I'm watching TV and

10:03

I just flick it onto the floor like I'll sit there with my feet up

10:08

and just go to town and then I vacuum it up later.

10:13

LUKE: All right, that's pretty gross. But, uh, you know, I've done that, too. So

10:17

I'm not going to give you too much shit for it. But thank you for

10:22

being honest with us and I wish you the best of luck in your night

10:27

sky adventures. Andre, Andre, welcome to the show. How can we help you today?

10:32

ANDRE: Hey, Luke. Thanks for having me back, man. So listen, I got some news

10:35

about that whole lawsuit thing we talked about last time. You remember with the 15

10:39

grand and the house fire?

10:43

LUKE: Oh, yeah, I remember. And then it was 85 grand and then you called

10:47

back and you said they were suing the department or your name was in some

10:50

legal documents. What's going on?

10:54

ANDRE: Yeah, exactly. So I got a letter from the department's lawyer yesterday and apparently

10:58

the insurance company dropped the whole thing just like that.

11:02

LUKE: Yeah, I told you that's what was going to happen. It was a ridiculous

11:06

lawsuit. I mean, I'll be your legal counsel. Just tell him Luke said it was

11:09

cool.

11:12

ANDRE: Yeah, you called it. But you know what? The thing that's got me twisted

11:17

up now is the family, the ones I helped, they sent me a card.

11:22

LUKE: Why is that guy you twisted up? That's nice. You found some money. You

11:26

saved their lock box full of cash and you gave it back to him like

11:30

a good man. So that's nice of them to send you a card and recognition

11:33

of your service.

11:37

ANDRE: Yeah, I mean, it is nice. But here's the thing. Inside the card, they

11:41

put 500 bucks cash like a thank you or something. And I don't know what

11:45

to do with it, man. I'm sitting here looking at it on my kitchen counter

11:49

and it feels weird to keep it. But it also feels weird to give it

11:53

back.

11:57

LUKE: Well, you know what? You know what is cool about that? Is you're looking

12:02

at the cash there on the table and you're not thinking about taking it to

12:06

the casino. So it sounds like you're moving in the right direction. If I remember

12:11

correctly, you were struggling with gambling addiction problems and that's a good sign that you're

12:16

on the right track. So if you don't want to take the money, they want

12:21

you to have it. So you should take the money. But if you don't want

12:25

to keep it or it makes you feel weird, then you can donate that to

12:30

a charity or to people you know that are in need.

12:35

ANDRE: You're right. Yeah. I haven't been to the casino in like two months now.

12:39

I've been going to the meetings and everything. I'm just saying it feels like I

12:44

don't know. Like I'm getting paid for doing the right thing. And that wasn't why

12:48

I did it. But you know what? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

12:53

LUKE: Yeah, I think so. It sounds like it all worked out okay. They got

12:57

their money back. The lawsuit got dropped. You got the money. And the gambling's not

13:02

rearing up and ruining your life right now. So it seems like everything's going well.

13:07

And you should be proud of yourself, sleep well, and enjoy your 500 bucks.

13:12

ANDRE: Yeah, you're right, man. I appreciate that. I think I'll maybe put it toward

13:15

some new fishing gear. me and TJ have been talking about going out to Lake

13:19

Pleasant next week.

13:22

LUKE: That sounds like a plan. All right, Andre. I have a question for you.

13:26

Are you ready for it?

13:29

ANDRE: Oh, man. Here we go. Yeah. All right. Hit me with it.

13:33

LUKE: All right. What is the worst thing you've ever said during sex?

13:37

ANDRE: Jesus, Luke. Okay. All right. So this was years ago. Back when I was

13:41

still married to Diane. We're in the middle of it, right? And I don't know

13:45

what the hell I was thinking. But I said good job. Like she just finished

13:49

washing the truckers up.

13:53

LUKE: Very nice. That's a good one. All right, Andre. You have a good night

13:58

and we'll talk to you later. It is time for a word from our sponsors.

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is bliss. But you're not here for bliss. Okay. Welcome back to the show. Thank

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you Overwhelmed VPN for your support. Next up on the lines we have Carla. Carla,

15:01

welcome to the show. What's got you up tonight on this fine Wednesday February 11th?

15:06

CARLA: Hey Luke, hey. So okay, I got an update on the whole photo situation

15:09

from last time I called.

15:13

LUKE: Okay, you're going to have to remind me about that photo situation.

15:17

CARLA: Oh man, okay, so I found these old explicit photos of my ex-husband and

15:22

his girlfriend back in the day. Like before we were even together. They were in

15:26

a box of his ham radio stuff that he left at my place. I called

15:31

asking what to do with them because it was just weird having them, you know?

15:36

LUKE: I do know and I suggested you send them to me. So what is

15:40

it that you did with the photos?

15:43

CARLA: I'm not going to lie. I almost did just mail them to you. But

15:48

I ended up burning them in my fire pit out back. It felt like the

15:53

right move, you know? But here's the thing, his girlfriend from the photos.

15:57

LUKE: Yeah, what about her? Did you burn her in the fire pit too?

16:02

CARLA: Huh, no. She messaged me on Facebook. Out of nowhere.

16:05

LUKE: That's a little weird, so you find these photos of her in the act

16:09

with your ex-husband and then she messages you on face. Do you know the woman?

16:13

Have you ever spoken before?

16:17

CARLA: No, never. I'd seen her name pop up on his friend's list way back,

16:21

but we never talked or anything. So yeah, it's super weird. She said she heard

16:25

through the grapevine that I found some old photos and she wanted to clear the

16:30

air about it. Like, how did she even know?

16:34

LUKE: Well, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say maybe she

16:39

heard it when you called into a radio show and told the world.

16:43

CARLA: Oh, for real though. Yeah, okay, that's fair. I didn't even think about that.

16:47

My friend Tammy from church listened sometimes and she knew about it, so I guess

16:51

word could have gotten around.

16:54

LUKE: But still, it's weird that she cared enough to reach out, right?

16:59

CARLA: Yeah, it's a little weird, it's a little awkward.

17:02

LUKE: So what did you do? Did you have a conversation with her or just

17:05

leave the message sitting there?

17:08

CARLA: I responded. I mean, I was curious what she even wanted to say. She

17:13

was actually pretty cool about it. Apologized for the weirdness of me finding them. Said

17:17

she didn't even know those photos still existed.

17:21

LUKE: Yeah, that's a little bit strange. Well, I've got a question for you. I've

17:25

got a question for you tonight. Are you ready for that?

17:29

CARLA: Yeah, go ahead.

17:30

LUKE: What is the weirdest thing that you've ever masturbated to?

17:34

CARLA: Oh my god, Luke. Really? That's where we're going with this?

17:38

LUKE: Oh, you know it. That's exactly where we're going with this. Come on.

17:42

CARLA: I'll with it. Jesus. Okay, I'm not going to lie. This is mortifying. But

17:47

there was this one time I got really into those historical romance novels.

17:51

LUKE: I'm not familiar with the genre myself. Can you let us know about the

17:55

historical romance novel? What's an example of one?

17:59

CARLA: Like, you know, the ones with the covers, whether some shirtless dude with long

18:03

hair on a horse or whatever. They're setting like the 1800s or medieval times. I

18:07

went through this whole phase reading them a few years back when things with my

18:11

ex were already going downhill.

18:15

LUKE: Okay, what is it about that style of book that got to you? Is

18:18

it the setting or is it the characters or is it just the raunchiness of

18:22

them?

18:25

CARLA: For real though, it was the whole fantasy of it, you know? Like, these

18:29

women in the books, they'd have all these men just obsessed with them, pursuing them,

18:34

saying all this flowery stuff. And I'm sitting there in my apartment with a husband

18:38

who won't even look up from his phone. So yeah, the raunchiness was part of

18:42

it, but it was more like...

18:46

LUKE: More like what?

18:48

CARLA: More like the escape, I guess. Like in those books, the guy actually gives

18:52

a shit. He's fighting duels over her or sneaking into her bedroom window or whatever.

18:56

Meanwhile, my ex was in the other room playing Call of Duty with his headset

19:00

on, ignoring me for hours.

19:04

LUKE: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, but you know, that's why they call

19:08

them fantasy novels. Thank you for the call. I'm glad that you burned those pictures

19:13

and it is a little weird that you've got that conversation going with the ex-husband's

19:17

new girlfriend. But, you know, you can take that as far as you want or

19:21

end it wherever you're at. Depends on how you feel about it. But thanks for

19:26

the call and I imagine we'll talk to you some other night. Wow. That was...

19:30

That was deep, man. Okay. Vince. Vince, welcome to the show. What's good to you

19:34

up tonight.

19:39

VINCE: Yeah, hey Luke. Appreciate you taking the call. So I just spent the last

19:43

two hours sitting in my tow truck outside a close circle K, watching a video

19:47

of myself say a bunch of shit I never said. My daughter showed it to

19:52

me earlier. She's crying because kids at her school are passing it around, asking if

19:56

I really talk like that about their parents.

20:01

LUKE: Oh man, that is weird. Is it like an AI video or did somebody

20:04

change the audio out from under a real video from you? Who made this, you

20:07

know?

20:11

VINCE: It's one of those AI things, yeah. My face, my voice. But I'm saying

20:15

I've been hiding money from my ex-wife Linda. And running my mouth about half the

20:20

parents at Beckers High School. I have no idea who made it. Could be some

20:25

kid with too much time. Could be somebody with an actual problem with me.

20:30

LUKE: Yeah, that doesn't sound like a kid with too much time. I mean, that's

20:34

awful specific to go after you. Does anybody have a reason to do that? It

20:37

seems more like somebody with an actual problem with you to target you specifically. That's

20:41

very scary.

20:45

VINCE: Well, that's the thing that's got me twisted up. I've been doing tow workout

20:49

here for 23 years. You piss people off in that job, you know? Somebody thinks

20:53

you gouged them on a tow. Or maybe I had to impound a car and

20:57

they're still sore about it.

21:01

LUKE: Well, where is the video? Was it posted on Facebook or something like that?

21:05

Is it in a public place that people are finding? I mean, how did your

21:09

kids friends at school find that?

21:13

VINCE: Beckers said it started going around on some group chat with kids from her

21:17

school. Then it hit Instagram and Snapchat. I don't even know if it's on Facebook

21:21

yet. Linda won't answer my phone, so I can't ask if people are sending it

21:25

to her. The video is just me supposedly sitting in my truck talking to somebody,

21:29

saying I've got cash stashed that Linda doesn't know about and calling out specific parents

21:34

by name.

21:38

LUKE: Yeah, it's going to be hard to get out from under that one, I

21:43

think. You know what I would do? I would probably turn that into a public

21:47

opinion type piece and talk to the newspaper and say, look, this is happening. Maybe

21:52

talk to the police department and get a warning sent out that people are being

21:57

impersonated and somehow make it known to the public that this is a thing that

22:02

you didn't do and that they also are at risk for it happening to them.

22:07

VINCE: That's smart, yeah. I hadn't thought about the newspaper angle. We got the times

22:12

independent. They might actually run with that since it's local. My worry is, if I

22:17

go public with it, does that just make more people go looking for the video?

22:21

LUKE: It might, it very well might, but as long as they're finding that video

22:26

with the context that this is fake, they're going to be more scared about when

22:30

it happens to them than they are going to be blaming you about what was

22:35

said. Also, if you can track down where the video is posted, you can flag

22:40

it as abuse and get the social media companies to take it down with varying

22:44

degrees of success. Those are all avenues that you can go. I don't know that

22:49

there's any better way to deal with it.

22:53

VINCE: Yeah, I can start flagging it wherever I find it. The thing that's eating

22:57

at me though is Linda. We're separated right now. Not divorced, just trying to figure

23:02

things out. And her phone's been blowing up about this.

23:06

LUKE: Yeah, that's terrible and that's definitely not going to help your situation. But if

23:10

you could get, if you can have a conversation with her and somehow convince her

23:15

that it's not real or you know what you could do, you could make a

23:19

fake one with somebody else, a fake person. And then show her how easy it

23:24

is to do so that she can kind of wrap her head around how it

23:28

could have been done to you.

23:32

VINCE: Huh. I mean, I don't even know how to make one of those things.

23:36

But maybe I could find somebody who does. Show her it's not some complicated spy

23:41

stuff. Just some app any Jackass can use. The problem is getting her to actually

23:45

talk to me long enough to show her anything. She's already been on edge about

23:49

money since the separation. And now there's a video of me saying I've been hiding

23:53

cash from her.

23:58

LUKE: Yeah, that's a tough, tough hill to climb for sure. But it sounds like

24:02

things aren't going well anyway. And are you hoping to get back together with this

24:07

woman or do you think it's going the other way before this happened?

24:11

VINCE: Before this, I thought we had a shot. We've been married 16 years. This

24:16

separation was supposed to be temporary just until we cooled off and fitted some things

24:21

out. I moved into that little place of Cancreek Road two months ago. We were

24:25

still talking most days being civil about Becca's schedule and all that.

24:30

LUKE: Well, I wish you the best of luck with that one. That sounds like

24:34

an uphill battle. And that's really shitty that that happened to you. So let the

24:38

public know, try and get it ahead of it. And just be honest. Just say,

24:42

hey, wasn't me.

24:45

VINCE: Yeah, I appreciate it. I'm going to call the times independent first thing in

24:50

the morning. Maybe swing by the sheriff's office too. Just sucks that some asshole with

24:54

a computer can blow up your life like this. And there's not much you can

24:58

do about it except damage control.

25:02

LUKE: That's true. Now, I've got a question for you, Vince. Are you ready for

25:05

my question?

25:07

VINCE: Oh, Jesus. Yeah. Go ahead. What have you got?

25:11

LUKE: All right. Tell me something that you pretended to be into for way too

25:13

long.

25:16

LUKE: Like something that you weren't really into, but you pretended to be cool or

25:21

to appease a partner. Huh. Okay. Linda used to drag me to this hot yoga

25:25

place in town. I went for like six months, twice a week, pretending I was

25:30

getting something out of it. Truth is, I just felt like a sweaty idiot the

25:35

whole time. Couldn't do half the poses. And I was only there because she said

25:39

we needed to do more things together. Oh, yeah. The old hot yoga. That's rough.

25:44

Okay. Well, thanks for the call. And I hope it all works out for you

25:49

with your revenge porn situation there. I will talk to you later on down the

25:53

line. Yolanda. Yolanda, thanks for calling in. What's happening tonight?

25:58

YOLANDA: Hey, Luke. Yeah, this is Yolanda. I'm calling from Lodzburg. I just, man, I've

26:02

been sitting out in my truck for the past 20 minutes because I can't go

26:06

back inside. My dad looked at me earlier tonight and called me Michael, which is

26:10

my brother's name.

26:13

LUKE: Okay, enough. That doesn't say that what you're calling a radio show because of

26:17

that because the dude misspoke. Come on. I don't know if that's worth you being

26:20

upset about.

26:24

YOLANDA: No, you don't get it. Michael's been dead for 11 years. My dad has

26:28

never not once mixed us up. And it wasn't just like he said the wrong

26:33

name and corrected himself. He looked right at me and said, Michael, when did you

26:37

get so tall? Like he was seeing him. Not me.

26:42

LUKE: Oh, okay. Well, that is pretty disturbing. Was he under the influence of something?

26:46

Or do you think maybe he's coming down with a little bit of the dementia?

26:51

YOLANDA: That's what I'm scared of, yeah. He's 73 and he's been forgetting little things

26:56

here and there. Like where he put his keys, what they trash pick up is.

27:00

But this felt different. This felt like a door closing, you know?

27:05

LUKE: Yeah, that's a little rough. So I guess you're going to have to collect

27:09

your thoughts out there for a little bit and then go in there and talk

27:13

to him and maybe find out what it is that's going on in his mind.

27:18

Not a confrontation, but just ask the man, hey, you called me Michael. That was

27:22

a little bit weird and have that conversation and see if maybe you need to

27:26

get some doctors involved.

27:30

YOLANDA: He's already asleep. He goes down at like 8.30 every night, has for years.

27:35

LUKE: Alright, well then have that conversation with him at breakfast in the morning. Whenever

27:39

the next you get an opportunity to speak to him, don't let that one slide,

27:43

figure out what's going on.

27:47

YOLANDA: Yeah, I will. The thing is though, and this is the part that's really

27:51

messing with me. When he said it, for just a second, I felt like maybe

27:55

he was right. Like maybe I have been wearing Michael's face this whole time and

27:59

just didn't know it.

28:03

LUKE: Well, you don't sound like a Michael to me, but even if you were,

28:07

if you were taking on parts of Michael's personality into yourself, that's kind of a

28:11

nice way to remember someone, I think. So that's not such a horrible thing. Why

28:15

would you think that it is?

28:19

YOLANDA: Because I go out to where he died every few months. Out in the

28:24

palancillos, I tell myself it's just good hiking. But I always end up at that

28:28

exact spot on the trail where the Ranger found his truck. And I sit there

28:33

and I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm not praying, I'm not talking to

28:37

him. I'm just sitting there like I'm waiting for something.

28:42

LUKE: Well, that sounds like a way of grieving and I think that's a normal

28:46

thing. You can't bring them back. You know, somebody that's died has died and you

28:51

can just remember their memory. And I think it's good if you're taking on parts

28:56

of that person's personality into yourself that keeps them alive in some strange way.

29:01

YOLANDA: Maybe, but I was 17 when he died and he was 24. And now

29:05

I'm older than he ever got to be. So what am I even holding on

29:08

to? Some version of him that never got to exist past 24? I don't know

29:12

man.

29:16

LUKE: Yeah, what's wrong with that? I mean, you knew him at 24 and that's

29:20

how your memory of him is going to be. He's going to be 24 forever

29:24

for you. And that's not such a bad thing.

29:28

YOLANDA: I guess not. It's just weird thinking my dad might start losing more of

29:31

this stuff, you know.

29:34

LUKE: Yeah, that is tough. And unfortunately, that's the age that we're at, you know,

29:39

where our parents are getting older. And those are the types of problems that people

29:43

are dealing with in this era, this age. So hopefully that all works out and

29:48

it was just an odd occurrence. But if it's more than that, you should get

29:52

to the bottom of it sooner rather than later, because there might be some early

29:56

preventative stuff that can be done. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know what

30:01

meds are available for those types of things. But for all you know, he could

30:05

have been up and took the wrong pills today and just been seeing stuff that

30:10

wasn't there.

30:14

YOLANDA: Yeah, that's true. He does have like four different prescriptions he takes in the

30:18

morning. Could have just mixed something up. I'll talk to him tomorrow. Make sure he's

30:22

got them all straight. Thanks, Luke.

30:26

LUKE: You're welcome, Melinda. And I wish you both the best of luck. And now

30:30

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31:11

up on the line we have Dennis. Dennis, why don't you tell us about your

31:15

most horrifying time you're ever caught by your family doing something you aren't supposed to

31:20

be?

31:24

DENNIS: Oh man, okay so this is bad. I was maybe 19. Home on leave.

31:28

And I'm in my childhood bedroom at like two in the afternoon just absolutely going

31:33

to town, right? Doors closed. I figured everyone's at work.

31:37

LUKE: Oh man, we've all been there. What happened?

31:40

DENNIS: Yeah, so my mom apparently came home early because she forgot something. And she

31:44

just, she doesn't knock, never has, just walks right in asking if I've seen her

31:48

car keys. I'm scrambling trying to like cover up and she just freezes. We both

31:52

freeze and then she goes, your father's keys are probably in the kitchen and backs

31:57

out like nothing happened.

32:01

LUKE: Uh-huh. Have you ever talked about it since?

32:04

DENNIS: Never, not once. That was 15 years ago and we have never acknowledged it

32:06

happened.

32:09

LUKE: Well, that's the appropriate response. Thank you for the story, sir. Why are you

32:12

calling in tonight?

32:15

DENNIS: Yeah, thanks, Luke. Appreciate you letting me get that off my chest. Have a

32:17

good one.

32:20

LUKE: Yeah, no problem, glad I could help. Okay, okay, Shonda, welcome to the show.

32:23

What's happening tonight, Shonda?

32:26

SHONDA: Oh man, well I'm sitting in a flying J parking lot right now because

32:31

my transmission just died on the way back from Lord's Burg. And I've been out

32:36

here three hours waiting on a quote. I already know I can't pay. Mechanics said

32:40

1400 minimum, probably two grand. And I've got court reporter work in Silver City tomorrow

32:45

and Friday that I'm about to lose if I can't get there.

32:50

LUKE: Well, I know there are sometimes people driving for Uber or left around Lord's

32:54

Burg. Maybe you can get one of them tomorrow, but we can ask our listeners

32:59

if anybody is out in the Lord's Burg area. If you could give Shonda a

33:03

ride to Silver City tomorrow, that would help her out.

33:07

SHONDA: That's really kind of you, Luke. I appreciate that. I didn't even think about

33:12

Uber out here. My brain's just been stuck on the car, you know?

33:16

LUKE: Yeah, and honestly, Uber's hit her mess. I mean, there's I think maybe one

33:21

person in town that doesn't whenever they feel like it.

33:25

SHONDA: So I'm not sure you're going to be able to get an Uber or

33:29

a taxi or anything like that, but I'm sure that one of our fine listeners

33:33

will be able to help you out in the morning. I hope so. I've just

33:37

been sitting here talking to my late husband, Danny, like he's still around, which probably

33:42

sounds crazy, but he used to handle all this car stuff, and I feel so

33:46

lost with it. Then I felt bad calling you because there's probably people with real

33:50

problems listening.

33:54

LUKE: Hey, I don't know. I would call that a real problem if you're stuck

33:59

abandoned in a place like Lord's Burg, nobody wants to be in that situation. But

34:03

I hope that you could find a mechanic that can do it for something that

34:08

you can afford, and that you're able to get to work in the morning and

34:12

secure whatever funding you need to fix that car.

34:17

SHONDA: Yeah, me too. I just hate that I'm out here alone with this, you

34:20

know? Danny's been gone four years now, and most days I'm fine, but nights like

34:24

this just hit different.

34:28

LUKE: I certainly understand. Well, you're not alone. You've got the whole look at the

34:32

roost viewership in your corner, and I wouldn't be surprised if somebody shows up there

34:36

at the Flying J to help you out.

34:40

SHONDA: That would be something. I really appreciate you letting me vent, Lou. Just needed

34:44

to hear another voice tonight, instead of sitting out here in the dark by myself

34:47

watching my phone die.

34:51

LUKE: Yeah, well, you're at a 24-hour truck stop, so that's good. I'm sure they

34:55

can help you charge your phone or call somebody or find a place to stay

35:00

tonight if you need to. But I've got a question for you, Shonda, to lighten

35:04

the mood a bit. Are you ready for that?

35:08

SHONDA: Oh, Lord. Okay. Yeah. Go ahead.

35:11

LUKE: Okay, tell us about a YouTube video that's in your search history that you're

35:15

embarrassed about, that you wouldn't want anybody to find.

35:18

SHONDA: Oh, man, you're really going to make me say this on air. All right,

35:23

so I've been watching these videos on how to talk to your dead spouse. Like

35:28

not say on stuff, just grief counselors talking about continuing bonds. Whatever they call it.

35:33

LUKE: Well, I don't think that's very embarrassing. I think that's probably a healthy way

35:37

to deal with grief. And are they helping you? Are you finding some solace in

35:40

those videos?

35:43

SHONDA: A little. Yeah. They make me feel less crazy for doing what I was

35:47

doing tonight in the parking lot. But honestly, the embarrassing part is that after I

35:51

watch those, YouTube starts recommending me all these widow dating advice videos. And I've clicked

35:55

on a few.

35:59

LUKE: Okay, and what is some of the best widow dating advice that you've got

36:02

from these videos?

36:05

SHONDA: Well, the main thing they all say is don't feel guilty about it, which

36:09

is easier said than done. And apparently, four years is when a lot of people

36:13

start thinking about it. So I'm right on schedule, I guess. But the advice that

36:17

stuck with me was this. One lady saying, your late husband would want you to

36:22

be happy, not loyal to a memory. That one kind of messed me up for

36:26

a few days.

36:30

LUKE: Yeah, that's understandable. And I definitely understand where you're coming from with the guilt.

36:35

I feel guilty about pretty much anything I've ever said or done in my entire

36:39

life. And it's just something that I live with. And under current of guilt, constantly,

36:43

that I know it doesn't really deserve to be there, but it is anyway. And

36:48

you know, you just got to deal with the emotions that you get and don't

36:52

give them any more credence than they deserve.

36:57

SHONDA: Yeah, that's the thing though. Right? Like I know logically, Danny wouldn't want me

37:01

sitting alone in a broken-down car at a truck stop at midnight, feeling sorry for

37:06

myself. He'd probably be laughing at me right now for not joining Triple A like

37:10

he told me to do a hundred times. But then I think about actually going

37:15

on a date with somebody and my stomach just drops.

37:20

LUKE: Well, you don't have to go on a date with anybody if you don't

37:24

want to. When you're ready, you're ready. And you know what? For all you know,

37:28

whoever comes to pick you up tonight at the Flying Jay in Lordsburg, they might

37:33

be the one. And that's okay. You don't have to feel guilty about it, even

37:37

though you probably will. You can have more than one feeling at the same time,

37:42

so you can feel a little bit guilty and also feel good and alive. And

37:46

all of those things are okay.

37:51

SHONDA: Lordsburg, yeah. And honestly, the way this night's going, the tow truck drivers probably

37:55

going to be like 65 and tell me about his sciatica the whole ride. But

37:59

I hear what you're saying. Danny used to say I was bad at letting myself

38:03

feel two things at once that I'd pick one emotion and commit to it like

38:07

I was filing a brief.

38:12

LUKE: Well, you know, I wish you the best luck with those things and with

38:16

your situation broken down there in Lordsburg. If anybody's out there listening, they can help

38:21

Shonda. Please do what you can and show her how fierce the look at the

38:26

Ruth's community can be to help those in need in our local area. Thanks for

38:31

calling in Shonda. We got to move on, but I hope you don't end up

38:35

stuck there for too long. All right. We're going to take one more call and

38:40

that will be the end of our show. Thanks everybody that called in today. And

38:45

this has been Luke at the Roost. You can find more about our show at

38:49

LukeAtTheRoost.com. And yeah, follow us on the old socials. All right, Darnell, you're the last

38:54

caller of the evening. What are you calling in for, sir?

38:59

DARNELL: Yeah, Luke, I appreciate you taking the call this late. Thanks. So I just

39:02

got home today.

39:05

LUKE: Okay.

39:05

DARNELL: Literally four hours ago from 90 days in we have down in Tucson.

39:10

LUKE: All right.

39:11

DARNELL: And I walk into my apartment. My roommate Travis left me a six pack

39:15

of Takate. My apartment. And with a posted that says, welcome back bro. Like he

39:18

thought he was being nice.

39:22

LUKE: Yes, he did. And on standing here staring at it, thinking, did this dude

39:26

not hear a single thing I told him before I left? I called him from

39:29

the facility, man.

39:33

DARNELL: Well, you know what, when you're drinking partners with somebody and you stop drinking,

39:38

and they start to grieve for you in a weird way and feel isolated and

39:42

alone. So it makes sense that somebody that you used to party with is not

39:47

going to want to lose that relationship and be all alone. So I can understand

39:52

the insensitivity there. Your directive at this point is to not drink that. You can

39:56

either pour it down the toilet or just put it back in the fridge. If

40:01

you want to stay clean and sober though, that's on you. And you have to

40:05

be able to do that in the presence of alcohol.

40:10

LUKE: Yeah. No, I hear you. I poured it out about 20 minutes ago. That's

40:14

not the issue. I can handle being around it.

40:18

DARNELL: I bet you can.

40:19

LUKE: I know. But what's messing with me is I did everything they told me

40:23

to do. 90 days, every group session, everyone on one called my sponsor twice a

40:26

day.

40:30

LUKE: Well, that's good. I mean, keep doing those things and you'll continue to get

40:34

what you're getting, which is another day of sobriety. And that's all that an alcoholic

40:38

can hope for. So I wish you the best. And I've got a question for

40:42

you. Are you ready for my questions, sir?

40:47

DARNELL: Yeah. Go ahead. Hit me with it.

40:49

LUKE: Where is the weirdest place you've ever had to piss?

40:53

DARNELL: To peace. To piss. Oh, man. Probably in a mock bucket. The high-the-wall greens

40:57

on Oracle Road at like three in the morning. I was working overnight, stalking. And

41:02

the bathroom was locked because some tweaker had been in there for an hour. Manager

41:06

wouldn't open it. Told me to figure it out.

41:10

LUKE: All right. Well, it sounds like you did the right thing. In both situations

41:15

today in your life, you put out the booze and you pissed in the mob

41:19

bucket. And that's great. So I hope that you have another day of sobriety and

41:24

keep on doing what you're doing. Because that's how you're going to recover. So thanks

41:28

for calling in. Thanks to everybody that called in today. This has been Luke at

41:33

The Roost and we'll talk to you again tomorrow.